At the time of the Louisville Flood, Louisville Kentucky

Artist Margaret Bourke-White (American, 1904–1971)

Date1937 (negative); printed later

MediumGelatin silver print, mounted on panel

DimensionsSheet: 14 15/16 × 20 inches (38 × 50.8 cm);
Panel: 16 7/8 × 21 7/8 inches (42.9 × 55.6 cm);
Mat: 22 × 28 inches (55.9 × 71.1 cm)

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineGift of the artist, Class of 1927, and LIFE Magazine

Terms

Photographs
Gelatin silver print
Panel
American

Object number65.688

Label CopyThis photograph led off the February 15, 1937, feature story for LIFE Magazine documenting the devastation of Louisville, Kentucky, by Ohio River flooding. Bourke-White was sent on assignment with only a few hours notice and arrived on the last plane to land in Louisville. Her best-known image from the shoot—one used in many different contexts—captures African American men, women, and children lined up at a relief center in front of a billboard of a smiling white family with the headline: “World’s Highest Standard of Living—There’s no way like the American way.” ("Margaret Bourke-White: From Cornell Student to Visionary Photojournalist," curated by Stephanie Wiles and presented at the Johnson Museum January 24 - June 7, 2015)

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