Former Birger Sandzen Student Turned Camp Artist- Joseph A. Johnson

 

While researching Company 4718 through the stories in their camp newspaper "The Gully Guardian" a number of engravings by the veteran enrollees were prominent in several issues. Some are not identified to a specific enrollee, but several images are attributed to a Joseph A. Johnson.

"The above linoleum cut by Joseph Johnson, a member of the camp, portrays the barracks skyline at the camp."

A couple of notes in the camp newspapers and a little follow-up research identifies Johnson as a former student of Birger Sandzen at Bethany College between 1924 and 1926.

"Joseph A. Johnson, war veteran enrollee of the Kingman county CCC camp toils on the soil conservation crew during the day, but that does not keep him from bringing his art to his environment. Horses, galloping across the prairie and pausing near the crew for a rest gave him inspiration for the linoleum cut presented herewith.

Johnson, formerly a student at Bethany college at Lindsborg has produced paintings which have won the admiration of students and fellow enrollees. A painting of an Indian girl has been exhibited recently in the window of the Kingman furniture store. An accomplished violinist, Johnson has provided music in local church services."

"Horses, galloping across the prairie and pausing near the crew for a rest gave him inspiration for the linoleum cut presented herewith."

  

Johnson's tenure as "camp artist" was relatively short as his contributions to the camp news come to an end in February 1937 when the editor notes that, "the two sketches drawn for this issue were the efforts of Joseph A. Johnson who has been our camp artist. He has checked out to try his luck in other territory. The Gully Guardian will miss his contributions, but we are sure his artistic ability and good nature will not go unrewarded on the outside."

 

 With that, Joseph A. Johnson fades into CCC history. There is relatively little information on him that I am able to find at this point, and even his time in the CCC may represent something new to anyone who knows of the artist.

The work of Co. 4718 continued in Kingman County until the end of July 1940 when the company moves "out of the dustbowl" and into my backyard to near Osage City in Osage County, Kansas. That's where my research was headed that day when I encountered Mr. Johnson and perhaps we'll visit these later exploits of Co. 4718 sometime down the road...

"The Future of the CCC"

From the The Adjutant, the CCC newspaper coming out of the Headquarters Company at Fort Leavenworth, comes this editorial concerning one man's thoughts on the future of the CCC. Published January 18, 1936, in the midst of discussion about making the Civilian Conservation Corps a permanent entity, the editorial offers thoughts on the meaningful conservation accomplishments of the organization in under 3 years time. His concluding comments concerning the future remembrance of the CCC were of particular interest to me as I research the work of the CCC in Kansas. While there are in fact statues and monuments erected to the "C.C.C. lad", some in memorial to the fallen, others to commemorate their accomplishments, there are many more public works projects that continue to see use today that stand as silent testimony to their achievements. Indeed, all these years later, "the work accomplished speaks for itself".

THE FUTURE OF THE CCC

There is hardly a day that passes in which one does not hear the question "I wonder what is going to happen to the CCC in the years to come." It is the editor's opinion that the C.C.C. will be a permanent organization. It is possible that details pertaining to administration will change, but the aim to conserve natural and human resources will remain its primary objective.

An organization less than three years old, the C.C.C. has accomplished great things. A nation has had brought home to it in a vivid way the need for recreating our heritage of invaluable resources, particularly in regard to forest, field and stream.

Thousands of acres of denuded and scarred hillsides have been planted to trees where nothing but barren rock would be present in a few short years. A before and after photograph in the January issue of American Forests shows better than words can tell what magic can be wrought by building check dams, and planting young locust trees on a ravished hillside in the Tennessee Valley. In order to save the washing of the mountainsides in the Coastal Range of Southern California, mustard seed has been planted to perform wonders in preventing soil erosion.

Innumerable state parks have been made places of pleasure and healthful recreation for the large urban and rural populations. Dividends will be paid in health and mind, body and soul of those who visit these delightful refuges from a rushing world.

In a few short years the necessity for the prevention of soil erosion has been demonstrated to a large number of the rural population, thus forestalling the event of more sub-marginal land, lower farm incomes, and higher food prices. With the continuance of such notable work, the people of the great Mississippi Valley need not envision for the next century the horrible scene of a desert-like place as pictured in an article by a member of the new deal. He contemplated abandoned cities, a landscape void of vegetation and life, dry rivers and deserted cities.

