In 1933, during the Great Depression, the United States government created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a program intended to relieve unemployment. The quasimilitary program was open to American males between the ages of 17 and 23 who were in good physical condition. The men worked on a variety of conservation projects including planting trees, fighting forest fires, and constructing buildings in national parks. By the time the program ended in 1942, it had employed over 3 million men.

In this 1939 photo, a young member of the CCC blows a signal to the men in the camp on his bugle. In the background are some of the wooden cabins where the men lived. The bugle player is a member of a Seattle CCC group but the location of the work camp has not been identified.

Written on sleeve: Civilian Conservation Corps
Visible on boy’s sleeve: 129
Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): August 31, 1939