Camp Bryan barn and mess hall photograph

Dated September 15, 1937, this photograph shows (left to right) end of the mess hall, John Bryan Barn, barracks #5, and the front of the recreation hall at Camp Bryan in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in Greene County. The camp was first occupied by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on June 12, 1935. The types note attached to the photograph reads ""Federal Writers' Project Dayton, Ohio. September 15, 1937. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camps. Camp Bryan, S.P. 16 - Co. 553. John Bryan State Park, Yellow Springs, Ohio. Left to right: End of Mess Hall, John Bryan Barn, (largest in State of Ohio), Barracks #5, Front of Recreation Hall. Enlargement by Federal Writers' Project from negative loaned by C. T. Clifton, Educational Director." The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program established as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal that employed young men, ages 18-25 and later expanded to ages 17-28, with jobs in the natural resources field. This is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939