The Work of the Civilian 

Conservation Corps: Pioneering 

Conservation in Louisiana

United States

Department of

Agriculture

Forest Service

southern 

research station

General Technical 

Report SRS–154

James P. Barnett and Anna C. Burns 
Cover

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees of Camp F-8 weeding and thinning pine seedlings 

in a nursery bed at the U.S. Forest Service, Stuart Nursery near Pollock, LA. With the help of 

CCC enrollees, the Southern Forest Experiment Station planted almost 750,000 seedlings in 

experimental studies on the Palustris Experimental Forest southwest of Alexandria, LA. This 

research effort provided much of the information used to develop guidelines needed to reforest 

the South.

Photo credits

The photographs are primarily from the files of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest 

Service; annual reports of the Civilian Conservation Corps, District E, Fourth Corps Area, 

U.S. Army; the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry; the Natural Resource 

Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the Southern Forest Heritage 

Museum and Research Center. Other sources are identified where possible.

Authors:

James P. Barnett, retired Chief Silviculturist and Emeritus 

Scientist, Southern Research Station, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, Pineville, LA; Anna C. Burns, retired 

Library Director, Louisiana State University, Alexandria, LA. 

May 2012

Southern Research Station

200 W. T. Weaver Blvd.

Asheville, NC 28804

www.srs.fs.usda.gov

Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942
The Work of the Civilian 

Conservation Corps: Pioneering 

Conservation in Louisiana

James P. Barnett and Anna C. Burns

ABsTrACT

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 

1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 

18-25. A part of the New Deal of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, it provided unskilled 

manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources on the 

Nation’s forest and agricultural lands. The CCC was designed to provide employment for 

young men in relief families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression while 

at the same time implementing a general natural resource conservation program in every State 

and territory. Men enrolled in the CCC planted over 2 billion trees, built over 125,000 miles 

of roads and trails, constructed over 6 million erosion control structures, and spent 6 million 

workdays fighting forest fires. (No women were ever enrolled in the CCC.) Their efforts 

pioneered methodologies for conserving and restoring forest and agricultural lands. An equally 

remarkable accomplishment was the program’s effect on the lives of the CCC young men, 

changing despondent youths to confident, well-prepared men who would capably defend the 

United States during World War II.

Keywords: Civilian Conservation Corps, forestry, New Deal administration, reforestation of 

southern pines, soil and water conservation.

Page

Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Administration of the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Number and Type of Louisiana Camps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Basic Camp Organization and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Camp routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Educational Programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

segregation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Camp stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

F—Kisatchie National Forest, U.S. Forest Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

P—Private Land, Forestry Division, Louisiana Department of Conservation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

L—Levee Road, Louisiana State Board of Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

A—Military Base, U.S. Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

S—State Forest, Forestry Division, Louisiana Department of Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

SP—State Park, National Park Service; Division of Wildlife, Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

D—Drainage, Bureau of Agricultural Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

ASCS—Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

BF—Federal Game Refuge, Bureau of Fisheries and Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

SCS—Private Land, Soil Conservation Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

World War II and the Demise of the CCC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Accomplishments and Influences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Economic Influences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Military Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Educational Advances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Health Improvement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Social Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Recreational Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Conservation Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Literature Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Contents

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) 

was created in 1933 by U.S. President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the 

Nation’s dire unemployment and imperiled 

natural resources. The CCC had a great 

impact on Louisiana by employing youth to work on 

conservation projects throughout the State. Although the 

influence and accomplishments of the CCC have been 

recognized widely, there is little specific information on 

enrollees and camps in Louisiana.

This book is the result of a cooperative effort I undertook 

with Anna Burns, wife of Edmond Burns, Forest 

Management Chief of the Louisiana Forestry Commission 

(now Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry). 

Anna Burns began years ago to collect oral histories of 

CCC enrollees, facilitate annual meetings of enrollees, and 

document information about Louisiana CCC programs, 

and in 2009, donated her collection of CCC documents and 

materials to the Southern Forest Heritage Museum and 

Research Center (SFHM) at Long Leaf, LA. Although the 

SFHM cataloged and stored the materials in the Dr. Anna 

C. Burns CCC Collection, it has not had the resources to 

pursue further development and use of the collection, hence 

this document.

Our research reveals a program that spurred largescale development of forestry and conservation across 

the country, and in Louisiana, and that provided an 

unprecedented but realistic opportunity for improving 

employment, developing the economy, and restoring an 

environment long damaged by neglect. 

James Barnett

Pineville, LA

Franklin D. Roosevelt took office as president of the United 

States in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression. By this 

time, the economic “crash” that had started on October 24, 

1929, (commonly known as Black Thursday) had led to an 

89 percent decline in the stock market. Complicating matters 

was the severe drought that had begun to turn the country’s 

midsection into what came to be known as the Dust Bowl. 

The country’s jobless rate had reached over 25 percent, and 

children and youth were particularly affected by the Nation’s 

new level of poverty, with nearly 50 percent of children 

without adequate food, shelter, and medical care. Roosevelt, 

facing these crises, ran for president on his New Deal 

platform, promising to get people back to work. 

On March 21, 1933, just a few days after his inauguration, 

Roosevelt proposed establishment of the Civilian 

Conservation Corps (CCC) “to be used in simple work, not 

interfering with normal employment, and confining itself 

to forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control and 

similar projects.” Ten days later, Congress enacted legislation 

approving the measure, and it was signed into law on April 4, 

1933. A few days later, CCC camps began to be established.

Although Roosevelt had a clear mandate for the program, 

he was not without opposition. Senator Huey P. Long, 

who had political control of Louisiana and presidential 

aspirations of his own, broke with Roosevelt over patronage 

issues of the CCC program and attacked the act on the floor 

of the U.S. Senate, calling it the “sapling bill” and declaring 

that Louisiana did not want any of Roosevelt’s trees planted 

on its land and that he would “eat every one of them that 

comes up in my state” (Humphreys 1964a). After Long 

was assassinated in the State capitol in Baton Rouge, LA, 

on September 10, 1935, his populist colleagues remained 

in leadership positions within the State. The success of the 

early camps, however, overwhelmed any such opposition. 

Most towns began to lobby for camps in their communities, 

and when established camps were moved or closed, there 

was an outcry of opposition.

Preface Introduction

U.S. President Franklin 

D. Roosevelt developed 

the Civilian Conservation 

Corps program both to 

provide employment and 

protect our environment.
2

Frequently called Roosevelt’s Tree Army, the CCC has 

been called the most successful of the New Deal programs. 

With stated goals of employing young men and curtailing 

the destruction of America’s natural resources, the CCC 

enrolled unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 25, and 

whose families were on public or private relief rolls. Early 

on, the program was proposed for use only on public lands.

During Congressional deliberations, Major Robert Y. 

Stuart, Chief of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, asked that State and private land be made 

eligible as work areas. Otherwise, men from the East would 

have to be transported west of the Rocky Mountains, 

where 95 percent of the public land lay (Salmond 1967). 

Although soil erosion control work was allowed on State 

and Federal land, it was restricted on private land to 

activities already authorized by other laws. The future of 

CCC work in soil conservation on private land was largely 

delayed until April 1935 when the Soil Conservation Act 

was signed. The newly renamed Soil Conservation Service 

(SCS) took over soil erosion camps previously under the 

general administration of the Soil Erosion Service (SES) 

and significantly increased the work in soil and water 

conservation (Helms 1965). 

Another change in the program was expanding enrollment 

to include veterans of World War I, a change that came 

a year after the “Bonus Army march” of 1932, when 

17,000 World War I veterans and their families protested 

in Washington, DC, demanding immediate cash-payment 

of their service certificates. The marchers were protesting 

the decision by the U.S. Congress to delay payment on the 

veterans’ service certificates until 1945 (there were no other 

benefits for veterans then). To help alleviate concerns of 

veterans, Roosevelt issued an executive order allowing the 

enrollment of 25,000 veterans in the CCC while exempting 

them from CCC requirements that applicants be unmarried 

and under the age of 25. In 1934, two CCC camps of veteran 

enrollees began their establishment in Louisiana, and others 

were added during the program. In 1936, Congress passed 

the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act, authorizing 

immediate payments to the veterans (Daniels 1971).

Senator Huey P. Long 

opposed the establishment 

of the Civilian Conservation 

Corps because of his own 

national political ambitions

Robert Y. Stuart, as 

Chief of the Forest 

Service, did much to 

support development of 

reforestation capability. 

The Forest Service nursery 

at the Pollock Civilian 

Conservation Corps camp 

was named in his honor.
3

The U.S. Army was responsible for administering the 

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Louisiana CCC 

companies were established within District E of the 

Fourth Corps Area of the U.S. Army, which included 

Louisiana and the southwestern portion of Mississippi. 

Headquarters for District E of the CCC was located at 

Camp Beauregard near Pineville, LA. On April 21, 1933, 

headquarters and supply companies were established 

for the camps. On April 29, 1933, the U.S. Army’s 

Fourth Corps headquarters in Atlanta authorized the 

establishment of four forestry camps in District E.

Initially, enrollees were transported to Fort Barrancas 

near Pensacola, FL, for processing, shots, and physical 

conditioning prior to being transferred to camps where they 

would serve out their enlistments. Later this process was 

carried out in Camp Beauregard. Normally, enrollees spent 

2 or 3 weeks in these conditioning or “boot” camps.

The U.S. Departments of War, Agriculture, the Interior, 

and Labor had primary responsibilities for activities 

of the program and their level of coordination was 

remarkable. The selection of individuals for enrollment 

was the responsibility of the Department of Labor. The 

War Department’s responsibilities included physical 

conditioning, transportation, camp construction and 

administration, and supplies. The Department of 

Agriculture was responsible for planning and conducting 

work projects on National forests in the contiguous United 

States as well as Alaska and Puerto Rico, and on certain 

private lands within those States. The Department of the 

Interior had similar responsibilities on lands under its 

jurisdiction, including all State, county, and local park 

lands (Salmond 1967). Employees from these sponsoring 

agencies, called “user agencies,” supervised work projects 

assigned to the CCC companies.

All recruitment was conducted at the State level through 

an agency and quota designated by the Department of 

Labor. To be eligible for enrollment, a CCC recruit had to 

be a U.S. citizen, in sound physical shape, unemployed, 

unmarried, and between 18 and 25 years old. Moreover, a 

recruit had to demonstrate his financial need. The program 

did not grant enrollment to women. 

Recruits initially enrolled for 6 months. In return, each 

CCC recruit received food, clothing, shelter, medical 

care, and an allowance of $30 per month. Recruits were 

required to send an allotment of at least $25 a month to 

a dependent. In late September 1933, the Department of 

Labor announced that reenrollment was possible so that a 

CCC recruit could work a combined total service period of 

2 years.

The program prohibited discrimination based on color, 

race, creed, or politics. Even so, African-Americans 

and other ethnic minorities encountered difficulties in 

accessing the program. In 1933, African-American camps 

were segregated from White (Caucasian) camps, and true 

integration was rarely enforced. 

Nationally, the Forest Service sponsored the majority of 

CCC camps, but the U.S. Army was assigned responsibility 

“for all matters incident to command of units,” including 

construction, supply administration, sanitation, medical 

care, hospitalization, and welfare. At the time, the army 

was judged the only organization capable of this massive 

undertaking. The Forest Service or other sponsoring 

agency was responsible for actual work projects, technical 

training and execution, and supervision of work forces 

(Salmond 1967).

Administration of the Program

Major Gooding Packard 

was an early district 

commander of District 

E Civilian Conservation 

Corps. He was highly 

respected, and a camp was 

named in his honor.
4

The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

sponsored the greatest number of Civilian Conservation 

Corps (CCC) camps nationally, due in part to the 

recently completed Copeland Report that documented 

Forest Service needs (Wakeley and Barnett 2011). But in 

Louisiana, little land—Federal or State—was available 

for CCC projects. The first camps were established 

on Kisatchie National Forest land, but only eight were 

installed on that land through the duration of the program. 

Only four State parks were created, and one camp was 

established on the Alexander State Forest near Woodworth. 

Most CCC camps were established on private land. Under 

the auspices of the Forest Service, the Division of Forestry 

of the Louisiana Department of Conservation (later named 

Louisiana Forestry Commission) managed a large number 

of forestry camps, and the Soil Conservation Service hosted 

numerous camps across the State related to erosion control 

and soil conservation needs. Other agencies sponsored camps 

to work on drainage problems and to build roads along 

levees. The levee camps in Louisiana were the only ones in 

the national program. In a unique arrangement, two U.S. 

Army camps were established on the Barksdale Field near 

Shreveport, LA, and one at Jeanerette, LA, on Federal land.

Many camps had a relatively short life because they either 

completed their assignment or were moved to meet other 

needs. Over the 9 years of the program, 84 camps were 

developed in Louisiana, with 20 to 25 camps active in any 

year. All camps were designated by letters and numbers 

indicating their classification based on land ownership or 

type of work. Table 1 lists these designations for camps in 

Louisiana. 

The organization of CCC companies reflected the role 

of the U.S. Army. A chain of command was clear, and 

standard plans were developed for camp layout. Canvas 

tents were originally intended for all CCC camps, but the 

army and the American Forest Products, Inc. demonstrated 

the cost feasibility of lumber products. A shift to wooden 

structures quickly occurred with potential benefit to 

lumber and other local industries and with improved living 

conditions. 

Enrollees were sent to camps in various parts of the 

country, according to the need for workers. In theory, the 

chosen camp would be fairly near the enrollee’s home. 

Nevertheless, many individuals assigned to camps in the 

West were from the Eastern United States (Salmond 1967). 

Homesickness was a reported problem. Most enrollees had 

never before been far from home.

Number and Type of Louisiana Camps 

Table 1—Designations of CCC camps established 

in Louisiana

Camp 

designation

Work area and 

land ownership sponsoring agency

F National forest U.S Forest Service 

S State forest Division of Forestry, 

Louisiana Department of 

Conservation

P Private forest Division of Forestry, 

Louisiana Department of 

Conservation

SCS Private farm land Soil Conservation Service

SP State parks National Park Service; 

Division of Wildlife, Louisiana 

Department of Conservation; 

State Park Commission

A Barksdale 

Field and other 

government 

property

U.S. Army, New Iberia 

Government Experimental 

Farm

L Levee roads Louisiana State Board of 

Engineers

D Drainage Bureau of Agricultural 

Engineering

ASCS Military camp Agricultural Stabilization and 

Conservation Service

BF Federal game 

refuge

Bureau of Fisheries and 

Wildlife

Barracks in a typical Louisiana Civilian Conservation Corps 

camp with cots and footlockers.
5

A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) company stationed 

in Louisiana used the standard organizational structure 

for an U.S. Army infantry company of the time, which 

typically consisted of a complement of 200 men. Each 

company was normally divided into platoons of 50 men, 

and each platoon fell under supervision of a CCC leader or 

assistant leader. 

Regular U.S. Army offi cers were in charge of each 

company or camp. Typically, each camp was led by a 

military staff of four offi cers: a commanding offi cer, an 

executive offi cer, a camp surgeon, and a mess/canteen 

offi cer. The commanding and executive offi cers were 

charged with administration of the camp, the surgeon was 

in charge of medical needs, and the mess/canteen offi cer 

was responsible for the operation of the camp’s mess hall 

and canteen. The recreation and fi tness programs were 

handled by a contract educational advisor, once these 

positions were created for all camps. Reserve offi cers from 

the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard 

also could be called to active duty to serve on CCC camp 

staffs when needed, although their time served with the 

CCC did not count in their records of military longevity.

Early in the program, noncommissioned offi cers (NCOs) 

for the program were drawn from regular military units. 

The NCOs functioned as fi rst sergeant, supply sergeant, 

and mess sergeant, and carried out orders of the offi cers in 

day-to-day running of the company. The NCOs were soon 

replaced by “local experienced men” (LEMs)—nicknamed 

“long eared mules” by CCC workers—who were trained 

to handle the kinds of supervisory and administrative 

duties and responsibilities that NCOs normally held 

in the companies. The LEMs were hired, based on the 

recommendation of the commanding offi cer and project 

superintendent, as foremen who directly oversaw the 

project work conducted by the company. Up to 24 LEMs 

could be hired to work at each camp (Louisiana CCC Oral 

History Project 2011).

CCC leaders and assistant leaders could be named from 

the ranks of company enrollees. These individuals could 

provide administrative duties and function as foremen 

of work crews. Due to the added responsibilities of 

these individuals, they were paid $45 and $36 a month, 

respectively, with the standard $25 dollar allotment from 

their salaries sent home to their families.

Upon arrival at camp, enrollees were usually given two 

sets of blue denim work clothes and a renovated army olive 

drab uniform for dress purposes. Initially, the uniforms 

tended to be too large for the thin young enrollees, and 

they “had to wrap the pants around them to stay on and 

the boots were so large they walked right out of them” 

(Burns 1983). In 1938, however, Roosevelt ordered issue of 

a special, spruce-green dress uniform to all enrollees. The 

president, while visiting a camp at Warm Springs, GA, had 

been disagreeably surprised by the poor quality of the dress 

uniforms. Shoddy clothing, he believed, weakened morale, 

and he immediately asked the Department of the Navy to 

design a special CCC uniform. These were 

in widespread use by 1939. 

The uniforms were provided at no 

cost to the enrollee, but he had 

responsibility for cleanliness of 

his clothes. Since the CCC crews 

Basic Camp Organization and Management

A camp offi ce provided administrative space for the military 

staff.

This patch, yellow with green lettering, was worn on the 

shoulder of the dress uniform. This Civilian Conservation Corps 

cap was worn with the dress uniform.

design a special CCC uniform. These were 

in widespread use by 1939. 

The uniforms were provided at no 
6

worked hard, their work uniforms became soiled quickly. 

At some camps, women from the nearby community would 

wash clothes for a fee of 25 cents per bag. In other camps, 

enrollees as a business venture washed clothes for others 

on weekends for a small fee. Otherwise, enrollees washed 

their own clothes. Cleanliness was emphasized.

A typical camp site consisted of about 12 wooden 

buildings, which included 4 barracks with a capacity of 

up to 50 men each, a mess hall, and other supplemental 

buildings such as officers’ quarters, garages, tool houses, 

and bath houses. Although the army officers were in charge 

of the camps, their jurisdiction did not extend to the work 

projects. These were under the project superintendent and 

foremen, who were assigned from the sponsoring agencies 

and were responsible for the CCC crews’ activities for 

8 hours a day, 5 days a week (Humphreys 1964b). 

Spike, or side, camps were authorized to work on 

temporary projects located at a distance from the main 

camp that made daily travel to and from the camp 

impractical. These camps were usually under the 

supervision of the user agency and limited to about 

25 enrollees.

top: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt visits a Civilian Conservation Corps camp for lunch. At such a meeting, he decided that the 

quality of the Civilian Conservation Corps uniform should be improved. above: Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees were allowed to 

wear chevrons on their uniforms to indicate their status in the company. These were different from the regular army insignias, and the 

enrollee had to purchase them. The insignias were red in color with green striping.
7

Camp routine was determined largely by the army—the 

bugle sounded at 6 a.m., enrollees dressed in blue denim 

work clothes and reported to formation by 6:30 a.m., 

when they might engage in a few minutes of “sitting-up 

exercises” before breakfast. At 7 a.m., they “policed” the 

grounds, at 7:15 a.m., they stood inspection, and roll call for 

work began at 7:45 a.m. (Humphreys 1964a). 

Enrollees with experience and capability could be 

upgraded in position to leaders; the leaders, in turn, 

worked under foremen from the sponsoring agency who 

walked from group to group making suggestions and 

giving specific instructions. At noon, the men returned to 

the camp for lunch if the camp was near the worksite; if it 

was not, a truck brought the men their meals, which were 

eaten from army mess kits during the 30-minute lunch 

period. At 3:30 p.m., the men returned to camp and had 

assigned duties and work details that lasted to 4:30 p.m. 

On certain days, all men engaged in brief military drill, 

without arms. These drills served them well as most of 

these men went on to serve in the military during 

World War II. 

Between 4:30 and 5 p.m., the men showered and changed 

into the dark green, army-type dress uniform. At 5 p.m., 

the men gathered in small groups for mail call and 

announcements. The senior leaders called the men to 

attention and the flag was lowered as the bugler sounded 

retreat (Humphreys 1965). Dinner followed, consisting of 

well-balanced food—meat, vegetables, dessert, and coffee 

or milk. Enrollees were allowed to eat as much food as they 

desired—the cooks were instructed to prepare food as long 

as the crews were hungry.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) crews typically came 

to camps malnourished and hungry. Quantities of good 

food were very important for the work they were assigned. 

