Camp Wolverine CCC
(Civilian Conservation Corps ~ 673rd Company)
Located in Chandler Township Charlevoix County MI
(Sometimes referred to as the Clarion CCC ~ having a Clarion MI postal address)
The design and compilation of the text and photos on this site are copyrighted 2013.
Please do not copy the photos on this site,
many of which have been submitted by private individuals...
just come back and visit the site often to view the photos.
Most posted items will enlarge by "clicking" on them.
"Clicking" on some highlighted words may access additional information.
Please do not copy the photos on this site,
many of which have been submitted by private individuals...
just come back and visit the site often to view the photos.
Most posted items will enlarge by "clicking" on them.
"Clicking" on some highlighted words may access additional information.
WARNING FOR VISITORS IN THE CAMP WOLVERINE AREA: A regular visitor to the Camp Wolverine area reported the following on 2 May 2015. "We were walking the field across from the CCC. Actually, the one field closer to Springvale corner; an open well right in the field!! I have ridden, walked that field so many times and have never seen it. I wonder what is in the well. It had ice and water in it. I can't believe a snowmobile or dirt bikes haven't had a problem with it. Anyway, I have read that people who explore like we do should be very careful of old, unstable wells that dot the countryside here and there."
The same regular visitor found the same open well on 7 September 2015 while riding. She knows to be very careful with her horses around the area, but she is giving this additional warning to those who may be unaware.
The same regular visitor found the same open well on 7 September 2015 while riding. She knows to be very careful with her horses around the area, but she is giving this additional warning to those who may be unaware.
Civilian Conservation Corps ~ Beginnings
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal included a bill for the Emergency Conservation Work Act...
passed on 5 April 1933.
The Civilian Conservation Corps contributed vastly to the people of the United States
through variously connected forestry projects.
passed on 5 April 1933.
The Civilian Conservation Corps contributed vastly to the people of the United States
through variously connected forestry projects.
The photos directly below were from the leather-bound "'Happy Days' C.C.C." photo album as shown in the two photos above. The actual album has been donated, along with Civil War memorabilia, to the Michigan Military Heritage Museum in Grass Lake MI, Jackson County, by a family local to the museum. The entire incredible album contains Camp Wolverine photos which document the creation of the Camp Wolverine; progressing from tents to buildings, constructing the surrounding roads, creating the fire towers, and depicting the men... as the camp grew. The Michigan Military Heritage Museum has submitted the scanned photos to this Chandler Township Charlevoix County Michigan Memories website's Camp Wolverine CCC webpage because of the focus on Camp Wolverine's HISTORY. The album had belonged to Wendell Fox of Ann Arbor (Pittsfield Township) MI as noted on the page in the photo below. No labels or identifications were written with the photos, but other than the names of the men, all other photos easily can be connected to Camp Wolverine. The photos are visual images of the 1933-34 articles posted and referenced here which describe the creation and happenings of Camp Wolverine.
Photo above:
"MEMORY LEAVES OF HAPPY DAYS
in Company ___________ C.C.C. at Camp _________
STATE OF MICHIGAN
DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN ---
This is to certify that Wendell Fox
of Ann Arbor has by his or her own
efforts risen to a high position in connection with Conservation
affairs, having climbed the Mackey [sic ~ Mackie]
Fire Tower this 10 day of June,
1933
Chas. Johnson
Towerman"
NOTE: Two photos of the Mackie Fire Tower are posted farther below on this Camp Wolverine webpage.
Two photos below: Both photographs of this man were affixed to the very first black page of the album
as shown in the image above,
so quite possibly are photos of Wendell Fox, the owner of the album.
as shown in the image above,
so quite possibly are photos of Wendell Fox, the owner of the album.
Two photos below: Both photographs followed the two photographs above,
so are likely the first stark vision of the landscape from whence Camp Wolverine would arise;
first with tents... later replaced with buildings.
so are likely the first stark vision of the landscape from whence Camp Wolverine would arise;
first with tents... later replaced with buildings.
In their beginnings most CCC camps were composed of "surplus army pyramid tents" like those in the photos below of
Co. 673 CCC Camp Wolverine.
Co. 673 CCC Camp Wolverine.
Photo below: Holding their eating plates, the men stood in line to eat, in front of their living quarters of pyramid tents. The 12 June 1933 Petoskey Evening News explained the routine: "The boys are routed from bed at 6 a.m. and have a half hour to dress, clean up and police their tents [Photo above shows policing tents]. At 6:30 a.m. they are served breakfast and at 7:30 a.m. leave for the woods. At 11:30 a.m. they return to camp for lunch but provisions are being made so that meals may be brought to their work location..."
Photo below: The 12 June 1933 Petoskey Evening News explained: "Substantial meals are served the campers, Lieutenant Bohn said. Breakfast consists of cereal, milk, coffee, toast and wheatcakes or bacon and eggs or sausage. A typical dinner menu is: roast pork, creamed corn, bread, iced tea, mashed potatoes, apple sauce, butter and ice cream." Likely the men were served from a mess hall, unless they were still in a tent environment (like in the photos above and below) where their hearty meals were prepared in a field kitchen and they were served outdoors using mess kits. Following meals, the campers stood in line to clean their eating utensils. The filled large containers seem to be steaming hot as they rested over open fire pits. The cans probably contained in order: 1) food scraps 2) rinse water 3) hot soapy water for washing 4) hot rinse water 5) another rinse that usually contained a bleach for sanitizing the mess kit.
Photo below: The 12 June 1933 Petoskey Evening News explained: "Members of the corps volunteered as cooks and were trained at Camp Custer. Kitchen police work is done in rotation by the campers. Of the 192 members of the corps at Camp Wolverine approximately 20 are used daily in preparation of food and maintenance of the camp."
Photo below: Perhaps the young man may be illustrating the point made in the 12 June 1933 Petoskey Evening News about the campers eating well, and gaining weight: "They [the campers] like the food and the fun. The effect of camp life is shown by the fact that one boy has gained 19 pounds in the 16 days he has been in the corps."
Four photos below: None of the photographs in the album were labeled, so the men's names are unknown, and also the significance of the pyramid shaped structure is uncertain. Is it possible that the structure is mimicking the shape of the Army pyramid tents the campers were first using as their living accommodations? or possibly the shape of the US CCC pyramid shaped insignia patch? Is something, perhaps a bell, hanging down from the inside center of the pyramid? Also, is that an emergency type vehicle with a cross on it, in the background? The man in the center in the photo below right appears to be the same man who may be the owner of the album which includes these photos... Wendell Fox. Contact the webmaster with any knowledge of this structure or identity of any of the men.
The two photos below were submitted by Candace Rivera, who is the granddaughter of Orall Baymiller McQuillen who attended Camp Wolverine in the 1930s. Photo below left: Candace feels a strong resemblance exists between her grandfather's photo below left and the man on the far right in the photo above right and the same man in the two photos below. Photo below right: Candace's grandfather is center back. Any input regarding the identification of any of these men would be appreciated as none was identified, other than Candace recognizing her grandfather.
Photo below left: Even with the photo enlarged, it is hard to tell if that is an object in the tree, and if it might be a bear... or what. Two photos below right: The men appear to be working "out in the field" with shovels close at hand in both instances.
The 12 June 1933 Petoskey Evening News explained: "Work to be done by the corps includes: truck trail and fire lane construction; forest nursery work; state park construction work on buildings and equipment; control of tree insects and diseases; improvement cuttings to remove dead and diseased trees; surveying of boundaries of state reservations; and lake and stream improvement to aid in conservation of fish."
