All photos, information, and quotes below (unless otherwise noted) are from: Civilian Conservation Corps, Fresno District, Ninth Corps Area, Official Annual, 1938.
Above: Part of CCC Company 5447. This company formed in 1936 at Fort Benning, Georgia and all its enrollees hailed from Alabama. In May 1936, the company went to Washington, D.C., by train, for sightseeing. From there they went to Cambridge, Maryland and set up shop at Camp BF-1, or "Camp Blackwater." They spent six months improving Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, and then moved to Camp Castle Rock to do work near Pembroke, Virginia. Next, on October 6, 1937, "Company 5447 boarded a third train, this time for a cross-country trek to the Ninth Corps Area - to 'sunny California'... after passing through nine states and seeing numerous points of interest during an enviable trip, the Company, seventy-one strong, arrived on October 11th at Camp New Brighton, SP-24, at Capitola, California" (pp. 94-95 and 102 of the annual).
Above: A closer view of some of the young men of Company 5447, from the previous photo. Their work at Capitola does not seem to be well-documented, at least not in easy-to-access sources. However, I did discover that they helped develop New Brighton State Beach and park area, and also spent the summer of 1938 working in General Grant National Park (see, e.g., "CCC 75th Anniversary Celebration Events," California Department of Parks and Recreation (accessed February 17, 2022) and "Capitola CCC Group Back For Winter," Santa Cruz Evening News, November 8, 1938, p. 5).
Above: First Lieutenant Charles A. Chreitzberg, U.S. Army, commanding officer of CCC Company 5447. On March 19, 1938, the Santa Cruz Evening News reported, "Lieutenant Chreitzberg announced this week that the general public will be invited to drive to the Capitola grounds to inspect it and the work being done on the state beach parks" ("Capitola CCC To Have Open House April 5," p. 2).
Above: Second Lieutenant William E. Jones, U.S. Army, junior officer of CCC Company 5447.
Above: First Lieutenant Oscar Auerbach, camp surgeon for Company 5447.
Above: Company 5447's basketball team, with (what looks to be) C.O. Chreitzberg.
Above: Company 5447's baseball team, with Junior Officer Jones.
Above: Company 5447's boxing team. All across the nation, the enrollees of the CCC quickly got into shape through their forestry work and sports recreation. A new CCC, and a revival of the recreation programs of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) would go a long way towards solving America's current obesity epidemic (ironically, the young men who came into the CCC often suffered from too little weight, and they muscled-up during their time in the Corps). Unfortunately, a lack of political will, an anemic cultural imagination, and endless sedentary entertainment will probably prevent a new CCC and WPA from ever happening. (See, e.g., "CDC report says over 30% of West Virginia adults are inactive," The Herald Dispatch (Huntington, West Virginia), January 25, 2022 (accessed February 17, 2022).
Above: The cooks and K.P.'s of Company 5447. Some CCC veterans, when recalling their time in the Corps, remembered the joy of having regular and nutritious meals - something they rarely had in their impoverished life before the Corps.
Above: An overview of Camp New Brighton, home of Company 5447 during its stay in California. Photo from the report, "Historic Context Statement For the City of Capitola," by Carolyn Swift, Capitola Museum Director and City Historian, 2004 (accessed February 17, 2022), credited to the Capitola Museum, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: Company 5447 poses with their tools at Camp New Brighton.
Above: The CCC boys of Company 5447 board their trucks and prepare for a good, hard, and honest day's work.
Above: Company 5447 building a pier or dock of some sort.
Above: When not working or playing sports, the young men of the Three C's could go to Camp New Brighton's reading room, and relax with a good book, newspaper, or magazine. Many CCC veterans recalled their days in the CCC as the best in their lives - and it's no wonder, with such a great mix of work, recreation, education, and camaraderie.
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