One enrollee described his situation when enrolling as 

constant hunger. Otis Miller came from a large family that 

sharecropped and he was the oldest child. The family had 

to live on a rabbit a day. They bartered for three or four 0.22 

caliber shells at a time to hunt rabbits. A political friend 

promised to get him into the CCC although he had not yet 

turned 16 years of age. He was enrolled a few days later 

(Burns 2000a).

Camp routine

Civilian Conservation Corps crew at a worksite eating lunch from mess kits.
8

He describes the enrollees’ diet situation: 

We were about 100 pounds when we went in there. It wasn’t 

long before we gained 15 pounds apiece. You could eat a full 

meal there. I’ll never forget what they called ‘slum-gullion’... 

They took bread, we referred to it light bread, but you call it 

bread today. The difference between bread and light bread 

was cornbread. We called it light bread because it was so 

good we thought it was cake. Out at the CC camps, they 

cooked tomatoes and whatnot in with the bread and made a 

kind of bread stew, but we called it ‘slum-gullion.’ You’d fill 

up on that and we weren’t used to getting plum full, so we 

started gaining weight. Then of course at other meals they’d 

have something else and a big breakfast. It was always a 

good breakfast, and you’d eat until you couldn’t wiggle. 

Everyone got rosy-faced and gained weight. 

At breakfast, we had bacon, eggs, grits, milk, 

coffee, and fruit juice. And, they had fruit for breakfast, 

too. Fried eggs, you could take three eggs in one hand and 

break them and dump them. Three more and dump them. 

Put those in the frying pans and fry them. Fill it full of 

eggs and say, ‘How many do you want, boy?’ And you’d 

slap them on that plate. Feed them up; bacon, eggs, grits, 

biscuits, coffee, milk, fruit, syrup, and butter. We needed it, 

but like I said, we averaged about 100 pounds and some of 

us got out of there weighing about 130 pounds. That was in 

our growing stages, and it was good for us (Burns 2000a). 

Evening routine varied from day to day and by camp. If 

the enrollee was not called out to fight fire, he was free and 

could go to the camp library to read, to work in a woodshop 

on a project, go to the recreation hall for Ping-Pong or pool, 

or join others in basketball or baseball. Others might get 

permission to ride the nightly truck run to the nearby town.

Not all men were free in the evening. Those classified as 

illiterate were required to attend classes and others could 

sign up for one or more classes per week. Lights were 

turned out at 10 p.m. with a “bed check” at 11 p.m.

The full daily schedule resulted in an emphasis on “onthe-job” training. The objective of this training was to 

produce efficient and intelligent workers who, when they 

left the ranks of the CCC, might find gainful employment 

elsewhere. 

CCC workers were free on weekends, unless inclement 

weather during the week held up work that had to be 

made up. But normally, Saturday was devoted to activities 

such as sports, choral practice, movies, dances, and even 

running the camp newspaper. Most camps held about four 

dances annually, with women invited from surrounding 

communities and with music often furnished by camp 

swing bands. To the consternation of local males, CCC 

crews seemed to have some money in their pockets for soft 

drinks, popcorn, and a movie, and were considered well 

dressed in their uniforms. Dances, then, were frequently 

interrupted by forest fires set to ensure the CCC crews were 

called to fight fires instead of dancing with the local girls 

(Troll and others 2010).

But for many workers, the weekend was time for more than 

relaxation. For some, the weekend including dabbling in 

journalism with most camps contributing regular activity 

reports to the national CCC newspaper Happy Days. Most 

of the newspaper work was done by CCC workers as part of 

their course of study in journalism classes on weeknights 

and weekends (Salmond 1967). Many camps published 

their own newspapers, and by August 1935, there were 

1,122 CCC camp journals; journals from Louisiana camps 

bore such esoteric titles as The Spade, Zig Zag, Rocky 

Crest, and The Pirogue.

On Sundays, religious services were held in all camps. There 

were full-time CCC chaplains on duty, as well as part-time 

contract clergymen, but unpaid clergymen from neighboring 

towns also served camps. The chaplains preached, 

counseled, visited the sick, buried the dead, and performed 

the few marriages between CCC workers and local women.

left: Camp kitchen staff at work preparing meals for Civilian Conservation Corps crews. right: Civilian Conservation Corps enrollee 

baking pies for camp meals.
9

Division E had seven chaplains serving CCC camps. U.S. 

Army Lt. (Chaplain) Richard G. Dillon, of the army’s 

chaplain reserve, headed the group. Chaplains not only 

served the spiritual needs but also supervised CCC camp 

welfare activities, including sports (e.g., schedules for 

baseball, basketball, and softball, and procurement of 

athletic gear) and finding library material and radios for 

camp use. 

A chaplain’s school was established at Camp Beauregard 

to educate chaplains who had little military background 

in the organization and conduct of CCC camp life. This 

was an excellent opportunity for chaplains to gain military 

knowledge and help them relate to experiences of CCC 

enrollees.

Lt. Dillon left active duty with the military when his 

responsibility with the CCC ended; he returned to church 

responsibilities in Monroe. Shortly afterward, he died from 

an automobile accident. His death caused sorrow among 

above: A group of Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees on a 

camp baseball team. All camps had group sports. left: a copy of 

Happy Days, the national Civilian Conservation Corps newspaper.
10

military colleagues and CCC enrollees who had grown to 

respect him for the positive influence he had on their lives.

Medical care was provided to all enrollees. Each camp had 

a camp surgeon assigned to the staff. Usually the doctors 

lived at one camp but also served another close-by camp. 

In 1939, District E had 23 reserve Army medical corps 

officers, two contract surgeons, and four Army dentists. 

Each camp had a dispensary with several beds for sickness 

or injuries. First-aid assistants trained from the enrollee 

cadre provided care until a doctor was needed (U.S. Army 

1939). Camp Beauregard had an infirmary with a 50-bed 

capacity. For more serious cases, local hospitals were used. 

CCC workers received dental care from dentists who 

periodically came to the camps for 2 weeks to provide 

routine cleaning as well as dental restoration. 

Medical care of the enrollees exceeded the care available 

in most of the local communities. M.J. Hair, who served 

as a doctor in camps F-3 and S-1, described the extent of 

care provided to enrollees: “Each doctor traveled daily 

to visit the camps under his responsibility. Trained firstaid specialists handled more routine cuts or bruises. If 

an enrollee had a temperature above 100 degrees, he was 

transferred to the Camp Beauregard Infirmary or to a local 

hospital for treatment” (Burns and Burns 1997). 

below: A camp surgeon is training an enrollee 

first-aid specialist in the camp’s infirmary. right: 

Father R.G. Dillon led the District E Chaplain 

corps, and was respected by both colleagues and 

Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees.
11

The educational level of Civilian Conservation Corps 

(CCC) enrollees varied widely by region. Only 8 percent of 

the enrollees of the Fourth Corps Area had completed high 

school before coming to work for the CCC. In June 1933, 

CCC leadership, acknowledging the need for vocational 

training and further education of CCC enrollees, developed 

a plan to join with universities and extension services in 

helping CCC workers become “self-sufficient and useful 

citizens,” with an emphasis on eliminating illiteracy. 

Camp education advisors and assistants were appointed, 

and, by 1937, there were 1,100 CCC school buildings with 

libraries exceeding 1,500,000 volumes nationally. The 

CCC education program boasted instruction “at all levels, 

including basic literacy, elementary, high school and 

college courses, and vocational training” (USDA Forest 

Service 2011). More than 90 percent of all enrollees were 

participants in some facet of the educational program.

There was an emphasis on on-the-job training because 

of the full daily schedule of the enrollees. Training was 

provided in a number of fields, including auto mechanics, 

various types of construction work, heavy equipment 

maintenance and repair, drafting, surveying, and office 

procedures. The many kinds of technical forestry and 

conservation activities enabled CCC workers to find 

employment with the Forest Service and other agencies.

The kind of training varied greatly from camp to camp 

(Humphreys 1964a). In Camp 255 near Dry Prong, for 

example, typing was the most popular course, as was a 

course on cooking and baking taught by a former army 

cook from a nearby veterans CCC Camp, and a number of 

CCC workers took classes in dancing and in etiquette, both 

as taught by the wife of the company commander. 

In Company 280, a Soil Conservation Service (SCS) 

camp near Minden, the educational advisor developed, 

in cooperation with Minden service garages, an 

apprenticeship program in automobile mechanics for 

15 men. Another apprenticeship program gave six CCC 

workers training in the printing trade through work at a 

local newspaper. Other Company 280 offerings included 

courses in French, art, and carpentry.

At Camp P-58 near Olla, civil engineering was a popular 

course taught by an engineer of the Forest Service. The 

class schedule consisted of an hour of lecture each week 

and a full afternoon a week devoted to field work, “where 

actual field experience in running lines and handling the 

compass and transit” were part of the training. The class 

made a detailed map of the camp, drawn to scale. This camp 

also acquired a library of over 300 books that came from 

the superintendent of schools, community donations, CCC 

funds, and the personal library of the educational advisor.

The emphasis at Camp F-1, near Pollock, was on vocational 

courses and on-the-job training through use and repair of 

camp machinery. There were courses in motor mechanics, 

Educational Programs

above: Auto mechanics was one of numerous types of on-the-job 

training provided to enrollees. right: Training of the enrollees 

in the levee camps had a focus on providing a basic educational 

program.
12

surveying, electricity, forestry, and agriculture, including a 

class that produced a successful vegetable garden.

In all camps, illiterate CCC workers were required to 

attend classes. At the two camps with African-American 

enrollees in Louisiana in 1934, the greatest challenge was 

the elimination of illiteracy. A complete elementary school 

program was established with the emphasis on fundamental 

subjects. There was limited vocational and on-the-job 

training, probably because these were levee-road camps 

where a wide variety of work experiences was limited.

As the educational programs became organized, additional 

training was provided to the educational advisors, their 

assistants, and other CCC instructors. Special instructors 

came from groups such as the army, the Forest Service, 

the SCS, the American Red Cross, and State colleges and 

universities.

In camp at Arcadia (SCS-7), L.C. Ewing, the educational 

advisor, wrote a column called “At the Camp” almost every 

week for the Bienville Democrat to acquaint people of 

the community of the purpose and activities of the CCC. 

Columns covered the educational program, camp dances 

in which the community leaders were persuaded to act as 

chaperones, the town and camp “clean-up” campaign, and 

results from sports contests. Another strong feature was the 

publication of the camp newspaper, The Rocky Crest. Many 

instructional activities were related to the publication of 

this newspaper (Humphreys 1964a). 

A special educational project was undertaken at the State 

Park Camp (SP-5) near Mandeville, LA. Fourteen CCC 

workers, including some from other camps, built a fourroom house and most of the furniture that went into it. The 

men planned the project and undertook work that included 

carpentry, brick work, painting, and landscaping. On 

completion of their project, the CCC workers held an open 

house for the community to demonstrate their work.

John Hunter, who later became president of Louisiana State 

University, was the educational advisor for Camp Vernon 

(F-4) near Leesville, LA, in 1939. When interviewed by 

Humphreys (1965), he indicated that he left his position 

at Camp Vernon with a feeling of frustration about his 

accomplishments. In retrospect, however, he realized 

that more was accomplished than he first thought. Hunter 

realized that teaching the illiterate to read and write was 

one of the most important accomplishments of the program, 

as was upgrading the education level of most enrollees. He 

observed, too, that the influence of the older men from the 

sponsoring agencies, chaplains, and community leaders 

positively shaped the lives of CCC workers. 

Hunter also thought the camps’ recreational programs, 

which gave many of the workers the first opportunity in 

their lives to participate in organized sports, was a great 

value to the general physical and mental health of the young 

men. Hunter believed that whatever weaknesses the CCC 

program had, it was useful during the Depression years by 

financially helping families in need and employing young 

men who had few alternative solutions to their problems in 

the 1930s (Humphreys 1964a).

The CCC education program had a major effect on society 

because a larger number of youths entered the CCC each 

year than entered the Nation’s universities and colleges as 

freshmen (Oxley 1936). Over 3 million young men worked 

in camps and were discharged from its ranks, and 1 out of 

every 9 men who registered for military conscription under 

the country’s Selective Service System had received CCC 

training (Gilbert 1941).

Cooking and baking was on-the-job training carried out at a number of camps.
13

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established 

under a policy of no tolerance for discrimination by 

color, race, creed, or politics. To assure that AfricanAmericans and other minorities had equal access to the 

program, the CCC was mandated to allocate 10 percent 

of its enrollment to African-Americans—a quota based 

on the proportion that African-Americans represented on 

the Nation’s relief rolls and not on their proportion of the 

Nation’s population. 

Early in the program, these goals were difficult to achieve. 

Society at the time made integration of individual camps 

hard to accomplish, particularly in the South. Direction 

of the program changed so that camps were filled with 

either African-American or White workers and integration 

became a reality only when there were not enough AfricanAmericans to warrant establishing separate camps.

As decisions on locations of camps began, it became 

obvious that some communities strongly resisted forming 

an African-American camp in their area. A camp near 

Minden, LA, was moved because of this opposition. Later 

in the program, this resistance diminished because of the 

economic resources that camps brought to the area and 

because the military administration of camps overcame 

many of the social concerns. An African-American camp 

was later welcomed near Minden in north Louisiana.

Another problem in carrying out the nondiscrimination 

policy was the army’s general resistance to integration of its 

regular military units. One indication of this attitude was 

how camp information was presented in annual reports that 

District E published of CCC activities. Information on camps 

with African-American enrollees was relegated to the back 

of the report and separated from the others by a blank sheet. 

segregation Issues

African-American enrollees benefited from the Civilian Conservation Corps as much as did 

White enrollees, or more.
14

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt hoped that the 

program would not discriminate against AfricanAmericans, but the president never expected that his 

program would overcome the country’s deep-rooted racial 

segregation (Harper 1992). 

Although racial integration of camps was a reality in some 

CCC camps around the country, it was not a reality in 

District E. In 1935, following racial disturbances in Texas 

and California, Robert Fechner, who headed the CCC 

program, curtailed recruitment of African-Americans for 

new camps (but allowed it to continue for openings in 

established African-American camps) (Harper 1992). 

Salmond (1967) concluded that with 200,000 of 2.5 million 

enrollees being African-American; the CCC was not 

replete with racial discrimination, because the 10 percent 

national goal for African-American enrollment was almost 

met. Others concluded that racial discrimination in the 

CCC may not have been as acute as in other New Deal 

programs, but that it was routine (Harper 1992). Inequality 

existed, but most observers agreed that treatment in 

African-American camps was similar to that in White 

camps, and the benefits that accrued to African-American 

enrollees were positive and comparable to those of Whites 

(Wandall 1935, Wimbush 1972).

Annual reports on current camps, such as this, were prepared each year by the 

U.S. Army. Distribution of the reports apparently was limited, as copies today 

are difficult to find. 
15

While information is limited about Civilian Conservation 

Corps (CCC) camps, their workers, and activities, this 

report endeavors to present as much information as 

possible about Louisiana’s CCC camps. The CCC had such 

a significant and long-term effect on the economy and 

development of forestry and other conservation programs 

that it deserves to be understood and appreciated (Burns 

1983). The information in this chapter is organized by camp 

designation and sponsoring or “user” agency (table 1). 

F—Kisatchie National Forest, Forest 

service, U.s. Department of Agriculture

The first camps in Division E authorized by the U.S. Army 

on April 29, 1933, were forestry camps. Two camps each 

were established in Louisiana and Mississippi. The two in 

Louisiana were sponsored by the Kisatchie National Forest 

of the Forest Service. The camps were designated F-1 and 

F-2 and assigned reforestation responsibilities. Another six 

camps in Louisiana were sponsored by the Forest Service 

during the duration of the CCC program.

Initially, the Forest Service camps were the only camps 

that had a focus on reforestation. The aggressive tree 

planting program required a facility for seedling production 

and guidelines for the producing and planting of nursery 

stock. The Kisatchie National Forest’s Stuart Nursery was 

established with CCC support, and Philip C. Wakeley of the 

Southern Forest Experiment Station, who was developing 

such guidelines based on research conducted with the Great 

Southern Lumber Company at Bogalusa, LA (Wakeley 

1935), was transferred to the nursery. Research scientists were 

assigned to conduct studies at the nursery, and CCC enrollees 

carried out many of the nursery and field outplanting efforts. 

The Palustris Experimental Forest was established for an 

outplanting site for evaluating the developing nursery practices 

(Barnett and others 2012). This collaboration between the 

CCC and the Forest Service produced research data that 

became the basis for Wakeley’s (1954) document “Planting 

the Southern Pines,” which provided the basic technical 

knowledge to reforest the South following World War II. 

Company 1476, Camp F-1 (also known as Camp 

Woodrow Wilson), Pollock—Named in honor of 

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, this camp started up on 

May 23, 1933, when CCC enrollees from New Orleans 

were transported from their conditioning training at 

Fort Barrancas, FL, to Pollock, LA. After a tent camp 

was erected and establishment of the camp complex 

had begun, early work by the Camp Woodrow Wilson 

CCC crews entailed road and firebreak construction and 

maintenance, telephone line construction, firefighting, and 

fire presuppression activities. 

CCC crews from Company 1476 began clearing land 

for a tree seedling nursery in September 1933. Later 

named the Stuart Nursery after the then late Chief of 

the Forest Service, Major Robert Y. Stuart, it became 

one of the largest pine tree nurseries in the world with 

the capacity of 45 million pine seedlings, but only about 

25 million were grown annually. In February 1934, the 

CCC workers began construction on a great earthen dam 

near the nursery for the purpose of providing irrigation 

water. Water was pumped by two 235-horsepower engines 

over a mile to where it was conveyed into a network of 

8 miles of sprinkler systems. CCC crews completed the 

nursery in June 1934. Buildings needed to support the 

nursery operation were constructed by the Works Projects 

Administration, including a cone and seed processing 

plant designed to supply the seed needs of the nursery. 

The Stuart Nursery complex became the largest and most 

modern such facility in the Nation. 

The tent camp was converted into a number of wooden 

structures that served the needs of the company well. In 

1935, a recreation hall, infirmary, and educational buildings 

were added to the camp. 

Camp Woodrow Wilson, or Camp F-1, turned over the 

work of nursery operations to Camp F-8 in July 1935. 

The new work program for the CCC crews of Camp F-1 

consisted of road and firebreak construction, planting 

pine seedlings in season, bridge building, firefighting, and 

telephone line construction and maintenance.

The CCC crews of Company 1476, during 4 years of the 

company’s existence, built 5 steel bridges, 38 miles of roads, 

and 164 miles of firebreaks. They planted about 4 million 

Camp stories

Philip H. Bryan was 

supervisor of the Kisatchie 

National Forest when the 

Civilian Conservation 

Corps program began.
16

pine seedlings, built 4 lookout towers, spent 3,096 days 

fighting forest fires, and installed 29 miles of telephone lines, 

as well as constructing the Stuart Nursery and its lake that 

provided irrigation water. The Company 1476 CCC crews 

made an amazing contribution to establishing forestry 

practices in the State. The educational program consisted of 

a wide variety of vocational work. Their sports teams were 

very successful, winning several district championships. 

During the spring of 1937, Camp F-1 provided drivers to 

aid in the rescue and evacuation of marooned persons in 

flooded areas of Louisiana. The CCC crews worked day 

and night moving hundreds of flooded individuals and tons 

of supplies to a rescue camp.

The nursery and associated lake constructed by Camp 

F-1 men have had a lasting effect on the reforestation 

of the South. Pine seedlings produced at the nursery 

reforested hundreds of thousands acres of cutover forest 

land. The Stuart Nursery was closed in 1963, but Stuart 

Lake continues to be a delightful area for picnicking and 

swimming in the summer months.

Company 1491, Camp P-57, Bastrop; and Camp 

F-2, Provencal—Company 1491 was organized on May 

17, 1933, at Camp Beauregard, with 188 recruits from 

North Louisiana comprising the enrollee cadre. After a 

conditioning period of 3 weeks, the company was moved 

to a campsite 12 miles north of Bastrop, LA, where CCC 

crews erected buildings, laid walks, and performed other 

work building Camp P-57, which was dedicated on July 1, 

1933 (U.S. Army 1934). 