Two photos below right: Included in the work to be done listed above, the building of fire towers was one of the main functions of the men of Camp Wolverine. Farther down on this same webpage is a photo (belonging to the webmaster) of a fire tower that is positively identified as the Mackie fire tower just up the road, and up the hill, from where Camp Wolverine was located. Compare the photos... this photo below center could possibly be of the same Mackie fire tower, especially because as noted on the photo way above of the second page in the Happy Trails photo album. That page credited Wendell Fox as climbing the Mackey [sic ~ Mackie] fire tower. Photo below right: At this time, any information about a relationship between Camp Wolverine and this tower with the top sign showing "Burt Lake" is unknown. If anyone can add information regarding this "Burt Lake" tower, please contact the webmaster.
Two photos below right: Included in the work to be done listed above, the building of fire towers was one of the main functions of the men of Camp Wolverine. Farther down on this same webpage is a photo (belonging to the webmaster) of a fire tower that is positively identified as the Mackie fire tower just up the road, and up the hill, from where Camp Wolverine was located. Compare the photos... this photo below center could possibly be of the same Mackie fire tower, especially because as noted on the photo way above of the second page in the Happy Trails photo album. That page credited Wendell Fox as climbing the Mackey [sic ~ Mackie] fire tower. Photo below right: At this time, any information about a relationship between Camp Wolverine and this tower with the top sign showing "Burt Lake" is unknown. If anyone can add information regarding this "Burt Lake" tower, please contact the webmaster.
Photo below: It seems probable that this panoramic view probably was taken from the top of the fire tower...
very likely the Mackie Fire Tower.
very likely the Mackie Fire Tower.
2019
Hiawatha National Forest USDA Forest Service Station, Rapid River, Michigan
Photo Below Left: 1930's model of a fire tower
Photo Below Top Right: Description of 1930's model of a fire tower
Photo Bottom Right: Tree cutting showing the rings and associated time periods (click to enlarge)
Hiawatha National Forest USDA Forest Service Station, Rapid River, Michigan
Photo Below Left: 1930's model of a fire tower
Photo Below Top Right: Description of 1930's model of a fire tower
Photo Bottom Right: Tree cutting showing the rings and associated time periods (click to enlarge)
Two photos below: The 12 June 1933 Petoskey Evening News explained: "Three miles from Camp Wolverine is Thumb Lake where the campers swim. Life guards have been appointed. Installation of shower baths and digging of additional wells will be undertaken immediately, Lieutenant Bohn said."
Constructing roads was one of the major responsibilities of the men of Camp Wolverine. The hill in some of the photos below might possibly be that of today's Magee Road which leads down to Springvale Corners very near where Camp Wolverine had been located.
In the photo below, it is difficult to determine if the men are ready to go to work, or if they were boarding the truck to go into Petoskey for a "night on the town." The 12 June 1933 Petoskey Evening News explained: "The campers are free Saturday and Sunday of each week and negotiations are under way to bring the boys by truck into Petoskey Saturday afternoon and return them late at night."
The 12 June 1933 Petoskey Evening News explained: "Back in camp around 4 p.m. the campers are free to do as they please. Volley ball, baseball and other games are provided for their amusement and a camp orchestra has been organized."
Photo below: On the "MEMORY LEAVES OF HAPPY DAYS" page of the personal CCC album, was this ticket stating:
"GOOD FOR ONE SEAT Co. 673rd. C.C.C."
The ticket does not specifically state what entertainment could be enjoyed.
"GOOD FOR ONE SEAT Co. 673rd. C.C.C."
The ticket does not specifically state what entertainment could be enjoyed.
Article Below: Access additional information about the CCC and the Chandler Township Hardwood Nursery on this same site by clicking HERE.
Photo below: As noted above, the campers had free time to do as they please, and one activity for entertainment was baseball. Some of the men also liked boxing, and people from the surrounding areas would arrive at Camp Wolverine to watch the boxing events. The 29 June 1933 Petoskey Evening News reported: "About two hundred and fifty visitors were at camp last evening, most of them from Petoskey. They inspected camp, visited with the officers and men and enjoyed the evening program of music and boxing."
Article Below Center: "Charlevoix County near Clarion" was actually
Camp Wolverine CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps ~ 673rd Company) In Chandler Township Charlevoix County
Camp Wolverine CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps ~ 673rd Company) In Chandler Township Charlevoix County
Five photos below: It appears that with snow on the ground, the CCC crews continued to work on the roadways and various projects.
Photo below left: Does anyone recognize the location, especially with the building in the background?
Contact the webmaster with information please.
Contact the webmaster with information please.
Photo below: Does anyone recognize the location, or significance of the structure, or the building?
Contact the webmaster with information please.
Contact the webmaster with information please.
Photo Below Labeled: Old Barn and Pump House
Photo Below Labeled: Warehouse Building
Photo Below Labeled: "Old Barn and Pump House 1 November 1933 'Camp Wolverine'"
Photo Below Labeled: "Showing Old Barn and Pump House on Site of New Pump House
up to 14 November 1933"
up to 14 November 1933"
Photo Below Labeled: #28 and #4 Barracks and Bath House
Photo Below Labeled: "Pump House 'Henry Luesing' 20 November 1933"
Article above and photo below: The 16 December 1933 Petoskey Evening News announced very exciting progress for Camp Wolverine with Michigan's Winter Season arrival: "The CCC camp at Springvale is down to very efficient winter operations, according to the official army and conservation department reports. The camp, just moved from the tent colony into the new wooden permanent camp structures, is busy now at the regular woods tasks such as tree planting, fire lines, park improvements, etc."
With no snow on the ground in the photo below, of the new long garage, the photo may have been taken in the Spring of 1934... after the 16 December 1933 Petoskey Evening News explained: "The new four-car garage building has been completed by a crew of men under contract with Preston Feather of this city [Petoskey]. Work by the same contractor has started on a 130 foot state garage building at camp. Contracts for this building were let some days ago."
Compare the photos above and below.
The doors appear to be the same, but in the photo below the doors had been painted.
The photo below had no identifications of the men.
The doors appear to be the same, but in the photo below the doors had been painted.
The photo below had no identifications of the men.
Photo below: The men lined up in front of their camp buildings.
Toward the bottom of this webpage are photos of the interiors of some of the buildings such as the Mess Hall, and the Barracks.
Five photos below: A dog resting on a couch beside a box that held Berdan Coffee...
Possibly Wendell Fox, a fellow crew member, the dog... and then the guys on a motocycle.
Possibly Wendell Fox, a fellow crew member, the dog... and then the guys on a motocycle.
Two photos below: Both photos were taken after the tents had been replaced with buildings as seen in the backgrounds. Photo left: That might be Wendell Fox taking a bite of the cook's "delight." Photo right: Could these two men be the "tallest" and the "shortest" in camp then? Does anyone have any idea what the object is behind the two men, or the significance of the rocks on the ground?
The four columns below are all from one article from the 5 July 1934 Petoskey Evening news:
The article below illustrates how badly young men wanted to be accepted into the work program with the CCC...
this happened in Missouri.
this happened in Missouri.
Clipping Below Left: Raymond McIntire Mosser enlisted in the Wolverine 673rd CCC on 9 January 1939.
Clipping Below Right: Andrew Wolf Speigl enlisted in the Wolverine 673rd CCC on 11 April 1940.
