Gerald W. Williams Collection on the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-2012

Collection Overview

Title: Gerald W. Williams Collection on the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-2012

Predominant Dates: 1933-2001

ID: MSS CCC

Primary Creator: Williams, Gerald W.

Extent: 1.9 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The Gerald W. Williams Collection on the Civilian Conservation Corps consists of 11 series: 1. Publications, 1933-2012; 2. Reports, 1938-1982; 3. Newspaper Clippings, 1933-1986; 4. Photographs, 1933-2001; 5. Ephemera, 1933-1941; 6. Artifacts, 1933-1938; 7. Architectural Drawings, 1933; 8. Maps, 1933-1941; 9. Sound Recordings, 1983; 10. VHS Videotapes, 1993-1999; and 11. DVDs, 2005-2008.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

The Gerald W. Williams Collection on the Civilian Conservation Corps is made up of publications, photographs, newspaper clippings, maps, architectural drawings, artifacts, DVDs, sound recordings, and VHS videotapes documenting various Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps and enrollees in Oregon and other states. These materials were acquired by U.S. Forest Service Historian Gerald W. Williams.

The oversize prints in Series 4, Map Folder 01, have been digitized and are available upon request.

Scope and Content Notes

The Gerald W. Williams Collection on the Civilian Conservation Corps consists of materials acquired by U.S. Forest Service Historian Gerald W. Williams that document the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program in Oregon and other states. This collection is made up of publications, photographs, newspaper clippings, maps, architectural drawings, artifacts, DVDs, sound recordings, and VHS videotapes that reflect the CCC program during its operation from 1933 to 1942 as well as in later decades in oral histories with CCC enrollees. Documentation of everyday life and activities in the CCC camps can be found in camp newsletters, photographs, newspaper clippings, and artifacts. Recollections by CCC enrollees are captured in some of the publications, newspaper clippings, reports, sound recordings, VHS videotapes, and DVDs. These items also contain contextual information about the overall history of the CCC program and its impact upon the country.

Oregon CCC Camps documented in this collection include: Camp Belknap, Mist, Camp Kerby, Fall Creek, Odell Lake, Camp Gunter, Camp Nehalem, and Camp Cascadia.

The oversize prints in Series 4, Map Folder 01, have been digitized and are available upon request.

Biographical / Historical Notes

Established in 1933 as one of President Franklin Roosevelt's governmental "New Deal" agencies designed to stimulate the depressed national economy, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) employed 3.4 million men over a period of 9 years in a variety of projects throughout the United States. The camps resided on public lands managed by the federal and state government and the projects primarily entailed land improvement efforts such as the development of park infrastructure, erosion control measures, road building, and reforestation. There were a total of 4500 camps nationwide with about 300 in Oregon.

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 258 photographs; 2 sound recordings; 5 VHS videotapes; 2 DVDs; 6 boxes including 1 oversize; 2 map folders

Statement on Access: This collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: Originally described as part of the Gerald W. Williams Collection, these materials were separated in 2016 from the Williams Collection to form this new collection.

Related Materials: The OSU Special Collections and Archives Center has several collections documenting Camp Arboretum, the CCC camp that resided from 1933 until 1942 on the site of Peavy Arboretum in the McDonald Research Forest. These collections include the College of Forestry Records (RG 139), the Royal G. Jackson Papers, the Soap Creek Valley History Project Oral Histories (OH 06), the Horner Museum Oral History Collection (OH 010), Harriet's Photograph Collection (P HC), and the Memorabilia Collection.

Preferred Citation: Gerald W. Williams Collection on the Civilian Conservation Corps (MSS CCC), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Finding Aid Revision History: The 2016 finding aid was updated in 2018 to reflect the addition of the Happy Days publication and in 2019 to reflect the addition of other materials to the collection.

Creators

People, Places, and Topics

Forms of Material

Architectural drawings (visual works)
Cultural artifacts.
DVDs.
Ephemera (general object genre)
Identifying artifacts.
Maps (documents)
Oral histories (literary genre)
Photographic prints.
Slides (photographs).
Sound recordings.
Video recordings (physical artifacts)

Box and Folder Listing

Series 1: Publications, 1933-2012

Series 1 is made up of publications documenting the CCC that were published during the program's operation and later as historical studies with CCC enrollees. In addition to newsletters published at various Oregon CCC camps, this series includes: books, brochures, newspapers, magazines, and a manual.

Box-Folder 1.1: Book: The CCC Camps in West Virginia: 1933-1942, 1992: Milton Harr
Box-Folder 1.2: Book: Once In a Lifetime: A Guide To The CCC Camp, 1936: Ned H. Dearborn
Box-Folder 1.3: Book: We Can Take It: A Short Story of The CCC, 1935: Ray Hoyt
Box-Folder 1.4: Brochures and Event Programs, 2001
Box-Folder 1.5: Camp Newsletters, 1933-1936
Box-Folder 1.6: Camp Newsletters, 1936-1941
Box-Folder 1.7: Foxfire Journal: Civilian Conservation Corps Editions-Volumes 1 and 2, 1982-1983
Box-Folder 1.8: A Guide to Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Newspapers, 1991: The Center for Research Libraries.
Box-Folder 1.9: A Guide to Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Newspapers, 1991
Box-Folder 3.1: Roosevelt's Tree Army: A Brief History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 2000: National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni
Box-Folder 3.2: The Review Newspaper, 1940: CCC Vancouver Barracks District newspaper. Vol. 4, No. 78. July 15, 1940
Box-Folder 3.4: Happy Days, 1941-1942: The National Weekly Publication of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Ten issues published from November 8, 1941 through January 10, 1942 document the changes that were underway at the CCC prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the immediate impact on the program in late 1941 and early 1942.
Box-Folder 2.1: Yearbook for CCC Company 927, 1937: A photocopy. Yearbook contains photographs depicting CCC projects in Oregon. McKenzie River area.
Box-Folder 2.2: Conservation Corps Manual and Related Instructions-North Central Region, 1933-1934
Box-Folder 2.3: CCC Legacy Journal, 2012
Box-Folder 2.4: Time Magazine, 1939: Cover story and "newsmaker" of the week is Robert Fechner, CCC director. Vol. 33, No. 6. February 6, 1939
Box-Folder 6.1: Official Annual - Vancouver Barracks, 1937: For the Vancouver Barracks CCC District, Ninth Corps Area with headquarters at the Vancouver Barracks, Washington. This District covered Oregon and the Columbia River Basin in Washington and included 28 companies of enrollees.