The Kiwanis Club of Bastrop, LA, had the distinction of 

naming the camp. Morehouse was chosen after Abram 

Morehouse, one of the most distinguished persons in the 

history of that region of the State. Camp Morehouse’s 

assignment consisted of building roads, fire-breaks, 

telephone lines, and fire lookout towers as well as fighting 

fires. The camp was sponsored by the Division of Forestry, 

Louisiana Department of Conservation. 

On September 20, 1935, portions of the company were 

released to form the Calhoun and Homer camps. Work 

at Camp P-57 was completed October 29, 1935, and the 

top left: One of two stone pylons established at the entrance to Stuart Nursery. top right: This rustic sign pointed the way to the 

Stuart Nursery, a major project of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Louisiana that provided hundreds of millions of pine seedlings 

for reforestation efforts. bottom: Company 1476 of Camp F-1 was first organized with tents for housing. These were soon replaced with 

wooden barracks and other camp buildings.
17

remaining company moved by trucks to Camp F-2, located 

12 miles south of Provencal on Louisiana Highway 39 in 

the Kisatchie National Forest.

On June 26, 1935, Company 1477, which established Camp 

F-2, was moved to a Pollock site where it became Camp 

F-8. Company 1491, then, occupied the Provencal F-2 

site. After Company 1491’s move to Provencal, additional 

buildings were added to the campsite. An outdoor 

amphitheater was constructed, and flowers and shrubbery 

were planted throughout the camp area. Camp Kisatchie 

was selected as the camp’s name.

Under the supervision of the Forest Service at Camp F-2, 

CCC crews from Company 1491 planted approximately 

16 million pine tree seedlings, erected 61 miles of metallic 

and 12 miles of grounded circuit telephone line, constructed 

150 miles of travelable firebreak, built 15 and maintained 

40 bridges, erected one 100-foot steel and two 50-foot 

wooden fire lookout towers, and put up 34 miles of range 

and 13 miles of plantation fencing (U.S. Army 1937, 1939). 

They provided fire protection for 120,000 acres of forests, 

and collected cones for use at the Stuart Nursery. The CCC 

crews who climbed trees for cone collection were called 

“tree monkeys” (Louisiana Oral History Project 2011). 

Educational instruction was provided primarily by the using 

service, the Forest Service. The educational department 

had a staff of 13, a four-room educational building, a 

well-equipped woodworking shop, and a darkroom for 

top: These Civilian Conservation Corps workers are beginning construction of the dam to create a lake to provide irrigation water for 

the nursery. It was named Stuart Lake in recognition of the late Chief of the Forest Service. bottom: Site of Camp F-2 was located in a 

wooded area near Provencal. This camp provided considerable support to Camp F-8, which operated the Stuart Nursery at Pollock.
18

photography. They provided instruction in 19 subjects. 

In 1939, 10 enrollees took extension courses and received 

college credit from State Normal College (now Northwestern 

State University) at Natchitoches, LA.

Company 1491 had strong athletic teams. The baseball 

team was undefeated in 1937. A swimming pool was 

constructed by the enrollees during their leisure time, and 

was a popular summertime spot. Two examiners and 

12 senior American Red Cross Life Savers were qualified 

using the pool. Enrollees of Company 1491 were noted for 

their energy and spirit. 

Company 1446, Camp F-3, Alexandria—One of 

10 Louisiana companies to be conditioned at Fort 

Benning, GA, Company 1446 was organized June 21, 

1933. It was assigned a site at Castor Plunge, about 14 

miles southwest of Alexandria, LA. Castor Plunge was 

noted for its spring-fed swimming pool that was a local 

attraction. It was a National forest camp, and its work 

assignment related to reforestation and protection from 

wildfires. CCC crews in Camp F-3 had the distinction of 

never having to live in tents. Barracks and wooden huts 

that held about six enrollees were used for housing until 

additional barracks were constructed.

Fire preventative efforts were high on the list of 

assignments for the men of Company 1446. In 1937, 

Company 1446 set up 156 miles of fire breaks, built 

24 miles of high-service and 35 miles of low-service roads, 

erected two 100-foot steel fire towers, and installed 

48 miles of telephone lines that connected these facilities. 

To facilitate reforestation efforts, CCC crews built 70 miles 

of fences that surrounded 22,900 acres. By 1937, the CCC 

crews had planted over 17,000 acres with pine seedlings 

amounting to over 15 million seedlings within these 

planting areas.

Another major project was development of the Valentine 

Lake Recreational Area, a 65-acre lake formed by the 

500-foot dam the Camp F-3 CCC crews built. The Camp 

F-3 CCC workers also built 75 picnic tables, 35 fire places, 

2 boat docks, 2 rafts, a registration booth, a bath house, 

and an athletic field for the recreational area (U.S. Army 

left: A Civilian Conservation Corps worker 

climbs a pine tree to dislodge cones for 

seed collection. below: This 100-foot steel 

lookout tower with cabin near Gardner was 

constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps 

enrollees of Camp F-3.
19

1937). The development of the Valentine Lake area was a 

significant accomplishment and a lasting contribution to 

the residents of central Louisiana, including families who 

visit the lake for swimming, canoeing, and fishing.

Company 1446 CCC workers took advantage of a 

multitude of educational opportunities, including courses 

in elementary school-level subjects through the third grade 

as well as in more advanced subjects, such as citizenship, 

etiquette, journalism, typing, safety, first aid, lifesaving, 

baking and cooking, auto mechanics, woodworking, 

carpentry, painting, photography, forestry, and vocational 

subjects related to the work project.

Facilities at Camp F-3 were good, with a mess hall and 

kitchen that provided and served good food. Meals at 

holidays such as Thanksgiving were special, and local 

community leaders were invited to participate. The CCC 

camps trained cooks and bakers, as well as stewards who 

served meals.

The CCC workers were responsible for keeping their 

uniforms clean and weekends were often a time for 

washing their clothes. In an oral history captured by Anna 

Burns (2000a), a CCC worker named Otis Miller describes 

how he washed clothes for others on weekends for 25 cents: 

I got a sideline and it was washing. I’d go down to the 

creek right behind the camp where the same water that 

goes through the Castor Plunge creek, and I’d get soap and 

washing powder out of the kitchen, and take it to the creek. 

I had some 55-gallon drums I’d cut down and that was my 

wash pots. I’d build a fire under that.

I didn’t even have a rub-board. They had some old stiff 

brushes, but I didn’t even use that. I got me a big old heavy 

board, and laid it on two logs, and I’d pound those clothes 

with a limb, and stir them and wash them and boil that 

water. I didn’t just let it get hot; I’d boil that water. After 

they got clean, of course, the dirt and sweat was all you 

wanted out of them anyway. The blue came out whether 

you wanted it to or not. They call them blue jeans today.

Camp F-3 published a newspaper called The Camp 

Packard Leader, and some Company 1446 CCC workers 

participated in glee club singing and a string band 

organized by the company commander’s wife. These 

musical groups broadcast each Saturday over radio station 

KALB in Alexandria, LA. 

Building the dam for the Valentine Lake Recreational Area near Gardner was a major accomplishment.
20

A close bond developed between many of the military 

officers, user agency foremen, and the CCC workers. 

Joseph M. Berry, a worker assigned to Camp Packard in 

1937, worked in the camp as a truck driver for several 

months and, then, while still assigned to Company 1446, 

was moved to Camp Beauregard and became the driver 

for Major N.B. Bush, the District E Executive Officer. 

Bush had a great deal of confidence in Berry, and at 

the end of Berry’s enrollment in 1939, Bush presented 

him with a wrist watch. This act made a tremendous 

impression on Berry, and he recalled this act fondly 

almost 60 years later (Burns 1998).

Upon the closure of Camp F-3 in October 1938, Company 

1446 was transferred to Hackberry to establish Camp BF-1.

Companies 276 and 5405, Camp F-4, Leesville—

Company 276, composed of enrollees from New York and 

New Jersey, was established in the fall of 1933 about 

15 miles southeast of Leesville and named Camp Vernon. 

CCC crews from Companies 276 constructed roads, 

firebreaks, and bridges, and planted trees. When the 

enrollment of most of the men of Company 276 ended in 

early 1935, Company 5405 was established to replace it. 

Organized in Rome, GA, on August 7, 1935, Company 

5405 consisted of 200 CCC workers who traveled to 

Leesville to reestablish Camp Vernon. The Georgia crews 

fit into the camp life well and were soon accepted by the 

residents of Leesville and DeRidder. Over time, most of the 

Georgia contingent left to return home, find employment, 

or get married, and local enrollees filled the ranks of the 

company. 

The work assignment for Company 5405 was forestry, 

primarily fire prevention and suppression as well as tree 

planting. Most of the local CCC workers had a keen 

personal interest in the forestry work, because, as one 

worker stated, “We live near here, and for miles around 

here the land is barren as a result of the ruthless cutting of 

pine trees. Someday the work we are doing here is going to 

pay us far greater dividends than the pay we now get” (U.S. 

Army 1939).

CCC crews from Company 5405 planted more than 

24 million pine seedlings in an area of about 20,000 acres, 

while keeping watch over an area of about 108,000 acres. 

Menus for Thanksgiving meals at Civilian Conservation Corps camps indicate that a special effort went into making these memorable.
21

The crews built 65 miles of pasture fencing, 40 miles of 

hard surface roads, and 150 miles of travelable firebreaks. 

In an addition to the regular work assignments, a side, or 

spike, camp was located 17 miles from the main site near 

Camp Claiborne. Side camps were authorized to work on 

projects distant from the main camp that could be handled 

by a cadre of about 25 enrollees. Typically, crews of side 

camps operated out of tents with supervision from the 

user agency. The mission of the side camp from Camp 

Vernon is not well understood, but it seems related to 

animal husbandry. CCC workers in the Camp Vernon side 

camp oversaw the raising of 117 chickens. Three side camp 

workers studied swine husbandry and managed a swine 

herd of 12 pigs, and several workers tended the camp’s 

garden (U.S. Army 1939). 

To increase the effectiveness of the work assigned, each 

worker received 2 weeks of instruction in the “why and 

wherefore” of the project by the Project Superintendent 

A.S. Warner and members of the Forest Service. 

Most Camp Vernon buildings were replaced in the fall 

of 1938 with a new generation of prefabricated facilities, 

including a recreation hall and a dispensary that were 

described as the best of their kind in the district. 

All of the workers engaged in educational activities, 

with popular classes in first aid, typing, agriculture, 

leadership training, and auto mechanics. Several workers 

took college-level classes in subjects such as English and 

trigonometry. John Hunter, educational advisor for the 

camp in 1939, was uncertain of the camp’s achievement 

in education when he left the CCC, but later realized 

that the camp had accomplished much more than he at 

first had thought. Teaching men how to read and write 

and upgrading the level of education of all workers were 

important accomplishments, Hunter saw, and he praised 

the leadership and instruction given to the enrollees by 

the military and forestry employees at Camp Vernon 

(Humphreys 1964a).

The Leesville camp had a keen intramural athletic 

competition between barracks. It also boasted a five-man 

swing band that broadcast its music throughout the camp 

nightly, a stunt night, and a safety suggestion box that 

received frequent use (U.S. Army 1939). 

Companies 255 and 5406, Camp F-5, Dry Prong—

Camp F-5, established in the fall of 1933 by Company 

255, was made up of enrollees from New York and New 

Jersey. The workers developed the camp 6 miles north 

of Dry Prong and began the forestry related activities of 

planting seedlings, building roads and bridges, installing 

telephone line, and joined with workers from Camp F-1 on 

construction of the Stuart Nursery lake dam.

Camp F-5 was rather isolated and entertainment was 

mostly self-generated. At Christmas time, however, Mary 

Leeper of Alexandria unofficially joined the company as 

an entertainer, leading each Monday evening, through 

her spirited playing on the piano, a contingent of CCC 

workers who sang and played their instruments. From 

time to time, she invited blues singers, banjo players, 

readers, dancers, and other entertainers to camp. From her 

efforts emerged the camp song “Hail, Hail to Dry Prong,” 

below: Civilian Conservation 

Corps workers plant pine seedlings 

in the barren landscape typical of 

southwest Louisiana in the 1930s. 

right: Many miles of fencing were 

built by Civilian Conservation 

Corps workers in forestry camps to 

protect newly planted seedlings.
22

composed by Al Lewis, a former company baker. The 

song was sung lustily on any and all occasions 

(U.S. Army 1934).

Company 5406, organized in August 1935, replaced 

Company 255, which was transferred to California. The 

inception of Company 5406, made up of enrollees from 

Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana, coincided with significant 

improvements to life on the camp, including food served on 

tables in the mess hall, a recreation room, and expansion of 

the first-aid room into an infirmary. Camp F-5 was closed 

sometime during 1936; it does not appear in the 1937 

annual report.

Company 5407, Camp F-6, Winnfield—Camp F-6 

was built in late 1934 by Company 277 a mile north of 

Calvin, LA. Company 277 was transferred to Salinas, 

CA, in 1935, and Company 5407 was organized in August 

1935 with 200 enrollees from Georgia. The military staff 

of Company 5407 made improvement of camp facilities a 

priority: problems with the campsite’s storm water drainage 

were addressed, the kitchen was updated, and a barber shop 

was built. 

Under an extensive athletic program, Company 5407 

boasted a crackerjack cadre of basketball players, boxers, 

and baseball players. In the fall of 1937, Company 5407

top: Camp F-5 was built a few miles north of Dry Prong by enrollees from New York and New Jersey. These Civilian Conservation 

Corps workers were transferred to California in 1935 and then men from Louisiana were assigned to the camp. bottom: Road and 

partially completed bridge constructed over Iatt Creek by Camp 5406 enrollees. 
23

won several championships in independent tournaments. 

One worker attended college on a scholarship based on his 

basketball prowess, and another worker, while attending 

Calvin High School, made the all-State basketball team and 

then obtained a college scholarship when the high school 

won the Class B State championship (U.S. Army 1939). 

But whether they were involved in sports or not, almost 

all of the Company 5407 CCC workers were involved in 

the Camp F-6 educational program, with several attending 

high school and two on leave from the CCC to attend 

college. An unusual aspect of the educational program 

of Company 5407 was a class on bee culture. Camp F-6 

had four bee hives, and many of the camp’s CCC workers 

became involved in collecting more hives. 

Project work assigned to the CCC workers of Camp F-6 

included building forest roads, fencing of plantations, ridding 

the area of hogs, fighting fire, preparing fire presuppression, 

building telephone lines, and planting pine seedlings. To 

make the project work more effective, a side, or spike, camp 

was established under the supervision of Sam Whitener, a 

foreman who oversaw the work of 37 workers on additional 

projects miles away from the main camp.

In addition to the usual forestry projects, CCC workers 

from Company 5407 worked on a number of projects for 

the local area, including development of a recreational 

park near the Gum Springs fire tower on the NatchitochesWinnfield highway. CCC workers from Company 5407 

built the park’s parking area, picnic tables and benches, 

barbecue pits, playground, and swimming area.

Company 4406, Camp F-7, Chestnut—Company 

4406, organized in June 1935, was situated on a hill 

about 3 miles east of Chestnut (today Chestnut is a small 

unorganized community south of Saline) with enrollees 

who came primarily from northern Louisiana. Through a 

concerted effort on part of both the military officers and 

user agency employees, the CCC workers made Camp F-7 

one of the most outstanding camps of the district.

Under management of the using service (the Forest 

Service), CCC crews from Company 4406 improved 

the area’s roads, installed telephone lines, upgraded 

recreational facilities along Saline Bayou, worked on 

protecting forest land, and offered instruction to local 

citizens on fire protection.

Under the educational program started in November 1935 

by J.H. Alexander, the Camp F-7 educational advisor, the 

men of Company 4406 could learn about everything from 

the typical elementary and high school curriculum of the 

time to more advanced undertakings, including vocational 

training, drama, music, and personal development. 

Camp F-7 presumably closed in 1936, based on the absence 

of records of the camp in the army’s 1937 annual report.

Company 1477, Camp F-8, Pollock—Company 1477 

was organized at Fort Barrancas, FL, on April 28, 1933, 

and established Camp F-2 12 miles south of Provencal. 

After about 2 years of work in road building and forest 

maintenance, the company was reassigned, and on June 4, 

1935, Company 1477 moved to a site near Pollock, about 

The Gum Springs swimming area was a very popular addition to the Winnfield area.
24

half a mile from the Stuart Nursery—one of the largest 

pine nurseries in the United States. Company 1477, named 

Camp Taylor after U.S. President Zachary Taylor, provided 

the manpower to maintain and operate the nursery as well 

as carry out other assignments as needed. Camp F-8, on 

20 acres of rolling hills, featured a nicely landscaped site 

where buildings were well spaced. The site, its facilities, 

and leadership of the military officers and user agency 

foremen made the enrollees willing workers with a high 

level of esprit de corps.

The CCC workers of Company 1477 were the caretakers of 

25 million seedlings yearly. They also handled all the motor 

repair work for the trucks, ambulances, and passenger 

vehicles in District E, and they hosted the District E 

Cooking School—all work that gave Company 1477 special 

distinction in the annals of CCC work.

The nursery work in itself was monumental. The CCC 

workers of Company 1477 received practical training in the 

gathering of pine cones, processing cones and 

top left: One of several fire lookout towers constructed by Company 5407. top right: Recreational facilities were developed along 

Saline Bayou. bottom: Civilian Conservation Corps truck equipped with firefighting equipment was one maintained by the camp. Note 

the Civilian Conservation Corps plate on the bed that reads, “This driver is requested to drive carefully.”
25

seeds with techniques to maintain a high level of seed 

viability, seeding technology, seedling culture, and lifting 

and storing seedlings were provided to the enrollees. In 

addition to the supervision of the nursery manager, A.D. 

Reed, the Southern Forest Experiment Station maintained 

a staff of nursery scientists, led by M.A. Huberman. 

This research did much to optimize seedling production. 

Company 1477 CCC crews had the opportunity to interact 

and work with the nursery scientists.

Planting of seedlings was a major assignment for the CCC 

workers on all Forest Service camps. Most of the Forest 

Service land acquired for the Kisatchie National Forest 

had been clearcut by previous owners, so reforestation was 

a significant responsibility. Southern Forest Experiment 

Station scientists at the nursery on Camp F-8 directed the 

planting of nearly 750,000 seedlings in research studies 

on the Palustris Experimental Forest, which had been 

created on the Evangeline Ranger District. CCC workers 

from Company 1477 played a role not only in growing 

and planting trees but also in the development of the 

nursery technology used across the South in reforestation 

efforts. This information is documented in P.C. Wakeley’s 

“Planting the Southern Pines,” a book which also provided 

the framework for post-World War II nursery operations 

(Wakeley 1954). 

Along with their nursery responsibilities, the CCC 

workers of Company 1477 carried out the routine forestry 

program of fire prevention, firefighting, and building and 

maintaining roads, and the workers led the development of 

a wildlife preserve, which required the use of a side camp 

on U.S. Highway 167 near Dry Prong (U.S. Army 1939).

Local skilled auto mechanics managed the Central Motor 

Repair Shop at Camp F-8, with a group of 36 CCC workers 

cross-trained from preliminary duties of truck washing and 

greasing to maintaining intricate engine adjustments. Many 

of these workers later secured excellent jobs in automobile 

repair after leaving the CCC. 

One of the community projects the CCC crews from Camp 

F-8 undertook was to develop a recreation center at Big 

Creek Camp, complete with 20 barbecue pits, picnic tables, 

top: Civilian Conservation Corps crews weed beds of loblolly pine seedlings at Stuart Nursery. This was a time-consuming task, 

but only one of many activities needed to produce 25 million southern pine seedlings each year. bottom left: The Southern Forest 

Experiment Station office and laboratory at Stuart Nursery. bottom right: The visitor center for the Big Creek Recreation Camp that 

was developed by Company 1477.
26

and swimming and fishing improvements. In addition, an 

amphitheater seating 2,000 was constructed by the CCC 

crews where movies were shown weekly. This made the 

camp an integral part of the community. 

Camp F-8 CCC workers studied under the tutelage of 

Hubert H. Beal, camp educational advisor, in a well-lit 

education building that housed 3,000 books and featured 

linoleum flooring and modern, comfortable chairs. 

The District Cooking School at Camp F-8 trained incoming 

officers, cooks, and mess stewards from other camps 

on how to cut meat, cook, and bake as well as on the 

sanitation, menu preparation, and record keeping required 

in the operation of an army mess. 

Camp F-8 was an important camp in District E and well 

deserved the awards and accolades that it received.

