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Public works projects helped mold young men to face sacrifice, service in WWII

Katie McCrimmon

Published January 9, 2009 at 9:08 p.m.

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James Carden became active in Denver's Civilian Conservation Corps alumni group.

Photo by Matt McClain © The Rocky

James Carden became active in Denver's Civilian Conservation Corps alumni group.

Albert Coven dropped out of high school and, when he was 16, lied his way into the CCC.

Photo by Matt McClain © The Rocky

Albert Coven dropped out of high school and, when he was 16, lied his way into the CCC.

John Thaxton Jr., at his Boulder home, joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938.

Photo by Matt McClain © The Rocky

John Thaxton Jr., at his Boulder home, joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938.

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They have been called The Forgotten Generation. The young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps who planted millions of trees, built stone landmarks, helped control erosion in dust- choked communities and carved scenic roads were soon forgotten when the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor abruptly ended the Depression- era public works agency.

Nearly all the young men who worked in the "3Cs" went on to serve in World War II, and some scholars believe that the CCC and other New Deal works programs helped serve as basic training of several types for hundreds of thousands of young men -- ultimately helping the Allies win World War II.

"All of these New Deal projects got young men to think about collective sacrifice for the good of the country," said Bill Convery, state historian for the Colorado Historical Society. "And that really made a difference in creating a mind-set and allowed them to successfully serve in the war."

Historians have since christened the World War II fighters as the Greatest Generation. Many of these same young men, who had previously worked in the CCC, credit their time in the civilian corps as the most formative period in their lives.

"The thing that impressed me is how this CCC episode of their lives -- even if they only served six months -- changed their lives forever," said Sally White, a historian with Denver Mountain Parks who is helping to archive and preserve memorabilia at the camp in Morrison, one of only a handful of remaining CCC facilities in the country. "It was that transformational. It made them into something they might not have been otherwise."

Many of the young men arrived in the program poor, undisciplined and without a high school education. The group's alumni, now in the last years of their lives, say the work experience honed their values of service and sacrifice. And for many, the camps lifted them out of poverty.

"For some, it allowed them to finish the 8th grade. Others saved up their money and went on to college,'' said Duane Smith, a professor of history and Southwestern history at Fort Lewis College in Durango, who wrote a book with co-author Ron Brown called New Deal Days: the CCC at Mesa Verde.

Although few remain, they are eager to preserve the legacy of their contributions, and want the country to remember their work.

"All of them talked about learning a skill, several skills," said Smith. "They all thought it was very positive to have been in the CCC. They were very proud."

JAMES CARDEN

Before the Civilian Conservation Corps gave James Carden a future, his life on a 1930s Tennessee sharecropper's farm offered little hope.

There was no heat, no running water, no indoor plumbing. Poverty strangled the family, then tragedy nearly broke them.

At 14, Carden lost his mother to cancer. The oldest of eight children, he dropped out of school in the seventh grade and cared for his younger siblings until the CCC offered him a job and an escape.

Now 84 and living in Centennial, Carden said his stint in the 3Cs changed him forever.

"It made men of us," he said. "It taught loyalty to us. When you're working for someone and you get a paycheck, you were loyal to them."

At age 65, Carden became a CCC man again, this time as a Colorado volunteer. Like many others, Carden looked back fondly on his time in the 3Cs and became active in Denver's alumni group, helping to restore the Morrison CCC camp.

He's eager to help more people rediscover New Deal history.

"I think we're going to have a new life in this country," Carden said. "It's going to be something like the Roosevelt years.

"I tell young people to go back and take a look at history and see where we came from."

ALBERT COVEN

The most recent president of the now disbanded alumni group is Albert Coven, 91. Raised in Edgewater, Coven was 12 in 1929 and still remembers hearing news on the radio of the stock market crash.

"They were talking about executives who were taking walks out of windows," he said. "They couldn't take the news."

Coven was one of seven children. His family wasn't destitute, in part because his father, a former coal miner, got work during the Depression with the Works Progress Administration.

Nonetheless, Coven remembers lining his shoes with cardboard long after the soles had worn out.

Halfway through the 10th grade, Coven dropped out of high school and, when he was 16, lied his way into the CCC.

"I asked Dad to take me to Golden to join," Coven said. "We were there at 8 a.m., and before noon I was in Buffalo Creek."

He and his buddies planted hundreds of thousands of trees in the forests southwest of Denver. Coven, who aside from lung problems, is fit and light on his feet, can still demonstrate the best way to dig a hole and reach back for a sapling that he carried in a satchel on his back.

"We'd do several hundred in a day," he said.

