Civilian Conservation Corps seeks past members

Individuals who served in Northern Nevada's Civilian Conservation Corps between 1933 and 1942 are invited to contact oral historian Victoria Ford at P.O. Box 6715, Reno 89513 or by calling (775) 747-5600.

Ford and historian Renee Kolvet are working on a project to locate information about Nevada's 54 CCC camp sites and to conduct oral history interviews with people who actually worked at any of the Northern Nevada camps.

Their project, "The CCC Experience in Northern Nevada" is partially funded by a Nevada Humanities Committee research grant.

"The CCC enjoyed tremendous public support," said Kolvet, "yet few comprehensive scholarly publications have been written about its role in Northern Nevada's development. We want to retrieve this important part of Nevada's history and make it available to the public."

The CCC was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's most effective New Deal programs which offered work and income for young men during the Great Depression.

In Nevada, the federal program helped conserve forests, waterways and range lands on a massive scale by planting trees, fighting fires, clearing underbrush and building road, trails, dams and bridges.