P—Private Land, Division of Forestry, 

Louisiana Department of Conservation

On April 6, 1933, State Forester V.H. Sonderegger 

represented Louisiana at a meeting in Washington, DC, 

to discuss allocation of CCC companies to Louisiana. He 

received an assignment of 23 camps for establishment on 

State and private forest land in the State. In addition to the 

CCC enrollees, 300 men 25 years of age or older who had 

experience in woods work were authorized. These local 

experienced men (LEMs) were to be recruited as foremen 

of CCC camp crews. 

In addition to the 23 camps already in place across 

Louisiana, four more camps were established in the 

State through temporary transfers from western States, 

where extreme winter weather had made work and living 

conditions difficult. Sixteen of the camps were assigned 

to forestry; 14 of these were located on private land. Two 

other camps were located on State owned or controlled 

lands—the State Forest at Woodworth and Allen Northwest 

Game Refuge near Winnfield, although no camp was 

developed for the game refuge.

On the 14 camps on private land in Louisiana, work consisted 

entirely of forest fire protection, construction of roads 

and fire breaks through the forest, fire hazard reduction, 

telephone line construction, and erection of fire lookout 

towers. In accordance with Forest Service instructions, the 

CCC could work only on private lands that participated 

in the Clarke-McNary program, under which landowners 

contributed two cents per acre annually to the Division of 

Forestry for fire protection (Sonderegger 1934). Planting of 

trees was not a part of the Clarke-McNary program.

The CCC completed a tremendous amount of forestryrelated work under the sponsorship of the Division of 

Forestry. State Forester Sonderegger reported that the 

work program of the CCC included constructing aids for 

firefighting, construction of administration buildings, 

nursery and reforestation work, and actual firefighting. 

Under the category of controlling wildfires, Louisiana’s 

CCC crews built 31 fire towers, 10 tower residences, 2,998 

bridges, 2,142 miles of telephone lines, 63 cattle guards, 

and 3,070 miles of truck trails (Burns 1968).

About 20 camps were established under the supervision of 

the Division of Forestry. Many of these were closed within 

2 years after completing their assigned tasks. Sufficient 

information is not available to provide a history of each 

camp, but the following sections offer a description of 

State forestry camp programs and their missions and 

accomplishments.

In additional to the forestry camps discussed here, the 

Division of Forestry, Department of Conservation, 

established camps in Montgomery, Springville, Danville, 

Sikes, Ansley, Marion, Greensburg, Elizabeth, Chatham, 

Winnfield, Grangeville, and Robeline. 

Company 1493, Camp P-51, Bogalusa—Among 

the first CCC camps established on private forest lands 

was Camp P-51 near Bogalusa on a tract of land owned by 

the Great Southern Lumber Company. On May 23, 1933, 

Company 1493 came into being with the induction of 

187 CCC enrollees. Other enrollees were added to bring 

the company to full strength at 200 workers. The camp was 

named Camp Maestri in honor of Robert S. Maestri, head 

of the Louisiana Department of Conservation.

When the enrollees, under the command of Capt. W.A. Mett, 

Jr., arrived by train, officials of Great Southern Lumber 

Company and local citizens were on hand to welcome and 

help the group. In a few hours, 30 tents were raised and other 

work was under way to make the camp livable. Dedication 

of the camp was held in October with ceremony participants 

including local civic organizations, along with many 

regional, State, and local officials. The camp site was moved 

in January 1935 to 9 miles northeast of Bogalusa.

Typical of the work on many of the forestry camps 

sponsored by the Division of Forestry, the mission, 

activities, and accomplishments of the CCC crews of Camp 

State Forester V.H. 

Sonderegger had 

responsibility for forestry 

camps on private lands.
27

P-51 were focused on bringing knowledge of forestry and 

conservation to the Louisiana. Fire protection was the work 

assigned to the camp, and, with an ever increasing distance 

from the camp, the CCC workers undertook the work of 

building firebreaks, lanes, truck roads and trails, telephone 

lines, observation towers, and other protective measures. 

The School of Forestry at Louisiana State University 

(LSU) owned and operated its school forest near Camp 

P-51. Professors and students from the LSU School Forest 

provided CCC workers with instruction on practical and 

modern methods of forest management. 

Wildfires and their devastating effects became firmly 

fixed in the minds of the CCC workers assigned to Camp 

P-51, when, on Easter Sunday of 1934, fires spread across 

1,200 acres of forest near the camp. Through improved 

methods of fire detection and thanks to the experience 

of the CCC workers in applying the new methods, the 

CCC crews greatly reduced the number of acres that 

otherwise might have gone up in flame. Reductions in 

fire losses resulted from a Camp Efficiency Program that 

awarded inducements and privileges to camp crews with 

the quickest average fire response times. Among those 

who were appreciative of Camp P-51’s heightened level 

of fire protection were the owners and managers of the 

Great Southern Lumber Company, who documented their 

appreciation in letters of commendation for the work of the 

CCC firefighters (U.S. Army 1937).

left: Fighting fire by hand, and with few tools, was common 

early in the program, but techniques improved with time.

right: Constructing and manning fire lookout towers did much 

to reduce losses from fire and improve forest management. 

bottom: Construction of roads such as this one did much to 

improve access for fire protection activities.
28

Company 2428, Camp P-52, slidell—Camp 

Sonderegger, officially known as Camp P-52, was 

established by an advance group of veterans in July 1933. 

Just on the outskirts of Slidell, Camp P-52 was nestled in 

a beautiful pine grove not far from Lake Pontchartrain. 

One of the oldest and finest camps in the district, Camp 

Sonderegger was developed by experienced craftsmen 

of various skills, including expert draftsmen, architects, 

engineers, carpenters, brick and stone masons, and others of 

the buildings trades. 

Among the 200 men who made up the roster of Company 

2428 were many whose homes were nearby. Nearly half 

of the company’s workers lived in New Orleans and could 

look forward to frequent visits to their families. 

Over a 4-year period, Camp P-52 CCC workers built about 

120 miles of truck trails, installed 175 miles of telephone 

lines, constructed 1,200 miles of fire lanes and breaks, and 

erected 4 lookout towers. As a result, fires could be spotted 

from towers and reported by telephone with exact location 

identified on a map, and within 5 minutes, a fire fighting 

team could be on the way—giving the area a capability that 

significantly reduced its risk of timber losses from wildfire. 

In July 1934, a side camp was established at the site of an 

old logging camp near Tailsheek, about 25 miles north of 

Slidell. The side camp expanded to include a group of small 

barracks, a recreation hall, an office building, a first-aid 

building, and officers’ quarters. The site was dominated by 

a fire tower from which a constant lookout was maintained. 

The size of the side camp increased to 75 enrollees (U.S. 

Army 1937). 

The educational program at Company 2428 was devoted 

to practical training that included boat building, furniture 

repair, camp development, and various skill sets used in 

operating camp equipment and managing camp facilities. 

The educational program also included a library service in 

an arrangement with the Louisiana Library Commission 

and the New Orleans public library.

Among pleasant memories noted by the CCC workers of 

Camp P-52 were dances, indoor games, contributions from 

Red Cross and Disabled Veterans organizations, band 

concerts, and holiday dinners. 

Company 1495, Camp P-66, Jena/Olla—On 

May 3, 1933, 53 men were selected for the startup of a 

new company. They received their conditioning training 

at Camp Beauregard, where they remained until June 

28. Under the leadership of Capt. S.A. Hall, the CCC 

enrollees assisted the army with the processing 1,600 CCC 

recruits. In mid-June, a cadre of 89 men was assigned to 

the company. Later in June, another 17 men from Fort 

Barrancas joined the group. These 17 enrollees were 

originally from New Orleans, and most were prize fighters, 

which helped later in athletic competitions. 

On June 28, Company 1495 was transported to the camp 

site known as Nickels Springs, about 14 miles north of 

Jena. The site was a small ridge of land near the spring, 

which became the water supply for the camp. Camp P-66 

was dubbed Camp Swan after E.L Swan, president of the 

Southern Kraft Paper Company, in Bastrop, LA, who 

managed the lands where the camp’s CCC crews carried 

out their forestry responsibilities. 

By July, Camp Swan had its own column in the local 

newspaper Jena Times. The column, titled “Tom 

Cat’s Column...Interesting bits of news and nonsense 

from CCC Camp #1495,” included announcements of 

upcoming dances, such as one that was held in Jena with 

the Dixie Music Makers, an African-American jazz band 

(Willis 2001).

Beginning in August 1933, the CCC crews of Company 

1495 began work in road construction, and, over the next 

2 years, built about 250 bridges, 375 culverts, 106 miles 

of telephone lines, and 240 miles of truck trails. They also 

contributed about 7,000 workdays of forest firefighting.

One of the most outstanding accomplishments in the 

history of Camp Swan was the part that CCC workers 

played in the 1937 Flood Relief work in the Black River 

area. Records indicate that the CCC workers from Camp 

Swan helped transport 1,215 families and their household 

goods, 19,794 farm animals, 250 loads of water (for 

refugees), and 158 truckloads of feed stuff. Not one 

personal injury occurred among the refugees while being 

transported in CCC trucks. The camp’s CCC workers put 

2,629 workdays into this effort. Capt. E.C. Fleming, Camp 

Commanding Officer, and Robert W. Human, Project 

Superintendent, were in charge of CCC involvement in the 

flood relief work (U.S. Army 1937). 

Camp Swan’s educational program included courses in 

public speaking, etiquette, typing, first aid, woodworking, 

radio, and elementary classes. The camp also held cooking 

classes with participation from seven other CCC camps.

Company 1492, Camp P-58, Olla/Urania—Company 

1492 was organized at Camp Beauregard on May 18, 1933, 

and moved to the site outside Olla and near Urania in 

June. Named in honor of Henry E. Hardtner, of the Urania 

Lumber Company, the camp was soon recognized as the 

best in District E. Hardtner, who had done much to promote 

the practice of forestry in the South, was well recognized as 

a leader in forest industry. In a speech at the dedication of 

the camp on September 14, 1933, Hardtner voiced approval 

of the southern pine industry for President Roosevelt’s 

reforestation program, praising the work of the young men 

of the CCC:
29

What means this army of some 300,000 of our best young 

men in the U.S. Conservation Camps...? This army of 

young men will receive $5,000,000 or more for their 

services, and they are earning every cent paid them. As 

a relief measure alone, as some term it, over 2,000,000 

people are directly benefited, for these boys send home 

to their families the greater part of their wages... Their 

association and work in the forests for six months or more 

give them an intimate knowledge of forestry—they are 

taught in a practical way the problems of forestry... So 

in short space of a year our population of 120,000,000 

people are educated to forestry and become forestminded. Such an accomplishment at so slight a cost is 

almost miraculous and only a Roosevelt, endowed with 

wisdom by Almighty God, could have been brave enough 

and strong enough to undertake such an herculean task 

(Humphreys 1964b).

Hardtner’s speech, giving support to the CCC and its 

forestry program, was well received in Washington, DC. The 

Southern Pine Association requested several thousand copies 

of the speech, and CCC leaders directed that the speech be 

read to the assembled companies in all CCC camps and that 

copies would be placed in all CCC camp libraries. 

Camp P-58 was responsible for some 300,000 acres of 

forest land, of which about 220,000 acres were under 

management of the Clarke-McNary Program and thus 

eligible for CCC involvement. The largest landowner of 

this area was the Urania Lumber Company, and about 

100 experimental plots of the Southern Forest Experiment 

Station and Yale University also were close to the Camp 

P-58 campsite. Camp P-58 CCC workers built 400 miles 

of truck trails, installed 150 miles of telephone lines, and 

constructed some 1,200 bridges and culverts. All these 

efforts were an important part of reducing wildfire losses.

Camp P-58’s educational advisor developed a well-rounded 

educational program the workers, many of whom had not 

completed elementary school. The program grew to 

15 different subjects and an enrollment of 45 workers who 

learned to read and write. Camp P-58 educational facilities 

included a large building that housed an auditorium, modern 

library, classrooms, drawing room, and advisor’s office.

The camp was of great benefit to the men of Company 

1492 as well as to the families and parents of the men, and 

certainly, too, the community gained much from the work 

accomplished by Company 1492’s CCC workers. 

L—Levee roads, Louisiana state 

Board of Engineers

Closely related to the CCC program’s drainage projects 

and to the Soil Conservation Service’s watershed projects 

were the large flood control projects undertaken by the U.S. 

Henry Hardtner, a strong 

advocate of forestry.

Civilian Conservation Corps workers on horseback herding cattle to high ground as result of the 1937 flood. (Photograph from State 

Library of Louisiana archives).
30

Army Corps of Engineers. Under the 1933 Unemployment 

Relief Act, the president of the United States could 

extend CCC services to “such works as necessary in the 

public interest to control floods.” Under this provision, 

Harry Jacobs, State Engineer for the Louisiana Board of 

Engineers, applied to Robert Fechner, Director of the CCC, 

for approval of CCC work on projects to construct 600 to 

700 miles of dirt roads “parallel with and contiguous to 

existing levee lines” along the Mississippi River and its 

tributaries in Louisiana (Humphreys 1964a). Most of this 

work necessarily had to be accomplished by hand labor. 

Many of roads and highways ran a distance of 5 to 10 miles 

from levee lines. During floods, many of the breaks in levees 

resulted from an inability to promptly reach threatened 

areas with adequate material and labor. The State Board 

of Engineers was confident that an adequate system of 

secondary roads would reduce the cost of levee maintenance 

and supervision and at the same time would increase the 

protection of life and property (Humphreys 1964a). 

CCC crews from four camps were given work on the levee 

projects. The projects were assigned to the Department 

of Conservation and then reassigned to the State Board of 

Engineers. In addition to the usual group of supervisory 

men assigned to the CCC camps, the engineers placed a 

group of their own men familiar with road construction 

in the camps. The payroll and supporting equipment for 

these extra men was furnished by the CCC program. 

These levee camps were the only ones in the national CCC 

program. The camps were located where the State Board of 

Engineers considered the need for building roads adjacent 

to levees the most urgent (Humphreys 1964a).

Company 1480, Camp L-64, sherburne—CCC 

workers from Camp Sherburne, on the east bank of the 

Atchafalaya River, were given the task of completing 

24.7 miles of road along the levee along with the requisite 

fence relocation and drainage work. The CCC crew was 

made up of 204 African-American workers and the typical 

assignment of military leadership. The development and 

work of Camp Sherburne can best be described by one of 

the CCC workers, Archie Long (U.S. Army 1934): 

We arrived in camp about 4:00 o’clock on the hot afternoon 

of June 29, 1933. It was a disgusting scene, the site 

picked by Lt. Burnham. A spot located near the village of 

Sherburne, on the banks of the Atchafalaya River, three 

miles from a railroad station.

The dream of every one (except the officers who knew 

better) was a well-constructed camp, cold showers, supper 

on arrival, etc. But to our utmost disappointment, we saw 

a deserted dairy barn, tall grass, snakes, mosquitoes, pole 

cats, and no water for drinking, much less showers. 

Most of us from New Orleans thought of turning around 

and going back home. We were not accustomed to this 

camp life, and felt it was fit for country folks only.

Under the strenuous supervision of the officers, enlisted 

men and the older boys with leadership, we got busy 

clearing off space to sleep, pitched tents and hauled water 

from the village to get supper cooked. A snake killed, a pole 

cat chased, the discovering of a wasp nest and such things 

created big excitement among us city boys, which helped us 

to forget about going home. 

Darkness came along before we were issued a mosquito 

bar. Each man had to build his own mosquito bar rack by 

the light of a candle, with only a couple of hammers to be 

used by the whole company. All that night practical jokers 

were at their old tricks. At a wee hour in the morning cries 

came from a group of boys that a bear was in camp. One 

boy swore that he actually saw a bear, and hit him on the 

back with a stick. This brought the officers to our aid with 

guns, but no bear was to be found. I still say that the bear 

in camp that night was the big furry hound that’s been 

hanging around camp since that day. But you can be sure 

Hard work and good food developed strong bodies.
31

that every tent side was tied down close to the ground from 

that moment to sunrise.

Sunrise and everyone was up bright and early. After 

breakfast, a lecture from our C.O. gave us new hope.

The next few days were spent clearing off more space, 

lining up tents, and leveling the camp ground. At first the job 

was hard, harder than most of us had ever done. But as the 

days went by, the work and well-balanced food strengthened 

and prepared us for the next job outlined by higher authorities. 

This job is 23 miles of levee road to be built with wheelbarrows 

and shovels. Seven miles of this road has been built.

The old dairy barn has been cleaned out, and we are 

now using it along with two new barracks for sleeping 

quarters. A main mess hall for enrollees has been 

built, a log cabin for the C.O., and officers’ mess, camp 

headquarters, foresters’ headquarters, officers’ sleeping 

quarters, and forester sleeping quarters.

The President states our time is about up now, and 

every period new members are coming in, replacing old 

members with prospects of getting a job.

Our greatest regret will be leaving our C.O., Lt. S.A. 

Martin, who along with Lt. G.J. Loupret, our former C.O., 

we owe the camp’s great success. It was a camp with a 

clean record from start to finish. Now we are leaving 

the dream of everyone, a well-constructed camp, which 

consists of comfortable sleeping quarters, hot or cold 

showers, light plant, a wonderful bunch of officers, and an 

unbeaten baseball team.... How I shall hate to leave.

After Company 1480 completed its work of building 

24.7 miles of roads with fence relocation and drainage 

improvements in December 1934, the company moved to 

the Louisiana town of New Roads to build more levee roads. 

Company 1480, Camp L-72, New roads—In 

October 1934, anticipating a move to Camp L-72 near 

New Roads, Company 1480 took on a cadre of men from 

Sherburne to develop camp facilities in the New Roads 

area. In December, the entire company moved to the new 

site, where the company’s assignment was to construct 

6.9 miles of highway along levees around Bayou Sara 

Point and Point Menior. 

An aggressive educational program for the CCC workers of 

Camp L-72 offered classes in elementary education and high 

school subjects, and included private and group tutoring. 

The camp distinguished itself by well-kept grounds and 

a cooperative attitude among all the CCC workers, the 

military cadre, and the professional staffs. The work of this 

camp was completed in the fall of 1936. 

Company 1481, Camp L-61, Krotz springs—

Company 1481, established in June 1933 at Fort Barrancas, 

FL, consisted of 206 African-American enrollees who 

set up camp at Krotz Springs on June 29, 1933, along the 

Atchafalaya River. So mosquito infested and swampy was 

the site that after a few weeks camp leaders deemed it 

necessary to move Camp L-61 to another site one-half mile 

west of Krotz Springs. 

As the task of finishing the development of the camp 

progressed, Camp L-61 CCC workers began their road 

construction work on the 21.8 mile Melville-Krotz Springs 

levee road, where they went on to move 136,444 cubic 

yards of earth and establish ditches and culverts. The 

commanding officer, Capt. Frank A. Hemphill, was an 

avid sports enthusiast who gave full support to the camp’s 

diversified educational activities and sports programs. This 

boosted morale among Camp L-61 workers, who worked so 

quickly on building the Atchafalaya River levee roads that 

their work was completed in the spring of 1935.

Company 1481, Camp L-73, Marksville—On 

completion of the Melville-Krotz Springs levee road by 

Camp L-61, Company 1481 was transferred to a site near 

the village of Moncla, about 6 miles north of Marksville 

where Camp L-61 was established in May 1935.

After Camp L-61, CCC workers completed 6.2 miles of 

highway construction on the south bank of the Red River 

from Echo to Moncla, and from Barbin’s Landing to Lake 

Long, the camp closed in February 1936. 

Company 1488, Camp L-56, LaPlace—Company 

1488 started up on June 3, 1933, when the first detachment 

of enrollees arrived at Fort Barrancas, FL. After a few 

days, the company obtained full strength of 200 enrollees 

and was placed under the command of Capt. J.C. Horan 

from Mississippi State College. 

CCC worker Louis “Pee Wee” Ellis wrote the following 

description of the company’s experience in developing and 

working at L-56 near LaPlace (U.S. Army 1934):

Levee road construction work was difficult. Enrollees worked 

under harsh conditions and built without use of earth-moving 

equipment.
32

After conditioning was completed and all equipment was 

drawn, the company entrained at Pensacola for “Bonnett 

Carre Spillway,” somewhere in Louisiana. Where? None 

of us were able to find out until a fellow enrollee was 

located who lived in the vicinity of the said spillway. The 

information received from him only heightened our anxiety 

as to the kind of place we were to inhabit.

