Jackson County
(Mo.)
Historical Society
Portals to the Past by David W. Jackson
Civilian Conservation
Corps Meant Job, Home
During
the Great Depression of the 1930s more than 3 million single men between the
ages of 18 and 25 were inducted into the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC, or
3C’s). Kansas City native Roy Jackson was among those ranks. He recalls his
year in the 3C’s in the first manuscript on this topic donated to the Jackson
County Historical Society.
The CCC
was part of Roosevelt’s New Deal to help citizens find meaningful employment,
active from 1932 to 1942. The Department of Labor was responsible for
enrolling eligible men on a state-quota basis, determined by population. The
CCC carried out conservation projects worth $1.5 billion.
Like
others of his generation, times were hard, and Jackson was shifted from one
relative to another as a child. His mainstays were his paternal Grandparents,
Arthur and Ida Jackson. “I turned
18 on August 13, 1936. The month before, I had visited the Kansas City Relief
Committee’s, Missouri Relief Commission’s recruitment office at 125 East 31st
Street, to complete my application for a six-month enrollment into the
emergency conservation work program. I was out of work and needed a home.
“On
April 5, 1937, I packed a small bag of clothes and the brownie camera my
Uncle Reg had given me for my 18th birthday, and went by train from Kansas
City’s Union Station to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. A four-day enrollment
process included getting assignments and inoculations. I was to get $30 each
month, and $25 would be sent home to my Grandmother (she ended up saving my
allotments, some of which I used when I came home to buy a car.).
“I
was…transferred to…Sebastopol, California, located about 11 miles west of
Santa Rosa. We assisted the California State Conservation Department in
making water irrigation canals (to prevent soil erosion) in the Gold Ridge
apple orchard region. I used a pick and shovel, and helped lay the concrete
pipes that enrollees also made in the Camp. We also fought forest fires; one
fire was in a petrified forest.
“The CCC camps were run like the
Army as far as routine and discipline went, but you didn’t have to salute. We
were awakened by the bugle’s call…and they played Taps when lowering the flag
at the end of each day. We had military-style clothes, rations, and barracks.
“But, we had fun, too. We horsed
around and played endless practical jokes on one another….a bucket of water
perched above a door… a footlocker pulled out in the aisle to trip an
unsuspecting guy on his way to the latrine in the middle of the night. One
time the fellas sprinkled Post Toasties in between my sheets. Little did they
know, I slept on top of the sheets to stay cool.”
Figuring
he had it made in Sebastapol, Jackson took advantage of the opportunity for a
second CCC enlistment. However, to his surprise, after signing on the dotted
line, he was transferred to Coolin, Idaho, “a town real near the Canadian border with three houses, one
converted to a bar.” Jackson completed
his second, 6-month enlistment at Camp
Drysdale working on conservation projects through the winter in the
St. Joe National Forest. He was discharged and returned to Kansas City
through Union Station in March 1938.
David W. Jackson is archivist
for the nonprofit Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society’s Archives and
Research Library at 112 W. Lexington Ave. Suite 103, Independence, MO, 64050.
Are you a former CCC enlistee? Did you work on the WPA in Kansas City, or
elsewhere? We’d like to hear from you, and encourage you to donate related
materials to the Society’s permanent collections. We can also help you locate
your CCC records. For more information, or to donate historical
materials, visit www.jchs.org, call (816) 252-7454, or e-mail info@jchs.org.
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