9 7/8 x 8 in. silver gelatin photograph (some creasing, edge and corner wear, few spots). Ink stamps, notations, and typed label on verso, which reads in part, "Class of illiterates, Army YMCA Building No. 1 Camp Travis, Texas. These men are from the First Group, 165th Depot Brigade. Building is devoted exclusively to negro troops. Negro secretary teaching class...." 

Camp Travis was established in 1917 as the training site for the Ninetieth Division of the US Army, with most of the junior officers and enlisted personnel hailing from Texas and Oklahoma. While Hispanics and Native Americans were intermixed with white soldiers in the new draft division, the African American troops were assigned to the camp depot brigade. During the summer of 1918, the camp served as an induction and replacement center, having an average strength of approx. 34,000 African American and white troops. (Information obtained from Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas, January 2022.)