CCC - the Civilian Conservation Corps

Growing up in central Ohio, my family often would picnic and attend family reunions at Mount Gilead State Park. The park is very small and located just outside the small town of Mount Gilead in Morrow County. It features two small lakes and two small dams. It has camping and fishing. And a small forest of pines. The pines stand in rows about 8 feet apart.  During family reunions, the older relatives would remind us that Uncle Joe had helped plant those pines while working with the CCC - the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The pine trees at Mount Gilead State Park. Photo courtesy of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources

The Civilian Conservation Corps was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 as part of his New Deal policies to pull the U.S. out of the Great Depression. The legislation was passed within the first month of his presidency and days later its first employees were at work. The program ran until 1942 when America's entry into World War II and the war industry replaced the jobs that the CCC had provided.

At its height, the CCC employed 300,000 men and over the life of the project over 3 million men found employment. It was open to boys and men aged 17-25 years old, single, unemployed and in good physical health. Because of pressure from the unions, no training could take place and the CCC men could not do jobs that would replace union workers. That meant the work would have to be simple manual labor. The men were paid $30 a month, of which $25 was sent home for support relief for their families. Shortly after is inception, the program was opened up to veterans, who could be of any age, and any marietal status. They just needed to need the work. Veteran CCC members received a larger paycheck of $36-$45 a month. The men enrolled for 6 month commitments, but could re-enroll for a total of 2 years of service.

The CCC helped rebuild the C&O Canal in the 1930's. Photo courtesy of the Digital Public Library of America

Unfortunately, segregation was the rule and the CCC maintained separate camps for African Americans and Native Americans.

The CCC was supervised by four different government departments. Department of Labor recruited the young men and set quotas for each area. The Department of War operated the camps which functioned just like military camps with barracks and ranks. And the Departments of Agriculture and Interior organized and supervised the work.The projects were to focus on protecting our natural resources by battling erosion and setting up parks to preserve natural areas.


CORPS ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

• 3,470 fire towers erected
• 97,000 miles of fire roads built
• Fighting fires
• 3 Billion trees were planted
• Erosion Control on 20 million acres of land
• Public camp and picnic ground development
• Protecting natural habitats of wildlife
• Stream improvement
• Restocking fish
• Emergency work during the flood of 1937 and the New England hurricane of 1938.
• Once the draft started in 1940, the Army policy made CCC alumni corporals and sergeants.

Ohio had over 100 camps. The nearest camp I have been able to document was Camp Anthony Wayne near Wooster and there was a Camp Mohican near Loudonville.

SOME OF THE MEDINA COUNTY AND LOCAL CCC PROJECTS WERE:

• Widening and paving of Route 18 between Medina and Akron
• Widening of the CCC Road from Medina south. In this case CCC refers to State Route 3, which connects Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.
• Clearing of roadside ditches.
• Clearing of the drainage ditch for the Chippewa Lake Inlet

Crane used to clear the ditch for the Chippewa Lake Inlet. Medina County Gazette 22 April 1938, page 6

Bridge for a bridle path at Sand Run Creek, part of the Akron Metroparks system. Photo from the Cleveland Memory Project.

The program was never officially terminated, but Congress defunded it in 1942. It still serves as the model for numerous conservation programs across the nation. Two successor programs  are:

• The Corps Network - formerly known as the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps, works to expand corps type programs.
• The National Civilian community Corps- part of  Americorps, where young adults work for non-profit & government organizations for 10 months. The focus of their work is often on conservation efforts.

With all the different government agencies involved and the millions of men that enlisted with the CCC, a LOT of paperwork was created. And that is an opportunity for every genealogist!

RESEARCHING A CCC WORKER:
Personal Records
If you have a relative who was a CCC worker, the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis should have his personal file. You can visit the Center in person, hire a researcher to locate the records or submit a request in writing.

