In the early years of the Great Depression, Susana Archuleta lived in the town of Rock Springs, a mining community in southern Wyoming not far from the New Mexican border. Her father, a miner, had moved his family to the area looking for work in the mines. Her father’s death left the family destitute when the Depression hit. However, the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the National Youth Administration (NYA) brought more revenue streams to the family. Archuleta worked for the NYA at her school, performing secretarial tasks like filing in addition to homework and assisting in her mother’s laundry business.