Civilian Conservation Corps Kids Camp a Success on the Allegheny

Kids step back in time to explore and understand the life of a CCC enrollee.

A group of seven high school students and three counselors signed up to experience the life of a Civilian Conservation Corps enrollee. From June 22-27, 2008, this diverse group of kids - urban and rural, boys and girls - tried their hand at the hard work that CCC "boys" once did on the Allegheny National Forest.

This crew worked at Twin Lakes, a campground constructed by the CCCs in the 1930s, and planted trees, an activity once repeated by the CCCs, who planted over 2 billion seedlings over the course of the CCC program. The high school students also visited a modern sawmill and observed horse logging, to help them understand the history of land use on what is now the ANF.

Rare footage of some of the last railroad logging in Pennsylvania showed the dangerous and harsh work environment endured by loggers in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Students visited the Little Arnot research plot and saw the progression of the forest over the past several decades. The Kane Experimental Forest, where African American CCC enrollees once aided with forestry research, provided workspace and 1930s ambiance.

All of the experiences and materials provided for the students were aimed at putting the CCC and their work into context - what did they do? How did they do it? Where did they do it? Why is their work still important to us today, 75 years after the inception of the CCC program?

Students visited some of the first CCC red pine plantations in the nation, discussed transportation in the 1930s, and wondered whether they would have signed up for the backbreaking labor if their family was barely making ends meet. Students made comparisons of 1930s life and culture to their own - CCC camps were segregated into black camps and white camps, and women's camps were virtually unheard of.

What must it have been like to have been shipped on a train from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, or Scranton, and dropped off a few miles from your (nonexistent) camp site? Could you live in a tent without electricity for 6 months, while the barracks were being built, as the CCCs at Duhring did? For that matter, what must it have been like living in an uninsulated barracks building?

Private property owners generously allowed the group to visit the Duhring CCC camp and observe actual CCC barracks that have changed very little in their 75 years of existence. For the majority of our students, their week at Twin Lakes campground was the first experience camping of their lives.

Students developed a first-hand understanding of working on the ground, and spent time in the woods, picking berries and learning about trees. Many pondered the question: does nature make you a different person?

The program was developed by Susan Stout and Barb McGuinness at the Northern Research Lab in Irvine, PA, with assistance from ANF resource specialists Joe Gomola, Joe Langianese, John Lee, Shauna Monroe, Mike Spisak, Scot Tepke, and Amanda Glaz. Todd Ristau of the Lab provided technical support, and Julie Smithbauer of the KEF made sure the facilities were amenable. The owners of the Duhring CCC camp allowed the use of their property for educational purposes, providing a resource no longer existent on ANF lands.