Lt. D.J. MacCalman, U.S. Navy, had preceded the 

company to LaPlace to arrange for a camp site and 

make other arrangements that were necessary before the 

arrival of the company. We landed in the back yard of a 

lumber company and proceeded to eat our dinner. Next 

came the hike to our future home. Not so encouraging at 

the first sight, but after all the tents had been pitched and 

some brush hooks had been at work, we could all see the 

foresight which our “advance guard” had shown.

After a couple of months of hectic work and many

mistakes, camp life finally lost its novelty and settled down 

to the grind of everyday existence. Tanned bodies became 

the mark of distinction among the men. Wheelbarrows 

and shovels became more fitted to our hands and were 

not looked upon with great disfavor by the most of us. 

Those who did not belong were weeded out and given free 

transportation.

Dances, basketball, baseball, tennis, football, and other 

forms of amusement were provided and the camp began to 

be more like home. Upon the detachment of Capt. Horan, 

Lt. MacCalman took command and has done everything 

possible, with the assistance of Lt. L.E. Davis and Mr. J.W. 

Openwayer, superintendent, to make this camp one of the 

best in the district. 

With the arrival of new men every few months and 

discharge of many of our friends to take jobs on the 

top: Work crew of Civilian 

Conservation Corps enrollees 

taking a break from road 

construction for a photo. (Photo: 

National Archives). left: Civilian 

Conservation Corps camp barracks 

typical of the wooden structures 

that replaced the temporary tent 

housing in most all camps.
33

outside, the company does not have the same appearance 

that was noticeable in the first days of its existence. The 

original members can usually be picked by their bearing 

and by their actions, both social and workaday.

As our camp has a feature that none of the other 

camps in this district, and probably any other can boast, 

a description seems to be in order. After leaving LaPlace 

by the way of the old Jefferson Davis Highway for New 

Orleans, the levee is crossed about a half mile from 

LaPlace. Upon crossing the levee a most surprising 

scene meets the eye. Situated on the batture is Camp 

L-56 overlooking the ole Mississippi River. With beautiful 

lawns and buildings painted green, our camp makes an 

appearance that is hard to beat. Of course, the Mississippi 

makes a good swimming hole.

The work of Camp L-56 consisted of constructing 

roads that would feature a 24-foot crown, built slightly 

above the seep line, along the levees on both sides of the 

Bonnett Carre Spillway. The use of ballast gravel from an 

abandoned railroad embankment on the spillway permitted 

surfacing of most the road with no additional cost. Camp 

L-56 CCC workers, using wheelbarrows and shovels, built 

13.6 miles of roads, 50 percent of which was graveled. 

Camp L-56 closed February 10, 1936.

Company 1487, Camp L-70, st. Joseph—The 

camp near St. Joseph, in Tensas Parish, was organized in 

July 1933. The assignment for Camp L-70 was to construct 

15.6 miles of road that would feature a 24-foot crown 

and the requisite culverts and drainage ditches, a job that 

entailed handling 104,441 cubic yards of soil and relocating 

and rebuilding many miles of farm fencing.

Enrollee Willard Y. Cuney provided the following 

description of camp establishment (U.S. Army 1934): 

Under the command of Capt. D.W. South, Jr., Camp L-70 

was started on the twenty-seventh day of May 1933, 

5 miles from the little town of St. Joseph. It was made up 

of boys from the following places: New Orleans, Lafayette, 

Shreveport, and local boys. 

We arrived in the night of the twenty-sixth of May, 

hungry and tired. We were given a small box containing 

an apple and a few sandwiches. This was only a bite for 

us hungry boys who had been used to a square meal. A 

passenger coach was what we had to sleep in that night, 

what little sleep we got.

After about three days the camp was in good enough 

condition so that work of building a road along the levee 

was begun. Now this is the time that quite a few fellows 

went “over the hill” because sleeping in cramped quarters, 

have to eat in the open, sleeping with mosquitoes swarming 

around, combined with the road work, the boys thought 

that they could make it better elsewhere, so about 40 went 

“over the hill.”

In the months of September and August, the camp had 

to be moved to the shore of Lake Bruen about a mile farther 

Civilian Conservation Corps men working with hand tools to construct many miles of roads along levees in Louisiana.
34

from the old camp. This new camp site was all grown up in 

weeds and bushes and had to be cleared up before trying 

to start building. This was accomplished within a few days 

and everything was all set for building the mess hall, this 

was constructed first.

This was about the time that Capt. Smith was relieved 

by Lt. George Walker, U.S. Navy, who took command. Lt. 

Walker took charge of everything and work was begun on 

the barracks.

It was the latter part of October that the camp was 

completed. Recreation hall, mess hall, five barracks, plus 

the officers’ quarters completed the camp.

On December 5, 1933, about 30 new enrollees came 

in from Baton Rouge and Lake Arthur. After this, sports 

and schooling was started on a small scale. Baseball and 

boxing teams were organized.

Mr. Tinnin of the Panama Canal Zone arrived in camp 

to take the duties of educational advisor on the first of May. 

He re-organized the night classes, promoted different kinds 

of educational activities that proved valuable to the men 

in camp. He has organized a dramatic club that is gaining 

popularity rapidly in this section of the country.

Much to our sorrow, we are losing our commanding 

officer, Lt. George Walker. He is being relieved by Capt. 

Stearn, who has had command of a camp in North 

Carolina. We feel that he will make a good commanding 

officer and we wish Lt. Walker the best of luck in later life.

So, let me conclude by saying that the men in Company 

1487, St. Joseph, LA, sincerely believe that we have one of 

the best camps in the district. We are proud of everything 

that we have accomplished and let us say, “Hoo-ray for 

F.D.R.” 

Camp L-70 at St. Joseph closed October 18, 1935, after 

successfully completing its assigned mission. 

A—Military Bases, U.s. Army

In 1935, two CCC companies were organized for projects 

on the Barksdale Air Field in Bossier City. In a unique 

arrangement, the user agency or sponsor for these 

companies was the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Barksdale Field was selected for a military airfield in 

December 1928. A minimum of 20,000 acres was needed to 

locate a new airfield, and a group of citizens from Shreveport 

found a sprawling cotton plantation of 22,000 acres 

near Bossier City that was ideal for the purpose. The 

site was approved by the military, and construction of 

Barksdale Field began in 1931, when hangers, runways, 

and housing were built.

CCC workers assigned to Barksdale Field in 1935 were 

primarily responsible for building roads, developing 

emergency landing fields, improving drainage, and 

constructing targets for bombing practice.

The U.S. Army also established a CCC camp at Jeanerette. 

Company 2440 was assigned to develop the infrastructure 

of the nearby New Iberia Government Experimental Farm.

Company 3498, Camp Army-1, Barksdale Field, 

shreveport—On July 5, 1935, Company 3498, Camp 

Army-1, was established 12 miles east of Shreveport, on 

the 22,000-acre Barksdale Airport Reservation, said to be 

the world’s largest military reservation.

The first group of enrollees consisted of 80 AfricanAmericans from the Shreveport area. Another 90 AfricanAmerican enrollees came from New Orleans. The CCC 

workers of Camp Army-1 arrived well ahead of the camp’s 

far left: A portion of Company 1487 

at L-70, St. Joseph, LA, commanded by 

U.S. Navy Lt. George Walker. 

left: Camp sports activities provided 

an excellent opportunity for men from 

rural areas to develop social skills. 

below: The company’s baseball and 

other sports teams were named after 

the camp’s site location at Lake Bruen 

in Louisiana. 
35

commanding officer and staff, unit equipment and supplies, 

and trucks, and so, for a time, the men had no running water 

and no stoves to cook on; they had to carry water in dish 

pans from nearby farmhouses, and meals consisted of cold 

sliced meat on bread.

The campsite was overrun with weeds and grass. With 

no trained cadre assigned to the camp, CCC leadership 

picked a first sergeant from the enrollees, appointed 

cooks, and chose leaders who would run the physical 

conditioning program and set the camp in order. By early 

August, 16 local experienced men were added to the staff, 

and leadership from the user agency arrived composed 

of Capt. George McCoy, Jr., of the U.S. Army Air Corps, 

and support personnel. In October 1935, the company 

enrollment grew by 91 men who arrived from conditioning 

at Fort Benning, GA.

Work projects for Camp Army-1 were confined to 

improvements on the Barksdale reservation. Road building 

for the reservation was a major work project for the company. 

Camp Army-1 CCC workers built emergency landing fields 

and operated a portable sawmill to use timber harvested 

from the roads and landing fields for building bridges and 

making other camp improvements. The workers used a large 

portion of the lumber to make targets for the field’s bombing 

range. Camp Army-1 workers also installed telephone lines 

and built dams to create small lakes for recreation purposes. 

In September 1935, Educational Advisor Fred A. Cummings 

arrived at Camp Army-1 and set up a curriculum of 

elementary and higher-level subjects as well as various types 

of vocational training. Camp Army-1 had a well-rounded 

religion program with a chaplain conducting services semimonthly and local pastors supplementing the program to help 

meet the needs of the CCC workers. Recreational activities 

included different kinds of sports and an orchestra developed 

with instruments provided by the company.

Company 3499, Camp Army-2, Barksdale Field, 

shreveport—Like Company 3498, Company 3499 was 

also organized in July 1935 at Barksdale Field. At midnight 

on July 14, 1935, 14 truckloads of company property and 

the commanding officer arrived to be greeted by Capt. 

James Monk and a cadre of 15 White enrollees of Company 

1440 of Marion. The next day, 125 African-American 

enrollees arrived from the Baton Rouge area. Navy Ensign 

John B. O’Neal arrived soon after as a company staff 

officer. The rest of the month was spent in conditioning the 

men and clearing the camp site.

Civilian Conservation Corps workers at muster, receiving instruction for the day’s work activities.
36

The main objective for Company 3499 was to improve the 

infrastructure of Barksdale Field Reservation. Projects 

included building 25 miles of gravel road, constructing 

25 miles of dirt road with bridges, developing 2 emergency 

landing fields and gun ranges, planting 1,000 pecan trees 

along highways within the reservation, developing fire 

preventative roads and fire breaks, and providing drainage 

throughout the military base (U.S. Army 1935). 

In March 1936, the work of Company 3499 at Barksdale 

Field ended and the company was transferred to Keithville 

to become Camp SCS-21. During the transfer, influenza 

and measles broke out among the CCC workers (U.S. 

Army 1937). The men went on to distinguish themselves 

at Camp SCS-21 by undertaking management of a 

vegetable gardening on a large scale. As part of Camp 

SCS-21’s educational program, the CCC workers viewed 

gardening and producing vegetables and flowers to be 

both a good hobby and a way to have food appropriate for 

a healthy lifestyle.

Company 2440, Camp Army-5, Jeanerette—On 

June 12, 1935, an advance cadre of 16 men left Slidell 

Camp P-52 for Thibodaux, where they established Camp 

D-2, after which they went on to Jeanerette where a 

permanent campsite had been selected for Camp Army-5. 

Three miles west of Jeanerette and seven miles east of New 

Iberia, the site was a grove of pecans and oaks, festooned 

with trailing streamers of Spanish moss (U.S. Army 1935), 

and bounded on the north by Bayou Teche. 

Other enrollees began arriving in July 1935, when 

Company 2440 was officially organized under Capt. 

W.G. Bowen as commanding officer. The New Iberia 

Government Experimental Farm provided the project 

superintendent and foremen. 

Company 2440’s assignment included developing the 

infrastructure for the Livestock Experimental Farm. 

On 1,125 acres of land on each side of Bayou Teche, the 

farm was established in 1914 to conduct experiments in 

livestock breeding and feeding, including developing 

cattle breeds that would tolerate the hot, humid climate 

along the Gulf coast. Ownership of the farm was 

transferred to the Louisiana State University Agricultural 

Center in 1974; the farm is now the AgCenter’s Iberia 

Research Station.

Camp Army-5 CCC workers built 40,421 feet of fencing, 

14 miles of roads, and 114,837 feet of drainage ditches and 

canals, and cleared 205 acres of brush that harbored a large 

mosquito population. 

The natural beauty of Camp Army-5’s setting was 

enhanced by shell walks, a fishing pond, and shrubbery 

and grass. Camp Army-5’s educational and recreational 

programs included baseball and indoor games in the 

recreation hall. The camp published a newspaper entitled 

The Pirogue. Movies in nearby Jeanerette and New Iberia 

were favorite haunts of the camp’s CCC workers in their 

leisure time.

below: Portion of Civilian Conservation 

Corps Company 3598, Army-1, at Barksdale 

Field Reservation, Shreveport, in front of 

their barracks. left: Civilian Conservation 

Corps crew is applying rock to a newly 

constructed roadbed.
37

s—state Forest, Division of Forestry, 

Louisiana Department of Conservation

In 1933, when the CCC originated, the Alexander 

State Forest was one of the few State land holdings of 

significant size for a CCC camp. When State Forester V.H. 

Sonderegger allocated CCC camps following his visit to 

Washington, DC, on April 6, 1933, he proposed a CCC 

company for the State forest. Near Woodworth, the forest 

of over 6,000 acres was a prime location in many respects, 

with virgin pine stands, cutover areas, both bottomland and 

upland conditions, and wetlands resulting from springs. 

The forest also hosted a Division of Forestry pine tree 

seedling nursery that could be used for State and private 

camps in both training CCC workers and in production of 

seedlings for planting.

The assignment of a company of military veterans to the 

site was favorable. Most of the men served in World War I 

and brought with them the discipline and capability needed 

to make the site productive from the start. The CCC provided 

a means of supporting their families, and the State forest 

greatly benefited from the association.

Company 2429, Camp s-63, Woodworth—Company 

2429 occupied a site in the Alexander State Forest about 

15 miles south of Alexandria. Organized July 13, 1933, 

Camp S-63 was one of a few CCC companies in Louisiana 

made up of World War I veterans.

Initial housing was in tents, but soon huts replaced the 

tents. This became the only camp in the district where CCC 

workers were permanently housed in wooden huts. The 

camp’s row of huts was arranged in a horseshoe shape with 

the kitchen, mess hall, and recreation hall located in the 

center of the horseshoe. Each hut accommodated four to five 

men and was painted red with a green roof (U.S. Army 1934). 

Leche Lodge, a beautiful log building built by Camp S-63 

CCC workers, was used as the headquarters by U.S. Army 

officers, the headquarters for using-service personnel, 

and, for several decades, as an administrative building for 

the State forest. The project superintendent was Charles 

F. Delaney, who, in addition to this responsibility, was the 

State forest nursery manager. Delaney was recognized 

by his peers for his excellence in working with the CCC 

enrollees.

Camp S-63 CCC workers were trained in various areas of 

vocational work, such as woodworking, forestry, farming, 

truck repair, and masonry. The camp hosted an excellent 

woodworking shop, where 19 men made signs, furniture, 

ax and hammer handles, and a variety of other objects for 

Camp S-63 and other camps in the CCC district. The CCC 

workers in the woodworking shop also made campsite 

signs carved from wood and set them in stone pylons. 

Camp S-63 was a supply depot for District E. With its 

own trucks, the S-63 depot delivered supplies all over 

the State—everything from a box of tacks to a crawler 

tractor. For several years, Camp S-63 was the district’s 

central vehicle repair shop, where 4 mechanics and 30 CCC 

workers often completely refurbished the trucks brought to 

them from CCC camps, turning the rebuilt vehicles out of 

the shop brightly painted in green with white lettering on 

the door panels (U.S. Army 1937).

left: These are the Iberia Experimental Farm foremen who led the Civilian Conservation Corps work at the farm. right: Entrance 

sign to the State Forest supported by a Civilian Conservation Corps built stone pylon. 
38

Company 2429 was appreciated by the surrounding 

communities and had a significant role in developing the 

area. Camp S-63 CCC workers constructed 2 nurseries, 

33 bridges, 100 miles of fencing with crosstie posts, 12 fish 

and bird ponds, 50 miles of gravel roads, 5 miles of 

telephone lines, 28 miles of firebreaks, and a fire lookout 

tower—and they planted 6 million tree seedlings. 

Camp S-63 had an education program and a regimen 

of social activity that included a drum and bugle corps, 

an American Legion Post, and a Veteran’s of Foreign 

Wars (VFW) post where 32 members of the camp 

signed as charter members. The camp mascot, Bill the 

Goat, accompanied a delegation from the camp to a 

VFW convention in New Orleans, where Bill made his 

appearance in parades. 

sP—state Parks, National Park service; 

Division of Wildlife, Louisiana Department 

of Conservation; and state Park 

Commission

In 1933, when the CCC was established and construction 

of State parks was authorized under the auspices of 

the National Park Service, most Southern States had 

no established State park system. In Louisiana, the 

legislature had not even authorized a State park 

commission under which parks might be created.

Through lenient interpretation of the Emergency 

Conservation Act, the Louisiana Department of 

Conservation met the requirements of the National 

Park Service (NPS) for establishing a park camp at 

top: Leche Lodge, named in recognition of Louisiana Governor Richard W. Leche (1936-39), 

was constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees. It served as the headquarters site 

for Camp S-1 military and user agency leaders. Later it served as an administrative building 

for the Alexandria State Forest in Louisiana. left: Reaching a height of 175 feet, the State 

Forest fire tower is the tallest in the world. above: Charles Delaney (left) and his brother 

Luther Delaney (bending over) were responsible for the State forest tree seedling nursery.
39

St. Martinville. A group of citizens in St. Martinville 

had formed the Longfellow-Evangeline National Park 

Association in hope that this would help justify assignment 

of a park camp. 

Actual development of a park commission did not happen 

until late 1934, but even then, the newly created State Park 

Commission worked without funding until 1936. After 

working for about a year at the Longfellow-Evangeline 

site and making good progress on development of the 

park, Company 277 was transferred and the effort at 

St. Martinville ended. 

In 1935, the donation of a large tract of land from the 

Crossett Timber and Development Company and the 

Morehouse Police Jury provided sufficient land (over 

500 acres) for a second CCC park camp—known as the 

Chemin-A-Haut State Park. Two other large tracts of 

land were later acquired and developed into State parks. 

Only four State parks were developed in Louisiana with 

assistance from the CCC.

Company 277, Camp sP-1, st. Martinville—

Company 277 was organized at Camp Dix, NJ, in May 

1933. The commanding officer, Capt. I.C. Nicholas, led 

the company to McCall, ID, with an advance cadre of 

25 CCC workers. The main body, including enrollees 

from New Jersey and New York, arrived in Idaho in 

early June and located on the shores of Payette Lake, 

where work involved clearing land and building roads, 

ranger cabins, and lookout towers. A highlight of the 

assignment was fighting fires in the primitive Chamberlain 

Basin Country, an area of Idaho so isolated that the CCC 

firefighters had to be flown in by plane.

In late September 1933, Company 277 and others at 

McCall prepared to leave Idaho for other locations. Most 

of the enrollees were shipped back east, but 59 left Idaho 

and arrived in St. Martinville on October 20, 1933, filing 

off the train to find themselves slightly bewildered at the 

sight of a few rather curious descendants of Acadians. 

The Longfellow-Evangeline park area was known for its 

distinctive scenery and unusual historical features. Henry 

Wadsworth Longfellow uses this part of Louisiana as the 

scene for his Acadian epic poem “Evangeline,” one of the 

best known love stories in American literature. 

One of Company 277’s officers described the park’s 

“evidences of every natural beauty in the southland,” 

noting that the “grassy woodlands, sylvan dells, sluggish 

bayous, sunken gardens, meadow highlands, fields of 

rolling green, gigantic oaks, hoary and moss covered, the 

pines and the magnolias and the camphor, the pecans of all 

varieties, the hollies and the dogwood, the ash and gum, the 

birds and flowers, luxurious subtropical vegetation and the 

alluring water course of the Bayou Teche are only a few of 

the innumerable natural beauties” (U.S. Army 1934). 

In November 1933, a train from Fort Dix, NJ, brought 

133 more CCC workers from Eastern States, and activity 

around the half-constructed barracks and hastily erected 

tents increased. 

At that time, the Acadian people of St. Martinville had little 

communication with the world outside their community 

and did not fully understand how the CCC program 

worked. But they readily accepted the outsiders and had a 

great deal of hope that development of the park might help 

preserve part of their Acadian heritage. As well, the CCC 

workers developed a rapport with the townspeople through 

involvement in St. Martinsville social and sports events 

(even, in December 1933, when the CCC camp basketball 

team defeated the St. Martinville High School team 

38 to 12. In spite of the defeat, the townspeople were 

below: A camp foreman teaches enrollees how 

to read blueprints for construction. right: The 

original Acadian home of Henry Wadsworth 

Longfellow is believed to be where Longfellow 

wrote his epic poem “Evangeline.” The house 

was restored and then converted into a museum 

by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
40

impressed to learn that three of the Company 277 players 

had played on eastern college teams) (Humphreys 1964a). 

