Winter 1942. Washington, D.C. "Jewel Mazique on temporary duty checking filing systems in the Library of Congress." 4x5 inch acetate negative by John Collier for the U.S. Office of the Coordinator of Information. View full size.

Winter 1942. Washington, D.C. "Jewel Mazique, Negro federal worker employed in the Library of Congress, spends much of her time reading." (Image in a jacket marked "Killed.") Acetate negative by John Collier for the U.S. Office of the Coordinator of Information. View full size.

September 1942. Batavia, New York. "Elba FSA farm labor camp. Boys and girls from West Virginia who came to upper New York state to help in the harvest. Boy in the center said, 'Please take my picture now; I want the world to see me when I am happy!' " 4x5 inch acetate negative by John Collier for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

January 1936. "Negro house. New Orleans, Louisiana." The abode last glimpsed here. 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size.

December 1935. "Main street architecture. Selma, Alabama." Premises of the Cotton Exchange and L.C. Adler & Co. furniture store. Note the fire bell tower at right. 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size.

February 1936. "Frame houses. New Orleans, Louisiana." 5x7 inch acetate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size.

February 1936. "View of railroad station. Edwards, Mississippi." 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size.

Frances Dorsey "Fanny" Cagwin, along with her husband George, were our neighbors in Larkspur, California, where they'd lived since 1905. Frances had been a school teacher in Virginia City, Nevada when she met George, and they married in 1887 at Carson City, where he was employed at the U.S. Mint. She was an accomplished musician, and in the living room of their Craftsman style home could be found a gleaming Steinway rosewood square grand piano. A wedding gift of her father to her mother, it had made the trip from New York by ship around Cape Horn to San Francisco, then by horse-drawn freight over the Sierras to Virginia City. Follow the link in George's name to see him and get a glimpse of his eventful life. Frances died in 1958 at the age of 92, and George in 1959 at 102. My big brother, then in high school and doing gardening work and errand-running for the Cagwins, took this Ansco Color slide with his then-new Leidolf Lordox 24x36 35mm camera. View full size.

March 1936. "Nineteenth-century shop front. Charleston, South Carolina." 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size.

  AND THE ANSWER IS: Mission Boulevard in the Bay Area burg of Hayward, California.

Circa 1960, this random selection from the News Photo Archive shows a busy street in Anytown, USA. Where exactly are we? 4x5 inch acetate negative. View full size.

May 30, 1967. "Luxury apartments for single boys and girls in Los Angeles." Poolside at the South Bay Club Apartments in Torrance on Memorial Day. 35mm negative by Don Ornitz for the Look magazine assignment "Boys and Girls Together." View full size.

November 1935. "Crowded housing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Phillipsburg, New Jersey." 8x10 nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size.

    UPDATE: It's October 2, 1960, and the boy is "doomed youngster" Rickey Stowell.

In a sequel to this photo, we're back in Richmond, California, circa 1960. Several 3-packs of "100% Combed Cotton Boys' Briefs" are being handed over. There must be a story here, but we don't know what it is. 4x5 acetate negative from the News Photo Archive. View full size.

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955. "Accident on 12th Street." Sandwiched between the post office and Collins Snack Bar. 4x5 acetate negative from the News Photo Archive. View full size.

November 1935. "Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Stepped row of houses on a hillside street." 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size.