In the middle of World War II, 29-year-old photographer Gordon Parks moved to Washington, D.C., on assignment with the Farm Security Administration. His mission: to chronicle the nation’s social conditions, including the effects of poverty and discrimination, on average American lives. The artist who would become one of the most celebrated documentarians of the Black experience spent about a month shadowing Ella Watson, a cleaning woman who worked at his agency. “American Gothic,” his photo of her in the FSA offices posed with mop in hand against an American flag backdrop, is one of the most iconic images of the 20th century’s American dream deferred.

Following Watson in her home and neighborhood, Parks took many photos that sensitively captured the deep faith present in her daily life: t

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