Delays in Louisiana establishing a State park commission 

to work with the NPS seems to be behind Company 277’s 

move from St. Martinville on October 27, 1934. It was not 

until 1936 that the CCC returned to resume work on the 

Longfellow-Evangeline State Park, an effort that continued 

for 2 years. 

Today, Longfellow-Evangeline is no longer a State park, 

but is designated as a State Historic Site, because, although 

there are picnic grounds and other amenities in addition to 

the museum, there are no campgrounds or overnight cabins 

(McLaughlin 1994a). Visitors come from around the world, 

drawn by the history of the Acadians and Longfellow’s 

romantic poem.

Company 478, Camp sP-4, Bastrop—Camp 

SP-4 was established on a 522-acre site donated by the 

Crossett Lumber Company and the Morehouse Parish 

Police Jury, 10 miles north of Bastrop at the confluence 

of Bayou Chemin-A-Haut and Bayou Bartholomew. In 

1762, French Canadian hunters and traders, navigating 

Bayou Bartholomew in the 18th century in search of 

pelts, are credited with naming Chemin-A-Haut Creek 

(Helbling 2011), a name derived from the French for “high 

road.” Native Americans also traveled through the area in 

seasonal migrations.

Camp SP-4 was located on the site previously developed 

by Company 1491 and named Camp P-57. The work of 

Camp SP-57 ended in October 1935, and in November 

1935, Company 478, consisting of 160 enrollees from 

Crawfordville, GA, under the command of Capt. T.L. 

Borom, arrived with the assignment of building a new 

State park. 

CCC worker R.W. Corley described the arrival of the 

company in the new camp: 

The change from the former site in Crawfordville was a 

new experience for most of the enrollees of Company 478, 

who were natives of Alabama and Georgia. Only a few had 

been west of the Mississippi River, and they all had their 

eyes open wide as they travelled along Louisiana roads 

flanked with moss-covered trees.

Despite the new sites and faces, many of the boys had 

a slight attack of home sickness for their native State. One 

thing that cheered up the youth was a big Thanksgiving 

dinner prepared under the careful direction of Assistant 

Mess Inspector, Second Lt. Bryce Alexander. The members 

were “ just kids” again as they sat down to the appetizing 

meal that made their away-from-home Thanksgiving 

complete (U.S. Army 1937).

The CCC workers of Company 478 brought with them a 

background in park building. Company 478 had formed at 

Fort McClellan, AL, in 1933, and moved to Georgia where 

they worked in developing Alexander Stephens Memorial 

Park. When the Crossett Lumber Company donated the 

land for the park, no timber of commercial value was left 

standing, leaving a mass of pine logs and tree tops. As soon 

as the CCC workers became acclimated to life at Camp 

SP-4, they undertook the task of reconditioning the camp, 

and in January 1936, started a fire reduction project for the 

entire park, building fire breaks around the park boundaries 

and making topographic surveys of the area. 

The 1937 Annual Report of Division E camps reported that 

“these experienced future builders of America have completed 

five cabins, laid the foundations for a new lodge building, and 

constructed roads and parking areas” (U.S. Army 1937).

Camp SP-4 CCC workers enjoyed the privilege of 

participating in various educational activities, including 

not only formal training in a variety of high school and 

vocational classes but also on-the-job training in masonry, 

A portion of Company 277 was assigned in 1933 to Camp SP-1 in St. Martinville to build Longfellow-Evangeline State Park. These 

Civilian Conservation Corps workers came primarily from New Jersey and New York.
41

carpentry, plumbing, excavation, electrical wiring, and civil 

engineering. The workers received instruction at a specific 

time each day, and their foremen worked with them to help 

them see how the skills and knowledge they were acquiring 

could be used when the men returned to civilian life. 

The Camp SP-4 CCC crews developed the park, turning the 

cutover wooded area north of Bastrop into a nice visitors’ 

attraction. City and parish officials touring the area in 

January 1938 reported that “visitors to the park marveled 

at the work of the CCC workers who could build such 

structures without any previous training” (Helbling 2011).

Company 478’s work at Chemin-A-Haut State Park 

ended in March 1938, and the unit was transferred to the 

Fontainebleau State Park at Mandeville. Local officials felt 

that the lack of long-range planning and appropriations 

from the State were contributing factors for the transfer 

from the site. The CCC did not return to Bastrop, but the 

park did receive additional assistance from the Works 

Projects Administration for completion of the lodge and 

cabins. The State allocated $3,200 to expedite this effort 

(McLaughlin 1994).

Company 478, Camp sP-5, Mandeville—Company 

478 was transferred from work at Camp SP-4 near Bastrop 

to Mandeville to begin work on the Tchefuncte State Park 

and Conservation Reservation. Land of 5,800 acres was 

purchased from the Great Southern Lumber Company in 

late 1937. Approximately 2,700 acres of this area was later 

renamed Fontainebleau State Park.

Fontainebleau was first called Tchefuncte State Park 

because early property records of that area used its 

Indian name, Chifonta, which referred to a nearby river. 

The park’s name was not officially changed until 1942. 

The park property originally had been part of the large 

Fontainebleau sugar plantation, named after the French 

town of Fontainebleau.

By April 1938, a village of CCC barracks and other 

buildings was being erected along the banks of Bayou 

Castaigne about a mile from Mandeville, which became the 

new home of Company 478, whose men developed the first 

phase of Fontainebleau State Park. 

The park, on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain, was 

50 miles from New Orleans by land and 20 miles by 

water. The principal portion of the land to be developed 

was the waterfront. The greatest challenge facing Parks 

Commission and CCC workers was dredging, deepening, 

and filling a large lagoon that would offer the area’s 

residents a quiet spot for small boats and fishing. A master 

plan for the park was prepared by William W. Wells, with 

some modifications by the NPS, whose officials considered 

Fontainebleau one of the “most elaborate State parks 

under construction in the South, as well as one worthy of 

complete development” (McLaughlin 1994).

below: Trucks were used to move 

Civilian Conservation Corps workers 

from camp to camp and to carry them 

to field work sites beyond walking 

distance from the camp.

left: Civilian Conservation Corps 

workers receiving typing instruction 

from a Works Projects Administration 

funded teacher.
42

Fontainebleau’s significance in the history of Louisiana’s 

State parks system is that its development by CCC crews 

was not based primarily on NPS expertise. Instead, it 

was the first State park project constructed according to 

a master plan prepared entirely within the State’s park 

organization (McLaughlin 1994). 

The master plan for the park—carried out for 2 years 

by CCC workers and later continued by the State 

Parks Commission after the CCC became a casualty of 

war preparation—provided for two separate types of 

recreational development, one including public bathhouses, 

picnic shelters, a lodge, and vacation cottages for family 

use; and the other including facilities for larger groups such 

as Boy Scouts and fraternal and religious organizations 

(Humphreys 1964a). 

Company 1427, Camp sP-6, Ville Platte—Chicot State 

Park was destined to be the last park in Louisiana for partial 

development by the CCC (Humphreys 1964a). The park, 

about 5 miles south of Ville Platte, began with 5,000 acres, 

and through the years grew to more than 7,000 acres.

Company 1427, consisting mostly of Louisiana enrollees, 

was assigned to the area in 1938, working under NPS. 

When the camp was established, citizens of Ville Platte 

acquired a 300-foot right-of-way, about 5 miles long, for a 

parkway from town to park entrance. 

The CCC’s work at Chicot had great variety. Service roads 

and bridges were built, but the largest effort went into a 

partial clearing of a heavy growth of timber on the 2,000 acre 

lake bottom and constructing a mile-long levee, 4-feet high, 

complete with a concrete spillway (Simoneaux 1940).

The State Park Commission purchased a portable sawmill 

and the CCC enrollees used it to convert the cleared timber 

into lumber for use at Chicot and other State parks.

The landscape of Chicot was as close to spectacular as 

possible in the Louisiana park system. The high regard for 

the visual beauty of Chicot’s forest is understood when one 

reads the report by Willis King, the NPS associate wildlife 

technician assigned to the CCC camp (King 1939): 

Chicot ... is one of the finest natural areas where the NPS 

has had the opportunity to develop . ...Two major forest types 

characterize the area. One is upland hardwoods, which clothe 

the low ridges . ...The climax is an oak-hickory forest, whose 

trees are of large size. White oak, chestnut oak, southern red 

oak, shell-bark hickory, bitternut hickory, hop-hornbeam, 

and basswood are principal members of this stand. On short 

slopes from the ridges to the bottomlands, American beech 

and evergreen magnolias are conspicuous additions to the 

stand. This composition gives a forest which is unusually 

beautiful and entirely unexpected at this southern latitude. 

Irregularly wooded hills rise from the water’s edge, forming 

a long peninsula of land which provides over 40 miles of 

shoreline to the 2,000 acre lake. The park will be unexcelled 

as a wildlife refuge and for fishing.

Company 1427 remained at the park for 2 years, from 

1938 through 1939. Lt. William Bartells, U.S. Navy 

Civilian Conservation Corps workers receiving new uniforms at the time of camp establishment.
43

Reserves, was in charge most of the time. This company 

completed the levee, the spillway, and the large clearing 

and drainage project. With removal of the CCC camp, the 

work of completing the camp was undertaken by the State 

Park Commission. Proposed additional CCC companies 

could not be provided due to the increasing demands of 

national defense.

A limited amount of aid from the Works Projects 

Administration, however, was acquired because recreation 

areas were needed for developing nearby developing military 

camps (Polk, Livingston, Claiborne, and Beauregard) that 

were being built or activated after 1939.

Although the park was used as early as 1942, it was not 

dedicated until June 1943 (McLaughlin 1994).

D—Drainage, Bureau of Agricultural 

Engineering

Drainage problems are complex and the attempted solutions 

even more complex. The formation of independent local 

drainage districts have been the typical approach to dealing 

with such problems.

A satisfactory drainage program has the provision for 

proper maintenance of ditches and related structures. Due 

to the agricultural depression, lack of proper maintenance 

resulted in ditches that were clogged with vegetation and 

debris. As a result, both health problems and economic 

losses increased (Humphreys 1964a). 

The first drainage camps were authorized in 1935, and six 

were assigned to Louisiana. They were sponsored by the 

Bureau of Agricultural Engineering. This number was 

reduced to five and remained at this number until 1940, 

when drainage camps were transferred to the sponsorship of 

the SCS. In 1937, the five camps were located at Abbeville, 

Ville Platte, Thibodaux, Lafayette, and Iowa.

The CCC camps renovated many drainage channels that had 

fallen into poor condition during the Depression. In some 

places, clogged ditches stopped the flow of water, flooding 

farms and creating health problems. The CCC cleared and 

dredged the choked waterways. By 1939, the CCC drainage 

camps had cleared and excavated 18,400 miles of channels, 

built 4,300 water control structures, and relaid 250 miles 

of drainage tiles (Vileisis 1997). This work resulted in a 

significant improvement in the economy of the State.

Company 4401, Camp D-1, Abbeville—On the 

morning of July 19, 1935, the site for Camp D-1 was 

selected one-half mile west of Abbeville, LA. A cadre of 

15 men from Camp Packard (F-3) in Alexandria, LA, 

arrived with tents and equipment to begin developing the 

camp. Twenty additional men arrived a few days later, and 

site work was under way. 

below: Nearly 2,000 acres bottomland forests were cleared 

to create a lake for Chicot State Park in Louisiana. right: 

A portable sawmill was used to produce lumber for use at 

Chicot State Park in Louisiana as well as other parks.
44

On August 20, 1935, Camp D-1 was formally organized, 

and enrollees from Tallahassee and Tampa, FL and Macon, 

GA, arrived forming Company 4401. Lt. Frederick O. 

Rudesill assumed command of the company on September 

29, 1935. Improvements in the camp were made and the 

morale of the CCC workers improved. Of his leadership, 

it was reported “under his able and dynamic leadership, 

and his increasing efforts to make Camp D-1 the best in 

the district, the men have all feel that he is an excellent 

commander. Working with him is not a task, but rather a 

pleasure” (U.S. Army 1934). Under the leadership of the 

commanding officer and camp superintendent, Camp D-1 

was evaluated and rated excellent.

Camp life improved with building completion and grounds 

landscaping, and soon the CCC workers had many 

advantages that earlier enrollees could not boast. For 

recreational activities, the camp offered baseball, softball, 

tennis, basketball, horseshoe pitching, and various other 

minor indoor sports. Related to the educational program, 

there was a good library of books and a regular school after 

work hours in which elementary and high school classes 

were taught. 

The men were trained in various fields of vocational work 

such as diesel engineering, dragline operation, bulldozer 

operation, mechanical drawing, typewriting, mechanics, 

and shorthand.

The parish was divided into nine drainage wards. Within 

these wards, drainage districts were organized. Camp D-1 

had the advantage of accessing considerable mechanical 

equipment. On July 1, 1936, the company operated three 

draglines under a cooperative agreement with the Bureau 

of Agricultural Engineering. They had two crawler tractors 

to level spoil banks and rake drainage channels of water 

hyacinths and alligator grass.

During 1936 alone, Company 4401 worked on 36 projects 

embracing a drainage area of about 400,000 acres.

Company 2441, Camp D-2, Ville Platte—On 

July 5, 1935, a cadre of 25 African-American World 

War I veterans from Camp MP-7 at Corinth, MS, began 

establishing a camp at Ville Platte. A suitable and beautiful 

location was selected just outside of the city limits of Ville 

Platte, and the cadre began preparing the site for permanent 

buildings (U.S. Army 1935).

Under the supervision of Superintendent Leon Wall, work 

began on drainage projects. The first was to clear and 

recondition the main canals and lateral ditches of the Ville 

Platte Drainage District and the clearing and grubbing of 

Bayou Cocodrie. 

Capt. Robert L. Withers arrived at the camp on July 31, and 

construction proceeded at a brisk pace. The first enrollees 

arrived on August 2, and Company 2441 was formed. 

Many tales are told of the hardships of those first few 

months—stories of the mosquito attacks and drenching 

rains. But, it was not long before the barren, desolate 

campsite had been transformed into a small village of 

permanent quarters for the men. 

A tractor bulldozer and a dragline excavator were added to 

the camp equipment and immediately put to work. Several 

new projects were approved, namely grubbing of Bayous 

Nez Pique, Des Cannes, and Toulous, and reconditioning of 

above: B.O. Childs was 

the district engineer for 

Louisiana’s Bureau of 

Agricultural Engineering 

right: A channel being 

developed to facilitate 

drainage from agricultural 

fields.
45

the Prairie, Miller, and Mamou Gravity Drainage Districts. 

The CCC workers were divided into several crews and 

placed in different portions of the parishes of Evangeline 

and St. Landry.

Through a loan agreement, a log skidder was made 

available to pull logs and other forms of debris from main 

channels within water districts. By the end of 1935, a great 

deal of work had been accomplished, and camp equipment 

included three half-ton pick-up trucks, eight stake body 

trucks, and the tractor and excavator.

The camp became one of the show places of Evangeline 

Parish and the pride of District E. The company 

repeatedly received “Excellent” reviews from District 

E officers and won the Sub-District competition silver 

loving cup twice.

Morale of the African-American company of enrollees 

was excellent, and a positive relationship between the 

camp and the community developed. On April 4, 1937, 

more than 800 persons visited the camp and joined in the 

celebration of the fourth anniversary of the CCC. Dr. F.G. 

Clark, Dean of Southern University, was the principal 

speaker. Company 2441 was considered as a worthwhile 

part of Evangeline Parish. Both in work and play, the men 

made a favorable impression on the residents of the parish 

(U.S. Army 1937). 

Company 4403, Camp D-4, Lafayette— “When 

visitors came to Camp D-4 at Lafayette, they admired the 

beauty of it, the neat layout of the buildings, the shrubbery 

surrounding it, and the shell roads winding through it. They 

did not appreciate, however, the effort put into developing 

the camp” (U.S. Army 1937). 

The campsite was originally an area called Girard Park, 

and it was used by the people of Lafayette for picnicking. 

On August 1, 1935, however, a cadre of 25 men plus 10 

enrollees attached for duty arrived at the park, 1.5 miles 

from the city of Lafayette to form Company 4403. The site 

was overgrown with weeds and grass. 

After a difficult period of erecting temporary tents and 

connecting water and electrical power from the city of 

Lafayette in heavy rains and summer heat, additional enrollees 

arrived from Tampa, FL, bringing the total to 200 men. In 

early September, work on the drainage projects began. 

The first was at Scott, about 7 miles from camp, and 

consisted of sloping and leveling an old drainage ditch. It 

took about a week for the workers to get acquainted with 

left: Civilian Conservation Corps workers using hand tools to improve drainage. right: Although much of the drainage was done by 

hand, the larger channels were cleared with the help of draglines. 

Company 2441 of Camp D-2 at Ville Platte was recognized as one of the best camps in District E, and the enrollees were respected by 

the local community for their efforts to improve the drainage of the area. 
46

their fellow workers, leaders, and foremen. It, too, took 

that time for hands to get toughened, bodies to be able to 

stand the heat of the summer sun, and to learn the methods 

used in digging drainage ditches. The work assignment 

consisted mainly of draining the farm lands and swamps 

of three parishes: Lafayette, St. Martin, and Acadia (U.S. 

Army 1935). 

Camp D-4 was centrally located and was an ideal 

meeting place for recreational activities and conferences 

of representatives from other camps in central and south 

Louisiana. Because they were near town, the workers had 

access to churches, schools, and movies. They also had a 

radio station and good athletic and educational programs. 

The educational advisor supervised education of those 

who were illiterate and provided elementary, high school, 

and college courses. Vocational training was provided 

throughout the program. Officers, technicians, and foremen 

from the user service taught vocational skills. 

Supervisors were very interested in training the enrollees 

so they could find employment once they left the CCC. A 

well-stocked library provided a wide array of educational, 

fictional, and scientific reading (U.S. Army 1937).

People of the community initially had concern about 

a camp in their vicinity, but after a few months they 

realized the significance of the work being done and the 

excellent behavior of the enrollees. They began, then, 

to heap praises on the CCC workers. Obviously, the 

accomplishments of the camp program were well received 

and had a positive effect on the economy of the area. 

Company 4404, Camp D-5, Thibodaux—The site for 

Camp D-5 was a half mile north of the town of Thibodaux 

in Lafourche Parish. In an area of about 9 acres, the site 

was low, poorly drained, and overgrown when acquired 

by the army. On June 22, 1935, an advance cadre of 

24 members from Company 1494, Springville, arrived 

to begin work on clearing the site. Arrival of portable 

buildings began on July 19, and work of unloading, 

assembling, and erecting buildings was performed by local 

civilian labor. Enrollees began arriving at the camp on 

August 16, and Company 4404 at Camp D-5 soon had a 

full complement of 200 members. 

The camp was composed of the army headquarters, an 

office for the using service, a store room, a tool room, a 

dispensary, officers’ quarters, engineers’ quarters, a mess 

Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees mustered for military inspection
47

hall, a school, a recreational hall, a bathhouse latrine, and 

barracks. Water and electrical power were obtained from 

the town of Thibodaux. 

The camp was in the sugar cane section of southeastern 

Louisiana. Many organized drainage districts existed, but 

most had not received maintenance in years, and silting 

caused drainage to move away from streams instead of 

towards them. 

Restoring drainage channels presented a difficult task of 

clearing and excavating stumps, undergrowth, vegetation, 

mosquitoes, snakes, and the like. Availability of a tractor 

and dragline greatly facilitated work in the larger drainage 

channels. The flat soil surface made digging additional 

canals and ditches necessary. A large number of projects 

were needed to restore adequate drainage to the region.

One of the largest projects was a section just north of Bayou 

Lafourche running from Thibodaux to Raceland, about 15 

miles southeast of Thibodaux. Canals were excavated that 

drained an area of 24,960 acres. Several thousand acres 

were impossible to cultivate because of poor drainage, but 

were returned to usable farm land. Many other projects 

were completed with the same positive results.

The camp acquired equipment to connect with the 

shortwave radio circuit maintained by the army. A wellrounded educational program was developed, and illiteracy 

was eliminated. The camp newspaper Wig-Wag News was 

published monthly and gained a national reputation for its 

excellence. Enrollee Eldridge Duplantis, of Morgan City, 

was the capable editor.