Clipping Below Right: Andrew Wolf Speigl enlisted in the Wolverine 673rd CCC on 11 April 1940.
The 1941 news article below listed CCC Camp Wolverine Golden Glovers who competed for titles:
Everett Hadix
Bud St. Arno
Rudy Zaboroski
Raymond Shawn
The Camp Wolverine CCC name and location in Chandler township can be confusing.
Although named Camp Wolverine CCC, the camp was not located in Wolverine MI,
but rather Camp Wolverine CCC was located near, then, Springvale MI in Chandler Township Charlevoix County MI.
The Village of Springvale no longer exists.
The mail address, however, was Clarion MI so the camp is sometimes referred to as the Clarion CCC.
The road name of the location of previous Wolverine Camp CCC now is CCC Road.
Although named Camp Wolverine CCC, the camp was not located in Wolverine MI,
but rather Camp Wolverine CCC was located near, then, Springvale MI in Chandler Township Charlevoix County MI.
The Village of Springvale no longer exists.
The mail address, however, was Clarion MI so the camp is sometimes referred to as the Clarion CCC.
The road name of the location of previous Wolverine Camp CCC now is CCC Road.
LIDAR USGS Map Below: Paul Bricker lives in the vicinity of where the Camp Wolverine CCC had been located. Paul enjoys exploring, and researching, the CCC/Springvale area. He has submitted the LIDAR map below of the Camp Wolverine CCC. LIDAR maps remove all the vegetation from a map and reveal things that are covered by trees and grass. On this map, the CCC Road is north/south. All the rectangular holes are foundations or holes near the foundation; possibly a cistern. LIDAR stands for "Light Detection and Ranging", a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth. LIDAR maps can show old roads, old railroad grades or homestead foundations. LIDAR maps are available on the USGS [United States Geological Survey]web site.
~ 1938 Chandler Township Charlevoix County MI Map ~
From Michigan Department of Conservation
Field Administration Division
From Michigan Department of Conservation
Field Administration Division
This map below clearly identifies in Chandler Township the Wolverine CCC Camp located in Section 2, north of Springvale's corners. The blue numbers are the township section numbers. The large red numbers identify the corresponding numbered aerial views of Chandler Township which accompany this map in the book from the Michigan Department of Conservation Field Administration Division, kept in the Boyne City MI Museum, where the book may be viewed by the public.
The copy of the photo below corresponds to the above Michigan Department of Conservation Field Administration Division Map and is found in the same book. For instance, this page below is a picture of what is marked in red for #5 above. Number 5 above covers parts of sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, and 14 as marked below. That all means that in the photo below where the #2 is located, is very close to where the Wolverine CCC Camp is marked above. For 1938, this aerial view was most likely considered to be very high tech, and was quite a project undertaking, as photos like this were taken for each township in Charlevoix County and compiled into this one book, which was really quite an amazing undertaking, and accomplishment, for that era.
~ Area CCC Observed Yearly Anniversaries ~
Sign Reads:
SITE OF
CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CAMP
CAMP WOLVERINE 673
1933 ~ 1942
IS THIS SIGN STILL POSTED ON THE CCC PROPERTY??? PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU KNOW.
On 8 August 2018 I was notified that YES, this sign is MISSING.
In my dreams, whoever took this sign would as mysteriously return it, like when they took it. Otherwise, perhaps someone has the equipment and the materials
to make a replacement sign... for history's sake.
SITE OF
CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CAMP
CAMP WOLVERINE 673
1933 ~ 1942
IS THIS SIGN STILL POSTED ON THE CCC PROPERTY??? PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU KNOW.
On 8 August 2018 I was notified that YES, this sign is MISSING.
In my dreams, whoever took this sign would as mysteriously return it, like when they took it. Otherwise, perhaps someone has the equipment and the materials
to make a replacement sign... for history's sake.
The CCC Road sign, and the age old "Witness Tree" will be seen upon arrival at Springvale Corners as in the photos below.
WILL NO LONGER BE TRUE... in 2018 the "Witness Tree" is to be cut down...
Springvale Corners... Camp Wolverine located a bit farther north...
SLIDESHOW BELOW (CLICK ON "PLAY") 12 August 2018:
The "Witness Tree" which marks the general location for the now extinct Village of Springvale, is marked to be removed. The entire five road intersection of Springvale Corners is slated to be redone some time soon. If only that "Witness Tree" could tell the stories of ALL that it has witnessed for the years... Memories, however, still can live on with photos and stories.
PURPOSE of the Camp Wolverine CCC
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was inaugurated in 1933 while the country was still struggling from the Great Depression, promoted the New Deal Programs. The Civilian Conservation Corps emerged within those programs to help the nation's unemployed, and unmarried men of relief families, out of economic hardship through employment. While necessities were provided to each man, he was required to send home $25.00 of his monthly wage of $30.00. If two sons, for instance, were enrolled in the CCC, then the home family received $50.00 per month.
One of the first duties of an enrollee as listed in the book We Can Do It! A History of the CCC in Michigan 1933 - 1942 , was FIRES! On page 5 of this book (written by Charles A. Symon), it tells: "During the first CCC enrollment period, April 1 to October 1, 1933, Michigan State Camps devoted the bulk of their work time to the fire problem by such means as: building 67 miles of fire breaks, 556 miles of truck trails to get to fires, and 543 acres of emergency landing fields for planes (primarily for fire observation planes), spent 32,807 man-days fighting fires; cleared 123 miles of trails and roadsides as a fire prevention measure.
This emphasis was continued during the second six month enrollment period with such embellishments as constructing fire lookout towers, stringing more telephone lines to connect towers with camps, and clearing 6818 acres of land of fire hazards...."
What better spot than Chandler Township Charlevoix County near Cobbs & Mitchell's Springvale logging area to prepare to fight fires. The eroded land left behind by the extensive logging landscape was prime territory for fires; along with a huge need of reforestation by the CCC, as well as fire fighting.
One of the first duties of an enrollee as listed in the book We Can Do It! A History of the CCC in Michigan 1933 - 1942 , was FIRES! On page 5 of this book (written by Charles A. Symon), it tells: "During the first CCC enrollment period, April 1 to October 1, 1933, Michigan State Camps devoted the bulk of their work time to the fire problem by such means as: building 67 miles of fire breaks, 556 miles of truck trails to get to fires, and 543 acres of emergency landing fields for planes (primarily for fire observation planes), spent 32,807 man-days fighting fires; cleared 123 miles of trails and roadsides as a fire prevention measure.
This emphasis was continued during the second six month enrollment period with such embellishments as constructing fire lookout towers, stringing more telephone lines to connect towers with camps, and clearing 6818 acres of land of fire hazards...."
What better spot than Chandler Township Charlevoix County near Cobbs & Mitchell's Springvale logging area to prepare to fight fires. The eroded land left behind by the extensive logging landscape was prime territory for fires; along with a huge need of reforestation by the CCC, as well as fire fighting.
The Macky [correct spelling is Mackie] Fire Tower in the photo below was located on the map toward top of this webpage in Section 11 Chandler Township Charlevoix County, high on a hill as I remember seeing it as a child... just up the road from the Mackie School (also listed on the map), and the Mackie/Wood homestead. In 2017 the Gas Company is located across the road from the field where the fire tower had been located in the very back left corner of that field.~ Karla Howard Buckmaster
News Article on the right: The Forest Fire of 20 September 1881 emblazoned the minds of people with the need for Fire Prevention. The Civilian Conservation Corps manned their fire towers to be vigilant and to help prevent such a castastrophe as was described in the newspapers that happened in the Thumb Area of Michigan in 1881.
