Chelsea, 1938.

The date and the location lead one to suspect these young men may have been involved in one of the federal programs established during the Great Depression to provide work to the unemployed. The programs helped over a quarter of the families in New York City during the seven and one half years they existed.

Photograph by Sid Grossman.

See this image in the Portraits of Labor exhibit.

Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York City.