Historic Morrison, Colorado
Founded in 1874!
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The Civilian Conservation Corps
Before Earth Day, there was the CCC!
A History of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Colorado
For the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid 1930s, Earth Day was every day. Day after day three million men and one woman went to work to improve the environment of the U.S. The Corps literally laid the foundation for many conservation efforts that came later, and we see their work every day when we drive or hike into Colorado's mountains.In March 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law a bill creating a civilian work force. Within 3 months, one-quarter million men were already in the camps that sprang up around the country -- wherever there was work to be done. The CCC was a uniquely successful experiment designed to relieve the hardship brought by the unusual economic conditions of the Depression, and to conserve the natural resources of the country. Not incidentally, the project gave on-the-job training to young men starting out and worthwhile work to those who otherwise would have found little.
Recognizing CCC Work
If you've admired the overlooks at Rocky Mountain National Park, marveled at Trail Ridge Road, driven the Scenic Rimrock Highway in Colorado National Monument, or enjoyed a concert at the amphitheatre in Red Rocks Park, you've benefited from the labors of Colorado's CCC enrollees.If you've camped in a Forest Service campground, hiked any of the 110 miles of trails they built, visited a forest ranger station or lookout, or crossed one of their 160 forest bridges, you've benefited from the labors of Colorado's CCC enrollees.
If you've visited any of Denver's Mountain Parks, Boulder's Flagstaff Mountain, Colorado Spring's Garden of the Gods, mountain parks belonging to Loveland, Fort Collins, Rifle, or certain parks in Pueblo, Greeley, Durango, Trinidad, Glenwood Springs, and Colorado Springs, chances are you've benefited from the labors of Colorado's CCC enrollees.
The Colorado District
By 1936, there were about 40 companies spread out across Colorado. Some were in high-altitude tent camps occupied only in the summer months; others were in year-round installations. The "boys," as enrollees were called, were paid a dollar a day, $30 a month. They kept $5, and sent the rest home to help support their families."The efficiency of the [Colorado] District was built by intelligent, unselfish labor, and whole hearted cooperation. Those who gave most, received most. All are happy because of the results obtained. The Colorado District built men."
--from History of the CCC in Colorado, Summer 1936
We can take it!
The Colorado campers were not always well treated by the natural resources they'd come to conserve. During their tenure, they weathered some of the worst drought and dust storms of 1935-36 on the Colorado high plains, coped with flood disasters and fires across the state, and survived mountain conditions in the alpine camps.Conserving Natural Resources -- and America's Youth
The CCC's direct results -- some of which are listed above -- weren't the biggest part of what the program accomplished: Conserving young Americans in a difficult time was perhaps its greatest value. In addition to meaningful work, technical training and experience, and "3 squares a day," the camps provided educational and leadership opportunities -- as well as social and recreational comradery -- to the enrollees.The extracurricular academic, vocational, and handcraft classes at one Colorado camp in 1936 included:
| "English | Leather Work | |
| Mathematics | First Aid | |
| History | Political Science | |
| Radio and Telegraphy | Surveying | |
| Woodwork | Auto Mechanics | |
| Music | and many others." |
Overcoming illiteracy, studying academic subjects, publishing camp newsletters, competing in team sports, taking educational field trips, learning lifetime leisure skills, and doing community service projects -- all in their spare time -- not only kept enrollees busy, but ensured their well-rounded development. That's part of what made them winners.
We can do it!
No job was too big for the men in Colorado's CCC camps. These "boys" took on the five-year project of building Red Rocks Amphitheatre, only to end in haste when the CCC was disbanded immediately after Pearl Harbor. Trading their picks and shovels, used in hand-carving the rows upon rows of amphitheatre seating, many enlisted in branches of the Armed Services and served their country in an endeavor that was grander yet...It became clear that the program had trained enrollees well for America's next big challenge: winning World War II. The "boys" had become men well equipped for the war effort in which many of them immediately enlisted. Their skills and experience, their adaptability to hard work and difficult living conditions, their pride in getting the job done, all served them well in the European and Pacific theatres as the war progressed.
The CCC: An Idea Whose Time Has Come--Again!
The NACCCA: Keeping the memory alive
That the CCC accomplished a great deal is evident all around us. That the program meant -- and still means -- a great deal in the lives of the participants is evident in the National Association of CCC Alumni, an organization dedicated to the spirit and comradery of the old CCC camps.Colorado's Chapter 7 is an active group with more than 200 members, mostly enrollees who served in the 1930s and their spouses. Headquartered for the summer back at the old camp in Morrison, Camp SP-13-C (now owned by the City of Denver), the Chapter meets regularly for educational projects and social gatherings. Recently, they've been involved with the NCCC, or Americorps -- a new organization for youth that emulates some of the old CCC's techniques and goals. Today, six decades later, most enrollees speak of the enduring lessons and experiences of their days in "the Cs" as moments that transformed their lives. The strong sense of patriotism and citizenship, the bonds formed, and the level of commitment and work ethic absorbed there have continued to shape their lives.
Bringing back the Cs
James C. Ronning, 1996 president of the NACCCA, has declared that the theme for his administration will be "Bring back the CCC." A committee has been formed to promote this goal. Under the leadership of Dr. Dale M. Herder of Lansing Community College in Michigan, the committee will work to- bring back the CCC at the national level, as it was in the 1930s
- put the military in control of the camps, as before
- put the Forest Service, Park Service, Department of Agriculture, and other agencies in charge of the field work, as before
- seek to convert 30 Jobs Corps camps into CCC camps
- make it a work program, with education and job training as secondary goals
- open the program to men and women from urban and rural areas to bring together people from all backgrounds across the nation
Ronning says: The CCC was "the greatest national youth program ever seen in the USA, and we would still have it if it weren't for Pearl Harbor." The goals he outlines above are still critical today. The final one, "to bring together people from all backgrounds," was one of the original strengths of the CCC -- teaching young people to tolerate, and even appreciate, each other and to work together in a spirit of cooperation. This is one goal that, if anything, seems even more relevant as we face new divisiveness in our country today.
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