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In a letter written to the president of the Forestry Commission, Mr. William H. White, lumber baron from Boyne City sums up the need for the logged areas to be protected from fire:
"This is a grand and good work which the Michigan Forestry Association is organized to accomplish, and should have the co-operation of the lumberman and timber land holders of the State. There is no individual who can do anything. It must be done by the State and nation. Our cut-over lands that are not suitable for agriculture should be cared for. That is, the small trees that are left after the lumberman's axe has gone through, should be protected from fire and allowed to grow. As it is now after the land has been logged and the dry spell comes on, the fire goes through and most of the small timber is killed before any undergrowth comes up to check the flames. If the land can only be cared for a few years after it is logged, it would then be protected from fire by the undergrowth, and then the dead brush would rot down. It is the first year after logging that the great risk comes. I would also advocate protecting the forests at the heads of streams so as to protect our water-supply. Anything affecting our water supply affects everything else, namely, fish, stock raising, irrigation, etc. We have a few thousand acres at the head waters of the Boyne river, and this land should be protected after the saw timber has been taken off. It would be very necessary to have this protected on account of the water supply as there are so many small streams coming out of the hillsides entering into the one great stream which forms Boyne river. However, no individual can do anything with this. It will have to be done by such strength as the State or nation can give. We have such lands as are not suitable for agriculture, stock grazing, etc., which should be owned and protected by the State, to be held as timber reserves. The dead timber, brush and logs that are left on the ground by the lumberman, should be cleaned up so as to give protection against fire to small standing and growing timber which in twenty-five or thirty years will be very valuable to our country. I shall be very glad to give any assistance I can to this important work of the Association."
"This is a grand and good work which the Michigan Forestry Association is organized to accomplish, and should have the co-operation of the lumberman and timber land holders of the State. There is no individual who can do anything. It must be done by the State and nation. Our cut-over lands that are not suitable for agriculture should be cared for. That is, the small trees that are left after the lumberman's axe has gone through, should be protected from fire and allowed to grow. As it is now after the land has been logged and the dry spell comes on, the fire goes through and most of the small timber is killed before any undergrowth comes up to check the flames. If the land can only be cared for a few years after it is logged, it would then be protected from fire by the undergrowth, and then the dead brush would rot down. It is the first year after logging that the great risk comes. I would also advocate protecting the forests at the heads of streams so as to protect our water-supply. Anything affecting our water supply affects everything else, namely, fish, stock raising, irrigation, etc. We have a few thousand acres at the head waters of the Boyne river, and this land should be protected after the saw timber has been taken off. It would be very necessary to have this protected on account of the water supply as there are so many small streams coming out of the hillsides entering into the one great stream which forms Boyne river. However, no individual can do anything with this. It will have to be done by such strength as the State or nation can give. We have such lands as are not suitable for agriculture, stock grazing, etc., which should be owned and protected by the State, to be held as timber reserves. The dead timber, brush and logs that are left on the ground by the lumberman, should be cleaned up so as to give protection against fire to small standing and growing timber which in twenty-five or thirty years will be very valuable to our country. I shall be very glad to give any assistance I can to this important work of the Association."
Photo above and article right: The box in the woods, on which the men were sitting, may be just what in 23 April 1942, The Leader and Kalkaskian newspaper described: "A new sight for tourists in Michigan's northwoods will be fire fighting tool caches - solidly built, tarpaper-covered, three-by-four-foot shelters for shovels and axes. Spotted in strategic places they are part of the 1942 fire fighting plan, prepared for which is expected to be one of the most strenuous forest fire seasons in years."
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News Article Below: Even before the CCC became heavily involved in fire protection, William J. Pearson, Chief Forest Fire Warden in Lansing MI, was promoting fire protection. William Pearson, and his parents, had been long time residents of Chandler Township Charlevoix County MI. William Pearson went on to become a State of Michigan Senator.
The 29 May 1941 article below in 4 sections, from the Otsego County Herald Times told about the involvement of the CCC in the surrounding area to Camp Wolverine, and also stated about the CCC Pond built for use nearby at The Hardwood Nursery (shows photos of the pond and area) where several CCC men (Junior Enrollees) were working:
"Five years ago this nursery was started in a valley, with thick scrub oak, weeds, etc., everywhere. This has all been cleared out and now the 37 acres are open.
First the men went into the hills and built a dam 81 feet above the valley along a small stream. The water was then piped down to the project, providing 45 pounds of pressure, and with an overhead pipe sprinkling system the young tree shoots are kept moist and helped grow."
"Five years ago this nursery was started in a valley, with thick scrub oak, weeds, etc., everywhere. This has all been cleared out and now the 37 acres are open.
First the men went into the hills and built a dam 81 feet above the valley along a small stream. The water was then piped down to the project, providing 45 pounds of pressure, and with an overhead pipe sprinkling system the young tree shoots are kept moist and helped grow."
Evidently, according to the article below titled "A MENACE NO LONGER" from the pages of the 24 April 1913 Otsego County Herald Times, before the Camp Wolverine CCC in Chandler Township, the Forest Protective Association felt it could deal with the problem of Forest Fires. Allen Murdock was the Warden for the Springvale District of Charlevoix County.
Besides Fire Fighting/Protection, the Camp Wolverine CCC was involved locally in Charlevoix County, as the men of Camp Wolverine CCC were acknowledged in a newspaper article, "Celebration of legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps" written by Marci Singer in the Petoskey News review.
One person who helped on the CCC with the construction of the log building at Young State Park was the father of Eddie May's wife Pat Shubert May. Pat's father was Michael Shubert. Ed and his wife live in Boyne City MI.
One person who helped on the CCC with the construction of the log building at Young State Park was the father of Eddie May's wife Pat Shubert May. Pat's father was Michael Shubert. Ed and his wife live in Boyne City MI.
The Michigan State Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Wolverine in the Winter of 1938-1939 performed a Survey and Soundings of Walloon Lake and presented it on a wonderful map of which Louisa Taylor has an original. Louisa submitted the map to the Walloon Lake Wanderings website for viewing. (Legends of the map in photos above and right)
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The 1917 article below indicates the previous Fish Hatchery site near Petoskey's burned Arlington Hotel,
and its potential site of Oden.
and its potential site of Oden.
1937 ~ TWENTY Years Later...
In the 2006 photo above, the sign posted at the Oden State Fish Hatchery noted that another project for the workers of Camp Wolverine CCC was at the Oden State Fish Hatchery. The Camp Wolverine CCC workers built raceways, dug ponds, and gave tours to the hatchery visitors. The photo below is an "Early" photo of the State Fish Hatchery in Oden. In 2013 the Oden State Fish Hatchery has interpretive tours.
PEOPLE and LIVING ARRANGEMENTS
of the
Camp Wolverine CCC
of the
Camp Wolverine CCC
Photo Above: Retreat ~ A military musical ceremony carried out at sunset...
673rd Co. C.C.C. Camp Wolverine
Clarion, Mich. (Mailing Address)
Max Milbourn was an Enrollee of Camp Wolverine CCC in about 1934.
At the time that he became an Enrollee of the camp, he had been living in Charlotte MI.
Later, after Max married, he and his wife lived in Jackson MI.
673rd Co. C.C.C. Camp Wolverine
Clarion, Mich. (Mailing Address)
Max Milbourn was an Enrollee of Camp Wolverine CCC in about 1934.