To submit the request in writing, use form NA 14136 Request for CCC Personnel Records - Then you have to identify the individual by providing: his full name, his date of birth, Social Security Number (if known), dates and location of service (again, if known).
Mail your request to:

National Archives & Records Administration
ATTN: Archival Programs
P.O. Box 38757
St. Louis, MO 63138

There is a flat fee of $25. If there are more than five pages, the fee is $70. Do not send money with the form. You will be informed of the costs. Once you pay up, they send the records.

INFORMATION FOUND IN THE RECORDS:

• Name
• Address
• Date of birth & place of birth
• Physical appearance
• Allotte's name - the person receiving the money being sent home. Often was the mother.
• Medical information
• Education
• CCC training courses
• Camp & work assignments
• Type of discharge

Sometimes this additional information is found:

• Parent's names
• Application for emergency relief
• Record of Hearing for any disciplinary actions
• Previous work history
• Previous education

Information NEVER found in the records:

• Photographs
• Discharge papers - these were given to the enrollees.

Newspapers

Camp Newspapers

Most of the camps had newspapers. You can find out what CCC camp newspapers are available at the Center for Research Libraries site: http://catalog.crl.edu/search~S3

Here is a screen shot of the listings for Wayne County, Ohio:

Contact the Center about access to the newspapers. Also, check for other library holdings on sites like worldcat.org.

Local Newspapers

If you are lucky enough that your local newspaper is digitized, you can search them for information on local CCC camps and the men who served in them. That is how I was able to compile this partial list of men from Medina County who worked for the CCC.

Recruits were enrolled from Medina County four times a year. A list of  some of the men from Medina in the CCC:

April 1935:

•      Charles Tomkins
•      John Kazian
•      Myron Buttolph
•      Dale Hartell
•      Dean Henniger
•      Dwight Holcomb - Medina
•      George Keifer - Medina
•      Burton Williams
•      Charles Engler
•      Barney Chaney
•      Mike Ivaney
•      Amos Ruch
•      Edwin Murray
•      Edward Lange
•      Kenneth Fritz - Wadsworth
•      Wallace Fritz - Wadsworth
•      Delane Bowman - Wadsworth
•      Raymond Fiala
•      Robert Kindall- Spencer
•      Harry Reitz - Spencer
•      Ivan Jones - Guilford
•      Willard Jones - Guilford
•      Roy Carlton
•      Charles Taylor - Lafayette
•      Alex Toth - Lafayette
•      Virgil Vaughn - York
•      Elmer Walden - York
•      John Ramsey - Chatham
•      Alfred Cameron - Hinckley

July 1936

•      John Martin (sic colored) – Medina
•      Donald Lutz – Wadsworth
•      October 1936
•      Donald Pelot
•     Carrol Pelot 

Jan 1937

•      Carroll Funk – Seville 
•      Alexander Hege – Sharon 
•      Floyd Wiesen – Wadsworth 
•      Arthur Call – Medina 
•      Kenneth Whitney – Hinckley 
•      Thomas Weir – Medina

April 1938:

•      Gordon Senz - Medina
•      Dominic LoParo - Wadsworth
•      Earl Euga - Medina

July 1938

•      Victor Bayduk – Wadsworth
•      George Hagedorn – Wadsworth
•      Joe Kraski – Wadsworth
•      Bert Hornyak – Wadsworth
•      Dan Kinda - Wadsworth
•      Frank Dundas – Wadsworth
•      Donald Wright – Wadsworth
•      Donald Simcox – West Salem
•      Richard Norris - Spencer

October 1938

•      Paul Balind – Wadsworth
•      Eugene Bowers – Seville
•      Alfred Kmitt – Litchfield
•      William Michaels – Medina
•      Hobart Porter – Brunswick
•      Raymond Ringler – Seville
•      Charles E. Werner – Wadsworth
•      Robert G. Logan – Chatham
•      Robert Ellsworth - Medina