Series 2: Reports, 1938-1982

Series 2 is made up of reports addressing CCC activity in Oregon parks, the Klamath National Forest, and Wisconsin. There is also a study of the financial administration of the CCC program in New England.

Box-Folder 2.5: Chronological History of the Klamath National Forest: Volume IV-The CCC Decade, 1982: R. W. Bower
Box-Folder 2.6: An Audit of the New Deal in New England, 1934: Statistical Department of the New England Council.
Box-Folder 2.7: A Study of Parks, Parkways and Recreational Areas of Oregon: Volume I-Present Development, 1938: The State Parks Commission and the Oregon State Planning Board
Box-Folder 2.8: Future Forest Towns In Northern Wisconsin: The Passing of the Sawmill Towns, 1933: R. B. Goodman

Series 3: Newspaper Clippings, 1933-1986

Series 3 consists of clippings from various newspapers and other publications featuring stories about events in Oregon CCC camps, poems by CCC enrollees, and accounts from enrollees recalling their experiences. About half of the clippings were published in the U. S. Forest Service publication Six Twenty Six.

Box-Folder 2.9: Newspaper Clippings, 1933-1986

Series 4: Photographs, 1933-2001

Series 4 is made up of photographic images depicting CCC camps throughout the U.S. and reunions of enrollees. In addition to group shots, there are views of enrollees working on projects, camp facilities, and examples of logos and posters publicizing the program. The photographs number 36 prints and 222 slides.

The oversize prints in Map Folder 01 have been digitized and are available upon request.

Box-Folder 2.10: Photographs, 1933-1935
Box-Folder 2.11: Photographs, 1979-2001
Map-Folder 1: Photographs, 1933-1938: Oversized prints. The prints in this folder have been digitized and are available upon request.

Series 5: Ephemera, 1933-1939

Series 5 contains camp member lists, service documentation from various CCC enrollees, a discharge certificate, and other paper-based ephemera.

Box-Folder 2.12: Ephemera, 1933-1939
Box-Folder 2.13: Certificate of Discharge, 1939: Discharge certificate for John Iskerk from Camp Long Lake (Wisconsin). Certificate in poor condition.

Series 6: Artifacts, 1933-1938

Series 6 is made up of lapel pins, patches, and buttons worn by CCC enrollees and camp staff. This series also includes coinage used for exchange at the camps and a board game inspired by the CCC program "The Forest Ranger Game in Connection with the CCC Camps."

Box-Item 4: Patches, Lapel Pins, and Buttons, 1933-1938
Box-Item 3.3: Board Game: The Forest Ranger Game in Connection with the CCC Camps, circa 1938

Series 7: Architectural Drawings, 1933

Series 7 consists of a set of architectural drawings outlining the details for a CCC camp oriented toward reforestation projects. Numbering 13 sheets in total, the drawings contain construction details and building specifications for various camp structures.

Map-Folder 2: Architectural Drawings, 1933

Series 8: Maps, 1933-1941

Series 8 is made up of three maps of the continental United States depicting the location of CCC camps throughout the country, the number of enrollees in each state, the types of public land where the camps resided, and the location of CCC central repair shops.

Map-Folder 2: Maps, 1933-1941

Series 9: Sound Recordings, 1983

Series 9 is made up of two cassette sound recordings containing interviews with CCC enrollees at the 1983 Oregon State Fair.

Box-Item 5.1: Oregon State Fair-CCC Enrollees, 1983: Tape 1 of 2.
Box-Item 5.2: Oregon State Fair-CCC Enrollees, 1983: Tape 2 of 2.

Series 10: VHS Videotapes, 1993-1999

Series 10 contains five films on VHS videotape about CCC camps in the Pacific Northwest, Virginia, Michigan, and the program's nationwide impact.

Box-Item 5.3: CCC: A Letter Home, Undated: Northwest Interpretative Association. Original production by the U.S. Forest Service (8:20)
Box-Item 5.4: Forests and Men: The President's Conservation Corps at Work, undated: Original produced in 1933. (10:27)
Box-Item 5.5: Camp Forgotten: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Michigan, 1993: Forgotten Films.
Box-Item 5.6: The CCC Boys., 1999: Episode of "Living in Virginia." WVPT Video Library
Box-Item 5.7: The New Deal-CCC., circa 1984: A recording of a Bill Moyers program. Also includes other Moyers' shows "World War I-U.S. Home Front" and "World War I-Airplanes and Aces."

Series 11: DVDs, 2005-2008

Series 11 contains 2 DVDs produced by the U.S. Forest Service about the Civilian Conservation Corps program.

Box-Item 5.8: The Civilian Conservation Corps At Work: Oregon-Washington, 2005
Box-Item 5.9: A Great and Lasting Good: A Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 2008