At the time that he became an Enrollee of the camp, he had been living in Charlotte MI.
Later, after Max married, he and his wife lived in Jackson MI.
Photo above: Barracks 673rd Co. C.C.C. Camp Wolverine (metal cots, lockers, chests)
Photo below was in the photo album of Wendell Fox: Probably 1933 Barracks (wood cots, hooks for hanging cloths)
Photo below was in the photo album of Wendell Fox: Probably 1933 Barracks (wood cots, hooks for hanging cloths)
Bob Mackie shared the above photo which included his Father Ward Mackie (marked with the X) along with other men of the CCC.
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Mary Erb of Walloon Lake MI stated in 2013 that when she was a little girl, in about 1939, she and her parents George and Vergene "Gene" Gliddon Whitfield visited Camp Wolverine CCC to visit their friends Larry and Marion Wines. Larry and Marion also lived in Walloon Lake village. The Wines lived on the corner across from where the Anderson Family lived, and near where the village library is located in 2013. According to the census record below, Larry's "Industry" was listed as "reforestation" which was a large concern of each CCC camp which eventually planted 3 billion trees across America. Larry was listed as Forestry Personnel in the camp at the time of the 1935 Thanksgiving menu in the photos farther down this page. After Larry and Mary and their family left Northern Michigan, they moved to Detroit MI where Larry was a part of the the head leadership in the Nash-Calvinator Company. Larry died in the 1950s. Marion's folks Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, had a cottage north of Harbor Springs on Lake Michigan on Devil's Elbow near Good Hart MI. Marion moved north, but never remarried. Marion and Larry had had a daughter Barb who married someone from southern Michigan. Barb died in about 2003. Marion and Larry's son Richard lived and taught in Florida. In the photo below left submitted by Mary Erb, were L>R: Marion Wine's parents Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, Dorothy Whitfield, Mary Whitfield, mother Vergene Whitfield, George Whitfield, Marion Wines, and a portion of Larry Wines. The photo was taken in front of one of the buildings in Camp Wolverine CCC.
The 1960 Article Below verifies that the Whitfield and Wines Families remained friends over the years.
Larry Wines' name also was listed on the 1940 Melrose Township Charlevoix County MI Census and listed Larry as follows:
1940 United States Federal Census about Lawrence Wines
Name: Lawrence Wines
Age: 25
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1915
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: Michigan
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1940: Melrose, Charlevoix, Michigan
Street: Walloon Lake Michigan
Farm: No
Inferred Residence in 1935: Detroit, Wane, Michigan
Residence in 1935: Detroit, Wane, Michigan
Resident on farm in 1935: No
Sheet Number: 3B
Number of Household in Order of Visitation: 58
Occupation: Founder
Industry: Reforestation
House Owned or Rented: Rented
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented: 30.00
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: College, 4th year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 40
Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in Government work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 52
Income: 3100
Household Members: Name Age
Lawrence Wines 25
Marion Wines 27
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Clifford Earl Dixon (enrolled January 1937 Camp Ludington Pere Marquette State Park Ludington MI, then at Camp Wolverine... honorably discharged 22 June 1937.)
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Floyd Johnson [Truck Driver CCC]
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Harry Kampfert [Camp Cook, probably when the camp FIRST opened
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Orrin R. Lathrop
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Arthur Oldham
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Art Schregardus
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Homer Hughey Swadling
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Francis Joseph "Frank" Whitman
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Ivan Williams ~ 1939
1940 United States Federal Census about Lawrence Wines
Name: Lawrence Wines
Age: 25
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1915
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: Michigan
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1940: Melrose, Charlevoix, Michigan
Street: Walloon Lake Michigan
Farm: No
Inferred Residence in 1935: Detroit, Wane, Michigan
Residence in 1935: Detroit, Wane, Michigan
Resident on farm in 1935: No
Sheet Number: 3B
Number of Household in Order of Visitation: 58
Occupation: Founder
Industry: Reforestation
House Owned or Rented: Rented
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented: 30.00
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: College, 4th year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 40
Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in Government work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 52
Income: 3100
Household Members: Name Age
Lawrence Wines 25
Marion Wines 27
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Clifford Earl Dixon (enrolled January 1937 Camp Ludington Pere Marquette State Park Ludington MI, then at Camp Wolverine... honorably discharged 22 June 1937.)
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Floyd Johnson [Truck Driver CCC]
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Harry Kampfert [Camp Cook, probably when the camp FIRST opened
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Orrin R. Lathrop
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Arthur Oldham
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Art Schregardus
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Homer Hughey Swadling
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Francis Joseph "Frank" Whitman
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Ivan Williams ~ 1939
Mess Hall
673RD CO C.C.C. Camp Wolverine
(Photo Below)
673RD CO C.C.C. Camp Wolverine
(Photo Below)
The following 1935 Thanksgiving Menu for the Camp Wolverine CCC 673rd Company listed the Enrollees, the Officers, the Educational Advisor, the Forestry Personnel, the Leaders, and the Assistant Leaders. Karl Skyee was listed as an Assistant Leader, and it was he who donated this menu to the Boyne City Museum where the menu can be viewed in person. Larry Wines, mentioned above by Mary Erb, was listed in the booklet as Forestry Personnel.
Andrew Speigl, 79, of Hayes Township, passed away Oct. 10, 2002, at his home.
Funeral service for Andrew will be 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Stone Funeral Home in Petoskey. Chaplain Barbara Potter will officiate. Burial will be in Undine Cemetery. Visitation will be 10-11 a.m. Saturday.
Andrew was born Feb. 21, 1923, in Petoskey. He grew up in Bay Shore where he also attended school.
On April 11, 1940, Andrew began service with the Civilian Conservation Corps, serving until 1941 at camp Wolverine.
On March 11, 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served in the European Theater and received the Purple Heart for wounds suffered during the Battle of the Bulge. He was also the recipient of the Silver Star.
After his honorable discharge from the military, Andrew returned home and began a 40-year career with the Petoskey Portland Cement Company and later with Penn Dixie where he retired.
He was an avid outdoorsman, enjoying hunting and fishing, as well as gardening.
He was a life member of the Charlevoix V.F.W. and a life member of the Petoskey Eagles Club.
Andrew is survived by his children, Jim (Diana) Speigl of Charlevoix, Andy Junior Speigl of Charlevoix, Anna (Leon) Parker of Selkirk, N.Y., Steve (Reta) Speigl of Charlevoix, Billy (Mary) Speigl-Werner of Rapid City, S.D., Marla (John) Speigl- Bockman of Leavenworth, Kan.; stepchildren, Al (Debbie) Sadowski of East Jordan, Jerry Sadowski of Charlevoix, Fay (Robert) McKnight-Fagnant of Porter Corners, N.Y.; 22 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; four sisters; and three brothers. His former wife and caregiver, Mildred Speigl, also survives him. He was preceded in death by his stepson, Fred Sadowski; one grandson; one sister; and three brothers.
Memorial contributions may be directed to Heartland Hospice.
Articles Below Left and Right: Oakley Bush was a talented singer and artist when enrolled in the Chandler Township CCC.
He died as the result of a train fatality in Petoskey while still enrolled in the CCC.
He died as the result of a train fatality in Petoskey while still enrolled in the CCC.
Uniform and Insignia to Designate Rank
As noted in the 1935 Clarion CCC [Camp Wolverine] above, the men were listed as
Enrollee, Officer, Educational Advisor, Forestry Personnel, Leader, and Assistant Leader.
