Finding Treasure

Finding Treasure
One of the pleasures of online research is the unexpected treasures one can find. I am currently working on a book about Versailles State Park and did a few searchers for Civilian Conservation Corps Camp 596, which was stationed at the park from 1935 through 1938.
The Civilian Conservation Corps
Many of you may be unaware of the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC as it is abbreviated. The CCC was a New Deal Program created during the ravages of the Great Depression to help alleviate the unemployment problem during that troubled era. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the program under the authority granted to him by Congress under the Emergency Conservation Work Act. He tasked the CCC with the job of building structures, bridges, trails and other recreational facilities at federal and state parks. Young, unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 25 were eligible to enroll in the program. They would enroll for a 6 month term. The United States Army administered the program and organized the men into camps that consisted of about 200 men. The men would remain in the camp for the duration of their enrollment period. They worked a 5 day work week and received a 6 day leave of absence between enrollment periods. The camps received numbers and would be deployed to a specific site where they might remain for a number of years. Men could enroll again when their term expired. They received pay of $30 per month, of which they were required to send $25 home. This is equivalent to about $500 in 2024 dollars. Camp 596 received assignment to the Versailles Recreation Demonstration Area, as it was called at the time. This property was administered by the National Park Service and would be transferred to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to use as a state park in 1943.
Company 596 Newsletters
During my various Internet I came across a newsletter published by Camp 596 in 1935. I managed to download it to make it easier to study and did a few more searches and found another, published at Versailles in 1938. The second one’s publishing date is interesting because most sources say that the camp left Versailles in 1937, however this one was published in Versailles in May 1938.
Interesting Reading
Reading the pages of these newsletters reveals a fascinating insight into the life inside a CCC camp during the 1930’s. Many CCC camps produced newsletters during this time. The newsletters include sports schedules, as many of the young men played baseball. They organized teams which would play teams from other CCC camps and amateur teams around the area. The 1938 schedule included teams from Osgood, Henryville, Versailles, Canaan and Pleasant. They also had track meets and engaged in other sports. The newsletters also included news from each of the barracks as well as notes on personal hygiene and craft projects for the men to make.
Two Stories
The newsletters also recount various anecdotes of men in the camp. One story of relates the romantic experience of a young man in the camp, apparently a boxer, that developed an affinity for a Versailles girl. He purchased two tickets for the Ripley County Fair and two tickets for the Damn Theater in Osgood, which combined cost him $1.30. When he asked the girl to spend a few evenings with him at the fair and theater, she brusquely gave him the cold shoulder, after which he tore up the tickets in front of her. It is an interesting story, but the author cannot discern what it has to do with discipline. The rest of the section is a brief guide on what to buy a girl for her birthday as well as a tale of a CCC boy that was walking from Versailles to his home in Indianapolis for a visit. A farmer driving a horse and buggy came up behind him and the horse balked. No amount of whipping would induce the horses to budge. In frustration the farmer exhorted the young man to go hide behind a tree as he was scaring his horse. It is probable that he complied.
I am looking forward to delving into these documents and discovering what life was like in a CCC camp.

The Versailles State Park book will be included, when complete, in my series:
Indiana State Park Travel Guide Series