Above: A city mechanic (standing on the vehicle's running board) helps train James DeSoto, an enrollee in the New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA), Fresno, California, 1940. Among their many achievements, young Americans employed in the NYA repaired over 130,000 cars, trucks, and tractors (Federal Security Agency, War Manpower Commission, Final Report of the National Youth Administration, Fiscal Years 1936-1943, 1944, p. 157). Workers like DeSoto learned every aspect of car repair, including "removal and installation of motors... bearings and cylinder work... piston rings... front and rear axle... transmission... electrical system... brakes... frame and fender repair..." (Final Report, p. 161). Along the way these young adults earned modest paychecks, which they needed immediately, and also acquired skills they could use for the rest of their lives. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
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