Dorothea Lange contracted polio when she was 7, something she said informed her approach to photograph.

Dorothea Lange's photos of Japanese Americans interred in US concentration camps were censored.

Check out the most iconic images captured by Dorothea Lange, the American photographer known as one of the 20th-century's greatest social documentarians.

Dorothea Lange's iconic 'Migrant Mother' photo was just one image of many she captured of the woman with her children.

Dorothea Lange and her economist husband sought to document American poverty through collaborative works.

The woman in Dorothea Lange's 'Migrant Mother' photo felt that she and her children had been exploited.

Many of Dorothea Lange's most iconic photos were taken while she was working for a New Deal program.

'Migrant Mother' (1936) captured the tragic reality of the Great Depression

Taken by Dorothea Lange, the image shows a mother in tattered clothes looking distressed while her children cling to her. At the time, the family was surviving on frozen vegetables from nearby fields and birds killed by the children.

After FDR was paralyzed by polio in 1921, Eleanor Roosevelt became active in politics and supported his political ambitions

FDR contracted polio at age 39 and permanently lost the use of his legs. Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded him to stay in politics, then took on the task of maintaining his public profile—attending events, building relationships, and serving as his "eyes, ears, and legs" across the country.

​​The US government documented the forced removal of Japanese Americans in an attempt to garner support for the program.

View this timeline of polio milestones and vaccine development

Polio has a long history in art and medicine, dating back centuries. It includes a representation of an apparent polio survivor with a shriveled leg in ancient Egyptian art. See milestones in the history of polio in this timeline.

During the Great Depression, the US government used photography to document rural poverty.

Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams collaborated on a project documenting Mormon communities in Utah, but the artists were unhappy with how Life magazine framed the work.

Post-polio syndrome occurs decades after infection but isn't contagious

Affecting adults who contracted polio as children, this disorder can occur 15 to 40 years later, leading to slow, irreversible muscle weakening. Some research estimates that between 25% and 40% of polio survivors go on to develop this condition.

Improved 19th-century sanitation meant kids encountered polio later, with worse results

Almost all children likely used to contract poliovirus, but scientists suggest that when infants encountered it very early in life—due to poorer conditions and hygiene—they still had some maternal protection from pregnancy or through breastmilk, so the symptoms were more flu-like.

Read excerpted accounts from some of the 8,000 residents with leprosy on Moloka'i

Accounts preserved by the Kalaupapa National Historical Park describe how residents felt about being sent to live in this remote location and knowing they would never be allowed to leave. In 2012, 20 residents with the disease continued to voluntarily live in the area.

Poliomyelitis is derived from Greek

Polio, formally called poliomyelitis, comes from the Greek words for gray (polios) and marrow (myelos)—a reference to the spinal cord tissue that, when infected by the virus, causes paralysis.

Leprosy affects the skin, eyes, and upper respiratory tract

Untreated, the disease can lead to permanent nerve damage and the loss of sensation in arms, legs, and other extremities. The exact form of transmission remains unclear, but scientists suspect it is spread via respiratory droplets over a prolonged period. (Warning: Graphic content, including photos of deformities.)

A 94-year-old stumbles upon a photo of herself from 1947 at an airport

Earlier this year, Gwendolyn Bruhn, who worked for Hawaiian Airlines in the 1940s, spotted herself in a photo blown up on an airport wall. Here's her story.

Read a 1984 interview with Dolly Parton, conducted by artist Andy Warhol.

An Alzheimer's patient discusses her condition with children

Alzheimer's is a deadly disease that profoundly changes a person's abilities and personality, which makes it difficult to explain to kids. Responding to potentially uncomfortable questions with honesty (and relatable imagery) about the costs and nature of the disease goes a long way in fostering understanding.

Hear firsthand stories from Americans who lived through the 1918 flu pandemic

This video shares personal accounts from survivors of the 1918 influenza epidemic, capturing memories of sickness, loss, and resilience. Their voices offer a glimpse into how ordinary people experienced one of history’s deadliest pandemics.

The board game Candy Land was invented for children quarantined in polio wards.

19th-century photographer William Mumler claimed he captured ghosts on film, producing images that stunned and bewildered the public.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to a health condition

Gehrig's diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that now bears his name, forced him to retire early. Weeks later, he spoke with gratitude and stated, "For the past two weeks, you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." Gehrig died at the age of 37, about two years later.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in immunizations in the US and worldwide

Public health funds and resources that were diverted to COVID-19 response reduced efforts to combat polio and vaccinations for polio and other diseases declined during the pandemic, putting more people at risk for polio.

Many of Spielberg's films were inspired by childhood experiences

Steven Spielberg was inspired to make “Saving Private Ryan” after seeing the toll war took on his father’s generation. Similarly, he felt called to direct “Schindler’s List” by the Holocaust survivors he met when he was only three years old.

The story of Anne Frank

Anne Frank, the Holocaust victim whose world-famous diary provided valuable insights into life during Nazi occupation, is one of history’s most compelling subjects. This interactive resource from the Anne Frank House walks you through her biography and provides greater context about Europe during World War II. Watch the video and scroll through the provided timeline for further understanding of the young girl’s tragic experience caused by war and hatred.

See what analysis of one man's amputated leg, donated to The Bone Museum, tells us about his otherwise invisible pain.

See a collection of LIFE's most iconic photos in history

Famous images, like a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square to celebrate the end of World War II, are each shared with context in this article. See some of history's most famous moments from a unique point of view, including photos of Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, and Muhammad Ali.

