May 1938. New Madrid County, Missouri. "Interior of house without windows, home of sharecropper, cut-over farmer of Mississippi bottoms." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.My understanding of a "cut-over" is that it is an area where loggers have removed the trees from a forest; the land can then be re-planted, or, as above, offered for farming. Of course in a mature forest the vast bulk of the biomass is incorporated in the trees themselves; the soil is often rather poor, and farming a fresh cut-over would be expected to be a formidable endeavor.
This photo was taken in 1938 - not that long ago. The children on the floor would be in their mid-70s now, and likely would have some interesting stories to tell. Most modern Americans - especially American children - have no concept of what real poverty is like.
Click to enlarge to fullscreen in order to appreciate the flies...
Credit to the superb Shorpy photoblog. The outside of the (?communal) home is shown in a companion photo.