Civilian Conservation Corps Camps Statue
Ted Schulz and Sharon Viadella’s Large Donations Help Reach Goal for Civilian Conservation Corps Camps Worker Statue
During the past 12 years volunteers have been raising money to purchase a CCC Worker Statue to honor the work of the young men who worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression (1933-1942). This summer the funds from alumni, family, and friends was at approx. $14,000 with a need to achieve $24,000. It looked like it would take a few more years of work to achieve that goal.
Then in September Ted Schulz and Sharon Viadella whose fathers worked at the Natchaug & Voluntown CCC camps and volunteers at the CT CCC Museum decided to each donate a generous $5,000 each thus helping to reach the goal. The money has been held by the CCC Legacy in Virginia whose goal is to promote the achievements of the CCC. This not-for-profit group has now sent our funds to the foundry in Michigan where our statue will be made during the next few months.
The statue is slated to be installed at Chatfield Hollow State in Killingworth in the spring 2019. This was the location of Camp Roosevelt and was the first CCC camp in Connecticut and is one of the most popular state parks that was built by the CCC.
In 1995, the CCC Worker Statue program originated in Michigan through the efforts of the National Association of CCC Alumni (NACCA) Chapter #129. Program coordinator Rev. Bill Frasier had a vision of having a statue in every state. Now the national CCC Legacy organization continues the work of NACCCA to reach Frasier’s dream goal.
The CCC Worker Statue
The CCC Worker Statue is a monument to the builders of modern conservation. Since 1996, the statue has been placed in many locations across the nation as a memorial to the millions of men in America who toiled to improve the management of our nation’s natural resources and build the infrastructure of our modern outdoor recreation system.
Seventy-four life-size statues are now placed in parks, forests, and other public venues. These are the only 10 states without a CCC Worker statue: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont. Some states have more than one. Pennsylvania has seven statues.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began on March 31, 1933 under President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” to relieve the poverty and unemployment of the Depression. The US Army supervised the camps which had approx. 200men each. The first year 13 camps were set up in these Connecticut towns & state parks & forests: West Cornwall, Housatonic Meadows; Niantic, Military Reservation; Hampton, Natchaug; Haddam, Cockaponset; Union, Nipmuck; New Fairfield, Squantz Pond; Cobalt, Meshomasic; Voluntown, Pachaug; Thomaston, Black Rock; East Hartland, Tunxis; West Goshen, Mohawk; Clinton, Cockaponset; and Burrville, Paugnut. The Army Government Dock in New London was the supply depot for all the CT camps.
In the following years these eight camps were added: Riverton, American Legion State Forest; East Hampton, Salmon River; Danbury, Wooster Mountain; Stafford Springs, Shenipsit; Portland, Meshomasic; Windsor/Poquonock, Experiment Station Land; Kent, Macedonia Brook and Madison, Cockaponset.
Single and unemployed men 18 – 25 (with fathers on relief) enrolled for 6 months and worked a 40-hour week for $30/mo. The govt. sent $25 a month home to their parents. They received good food, uniforms, shelter, and medical care. During the summer of 1933 they lived in tents; later they moved into wooden buildings.
Workers built trails, roads, campsites, & dams, stocked fish, built & maintained fire tower observer’s cabins & telephone lines, fought fires, & planted millions of trees. The CCC disbanded in 1942 due to the need for men in WW II.
Stafford Springs CCC Museum
The History, Memories, and Legacy
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