navaltrainingschool

As much as I love photography, I also hate it because we'll never get images like this again. People now are exposed to images of others and have become completely self-conscious and self-aware because of it. Most of these boys had probably only seen a handful of photos at this point. There's still such an easiness in front of the camera - they don't know that they "should" look a certain way. They just look the way they look and people accept them for it. There are a few looking at the camera, but I think it's more out of curiosity than anything else - maybe a feeling of "I can't believe someone's making a picture of me."

From www.cnic.navy.mil/Newport/About/History/index.htm "World War I brought a tremendous increase in naval activity to Newport as thousands of young men arrived for training. Coaster's Harbor Island was unable to accommodate this influx, and land at Coddington Point was added to the Navy's holdings. Almost overnight, the Point was turned into a city of tents and wooden buildings as more than 75,000 recruits passed through Newport. Residents of the city were encouraged to "Adopt a Sailor," opening their homes as temporary lodging for the trainees. As the Navy expanded, what had been the Second Naval District (the Naval Training Station) was combined with the First Naval District in 1919."

www.usnwc.edu/About/History.aspx

Extra "o" in "schoool" in the caption.

Thanks to both of you for the information. We'll correct the typo in the caption the next time we update.

To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, if those are pies I'd rather have had cake, but if they're making cakes I'd rather have pie. :)