Company 4405, Camp D-6, Iowa—Company 4405 

was one of the last African-American companies organized 

in District E. One mile east of the town of Iowa, on U.S. 

Highway 90, Camp D-6 served the area of Calcasieu and 

Jefferson Davis Parishes. In August 1935, Company 4405 

was created with the arrival of enrollees from New Orleans 

and Shreveport.

Field operations began by the using service in 

mid-September. In 1937, the camp had an assignment of 

27 projects with a total drainage area of 386,816 acres. 

October 1, 1935, was regarded as an important day for 

the new company. It marked the formal beginning of an 

educational and welfare program under the direction of 

Education Advisor Alfred Jackson. Jackson graduated 

from a public school in Baton Rouge and obtained a 

college degree from Howard University of Washington, 

DC. He organized classes in elementary and high 

school subjects, music, letter writing, carpentry, typing, 

dramatics, and public speaking. However, one of his 

first objectives was “educating” the citizens of nearby 

communities where enrollees were going for out-of-camp 

recreation. Through appearances of various camp groups 

at churches and schools, by talks by the advisor, and media 

presentations of organized camp activities, a desirable 

community-camp relationship was created. “No person 

within the general area of Company 4405 now thinks of a 

CCC camp as a cross between a soup kitchen and a penal 

farm” (U.S. Army 1937).

One of the company’s proudest leisure-time activities was 

the Camp Orchestra, a musical unit that was developed 

entirely within the organization. The orchestra provided 

much enjoyment and entertainment for camp personnel 

and became in demand both from several communities 

adjacent to the camp and other camps in the district. The 

individual to whom most credit for this achievement is 

due is Assistant Leader James C. Polite, the orchestra’s 

instructor and director. 

top: Company 4403 men taking advantage of the camp library.

above: Civilian Conservation Corps workers participating in the 

camp’s short-wave radio circuit operation.
48

The company published, under the sponsorship of the 

educational department, a monthly newspaper called The 

Spade. Under the leadership of the military officers and the 

user service superintendent and foremen, the CCC workers 

made great strides in personal development that prepared 

them well for work after their CCC experience.

AsCs—Agricultural stabilization and 

Conservation service

The Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service 

(ASCS) was an agency within the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture tasked with the implementation of farm 

conservation and regulation laws around the country. 

During reorganization of the Department of Agriculture in 

the 1990s, it became the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The 

ASCS did not become a component of the CCC program in 

Louisiana until 1941.

Company 6463, Camp AsCs-1. Camp 

Livingston—Company 6463 was not organized until 

May 29, 1941, and little information has been found that 

describes its function. It was located at Camp Livingston, 

a military training facility north of Pineville, LA, during 

World War II. Based on limited information from a few 

ASCS camps in other States, the CCC camp’s assignment 

seemed to be preparing Camp Livingston for an influx 

of army troops. By 1941, the CCC was in decline, due 

primarily to the buildup of military forces.

BF—Federal Game refuge, Bureau of 

Fisheries and Wildlife

In 1937, the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge was 

established about 8 miles south of the town of Hackberry 

in Cameron Parish. The large size of the refuge, 138,987 

acres, made it a prime habitat for migratory waterfowl 

and other birds. The site consisted of brackish marshes 

and wetlands located between the Gulf’s beach cheniers 

(oak ridges) and the coastal prairie and is one of the 

most productive marshes in North America. The Bureau 

of Fisheries and Wildlife (now U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service) saw an opportunity to use the CCC to develop a 

headquarters site on the refuge and make it more attractive 

to wildlife, particularly ducks and geese. 

Company 1446, Camp BF-1, Hackberry—Company 

1446 from Camp F-3 in Alexandria moved to a site near 

Hackberry in October 1938 and established Camp BF-1, 

only 15 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico. The campsite, 

Camp Sabine, had the distinction of being laid out exactly 

according to the district layout and specification for CCC 

camps. The lack of any trees made the arrangement 

possible. Despite the lack of trees, steady gulf breezes 

helped to cool the buildings.

In spite of its location, described as the “last outpost of 

civilization,” many of the company liked the site at least as 

much as they liked the Camp Packard site near Alexandria 

where they’d come from.

The work assignment was to build up an “island” on some 

of the highest land on the refuge—which was only 2 feet 

above sea level. This elevated site was constructed to about 

6 feet above sea level, and became the site on which the 

refuge headquarters was to be built. In addition to this 

clockwise, left to right: The camp surgeon 

checks the health of an enrollee. Alfred 

Jackson did much to educate and train 

Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees. 

Enrollees participating in a radio class—one 

of a number of educational subjects.
49

project, the enrollees cleared canals and built levees to form 

pools, varying is size from 12 to 40 square miles each, to 

encourage use by waterfowl (U.S. Army 1939).

The Camp BF-1 camp enrollees did well in both 

educational and athletic programs. Both the softball and 

basketball teams were outstanding. A number of the camp’s 

enrollees attended Hackberry High School, and school 

teachers instructed workers at the camp. Boat building was 

a vocational effort, in addition to auto mechanics, truck 

driving, and wood working. 

sCs—Private Land, soil Conservation 

service

The first soil conservation work of the CCC was conducted 

under the direction of the Soil Erosion Service (SES), an 

agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior. The SES 

was established by the National Industrial Recovery Act of 

1933. The first allocation of CCC camps to the SES began 

on April 1, 1934. 

The program of the CCC personnel, under the SES, 

was largely restricted to gully control and terrace outlet 

construction. Their responsibilities included construction 

of ditches and check dams, clearing of streams, bank 

sloping and sodding, and tree planting in eroded areas 

(Humphreys 1964b).

The SES was absorbed by the new Soil Conservation 

Service (SCS) in 1935 when it was established in the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture. The objectives of the SCS 

were to determine the scientific fundamentals to improve 

soil conservation methods and to use these to promote 

conservation practices among farms, thus to maximize 

control of erosion on as much agricultural land as possible.

The SCS-sponsored camps worked within selected 

watersheds in demonstration projects on farms within 

designated “conservation districts.” These districts 

were established by farmers under State guidelines and 

supervised by local landowners. This arrangement allowed 

for Federal assistance toward conservation activities 

without Federal control (Louisiana Department of 

Agriculture and Forestry 2011).

The CCC continued and expanded its work under the newly 

created SCS. The need for the soil conservation effort 

was staggering. In the mid-1930s, it was estimated that 

13 million acres had lost needed protection from erosion, 

and that 6 million had lost 25 percent of their topsoil. Raw 

gaping gullies occurred between patches of stunted cotton 

and corn, and infertile sub-soil washed down on good 

bottom land (Hammett 1941).

CCC efforts under the SES and the SCS were structured as 

demonstration projects. A large portion of the first year’s 

work in Louisiana revolved around a plan to return a part 

of the eroded, sub-marginal land to forested areas, and 

Coastal marsh typical of that of the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. inset: Migratory birds, such as this snow goose, find an ideal 

resting area in the Sabine refuge (Photograph by Eric Rueter).
50

improve the remaining woody areas of individual farms. 

In the first 5 months of operation, the Minden CCC camp 

planted about a million trees for erosion control, mostly 

pine and black locust seedlings (Humphreys 1964a).

From the beginning, the CCC was a major factor in 

developing soil conservation programs in Louisiana. By 

the end of 1936, 16 camps were engaged in demonstrating 

erosion control methods to farmers. Later the number of 

camps was reduced to 11 and remained at that level until the 

transfer of the drainage camps of the Bureau of Agricultural 

Engineers to the SCS in 1940 (Humphreys 1964a).

The SCS’s use of the CCC for conservation education in 

Louisiana was remarkable. Camps were widely distributed 

across the State (Natural Resources Conservation Service 

2008). Most existed for only about 2 years, but each 

demonstrated the value of soil and water conservation to 

the local populace.

Education of the CCC workers was, too, an important 

contribution to the program. The leadership in SCS 

camps operated on a more flexible schedule than in more 

mission-oriented Forest Service camps (Humphreys 

1965). Typically, time was scheduled in the workday for 

participation in education-related courses and studies.

Due to the nature of the camp projects, most camps were 

short-lived. In total, the SCS hosted about 30 camps. The 

following specific information about a few camps reflects 

the activity of most established by the SCS. 

Companies 5408 and 2452, Camp sCs-1, 

Minden—Company 5408, located near Minden, was the 

first soil conservation camp in Louisiana. The site for the 

camp, designated Camp Meyer after Dr. A.H. Meyer, a 

noted soil scientist, was originally occupied in fall of 1934 

by Company 280. It was composed mostly of enrollees and 

military officers from New York and New Jersey who were 

transferred to Louisiana from Idaho. Company 280 had an 

uncertain existence in Louisiana, first assigned to Creston 

as Camp SP-2 in October 1933, then relocated several times 

before settling in Minden in 1934. In Minden, Company 

280 began soil conservation work sponsored by the SES. In 

the summer of 1935, Company 280 was reassigned to the 

western part of the United States, and in the fall, Company 

5408 replaced Company 280 at the Minden camp (U.S. 

Army 1937).

In 1935, the SES was merged into the Soil Conservation 

Service (SCS), which was placed in the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, and its mission was expanded. Company 

5408 was assigned responsibilities under the new 

sponsorship.

Members of Company 5408 were enrolled in the CCC at 

Tipton, GA, in August 1935, and nicknamed themselves 

“Georgia Crackers.” Soon after being sworn into the 

CCC, they headed for the “Sugar Cane State” and arrived 

in Minden a few days later. By this time, the “Yanks” of 

Company 280 had departed for Utah and California.

In the fall of 1935, the company expanded with the transfer 

of southern Louisiana enrollees from disbanded Camp 

P-68 at Ansley. Addition of the Cajun French-speaking 

CCC workers made the “Georgia Cracker” company more 

cosmopolitan and resulted in some interesting interactions. 

Initially, some of the Georgia enrollees believed the south 

Louisiana Cajuns must be African-American enrollees due 

to their darker skin.

left: B.L. Pyburn was early State Administrator for Soil Erosion Service Camps. above: Farm land was 

completely destroyed by agricultural practices that did not limit erosion.
51

In an oral interview with Anna Burns (2000), Henry 

Harval, a French speaking Cajun, described an interaction 

with his commanding officer: Asked by the commanding 

officer (CO) if Harval wanted a job in the officers’ mess, 

Harval replied, “No sir.” The CO asked him why not. 

Harval responded, “Because you like to cuss. A Frenchman 

don’t like to make a fist!” The CO said, “Take the job and 

I’ll help you.” So Harval took the job. 

“And he [the CO] helped me a lot,” Harval noted. “The CO 

told me, ‘I got a letter for you in my desk. When you leave 

here, get the Captain or Lieutenant to give you that letter.’ I 

still got it—a recommendation letter.”

Enrollees of Company 5408 developed an esprit de corps 

that saw them through a number of changes and resulted 

in an outstanding organization. However, on July 1, 

1938, Company 5408 at SCS-1, Minden, was replaced by 

Company 2452 (U.S. Army 1937). 

Company 2452 was composed of World War I veterans 

from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, North 

Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Enrollees had 

a wide variety of interests, and the educational program 

was designed to meet the interests. Chief pursuits were 

in practical vocational education. In addition to the usual 

woodworking and auto mechanic programs, the camp 

had a scientific poultry project that called for 100 chicks 

per week. Testing of various breeds was carried out 

to determine the best varieties for both food and egg 

production. The camp also maintained a hog husbandry 

project in cooperation with an enrollee who raised hogs on 

his own (U.S. Army 1937).

Writing and artistic ability were given expression through 

the publication of the camp newspaper The Veterans’ 

Courier, edited by Patrick J. Rosier. It was well illustrated 

and given a three-star rating by publishers of the CCC 

national newspaper Happy Days.

Company 4407, Camp sCs-2, Haughton—Camp 

SCS-2 was established in the summer of 1935, and was 

located about 3 miles northwest of Haughton on the 

Shreveport-Minden highway (U.S. Army 1935). The 

enrollees were African-Americans from Louisiana and 

Florida. 

Development of the camp went well, with buildings 

painted and the site landscaped. The company had a 

serious setback in January and February of 1936, when it 

suffered an influenza epidemic. At one time, there were 

60 enrollees in bed and 5 of these enrollees died. Later in 

Map of Louisiana showing the locations and numbers of Soil Conservation Service camps located in Louisiana from 1934 to 1942. 

(Natural Resources Conservation Service 2008)
52

the year, the company had an epidemic of mumps with as 

many as 33 enrollees bedridden at once; however, there 

were no deaths from the mumps epidemic.

The camp officials developed a good educational program. 

All enrollees participated in classes that met three times a 

week, and many attended three or more different classes. 

One show place of the camp was its vegetable garden. 

Camp 4407 was rated best in the sub-district eight times.

Cooperative efforts were established with farmers in the 

area, and demonstration projects began. In 2 years, the 

company performed over 40,000 workdays assisting in 

constructing many miles of terraces, outlet ditches, and 

fences. They improved hundreds of acres of pasture lands, 

planted thousands of acres of seedlings, and assisted farmers 

in planting hundreds of acres of cover crops.

All of the work contributed to the physical betterment of 

the farms affected, and the farmers cooperating profited 

financially by the contributions of the CCC enrollees. 

Moreover, the demonstrations installed by the CCC 

established soil conservation models that continue to be 

applied over the State and region.

Company 4409, Camp sCs-4, Farmerville—

Company 4409, known as “The Farmers” (a name resulting 

from the fact that the camp was located just outside the 

town of Farmerville) was established in June 1935. Most 

enrollees came from the Florida Parishes of Louisiana. The 

popularity of the conservation work developed steadily 

as demonstration projects were installed. Contracts with 

farmers increased as results of the CCC work were observed. 

The camp had well-trained technical and supervising 

personnel, and the men were taught terrace construction, 

tractor operation, and proper use of hand tools in drainage 

work. Each new job was started with instruction from the 

foremen in charge. 

Classes were taught in soils and in the practices needed 

to limit erosion and improve soil productivity. Instruction 

was given in improved farming practices for different 

agricultural crops. As a result of this training, the men in 

a year constructed over 30,000 feet of drainage channels, 

dug 122 miles of furrows and ridges, sodded 33,000 square 

yards, and built nearly 100 miles of fencing.

The company had an outstanding safety record, both in 

transporting men and in carrying out their conservation work.

Company 4412, Camp sCs-7, Arcadia, and Camp 

sCs-22, ringgold—On June 12, 1935, twenty-five men 

from Company 1445, Camp P-69, Chatham, moved to 

21⁄2 miles south of Arcadia and began construction of Camp 

SCS-7. They were joined by 31 enrollees from northern 

Louisiana and about 120 from Florida. These groups formed 

Company 4412. Erosion control measures that were applied 

to farms under an agreement with the SCS proved their 

value as demonstration projects. Farmers in the camp area 

were attracted by the benefits that could be obtained from 

soil erosion practices, and soon a steady flow of cooperators 

signed agreements with the SCS. 

By May 31, 1937, some 42,980 workdays had been spent 

in fields of cooperators working on erosion control 

demonstrations. Eighty-four cooperative agreements had 

been signed with a total acreage of 16,915; 246 miles of 

terrace lines had been established; 121 miles of terraces 

had been constructed; 61,135 cubic yards of soil were 

removed from outlet channels; 75,560 square yards of 

sodding was placed in outlet channels; and 150 acres of 

trees were planted (U.S. Army 1937). 

below: Camp SRS-1 at Minden 

was the first in numerous camps 

where soil conservation practices 

were demonstrated to landowners. 

right: Hogs of mixed breeds 

ranged on cutover land, so efforts 

were needed to upgrade the 

quality of farm herds.
53

Special interest was placed in training enrollees by 

members of the SCS technical staff. A recognized system 

of job training was established. Officials conducted 

classes both in the field and in the camp during morning 

and night hours. 

The camp educational advisor from 1936 to 1940 was 

L.C. (Lew) Ewing. He was friendly, sincere, competent, 

and devoted to providing training adapted to the needs of 

the enrollees. Under his leadership, the camp published a 

newspaper, the Rocky Crest, which was regarded as one of 

the best in the national CCC program. 

The experience of E.W. Carswell provides an example of 

the educational training that was available to the enrollees 

(Carswell 1985). Carswell was an enrollee from Florida 

and lacked 2 years from completing high school. Ewing 

worked with Carswell and others to obtain their high school 

diplomas, mostly by attending classes at the camp, and he 

recommended to Carswell that he should go to college. He 

obtained a scholarship for him to attend Louisiana Tech 

University in Rustin and worked his camp schedule so he 

could carpool to Louisiana Tech for classes in the morning. 

Carswell became an educational assistant to Ewing and 

his experience in editing the Rocky Crest helped him 

become the editor of Tech Talk, the Louisiana Tech student 

newspaper. Carswell served in the military during World 

War II and returned to Louisiana Tech in a staff position. 

He left Louisiana Tech in 1949 and returned to Florida to 

enter the newspaper business (Carswell 1985). He remained 

thankful and proud of his experiences in the CCC that 

served him well throughout his life. 

Carswell’s educational experience was not uncommon. 

In 1938, Ewing scheduled 42 courses with 21 instructors 

for the company enrollees. Both the educational and 

recreational programs were excellent. 

Camp SCS-7 at Arcadia closed and the company moved 

to Camp SCS-22 at Ringgold in April 1939. The enrollees 

liked the new campsite because it was nearer town and the 

fishing facilities at Lake Bistineau.

below: Planting pine seedlings to control erosion was a common 

practice on severely eroded sites. top right: Improving drainage and 

reducing erosion required a lot of hand labor. bottom right: Terracing 

was a common practice to reduce soil erosion. 
54

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was hugely 

popular and had support in Congress because of the great 

outpouring of public approval the CCC program enjoyed. 

Even U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s most critical 

opponents agreed that the CCC was a good program 

that did much to provide relief to youth and their parents 

during the Great Depression. The program also pioneered 

conservation efforts across the Nation (Salmond 1967).

In 1940, however, a year of change began for the CCC. The 

U.S. Congress was unwilling to provide permanent status 

for the CCC. One reason for this attitude was that Civil 

Service rules for employment would have been followed 

in a permanent agency, and this would have eliminated 

a lucrative means of political patronage (McLaughlin 

1994). Selection of user service supervisors for camps 

was frequently influenced by politicians. The salaries of 

these foremen were paid by the CCC. Louisiana provided 

a prime example of this patronage. Louisiana’s governor 

presented names of men he wanted appointed for these 

positions, and State Forester V.H. Sonderegger routinely 

honored those requests (Cline and others 1933)—so much 

so that Sonderegger was found in violation of the Society 

of American Foresters ethical standards and was dropped 

from membership in his professional organization.

Another rationale for not granting permanent status to the 

CCC was that this would seem like a pessimistic gesture of 

defeat in the prolonged battle to end the Great Depression. 

Therefore, Congress decided merely to extend the CCC to 

July 1, 1943 (Salmond 1967).

In late 1939, as the world seemed headed to war, relief and 

public works agencies of the New Deal had to be modified 

to support building up U.S. military strength. In September 

1940, the CCC was directed to provide enrollees with 

8 hours of military basic training every week. With the 

surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy 

against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, 

Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941, it became 

inevitable that the CCC had to be discontinued. On May 4, 

1942, President Roosevelt asked Congress to appropriate 

funds to operate 150 camps for the next fiscal year, with the 

idea that the camps would contribute to national security, 

but Congress did not approve Roosevelt’s request. The CCC 

was not abolished, but no operating funds were approved, 

and, effectively, the Nation’s era of CCC work came to an 

end on July 30, 1942 (Salmond 1967). 

World War II and the Demise of the 

Civilian Conservation Corps
55

The accomplishments and influences of the Civilian 

Conservation Corps (CCC) on a national scale are so 

remarkable that they might seem difficult to comprehend. 

They were widely accepted and appreciated in all 

regions of the Nation. It is difficult to describe these in 

any meaningful way, even when limited to the State of 

Louisiana, without addressing these by type of impact on 

the State and its people.

Economic Influences

Looking back, payment of $30 for a month of hard work 

might seem, as some have called it, “slave labor.” Putting 

this amount in context, however, means looking at what 

this wage means in the Great Depression, when more than 

25 percent of the Nation’s workforce was unemployed and 

more than 50 percent of the Nation’s children and youth 

went to bed hungry every night. 