Each position had an insignia to designate the rank of the young man.
The websites listed below tell about the CCC Uniforms and Insignias:
Uniform and Insignia Images
(Click on any of the images for additional information.)
Cloth Specialty (Skill) of the Civilian Conservation Corp 1933-1942
As noted in the 1935 Clarion CCC [Camp Wolverine] above, the men were listed as
Enrollee, Officer, Educational Advisor, Forestry Personnel, Leader, and Assistant Leader.
Each position had an insignia to designate the rank of the young man.
The websites listed below tell about the CCC Uniforms and Insignias:
Uniform and Insignia Images
(Click on any of the images for additional information.)
Cloth Specialty (Skill) of the Civilian Conservation Corp 1933-1942
The website directly above includes the following information. "The cloth insignia worn on civilian conservation corps uniforms can be grouped as: national logos, company patches, company bars, rank strips/chevrons, service bars and specialty (skill) patches. The following is an attempt at identifying and describing specialty patches, also referred to as 'skill' or 'rating' badges.
C.C.C. enrollees were issued WWI clothing in the early years of the program; therefore, it can be assumed that the C’s wore their skill badges on the right sleeve between elbow and shoulder as did their doughboy predecessors. It is unclear whether skill badges were continued in use after the Corps changed to a green uniform.
C.C.C. insignia were not military issue and were not standard across the program due to many reasons, including administrative autonomy, uniform change, privatization and/or politics."
C.C.C. enrollees were issued WWI clothing in the early years of the program; therefore, it can be assumed that the C’s wore their skill badges on the right sleeve between elbow and shoulder as did their doughboy predecessors. It is unclear whether skill badges were continued in use after the Corps changed to a green uniform.
C.C.C. insignia were not military issue and were not standard across the program due to many reasons, including administrative autonomy, uniform change, privatization and/or politics."
Demise Of Camp Wolverine CCC By 1940?
Problems around the world with winds of war, and a US Congress that was trying to cut costs, by 1940,
were leading to the end of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The Camp Wolverine CCC, in fact, had no population listed on its 1940 Census Record.
were leading to the end of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The Camp Wolverine CCC, in fact, had no population listed on its 1940 Census Record.
The 1940 Census Record For Chandler Township Charlevoix County [below]
showed that the CCC Camp Wolverine had "No Population".
[In all of the census records I have ever viewed, previously, I have never seen this "No Population" written across a page. ~ Karla Howard Buckmaster]
showed that the CCC Camp Wolverine had "No Population".
[In all of the census records I have ever viewed, previously, I have never seen this "No Population" written across a page. ~ Karla Howard Buckmaster]
1936 Article Below: Closing of CCC camps was being discussed.
Article/8 Photos Below: Camp Wolverine held an Open House in May 1941, and announced closure in August 1941. The photos show the CCC workers performing various activities, but the workers are not identified. IF anyone recognizes anyone in the photos please let me know by clicking HERE.
While the photo above is dated 1941 and the photo below is undated, the kitchens are definitely the same. The photo below was labeled as "Kitchen Force, Camp Wolverine, Clarion, Michigan, Co 673 S-52."
The photo below was discovered in Jessica Eiring's grandmother's cookbook. The photo includes Robert Nello Byers who was born in 1918 in Toledo, Ohio. Robert grew up in Southeast Michigan, and often related stories about the CCC and the WPA. Robert was in the CCC toward "the end of the CCC's run." Although a portion of the photo has been torn away, the back of the photo listed the names of those in the photo as shown in the next photo below.
According to the photo below the names of the men in the photo above are L>R: Robert N. Byers, James B. Tryon, Harold Flake, Hermann Rathmann, James Gowen, Michael Sheibert, Michael Weir, ? Seaowicki, ? Sheafer, ??ski.
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Bob Greenwell's Machine Class for CCC Boys at Camp Wolverine
Same newspaper had this article that had the article below telling of the closing of CCC Camp Wolverine!
August 1941 CCC Camp Wolverine To Close...
The 7 October 1943 Detroit Free Press on Page 11 read: "SALE OF CCC CAMP BUILDINGS CAMP WOLVERINE The Conservation Department will sell at public auction several buildings at CCC Camp Wolverine, located 11 miles west of Wolverine, in Sec. 2, T33N, R4W. Sale will be held at the camp at 2 P. M., Eastern War Time, Friday, October 15, 1943. For information regarding number, size and type of buildings, terms of sale, etc., write James Finley, Superintendent, Hardwood State Forest, Wolverine, or forestry division. Department of Conservation, Lansing, Michigan. CAMP HIGGINS LAKE The Conservation Department will sell at public auction several buildings at CCC Camp Higgins Lake, located 9 miles west of Roscommon, on US-27. Sale will be held at the camp at 2 P. M., Eastern War Time, Saturday, October 16, 1943. For information regarding number, size and type of buildings, terms of sale, etc., write H. V. Borgerson. Superintendent, Higgins Lake State Forest. Roscommon, or Forestry Division, Department of Conservation, Lansing, Michigan.
Howard and Marion Mackie Wood lived just a few miles from the Camp Wolverine CCC. Marion wrote in her 10 September 1943 diary: “Karl and Marion [Howard] & the baby [Rodger Howard] came and we had dinner & Marion did the dishes, and then Karl took us down to the CCC camp.... watched out for cattle and saw no cows, and when I got home H. [Marion's husband Howard Wood] was ready to start out to look for the cows. It was 1/2 past 4 when we came back, & wet as the dickens - They said they expect to sell the camp building very soon.” 16 September 1943: “Yesterday Marion, Roddy and I went to the camp CCC and I got some molding to put around the hall ceiling upstairs. We saw Mr. Finley [See photo below regarding James Finley retirement] about it.” October 15, 1943: "Connie and Bud came at 10 to 1 & we dropped everything and went to the sale at the CCC Camp-I kept track & the buildings brought $4922. Bet they cost us $100,000. or more. It was cold & raw & I stood so long on my delicate knees I nearly died after supper." October 16, 1943: "Mr. Chrissman bought the biggest garage down at camp for $265.00 for lumber for a barn. He's so nice-like friends of Jerome-he has 3 pleasant men with him. Mr. Dingman. Mr. Ward Kauski & I can't remember the other one. The sale was fun, but it took all night for my bones to stop aching." October 26, 1943: "Connie is pulling nails out of the lumber at the CCC Camp 50¢ an hour-that woman! Bud takes her down and goes for her at night." October 28, 1943: "Bud came at noon and I rode down to the camp to see the demolition. It's getting wrecked all rite....Connie finishes at the camp tomorrow on her nail pulling job." December 7, 1943: "Bud and a crew is wrecking a building at Camp for a Flint Firm." 29 October 1943: “Connie and Junior came & we went to the CCC camp with the trailer & I paid for double doors for the hall $3.50, and bought us two window sash @ 2.50-6.00 out of my mad money. Spent hours trying to make storm windows for the kitchen out of the sash. Too big, but they’ll do for now. They don’t look so bad, & we worked like slaves fixing them, and they should shut out a lot of west wind.” December 9, 1943: "Bud and Freddy took the job of wrecking another building at CCCamp and are to get 150.00 for it. They have about 10 days to do it. They better pray to the weather man."
Photo Below: See reference in the text above to Mr. Finley and the CCC Camp.
Article above and Photo below: It is completely speculative because the photo below was not labeled, but when comparing the men in the two items, they appear as though the bottom photo taken in 1933-34 could be younger versions of the three men labeled above... James "Jim" Finley, Merl Prichard, and Leonard Lasley. Can anyone accurately identify any of the men in the photo below?
