Hard Work and a Good Deal - 9780873516129

The Civilian Conservation Corps - born out of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal at the height of the Great Depression - supplied jobs to more than 77,000 Minnesotans in need. Their work left a lasting legacy, visible today in Minnesota's thriving forests, state park amenities, and soil conservation practices.
Hundreds of interviews complement oral historian Barbara Sommer's lively text with personal accounts that animate the history of the ccc in Minnesota as camps were created and projects tackled throughout the state. The "boys" look back - often fondly - at this program, which, for many, was their introduction to the workforce and to life away from home. One man recalls that the "twenty-five dollars ... every month just made the difference to my mother and the five kids still at home." Another learned a trade from the local men who lent their expertise in masonry to projects at Gooseberry Falls. An African American enrollee tells of the segregated policies enforced in the army-run camps. Workers for the ccc-Indian Division describe reservation projects that included rebuilding a fur trade-era stockade at Grand Portage. Together, these men give voice to early efforts that advanced the conservation of Minnesota's natural resources by decades in a few short years. The ccc was indeed a good deal - for the men and for the state.