The CCC was then a Godsend to millions of people. Over 

its 9 years of existence, more than 3 million men were 

enrolled in the organization nationally and more than 

50,000 were in Louisiana (McEntee 1942). As Henry 

Hardtner noted, the $25 sent home to the enrollee’s family 

enhanced the livelihood of many people and even helped 

save farms and other family businesses (Humphreys 

1964a). Assuming that only four other family members 

significantly benefited from the funds sent home (this 

assumption is probably low since families were large at the 

time), more than 15 million citizens directly benefited from 

the CCC. Therefore, with a population of 120 million at 

the time, more than 10 percent of the total population was 

directly affected in a positive economic way. In Louisiana 

alone, $13 million were dispersed to dependents by 

enrollees (McEntee 1942). 

In addition to the direct effect of the CCC workers’ 

payments to their families, the camps themselves had a 

significant economic effect on the communities where 

they were located. Up to 24 local experienced men were 

employed for each camp as foremen, and the purchase of 

supplies, food, and other necessities had a positive effect 

on the local economy. Camps first thought of as threats 

to the community soon became seen as a highly desired 

economic resource. 

Military Training

The U.S. Army’s role was key to the success of the CCC. 

Military personnel organized and managed the camps, 

and provided the resources to make camps functional. 

Regular Army officers provided regional oversight that 

included logistics, supply, transportation, medical, and 

chaplain services. Reserve officers were used primarily 

for the management of the camps. Officers from the U.S. 

Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Marines Corps were 

used in the camps when numbers of army personnel were 

insufficient.

Reserve officers called to serve in the CCC did not receive 

military longevity for their service, but were considered as 

civilians in that regard.

The CCC program provided important training to both 

military personnel and CCC enrollees. The officers 

benefited from their opportunity to manage companies 

of enrollees, to obtain and provide the resources to feed, 

clothe, and house these men, and to arrange transportation 

across the country as needed. They, too, had the advantage 

of working with competent civilian user services specialists 

that enhanced their managerial experience.

The CCC’s exposure to a military program provided 

important training to enrollees. They learned discipline, 

ability to work with others, and leadership skills. 

The training that military officers and CCC enrollees 

received in the CCC program was a valuable asset when 

Accomplishments and Influences

Such homes on worn-out farmland indicated lack of income and 

hope during the Great Depression.
56

World War II began. Training of the officers enhanced their 

capability to organize and manage troops, and training 

of the enrollees led to soldiers who had discipline and 

leadership skills that made for more effective military 

commands. 

There are many reports from ranking military officers 

of the role of CCC trained men in the war effort. Capt. 

J.E. Kidd, a staff officer in the CCC program at Camp 

Beauregard who served with distinction as a colonel in 

Europe during World War II, often acknowledged the role 

the CCC played in the Allied victory. He stated that the 

CCC had prepared the men physically and mentally for 

the dangers and hardships imposed by war, and that their 

CCC job experiences enabled them to quickly qualify 

as specialists, key men who could be depended upon in 

difficult situations (Carswell 1985). 

Educational Advances

Although education was not one of the initial objectives of the 

CCC, as camps were established it became obvious that there 

were opportunities to enhance the experience of enrollees. 

Soon education of enrollees became an important goal.

The aims of the educational program included: elimination 

of illiteracy, correction of deficiencies in elementary 

school subjects, vocational instruction, cultural and social 

training, character and citizenship development, and help in 

finding employment.

To organize educational opportunities, an educational 

advisor was recruited on a contract basis and assigned to 

each camp, with oversight from the district headquarters. 

Educational programs had as a focus both on-the-job 

training and more formalized vocational and academic 

experiences. The objective of the on-the-job training was 

to provide skills that would allow employment when the 

enrollees left the CCC. There was a wide range of such 

training—auto mechanics, wood working, cooking and 

baking, a multitude of construction capabilities, business, 

newspaper publication, and many others that would help 

develop responsible workers. 

Advisors had to be creative in meeting educational 

needs. Many enrollees felt that learning welding would 

be an asset in finding jobs when leaving the CCC. With 

limited funding for educational supplies, a number of 

educational advisors purchased welding equipment from 

Sears Roebuck with the workers agreeing to pay a small 

right: Capt. J.E. Kidd was a favorite among the Civilian Conservation Corps camps because of his 

friendliness and leadership skills. above: Civilian Conservation Corps workers received many types 

of on-the-job training, learning not only construction techniques but also leadership through working 

together to accomplish difficult tasks, such as dam building. 
57

assessment and the advisor scraping together additional 

funds for its purchase. Instruction came from the user 

agency or the local community. A few years later, many of 

those trained found good jobs in various defense industries 

(Humphreys 1965).

The first priority in classroom training was to deal with 

illiteracy. Teaching enrollees to read and write was a major 

accomplishment. Providing elementary and high school 

courses that would allow them to obtain a high school 

diploma was another objective. When camps were near 

college campuses, enrollees had the opportunity to enroll 

in courses that would lead to a college degree.

Classroom training had a wide scope of interesting topics. 

Some camps provided courses in 20 or more subjects. 

There was considerable interest in classes in some of the 

social graces, such as etiquette, manners, and dancing. 

The advisors were pragmatic in their approach toward 

providing education for enrollees whose past experience 

ranged from virtually no education, or even illiteracy, to 

college training (Humphreys 1965).

Some of the most meaningful training came from the 

interaction of the military officers and the user agency 

superintendent and foreman with the enrollees. John Hunter, 

President of Louisiana State University, who had been an 

educational advisor at a camp, noted the significant influence 

of these older men on the CCC workers (Humphries 1964b). 

They set a tone of dedication, competency, and caring that 

the young men aspired to follow.

Health Improvement

Each CCC camp had a medical doctor assigned to it and 

all enrollees were given physicals and received first aid 

training. Some enrollees were trained to become first-aid 

specialists. Dentists spent time in each camp, checking 

teeth and dealing with dental problems. 

For most enrollees, medical care was a new experience. In 

general, they had previously received no medical attention, 

except perhaps as first-aid treatment. In addition to basic 

medical attention, enrollees were given information on 

personal hygiene and cleanliness.

In a letter of June 14, 1934, to the U.S. Department of Labor 

in Washington, DC, Maude Barrett, Louisiana State Director 

of Relief, stated that “boys who were thin, emaciated and 

under nourished, who had bad posture and who were 

slovenly, unshaven, and dirty when they came to camp, are 

now fine physical specimens, healthy and clean, showing a 

real pride in their own appearance” (Barrett 1934). 

A quartet—obviously taking great pride in its dress and appearance—sings to entertain camp mates. 
58

The CCC experience resulted in a significant improvement 

in health of enrollees. They came to CCC camps with poor 

health due to poverty and nutritional deficiencies. Most 

gained 20 to 30 pounds in the first few months, and the 

combination of adequate quantities of good food and hard 

work improved the health of the enrollees. 

Carswell (1985) talks about how proud he was of the role 

CCC workers played as citizen-soldiers: “Ours may not 

have been the best trained or the best-led army in the field, 

but I’m proud to tell you that our men were the cleanest 

ever to fight a major war. We, in the interest of personal 

pride and sanitation, cut our hair short and shaved our 

faces clean, and we washed our clothing and bathed our 

bodies every time we got a chance. We respected ourselves 

and thereby commanded respect from our home folks 

and our allies, as well as our enemies. I was proud of my 

country. I think we all were.”

Carswell’s comments are a testament to the influence of 

health-related training enrollees received in CCC camps.

social Development

As enrollees arrived to enter camps, they were in poor 

condition both physically and mentally. After a few months 

in camp, most had a different outlook on life, showed more 

ambition, and were more eager to improve the conditions 

in which their families had been living. They learned 

courtesy and respectfulness. Comments like the following 

were common: “The boys have a new conception of the 

government under which they live. They have higher ideals 

and are broader minded. There is no doubt but that through 

these youths the social resources of the Nation will be 

conserved. This is not only the opinion of organizations 

which placed these young men, but the consensus of 

opinion of the entire Parish” (Barrett 1934).

How did the enrollees develop such an improved attitude? 

The interaction with others, participating in group 

activities such as sports, classes in etiquette and conduct 

taught by officers’ wives, and the examples set by the 

officers and user services personnel began to reshape 

enrollee attitudes and conduct and build capability to work 

with and relate to others. 

Camp sites like this one at the Valentine Lake Recreational Area became popular areas for camping, swimming, boating, and fishing.
59

The military experience, also, did much to build discipline 

and confidence. Families and friends continued to be 

amazed by the changes they saw in the young CCC 

workers. This was one of the reasons for the great 

appreciation of the CCC program. 

recreational Facilities

Development of recreational resources was not a major 

objective of the CCCs, but it did fit into the conservation 

emphasis of the program. Establishment of State parks and 

recreational sites by the Forest Service and National Park 

Service provided opportunities for the public to become 

aware of and appreciate the significant natural resources 

of the Nation and State, and, therefore, support for the 

protection of these resources. 

Because of the initial lack of a State park commission in 

Louisiana, establishment of only four State parks were 

supported by the CCC. The first was the LongfellowEvangeline State Park in St. Martinville. Work began on 

it under the auspices of the Department of Conservation 

with supervision from the National Park Service. The CCC 

involvement ended due to the lack of any official State park 

program. Once a State Park Commission was created, park 

development began at Bastrop (Chemin-A-Haut SP), Ville 

Platte (Chicot SP), and Mandeville (Fontainebleau SP).

At the Alexander State Forest, construction of recreational 

facilities was a priority and numerous sites were developed. 

At other camps, however, establishing recreational areas 

was not a high priority. Forest Service camps at Alexandria 

and Winnfield did develop significant recreational sites—at 

Winnfield, it was the Gum Springs Recreational Area and 

at Alexandria, it was the Valentine Lake Recreational Area. 

Both became popular sites for picnicking, swimming, 

camping, boating, and fishing. Other camps developed less 

extensive sites, most for picnicking and camping. Much of 

the work on such areas happened in off-season times, when 

the men were not working on primary responsibilities such 

as tree planting. 

Conservation Practices

A major responsibility of the CCC program was restoring 

the country’s depleted natural resources. Conservation tasks 

assigned to the camps in Louisiana included producing 

and planting trees, building dams to make reservoirs 

and fish ponds, digging diversion ditches, building levee 

roads, raising bridges and fire lookout towers, improving 

watersheds, protecting forests, developing recreational sites, 

and conserving soil and water resources. 

Most of the camps were developed to support either 

forestry projects or soil and water management projects. 

The Forest Service’s Stuart Nursery was built and operated by CCC workers with Kistachie National Forest supervision. It produced 

25 million pine seedlings annually to support the planting needs of Forest Service sponsored camps in several States.
60

The forestry efforts were the responsibility of the Forest 

Service on Kisatchie National Forest lands and the Division 

of Forestry, Department of Conservation on private lands. 

A major accomplishment was the development and 

operation of Kisatchie National Forest’s Stuart Nursery. 

This nursery provided 25 million seedlings annually 

for reforestation activities in the Forest Service camps 

in Louisiana, and many in Mississippi and Texas. Tree 

planting was a priority on the cutover lands of National 

forests. During the duration of the program, over 165 

million trees were planted within the State (McEntee 1942). 

The forestry program of the Louisiana Division of Forestry 

was to improve fire protection of private forest lands within 

the State. This program involved establishing fire breaks, 

building roads to provide access to forested areas, fighting 

forest fires, constructing fire towers to help quickly locate 

and control wildfires, and erecting telephone lines to allow 

communication from towers to camps.

In the Forest Service and Division of Forestry camps, 

over 100,000 workdays were spent in fighting fires, over 

4,000 miles of minor roads and firebreaks were built, and 

54 lookout fire towers were erected. 

The Soil Conservation Service led the effort to control 

soil erosion on upland soils, improve drainage of wet 

agricultural lands, and develop and protect watersheds. 

The Soil Conservation Service sponsored more camps 

(about 30) than any other organization, but most were 

short-lived—about 2 years. Their work efforts were 

demonstration projects on farmer-owned lands. Through 

these efforts, they convinced farmers of the value of soil 

and water conservation and management. In these camps, 

35 million square yards of soil were moved in clearing and 

cleaning channels to control erosion and improve drainage 

(McEntee 1942).

In agricultural areas with extensive soil erosion, 1.5 million 

trees and shrubs were planted to stabilize the soil and these 

areas were returned to productive woodlands. 

Tower man in a lookout using an alidade to determine the location of a wildfire. (Photograph by Elemore Morgan)
61

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was remarkable in 

many ways. First, the nature of the program that combined the 

need to put young men to work with restoring the country’s 

depleted natural resources was unique. Second, the speed in 

which the program was established was astonishing. Eight 

days after U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s March 21, 

1933, message to the U.S. Congress, the establishment of the 

CCC was approved. On April 5, 1933, the president issued an 

executive order setting up the CCC. By the middle of June, 

camps were established and by the end of July 300,000 CCC 

workers were in the woods. Within 3 months from the time the 

president proposed the organization, the CCC program was 

fully operational on a national scale.

Another remarkable aspect of the program was the 

successful coordination on short notice among the U.S. 

Army and the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, the 

Interior, and Labor. The army had the responsibility for 

establishing camps, providing food, clothing, and housing 

for the enrollees, transporting enrollees to appropriate 

camps in locations across the Nation and providing for their 

medical and spiritual needs. The Department of Labor was 

responsible for establishing guidelines for recruitment and 

working with States to assure that quotas were met. The 

Agriculture and Interior Departments were charged with 

developing work projects and supervising the enrollees in 

carrying out those assignments. 

Soon after the program began, it became obvious that an 

educational component was needed in the organization. 

Educational advisors were assigned to each camp and 

both vocational and classroom training began using all the 

resources that could be mustered within the camp and in 

the surrounding communities. Large numbers of illiterates 

learned to read and write, all enrollees had opportunities 

for academic development, many learned vocations through 

the training offered, and generally the CCC workers 

developed outstanding character and citizenship. Training 

in manners, etiquette, and proper conduct was provided. 

Enrollees developed pride and satisfaction in cooperative 

endeavors, strengthened good habits of health and mental 

Conclusions

Civilian Conservation Corps workers planted over 165 million pine seedlings on cutover forest land in Louisiana, thus beginning its 

restoration.
62

development, became self-assured and confident, cultivated 

social skills, and developed an understanding of the 

economic and social world in which they lived. These were 

significant achievements considering the condition of the 

typical enrollee when arriving in camp.

Remarkable, too, was the development of the Forest 

Service’s Stuart Nursery that provided 25 million pine 

seedlings annually to reestablish forests on hundreds of 

thousands acres of cutover forest land. The nursery was 

built and operated by CCC workers with supervision by 

Kisatchie National Forest nursery specialists and Southern 

Forest Experiment Station research scientists. A forest 

tree nursery on the Alexander State Forest also supported 

the CCC program by producing seedlings for planting. 

The CCC workers planted 165 million trees grown by the 

nurseries and did much to begin reforestation of the State. 

Another forestry effort was to develop a fire protection 

system in Louisiana. Enrollees from Federal, State, and 

private forest camps constructed hundreds of miles of truck 

trails, erected fire lookout towers, and constructed forest 

telephone lines. The level of fire protection significantly 

improved as a result of the CCC efforts.

The soil conservation program carried out by the CCC 

camps in Louisiana resulted in substantial improvement 

of agricultural lands within the State. The work 

included terracing, gully control, strip cropping, pasture 

management, and planting winter cover crops for soil 

improvement. The enrollees constructed dikes, dams, and 

other water-control structures to stabilize water levels and 

store water. The drainage camps restored water movement 

in areas that tended to flood, ruin cropland, and create 

health problems.

The U.S. Army’s role in administrating the program was 

significant. Enrollees were taught discipline, ability to work 

with others, and the basics of military leadership.

The CCC program began to compete with military 

preparedness movements in 1940 and the program ended 

in 1942. Over the 9 years of its operation, millions of lives 

of young men were changed for the better. They and their 

families were helped economically, they received valuable 

academic and vocational training, performed conservation 

tasks that began restoration of much of the Nation’s natural 

heritage, acquired social and cultural refinements, and 

gained confidence and discipline. Their experience in CCC 

camps prepared them to become leaders in military units as 

World War II began and stood them in good stead as they 

moved into private life after the War. 

In uniform voices, enrollees looked back on their 

experiences in CCC camps and remarked on how 

positively their lives were changed. Changed, too, was 

the environment in which they lived. They pioneered the 

development and large-scale application of conservation 

practices that continue to be applied across the State, 

region, and Nation.

Luther Delaney (left), manager of the tree seedling nursery on Alexander State Forest, instructs Civilian Conservation Corps foremen 

on planting techniques for pines. (Photograph from Derwood Delaney)
63

Acknowledgments 

Our appreciation goes to Matt Troll, who, as a volunteer 

for the Southern Forest Heritage Museum and Research 

Center, organized and cataloged the documents and 

materials in the Dr. Anna C. Burns CCC Collection; and to 

Jim Caldwell, of Kisatchie National Forest, who provided 

access to hundreds of CCC era photographs. We appreciate 

the work of those who made constructive comments on 

early drafts: John Brissette, Paul Burns, Mason Carter, and 

Bobby Sebastian.

Literature Cited

Barnett, J.P.; Haywood, J.D.; Pearson, H.A. 2012. Louisiana’s

Palustris Experiment Forest: 75 years of research that transformed the 

South. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-148. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 64 p.

Barrett, M. 1934. Letter and attachments of June 14, 1934, to Frank W. 

Persons, Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. 12 p. On file with: 

Southern Forest Heritage Museum and Research Center, Dr. Anna C. 

Burns CCC Collection, Long Leaf, LA 71448. 

Burns, A.C. 1968. A history of the Louisiana Forestry Commission. 

Monograph Series Number One. Natchitoches, LA: Northwestern 

State College, Louisiana Studies Institute. 137 p.

Burns, A.C. 1983. Esprit d’corps: Remembering the CCC. Forests & 

People. 33(1): 10-12, 14.

Burns, A.C. 1998. Oral history interview of October 17, 1998, with 

Joseph M. Berry. [Cassette tape]. Long Leaf, LA: Southern Forest 

Heritage Museum and Research Center, Dr. Anna C. Burns CCC 

Collection.

Burns, A.C. 2000a. Oral history interview of September 13, 2000, with 

Otis and Ethyl Miller. 16 p. Unpublished document. On file with: 

Southern Forest Heritage Museum and Research Center, Dr. Anna C. 

Burns CCC Collection, Long Leaf, LA 71448. 

Burns, A.C. 2000b. Oral history interview of September 20, 2000, with 

Daniel Guidry, Harold Webre, and Henry Huval. 8 p. Unpublished 

document. On file with: Southern Forest Heritage Museum and 

Research Center, Dr. Anna C. Burns CCC Collection, Long Leaf, 

LA 71448. 

Burns, E.B.; Burns, A.C. 1997. Oral history interview of May 27, 1997, 

with Dr. M.J. Hair. [Cassette tape]. Long Leaf, LA: Southern Forest 

Heritage Museum and Research Center, Dr. Anna C. Burns CCC 

Collection.

Carswell, E.W. 1985. Comments for delivery at the 50th anniversary 

reunion of Company 4412 at Arcadia, LA, June 1, 1985. 20 p. 

Unpublished document.On file with: Southern Forest Heritage 

Museum and Research Center, Dr. Anna Burns CCC Collection, Long 

Leaf, LA 71448.

Cline, A.C.; Ayres, P.W.; Chapman, H.H.; Reynolds, H.A. 1933. 

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Abstract—The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief 

program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, 

unmarried men from relief families, ages 18-25. A part of the New Deal of U.S. 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, it provided unskilled manual labor jobs related 

to the conservation and development of natural resources on the Nation’s forest 

and agricultural lands. The CCC was designed to provide employment for young 

men in relief families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression 

while at the same time implementing a general natural resource conservation 

program in every State and territory. Men enrolled in the CCC planted over 

2 billion trees, built over 125,000 miles of roads and trails, constructed over 

6 million erosion control structures, and spent 6 million workdays fighting 

forest fires. (No women were ever enrolled in the CCC.) Their efforts pioneered 

methodologies for conserving and restoring forest and agricultural lands. An 

equally remarkable accomplishment was the program’s effect on the lives of the 

CCC young men, changing despondent youths to confident, well-prepared men 

who would capably defend the United States during World War II.

Keywords: Civilian Conservation Corps, forestry, New Deal administration, 

reforestation of southern pines, soil and water conservation.

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