Nimrods of the future will thank their lucky stars that the C.C.C. carried out grand schemes for conserving their favorite game, and anglers will not have "fisherman's luck" when they cast their lines into a shady pool.

Children of future generations will be grateful for the historic sites which have been restored by the activity of the C.C.C.

Statues of the soldier, the pioneer, the explorer, the ruler and others have been erected. Boys, it would not surprise me that as old men you will visit the public squares and there find a statue erected to the C.C.C. lad. You can swell with pride, perhaps brush away a tear in memory of "old times" and stand with head bared and say in your heart, "I am glad that I was on the Boys."

The C.C.C. has grown in favor with the general population; relations which at one time strained have been healed in large measure. Hundreds of thousands of boys have been saved from the demoralization of idleness. The work accomplished speaks for itself.

(emphasis mine) 

...a pleasant, wholesome and constructively helpful stay in the woods.

 By July 1, over 250,000 young men were enrolled in 1,463 camps. Enrolled war veterans, Native Americans, and local experienced men (LEM) added to this total. The rapid enrollment and expansion of camps tested the capabilities of all agencies and leadership involved.

In Kansas, six camps/companies were established on five projects by July 1 with two additional camps and projects added in mid-July, and two more late in the year in October and November. These were the only camps established in Kansas during 1933.

Company	Project #	Project Type	Nearest Town	Date Established
Co. 735	S-203	Mined Land Reclamation	Scammon	6/16/1933
Co. 736	S-203	Mined Land Reclamation	Scammon	6/16/1933
Co. 1709	S-201	Mined Land Reclamation	Pittsburg	6/20/1933
Co. 1711	S-202	Mined Land Reclamation	Pittsburg	6/20/1933
Co. 1715	S-204	Lake Construction	Toronto	6/23/1933
Co. 767-C	SE-206	Lake Construction	Reading	6/26/1933
Co. 1778-V	SP-1	Park Development	Hays	7/22/1933
Co. 1779-V	PE-206	Soil Conservation	Esbon	7/23/1933
Co. 731	SE-210	Lake Construction	Scott City	10/15/1933
Co. 755	N/A	Soil Conservation	Lebanon	11/10/1933

Roosevelt addressed this newly formed conservation army on July 8, 1933 by way of the organization's newspaper. In it we see the hopes of the president for this new enterprise.


I welcome the opportunity to extend, through the medium of the columns of Happy Days, a greeting to the men who constitute the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Congratulations are due those responsible for the successful accomplishment of the gigantic task of creating the camps, arranging for the enlistments and launching the greatest peacetime movement this country has ever seen.

It is my belief that what is being accomplished will conserve our natural resources, create future national wealth and prove of moral and spiritual value not only to those of you who are taking part, but to the rest of the country as well.

You young men who are enrolled in this work are to be congratulated as well. It is my honest conviction that what you are doing in the way of constructive service will bring to you, personally and individually, returns the value of which it is difficult to estimate. Physically fit, as demonstrated by the examinations you took before entering the camps, the clean life and hard work in which you are engaged cannot fail to help your physical condition and you should emerge from this experience strong and rugged and ready for a reentrance into the ranks of industry, better equipped than before. Opportunities for employment in work; for which individually you are best suited are increasing daily and you should emerge from this experience splendidly equipped for the competitive fields of endeavor which always marl; the industrial life of America.

I want to congratulate you on the opportunity you have and to express to you my appreciation for the hearty cooperation which you have given this movement which is so vital a step in the Nation's fight against the depression and to wish you all a pleasant, wholesome and constructively helpful stay in the woods.
Source: http://newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1933e.htm

CCC camp "Big News" to Community

I spent a little time at the Jefferson County Historical Society in Oskaloosa, KS on Saturday looking for details concerning the establishment of a camp in that county. An announcement in one of the local papers expresses a common sentiment to the pending establishment of a CCC camp nearby.

From the Oskaloosa Independent, April 25, 1935:

"Announcement from Washington that Jefferson County is on the list for a CCC soil erosion camp is one of the biggest pieces of news for the farmers of this county since the beginning of the New Deal."

Eventually this camp housed Co. 1763 of junior enrollees who worked on various soil conservation projects in the area. Interestingly, the location of this camp was on the Curry farm north of Oskaloosa, the boyhood home of famed regionalist artist John Steuart Curry. The home has since been moved to the grounds of the Jefferson County Historical Society in Oskaloosa where it houses a collection of Curry memorabilia.