Nell McCarthy was a high school student in Douglas, AZ in the late 1910s to 1920s. Her father, Charles McCarthy, worked for the Douglas Vulcanizing Company during World War I.

170 black-and-white photographs document Nell McCarthy's daily life in Douglas, taken ca. 1918 to 1925. The photographs mostly depict family and school groups, pets and friends. There are photographs of young people clowning around, excursions and picnics, automobiles and motorcycles, homes and public buildings. There are also images of circus and military parades. The Phelps Dodge Mercantile can be seen in one parade backdrop. A few photographs show young girls dressed in white with a red cross on their caps, possibly members of the Junior Red Cross, an auxiliary of the National Red Cross organization, and one image shows small Red Cross signs in a window. The photographs were removed from an album for preservation but a facsimile of the album is present.