Wolcott left behind an extraordinary body of photography, even more impressive for the numerous barriers she overcame to produce it. Initially a freelance photographer in the 1930s, she became a staff photographer with the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, where she was targeted by male coworkers who would urinate or extinguish their cigarettes in her photography chemicals; the paper even published an article called “Strange Jobs for Women” featuring her portrait.

Nevertheless, in 1938 she became the first woman offered a full-time position with Roy Stryker’s photographic division of the Farm Security Administration (FSA). She spent four amazingly productive years traveling the country, producing over 9,000 photographs. Her output includes images of Black Americans and upper-class society, both of which were unusual subjects for the FSA but today provide important documentation of the uneven effects of the Great Depression.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)