The Civilian Conservation Corps at Acadia National Park [Draft]

Moreira, James; Dean, Pamela; Champney, Kevin

Table of contents include: Preface, the CCC camps at Acadia National Park; Photo section I: the camps; the boys of the CCC; 'learning to earn' : educational programs; recreation & leasure time in camp; photo section II: recreation and community involvement; CCC work programs at Acadia; work projects I: environmental programs; photo section III: work projects: environmental; work projects II: construction programs; photo section IV: work projects : construction; appendix I: summary of archive materials (NARA RG 79); appendix II: indes of photograpsh in NARA RG 79. Following taken from preface: 'The following pages contain a report on the activities of the Civilian Conservation Corps at Acadia National Park, between 1933 and 1942. Three camps operated in the area during those years: two were located on Mount Desert Island (one on and one off of park property) and were officially designated National Park Camps. The third camp was situated in Ellsworth, and though designated a State Park Camp, much of its work consisted of clean-up projects along the approach roads to the National Park.' 'The report is based on three primary sources on [sic] information. First, there are approximately forty hours of interviews conducted with twenty-five former enrollees at the Acadia camps. A number of the informants worked on special crews during their time in the CCC, and were thus a valuable source of information on some of the more detailed work undertaken by the CCC. As is inevitable with oral testimony at this late date, the details of time and (to a lesser extent) place are not always recalled perfectly, but the informants nontheless provided good insights into the generalities of work technique, as well as their vivid recollections of camp life.' 'Second, researchers reviewed the park records regarding the work of the CCC and other New Deal agencies, which are housed at the regional branch of the National Archives Record Administration in Waltham (RG 79, 17 boxes). Approximately 4,500 pages of documents were photocopied and reviewed during the course of the research. The third primary source consists of approximately 1200 photographs contained in the NARA reports, all of which were taken by project supervisors to give senior officials in Washington an accurate indication of the outcomes of the CCC efforts.' 'Though a remarkable source of detailed information on project development and inplementations, the NARA records contain better descriptions of work proposed and completed in the earlier years of the CCC programs. This appears to be less a matter of complacency or lassitude than of practicality. As the Emergency Works programs built up a working rhythm, there was less need for administrators to explain in detail what was - or what should be - happening on the ground. The same applies to the photographic evidence. About 80% of the images in NARA holding document work accomplished in the first three years of the CCC program. Late in 1935, reporting procedures changed and only on occasion were photographs included with job completion reports after that date. It should also be noted that both the documentary and photo-documentary records tend to stress the effects of the work, its appearance, rather than the actual work technique.' 'Roughly 200 additional images have been acquired fromour informant's personal collections. We have also been able to review a large number of the 'newspapers,' produced by the camps, as well as reports in the local media regarding the CCC in their area.' 'The first four sections of the report provide an overview of the history of the camps, the former enrollees whom we interviewed, and the general nature of life in the camps. The remaining sections take a closer look at the diverse work programs undertaken by the CCC at Acadia National Park.' /STUDY LOCATIONS:/ /MOUNT DESERT ISLAND/SCHOODIC PENINSULA