He went on to work as a house painter and firefighter. In later life, he discovered a talent for oil painting, and frequently portrayed scenes of the mountains where he worked as a CCC boy. Coven also dedicated nine years of his life to the presidency of the CCC alumni chapter in Denver. In 2004, the group helped erect a CCC worker statue at the upper parking lot of Red Rocks Amphitheater to ensure that the young men and their work will never be forgotten.

The statue shows a muscled young man - shirt off, resting for a moment with his ax - and it reads: "Dedicated in honor of the 3 million workers who served in the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1933 to 1942 and to those members of Co. 1848, SP-3-C, Morrison, Colorado, who were the builders of this Red Rocks Amphitheater from 1936 to 1941."

BERNIE VALDEZ

Among the most prominent in Colorado was Bernie Valdez, who later became a hero in Colorado's Hispanic community. Valdez was born in New Mexico and moved to Colorado in 1926 to work on the Moffat Tunnel. He served in the CCC in 1938 at a camp in Woodland Park. Valdez died in 1997 but shared his memories of the CCC in an alumni newsletter in 1989.

"My mother was delighted when I joined the CCC because for the first time, she would have a steady income of $25 a month," Valdez said. "That money supported my mother and four brothers and sisters."

Valdez said the military-run camps had a positive influence on all the young men, and the leaders encouraged the boys to further their education.

"Valdez graduated from college at what is now Colorado State University and went on to fight discriminatory labor and business practices while working for the U.S. Department of Labor's World War II Bracero Program. He later managed Denver's welfare programs and served on the Denver School Board. Valdez founded the Denver alumni chapter of the CCCs and served as its first president.

JOHN THAXTON JR.

In 1938 at age 18, John Thaxton Jr. of Boulder joined the CCC. He grew up in Tampa, Fla., and his family was desperate for money because his father had walked out on the family.

"This country was broke," said Thaxton, 88. "It's almost like some of this stuff today. "But there were people who couldn't eat."

Before joining the CCC, Thaxton helped his family survive by delivering manure from a neighbor's cow pasture to other neighbors' gardens.

When the opportunity to join the CCC arose, he traveled by train to California, where his company helped build a state park and install telephone lines. He ran supply lines, supervised equipment and made some money on the side giving 10-cent haircuts.

He went on to serve in World War II then went to college to study forestry. He worked for Weyerhaeuser then served in the Air Force in South Korea. Thaxton eventually moved to Boulder in 1969 and became head of communications at CU.

All these decades later, he still treasures mementos from his CCC days and enjoys reliving his service.

"We were damn proud of what we did," he said. "We built roads. We built reservoirs. The Cs built Red Rocks and Rainbow Lakes."

The experience, he said, shaped his life.

"Looking back on the CCC, I think it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned a lot from other people. I learned not to look down my nose at guys who weren't too educated."

Racial bias prevented the government from mixing blacks and whites in CCC companies. But the program brought together young men from all economic backgrounds, and many prominent Hispanics served side-by-side with Anglos.

NEW PROGRAM HEIR TO CCC

AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps)

* What is it? Full-time, team-based residential program for men and women age 18-24.

* Where? Members live on one of four regional campuses in Denver; Perry Point, Md.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Vinton, Iowa. They serve communities in every state.

* Mission: Strengthen communities and develop leaders through direct, team-based national and community service.

* How AmeriCorps NCCC Works: Requires an intensive, 10-month commitment. Members serve in teams of 10 to 12 and are assigned to projects in their region.

* Web site: http://www.americorps.gov/about/programs/ nccc.asp

CCC BY THE NUMBERS

505,000 people were enrolled in the CCC in 1935, and there were 2,650 camps.

4,000 camps were established in all 48 states and four territories during the life of the program.

3 million men had participated when the CCC was dissolved by 1942.

* The CCC was open to enrollees from age 17-28. (Many younger boys lied to get in early).

* CCC motto: "Save the Soil, Save the Forests, Save the Young Men."

Comments

  • January 10, 2009

    6:14 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    squeakywheel writes:

    OK now this is ridiculous RMN.

    How many of these articles do we need?

    Now I count four today so far.

  • January 10, 2009

    8:45 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mike_In_Hartsel writes:

    A "puff piece" to tout Obama's intended public service campaign. Pour some more sugar over the past, RMN.

  • January 11, 2009

    3:49 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    solar_satellite writes:

    I think this is a good article, and definitely not a "puff piece". The CCC was one of the best ideas of the New Deal, and President-elect Obama should consider re-instituting it. Articles which try to inform us of our history are welcome, especially since most Americans believe history began with their own puberty.