Watch patient stories describing life with macular degeneration

This video series features patients discussing their experiences with the disorder, family members describing caregiving, and other insights about the disease.

Polio commonly spreads when virus-laden feces gets into our mouths

This highly infectious disease is transmitted from one person to another, mainly when we eat virus-laden poop particles. Less frequently, contaminated food or water can transmit the virus, or people can be infected via respiratory droplets (from coughing or sneezing).

How Lucia Moholy's photography captured the Bauhaus aesthetic

The photographer was one of the few affiliated with the school who photographed its locations, documenting the modern style long after the Nazis had driven its artists from Germany. This podcast episode explores why she went uncredited for so many years.

'Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.'

- Polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk (1914–1995)

Most polio cases today are vaccine-derived rather than naturally occuring

Weakened, live virus vaccines—which aren't offered in the US—carry a risk of virus being shed in the stool. Rarely, the shed virus mutates and leads to vaccine-derived polio infections. Most recent polio cases are genetically linked to those vaccines. As shown in this graphic, there are typically hundreds of vaccine-derived polio cases annually.

After being diagnosed with lupus, O'Connor moved to her family's Georgia farm

In 1950, O'Connor began feeling ill and returned to Georgia, where she was diagnosed with lupus, the same disease that killed her father when O'Connor was just 15. After the diagnosis, O'Connor and her mother moved to Andalusia, the family farm north of Milledgeville, Georgia.

Why one Emily Dickinson biographer believed she had epilepsy

Lyndall Gordon's "Lives Like Loaded Guns" points to a "handicap" referenced in several Dickinson poems. According to Gordon, the condition was so stigmatized during Dickinson's life that it made her reclusive. In this NPR interview, Gordon explains why she believes the theory is the best explanation for Dickinson's notorious isolation.

'Adversity, if you allow it to, will fortify you and make you the best you can be.'

-American beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings (1978-present)

How World War II affects your wallet today

The world's deadliest conflict also impacted social programs extensively, including ways that still affect your money today. World War II is responsible for the practice of employers withholding tax payments and sponsoring health insurance, as well as the norm of providing school lunches for the nation's schoolchildren. Watch this brief video to learn more.

Eleanor Roosevelt was orphaned by age 10

Roosevelt's mother died when Eleanor was 8, and her father died two years later. Orphaned before she turned 10, Eleanor moved in with her maternal grandmother in New York and was raised by the emotionally distant woman.

Paralysis from polio occurs in under 1% of infections

About 1 in 200 cases of infection causes paralysis. For paralysis to occur, the virus travels from the throat, intestines, and gut to infect specific cells within the spinal cord and brain stem that control movements. Within hours of invading the nervous system, paralysis can occur. The virus can be present in bodily secretions and stool for multiple weeks post-infection.

'Fear of life closes off more opportunities for us than fear of death ever does.'

- Actress Agnes Moorehead (1900–1974)

With the help of one photographer who took photos of children at work, child labor in the US was eventually restricted by law in the mid-1900s.

'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) has a controversial story behind it

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image taken by South African photojournalist Kevin Carter depicts a little girl suffering from starvation during a famine in Sudan in 1993. Carter faced criticism from the public for taking her picture instead of helping her. A few months later, Carter took his own life.

Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase took pictures of his wife, Yoko, leaving for work every morning from his fourth-floor window in a series titled From Window. Not long after, Yoko filed for divorce.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is "Afghan Girl" by Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula, the subject of the photo, was not credited until 2002 for her role in the famous National Geographic cover, and continued to live in poverty after the photo was taken.

Listen to what it was like living as a medieval leper

This podcast uses paleopathological and anthropological findings to reconstruct what it was like for people diagnosed with leprosy in medieval times on the Eurasian continent. If a town lacked a leprosarium—an isolated leper asylum or colony—or the suspected leper was a foreigner or a Jew, which would make them ineligible for leprosarium admission, they'd be expelled.

The Pulitzer Prize for photography has gone to the photographers who took some of history's defining images

The prestigious literary awards also include two prizes for photography: one for features and another for breaking news. Recipients have captured some of history’s most famous photos, including the iconic photo of US Marines raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi in Iwo Jima (by Joseph Rosenthal) and the legendary photo of Babe Ruth on the day of his final game (by Nat Fein).

The legacy of Agent Orange: a photo gallery

An herbicide sprayed over the Vietnamese jungles during the war had a far greater impact than its supposed role as a defoliant, a chemical used to remove greenery. Agent Orange’s deleterious nature quickly impacted exposed people – and their children. This photo gallery, which includes graphic images, follows a photographer as they report on those affected by the chemical.

'Behind the Gare St. Lazare' (1932) famously froze a moment of spontaneity

Henri Cartier-Bresson's photo of a man jumping over a puddle inspired generations of future street photographers. Cartier-Bresson was known for capturing "decisive moments," as he called them.

How Audrey Hepburn became a spy during the Nazi occupation

Despite her status as one of Hollywood’s most beloved actresses, Audrey Hepburn experienced a war-torn childhood in Europe that few people know about. During her upbringing in the Netherlands, the Nazi occupation caused Hepburn to quit her life as a ballerina and made her family go hungry. In the face of adversity, Hepburn bravely carried messages for the Dutch resistance. Learn more about the star’s compelling life before finding fame.