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Description
Between 1933 and 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a constant presence on Mount Desert Island (MDI), where it and several other New Deal agencies played a critical role in the early development of Acadia National Park. Three camps operated in the area during those years: two were located on MDI (one on and one off of park property) and were officially designated National Park Camps. The third camp was situated in Ellsworth, and though designated a State Park Camp, much of its work consisted of clean-up projects along the approach roads to the National Park.
The report is based on three primary sources of information. First, the approximately forty-five hours of interviews conducted with twenty-six former enrollees at the Acadia camps, and with a handful of local residents who remember the camps and the CCC presence in their communities. Several informants who worked on special crews in the CCC proved to be valuable sources of information on some of the more detailed work undertaken by the CCC. As is inevitable with oral testimony at this late date, the details of time and place are not always recalled perfectly, but the informants nonetheless provided good insights into work technique, as well as vivid recollections of carp life.
Second, researchers reviewed National Park Service records regarding the work of the CCC and other New Deal agencies, which are housed at the regional branch of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Waltham, MA (RG 79, 17 boxes).
The third primary source consists of approximately 1,200 contemporary photographs. The great majority of them, contained in the NARA reports, were taken by project supervisors to give senior officials in Washington, D.C., an accurate indication of the outcomes of the CCC efforts. Nearly two hundred additional photographs were contributed by informants, along with other memorabilia from their days in the CCC.
Publication Date
5-12-2009
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Keywords
Acadia National Park, Civilian Conservation Corps, CCC
Disciplines
United States History
Recommended Citation
Moreira, James; Dean, Pamela; Dudley, Anu; and Champney, Kevin, "The Civilian Conservation Corps at Acadia National Park" (2009). Northeast Folklore Monographs. 7.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/nf/7
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