Introduction and A Little Background

Well, this, or something like it, is probably long overdue. The work of the CCC in Kansas has not been a topic of lengthy publication although with a little digging you can find some info here and there on the web and in published journals that discuss the topic. Visits to individual historical societies, libraries, and archives in communities and at the state have often yielded limited information to a then casual researcher and have served increasingly as incentive to document as much as possible about the camps scattered around the state. On occasion, local interest has produced excellent results in the preservation of information about individual projects including public outreach and education about the work of the CCC at specific locations.

Overall though the history of the work in Kansas remains relatively unknown but it's clear that information about the work and the young men that were involved is out there. It lies in records in the National Archives, scattered in articles remaining to be rediscovered in county and camp newspapers, in local historical societies and other organizations that may have documents about local projects in their collections, and finally, in the hands of private individuals who either participated themselves or whose family member(s) were part of the CCC. Sometimes these family connections are still local to Kansas, although nearly as often the former enrollee or their descendants lived elsewhere long after the CCC ended.

Hopefully, through this blog I can begin to focus my own efforts and share a little about what I'm finding along the way. I hope what’s done here in some small way honors the memory of the men that made the Civilian Conservation Corps an enduring success both in the lives it helped and the public works it produced. It's probably no coincidence that most CCC enrollees were part of "The Greatest Generation".