Jan 1939

•      Wilbert W. Early – Seville
•      Harold L. Jason – Medina
•      Melvin W. Kirtley – Wadsworth
•      Edgar C. Miller – Wadsworth
•      Jack Myers – Seville
•      Richard G. Perrin – Medina
•      Virgil L. Price – Wadsworth
•      Procter Shannon – Seville
•      William A. Spias – Medina

April 1939:

• Russell Bishop - Lodi
• Paul Ginter - Lodi
• Quinton Honroth - Medina
• Ralph Jenkins - Wadsworth
• Joseph Lamphear - Medina
• Clayton Lautzenhieser - Burbank
• Carl Nameth - Medina
• Dallas Ringler - Wadsworth
• Richard Tinstman - Medina
• Calvert Ward - Wadsworth

July 1939:

• William Lance - Medina
• Thomas E. McKenna - Medina
• Edward T. Zbiegin - Medina
• Victor Bayduk - Wadsworth
• Dale Leatherman - Wadsworth
• Herbert Rittmiller - Wadsworth
• Walter Mantz Jr. - Wadsworth
• Michael J. Smith - Wadsworth
• Carl Rumpf - Wadsworth

October 1939:

• Max H. Bishop – Lodi
• Seymour Lautzenheiser – Burbank
• Merle L. Miller – Wadsworth
• Carrol W. Pelot – Medina
• Arthur Steghemper – Medina
• Edwin Wagner – Wadsworth

Jan 1940

• Wilbert Early – Medina
• James Jason – Medina
• Harry Johnson – Medina
• Ralph M. Jones – Wadsworth
• William R. Morrison – Wadsworth
• Jack Myers – Seville
• Dorlis Morgan – Medina
• Robert E. Putt – Wadsworth
• William K. Saunders – Medina
• Robert L. Tubbesing – Wadsworth
• Harry E. Yocum - Seville

Yes, some of the men are listed twice. Veteran CCC workers could sign up more than once.


SOURCES:

• Archives.com, "Civilian Conservation Corps: Records from the Great Depression Era" by Diane L. Richard, 12 July 2011:  https://www.archives.com/experts/richard-l-diane/civilian-conservation-corps-records.html
• Center for Research Libraries site: http://catalog.crl.edu/search~S3
• Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy: http://www.ccclegacy.org/
• Cleveland Memory Project - http://www.clevelandmemory.org/ 
• Family Tree Magazine, "How to Research a CCC Worker" by Diane Haddad, 24 January 2012:       https://www.familytreemagazine.com/premium/now-what-ccc-worker-research/
• Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist:  http://www.legalgenealogist.com/2016/11/16/those-who-served-in-the-ccc/?           utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheLegalGenealogist+%28The+Legal+Genealogist%29 $20-$70
• Medina County Gazette
• 8 March, 1935, page 1.
• 26 April 1935, page 8.
• 13 September 1935, page 1.
• 8 November, 1935, page 1.
• 21 July 1936, page 3.
• 21 July 1936, page 3.
• 22 January 1937, page 7.
• 2 April 1937, page 1.
• 13 July 1937, page 1.
• 17 September 1937, page 1.
• 22 April 1938, page 5
• 8 July 1938, page 6.
• 22 July 1938, page 3.
• 7 October 1938, page 4.
• 20 January 1939, page 6.
• 7 April 1939, page 3.
• 12 May 1939, page 1.
• 11 July 1939, page 1.
• 24 October 1939, page 8.
• 12 January 1940, page 1.
• The National Archives, "Civilian Conservation Corps Personnel Records" by Ashley Mattingly: https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/genealogy-fair/2015/handouts/session-5-mattingly-presentation.pdf
• National Archives Form - https://www.archives.gov/files/st-louis/archival-programs/civilian-personnel-archival/NA_form_14136.pdf
• Ohio History Central: http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Civilian_Conservation_Corps
• Ohio Memory Project - www.ohiomemory.org/ 
• Wikipedia.org: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps#Civilian_Conservation_Corps_Museums