Travel in Time: Remembering the CCC Boys and the Power of Trying Something New
Hello everyone, and welcome to a journey through history and leadership, inspired by a visit to the CCC Museum in Stafford Springs, Connecticut.
The story of the CCC—the Civilian Conservation Corps—is deeply rooted in one of the most challenging periods in American history: the 1930s and the devastating Great Depression. With one out of every four people out of work across the US and much of the world, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) recognized that something needed to be done.
Drawing on his philosophy of inspirational leadership, including the famous quote, “the only thing to fear is fear itself,” and the call to “above all try something,” FDR launched the New Deal. The Civilian Conservation Corps became a crucial part of this plan.
The Mission: Putting Idle Hands to Work
The CCC was developed primarily to put young males back to work, utilize their physical strength, and get them off the streets. The rationale was that “idle hands is a bad thing,” especially among young men whose high energy (“too much testosterone”) could easily lead to mischief if they had nothing productive to do.
However, joining the CCC came with specific stipulations, highlighting the extreme poverty and lack of nutrition prevalent during the Depression:
- Height Requirement: They had to be at least five feet tall.
- Dental Requirement: They had to possess at least three good teeth in a row in their mouth.
Life in the Camps
CCC camps, such as the one in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, housed potentially around 100 young men in rustic barracks. Life in the camps was essentially run by Army personnel and resembled military life.
The daily routine was structured and disciplined:
- Early morning wake-up and roll call.
- Work throughout the morning in forests, quarries, and other locations.
- A return to the barracks for lunch, followed by an immediate return to work in the afternoon.
- Dinner, another roll call, and then “taps” and “lights out”.
Though the work was demanding, there was time for recreation and community. Saturdays were reserved for finishing up any outstanding work. Saturday afternoons featured activities like baseball games, and on Saturday nights, the young men would go out to nearby towns for dances and movies. Sundays were dedicated to church services.
The program lasted from approximately 1933 to 1942. These young men made about a dollar a day, a large portion of which was mandatorily sent back to their families struggling back home during the Depression.
A Legacy of Service: From the Depression to WWII and Beyond
World War II eventually phased out the CCC program. However, the infrastructure created by the CCC continued to serve the nation.
When British Prime Minister Churchill spoke to Roosevelt about being unable to house or feed German prisoners of war (POWs) in England, FDR recognized that the underutilized CCC camps in the United States could be repurposed. German POWs were subsequently housed in these camps across the country.
Interestingly, these German prisoners, who had been taught that Americans were evil and would kill them, were allowed to interact with communities in places all over the U.S. They witnessed firsthand that “the Americans were actually kind of nice people,” leading to some German POWs even returning to live in the United States after the war because they liked the country so much.
The Rustic Magic of Camp David
The legacy of these simple, rustic camps extends even further. Camp David, located just outside Washington D.C. in Maryland, where US Presidents often conduct business and host foreign leaders, echoes the environment of the CCC camps, and in fact, was a former CCC camp.
The rustic barracks, the surrounding wilderness, the quietness, and the serenity of Camp David create an atmosphere where world leaders often meet “on equal terms,” facilitating “really cool negotiations”. Indeed, some of the nation’s best conversations with other world leaders have taken place there. A notable example is the negotiation of the Camp David Accords during Jimmy Carter’s presidency, contributing to creating world peace—a “really big stuff” accomplishment.
The Leadership Lesson: Above All, Try Something
Today, places like the CCC Museum in Stafford Springs, Connecticut the Northeast Headquarters museum, are preserved thanks partly to donations from the former CCC boys themselves.
The preservation of these historical sites ensures that we don’t lose the essential leadership lesson embodied by the CCC program. The core takeaway comes directly from FDR’s famous quote: “but above all try something”.
Despite heavy criticism, FDR tried the CCC. That effort put young men to work, helped their families, and left behind infrastructure later used during World War II and even today, such as the environment mirrored at Camp David, where complex negotiations are still conducted.
Preserving these museums is a beautiful thing, ensuring that this history and that powerful lesson—try something—endures for future generations.
Uncovering History. Inspiring Leadership. The Travel in Time Show is where travel, history, and leadership intermingle with history teacher, author, and speaker Dan Blanchard
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