You’ve probably seen vintage photographs many times before. Posed photos of families standing in a group, barely smiling at the camera if at all. They may show you what people dressed like or looked like nearly a century ago, but are they an accurate representation of what life was like back then? We dug up some completely candid photos from the 1930s taken in North Dakota that show what life was really like then – no posing, no editing, just as it was – and they’re fascinating.

1. A farmer's family having a meal in Williams County, North Dakota. This photo was taken in August of 1937.
Russell Lee/yale.edu
2. This railroad station in Fargo, North Dakota advertised $5.70 round trip tickets from Fargo to Minneapolis in 1939.
Arthur Rothstein/yale.edu
3. This photo was taken in the lobby of the Great Northern Hotel in Williston, North Dakota in October of 1937.
Russell Lee/yale.edu
4. A wagon carrying barrels full of water to drought-stricken farms in North Dakota during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.
Russell Lee/yale.edu
5. This downtown Williston shot shows a family peering into a Montgomery Ward store.
Russell Lee/yale.edu

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6. One-room schoolhouses were very common in North Dakota in the 1930s, and this photo was taken in one while the rural schoolchildren learned.
Russell Lee/yale.edu
7. A group of men hanging out on a bench in North Dakota in 1937.
Russell Lee/yale.edu
8. This photo was taken in downtown Minot and shows a trio of football players walking along the sidewalk.
John Vachon/yale.edu
9. Chit-chatting outside the local diner on a Saturday afternoon - people kept up with each other face-to-face instead of over social media.
Russell Lee/yale.edu
10. Taken in Divide County, North Dakota, of a quiet scene in the dining room with a mother and son.
Russell Lee/yale.edu

Do you have any family stories of life in North Dakota in the 1930s? Times were tough back then, but also simpler and quieter than the rush of today.

Photos are fascinating, but what’s even cooler to find from back then is film footage. Here is a film taken in North Dakota in the 1930s that gives you an even better glimpse into life back then.

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