Photo above and Photo below: It is speculative, but when comparing the Camp Wolverine house in the photo above which was in the 1933-34 CCC album, to the labeled postcard photo below of the house in the logging village of Springvale... the two houses could be identical. The house could have been moved from where it had been abandoned in Springvale and placed on a stone foundation as seen above at Camp Wolverine.
Photo below: The identical house was already on site at Camp Wolverine when the camp was still made up of pyramid tents, before camp buildings were erected. The house may have been used as the headquarters. From this perspective, the porch is on the other side of the house, but is still visible.
Article Below: The timing seemed just right for the Demise of Camp Wolverine CCC
to fit the needs of the military which was building its defenses.
to fit the needs of the military which was building its defenses.
By the time of this 27 February 1941 Otsego County Herald Times news article out of Gaylord MI,
the CCCs, in general, were beginning their demise.
This article expresses a different slant on the CCCs.
Article Below: The Army Speeded up the Demise of Camp Wolverine CCC
to fit the needs of the military which was building its defenses.
In August 1986, even after the demise of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the concept of the CCC was still being patterned... this time over in Chandler Township's neighboring Otsego County in the Pigeon River site, as noted below:
Camp Wolverine CCC Location In 2013
The location of Camp Wolverine CCC is owned by the State of Michigan. The public is allowed to camp here but, permitting from the State of Michigan needs to be obtained. The cement [as shown in the photos below] remains from walkways to the multiple Camp Wolverine CCC buildings, and slabs from under the various buildings from the mid to late 1930's. Whatever type cement was used then, shows very little decay over the years to have survived into its present state. The below photo at the top shows the walkways which led to the bunkhouse as in the very top photo on this webpage.
Multiple places with cement slabs, walkways or foundations exist.
Photo below left: A search within the center grouping of trees reveals Camp Wolverine CCC remains. Photos below center and right: Foundations, a cement slab, a pipe for a water supply, and a deep hole for something from days gone by, still exist within the group of trees.
Photo below left: Chandler Township had "free range" for cattle for many years which meant the farmer's cattle could roam for grazing purposes wherever the farmer allowed. Emil Harmon's cattle often roamed from his nearby farm to this location of Camp Wolverine CCC, so Emil set up a small windmill to draw water for the convenience of his cattle to get their drinks. This site in the photo below left may have been the spot of the now non-existent windmill, because of the corner cement squares which could have rested the legs of the windmill [Photo below center]. Also in the same area are at least two pieces of twisted metal stuck in the ground like in the photo below right. The Camp Wolverine CCC facilities have left an interesting history with the various land features.
Play the slideshow below to view the photos
of Eddie and Pat May's visit to the Camp Wolverine CCC location in Chandler Township.
The website for the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum explains that "with the U.S. entry into World War II, the CCC was discontinued. CCC alumni donated to the museum many of the photographs and artifacts depicting their day-to-day life and accomplishments." ALL of the photos below were taken by Eddie May while he and his wife Pat were visiting the CCC Museum in Roscommon MI. This was a memorable visit for Pat especially because her father was a member of the Camp Wolverine CCC in Chandler Township. The photos below were part of the museum displays, and the top photo shows Pat's father, Michael Shubert, in the light colored shirt in the very center of the back row.
*Added identification for photo below: The man in the second row, two in from the right is Orall Baymiller McQuillen as identified by his daughter and granddaughter Candace Rivera.
*Added identification for photo below: The man in the second row, two in from the right is Orall Baymiller McQuillen as identified by his daughter and granddaughter Candace Rivera.
Frank Munger (1915 ~ 2007) served in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Frank and his wife Beatrice became permanent residents of Michigan in 1974 after which Frank became the founder of the first CCC Alumni Chapter in Michigan. Frank was instrumental in getting the CCC Museum established at the North Higgins Lake State Park. For more than 20 years, Frank organized annual CCC reunions at the park.
The 1 May 1997 Senate's Michigan Congressional Record included a short autobiography submitted by Frank Munger, along with other contributors to the Senate's recognition of the CCC with "Michigan Remembers F.D.R." as follows:
MICHIGAN REMEMBERS F.D.R.
Back in the 1920’s, my father Alfred Angeli and a number of his friends came over to this country to escape the Fascism and Communism in Italy. They found a new life here in America and they adored Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They had great respect for him for the job he did in creating jobs and putting everybody back to work. My father and about eight of his friends were very serious in their respect for FDR, and honored him by naming their hunting camp ’Campobello’. It was a very sad day when the great man died. My parents, who are now gone, would be very proud to know they are taking part in this tribute to Mr. Roosevelt.—Mike Angeli, Marquette, Michigan.
About ten years ago, I appeared before the county board to obtain approval for a grant to fund a senior citizens feeding program. The chairman of the board got very upset calling me something like ‘‘a big spending-liberal-government interferer (like FDR)’’. I told him I’m not old enough to have served with President Roosevelt, but that he is an idol of mine and that I was extremely honored to have been put in the same category.—Ron Calery, Chippewa-Mackinac- Luce Community, Action Agency Director, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
When FDR ran, the stock market had crashed and times were tough. There were no jobs and no money. Hoover ran on a platform of ‘‘a chicken in every pot’’, but people wanted a job. Roosevelt won in a landslide, after he said he would put people back to work. He did just that. Everyone had bills, and few people had the money to pay them. So a situation was created where people could work off their bills. If you had to go to the hospital while on welfare, you worked the bill off with the city by sweeping streets or picking up trash or cleaning the parks. Each time you worked, you would reduce your bill. Though there were years we didn’t have two nickels to rub together, we survived.—Arthur Carron, Bark River, Michigan.
FDR literally transformed the country from a feeling of overwhelming despair to hope and confidence. When Roosevelt was elected I was approaching my 16th birthday. On the west side of Detroit in a neighborhood of autoworkers practically everyone was jobless. The giant Ford Rouge plant was working at 25 percent of capacity. Other auto companies and all of the auto supplier companies were in a similar situation. My father and the fathers of all my boyhood friends were unemployed. Men who were really willing and anxious to work. There was a feeling of desperation and hopelessness. Most important of all they lost their sense of dignity when they could not provide for their families. Roosevelt, through the various governmental programs, gave these men hope and a sense of well being they had not experienced for some time.—Doug Fraser, Professor of Labor Studies, Wayne State U., Former President of U.A.W., Northville, Michigan.
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, ‘‘A man’s mind stretched by a new idea, will never return to its former dimension.’’ I was one of those fortunate unemployed young men who joined with over three million other destitute kids and signed up with the Civilian Conservation Corps. It seems that FDR scratched out his C.C.C. idea on a restaurant napkin. This vision was an unprecedented gamble in bringing a bankrupt nation back on its feet. I was one of those three million who was lifted from the depths of despair, each given a chance to earn self-respect, dignity and self-esteem. How does a nation measure a dimension such as that? Just consider the families that these men represented, grateful for the monthly $25.00 and the succor it supplied. I can testify to that. Sixty-four years ago when men’s spirits were tested by want and deprivation, it seems like only yesterday that I walked into that welfare office. I was not afraid of the hunger, but the indignity it caused. I felt not a pain in my stomach, but an ache in my heart. . . I was sworn into the C.C.C. Now, I was accepted, now I could say, ‘‘Hello to tomorrow’’. I became a member of an idea whose time had come. Roosevelt’s tree army.—Rev. Bill Fraser, First V.P. National Assoc. of C.C.C. Alumni, Grayling, Michigan.
My mother named me Franklin Delano Garrison in his honor. From the time I was a small child I took a great pride in being named for someone who was a hero to everyone I knew, even though at first I wasn’t really sure why. Then I came to understand that my family was eating only because the New Deal was providing some food assistance, and my father was working only because the Works Progress Administration was providing jobs. I came to see for myself the hardships that the Depression had brought to the old, the hungry and the deserted—and to realize that one man had led the nation in providing not only sustenance but also hope where both had been lost.— Franklin Delano Garrison, President, Michigan State AFL-CIO, Lansing, Michigan.
I am very happy that President Roosevelt is finally having a memorial dedicated in his honor. I am 83 years old and lived through the Depression, and know how bad times were. Before the election of President Roosevelt, I worked on welfare for $2.00 a day for an eight hour shift. With President Roosevelt’s election times got better. With the New Deal of the WPA, I got $22.00 a week for a four day six hour shift. I will always be grateful to President Roosevelt for social security, unemployment benefits and being able to unionize for better wages and benefits and to protect jobs. President Roosevelt will always be my idol.— Rudy Gregorich, Painesdale, Michigan.
We members of the Eighth Armored Division had been on the march, without a break, around the clock, for days—sometimes unopposed, in other places, held up by the familiar and bitter last-ditch Nazi resistance. At last, late one morning, a halt was signaled. We dropped—dirty, hungry, and almost unconscious—and slept, some in the ditches along the road, others stretched out on the rear decks of their tanks, others where they sat in tank turrets, in half tracks, or on truck seats. Then a startling message started down the line from the lead vehicle, which had a shortwave radio. Men, as they heard it, shook the next man awake and passed it on: President Roosevelt was dead. In a sense, President Roosevelt was a soldier in that fight—just like us. And like us, this good man was exhausted. He was a casualty of the war. But he had the satisfaction of knowing that he left the field with the battle well in hand.—Jack R. Hendrickson, Ph.D., Birmingham, Michigan.
The year may have been 1932, or 1934, and my mother a widow of some 60 years had been left well-provided for by my father at his death in 1931. But the Great Depression struck the USA and its economy was stagnant, mired down, seemingly unable to extricate itself from the doldrums it found itself caught in . . . It was a time of calamity, of no one knowing quite what to do. Mother had never experienced this type of emergency in her long life. There was little or no relief in sight. Radio broadcasts were discouraging and gave no hint of the end of the Depression in sight. My sister, married with three little ones, recalls walking three or more miles to obtain government free food and carrying it home, walking as she had come. The one light on the horizon in the midst of this gloom was the radio program when President Delano Roosevelt, elected a few months previously, would address the people in his famous fireside chats. His voice soothing, deep-textured, commanding confidence as he spoke words of optimism were most welcome by the bewildered public. ‘‘We have nothing to fear, except fear itself,’’ he said on one momentous occasion. How the people clung to his words bearing hope that this President of the United States instilled over the air. As someone noted sixty years later, FDR could not raise himself from a chair, but by moral strength was able to lift a great nation out of the Depression in the Thirties! All America hung onto his words, hung on to the confidence he instilled, in their government, in their country, awaiting with patience for the clouds of Depression to lift!—Dr. Marie Heyda, O.P., Grand Rapids Dominicans, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
My younger sister was in the wars and had the honor of meeting President Roosevelt at his summer home. I feel that FDR was one of the greatest presidents that ever lived. Even though he was so educated, he still was for the average person. He did so much for the people while in office.—Kathryn V. Holden, Saginaw, Michigan.
1940. I was pregnant and Newman, my husband, was working for Labor’s Nonpartisan League in the office of the Philadelphia Joint Board, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, 2000 South Street. Since I was not working and had no child care needs, I was a volunteer in the office, handing out literature at rallies and some house to house visiting in North Philly, in the Kensington area and a bit in South Philly. Our work culminated in a huge rally for the President in the stadium, shortly before the election. It was raining and my husband and friends did not think I should go. But I did, and it was the most impressive, exciting and largest rally I ever participated in. My labor came early, and daughter Sharon was born at St. Luke’s Hospital November 3, the election was the next day. Since I had made no plans for an absentee ballot and there was no way I could get one of those days, I missed my opportunity to vote for the third term of FDR. The only time in my life I have failed to vote in an election either primary or general.—Mildred Jeffrey, Detroit, Michigan.
When the 73rd Congress opened FDR bombarded Congress with bills to stimulate the economy. During his first month in office, he used his authority to establish the Public Works Administration which helped my father while laid off from the railroad for about a year.—Leonard Klemm, Saginaw, Michigan.
President Roosevelt really left a great impact upon our country. He came into office at the time of the Great Depression and did much to relieve the suffering of the people and to restore confidence in our banking system and the Government in general. He won great respect through his fireside chats, radio connection and as the first President to address the nation on national television.—B.L. Little, Saginaw, Michigan.
I had only one personal encounter with President Roosevelt, but it is one I can recall quite vividly even today. FDR had been campaigning for reelection that day in New England, but the end of the day had brought him to New York. By chance we saw his motorcade, which couldn’t have been more than two or three cars. He rode in an open car, and I can still see him waving his hat and smiling as he passed by. He was an inspiration to me then and he continues to inspire me today.—William G. Milliken, Former Michigan Governor, Traverse City, Michigan.
I became aware that President Roosevelt was planning to recruit thousands of youths between ages 18 and 25 to serve in forestry camps throughout the nation to perform tasks, such as planting trees, building roads, erosion control, fighting forest fires, miles of fire trails and telephone lines strung, and other conservation related work. I had just turned 18 when I heard about the program, and at the time was a barber’s apprentice in Cascade, Michigan. The Civilian Conservation Corps sounded like the answer to my situation, and I immediately made myself available. After leaving the C.C.C. camps, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy. While assigned to the Sick Officer’s Ward, I was attendant to then Secretary of the Navy, Claude Swanson. During that time President Roosevelt visited Swanson twice. This was a great honor for me to have the opportunity to stand close to the President of the United States. Following a military career, I became involved in organizing a civilian conservation corps alumni group here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. With the support of the C.C.C. Alumni veterans, I was able to convince Governor Blanchard, and the state legislature, to establish a Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps patterned after Roosevelt’s depression era C.C.C. program.— Frank Munger, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
My uncle, Billy Rogers, living in Chicago, was one of the many. No job, no money and dependent on the small income of his mother gave him little hope for the future. Thank God for the C.C.C.! They took him in—fed and clothed him, taught him the value of manual labor and gave him a sense of pride. Friendships made in camp endured for many years. Diligent work and a cheerful attitude earned him the most coveted job in camp: truck driver! After completing his enrollment, he returned to Chicago. Due to his experience, he was eligible to join the Teamsters Union and continued working as an over-the-road truck driver until he retired. All this due to the vision and persistence of one man—F.D.R.!—William Oberschmidt, Saginaw, Michigan.
On April 12, 1945. I was 13 years old at the time and I remember the nuns grieving at school and how sad everyone felt. It’s about all anyone talked about or what you heard on the radio. I don’t think I understood the full impact of what Roosevelt had accomplished until I was stationed in the Pacific during the Korean War. I spent time on many of the Pacific Islands where the war took place and it made me realize what he had done to guide us through the second World War. — Jack Salter, Royal Oak, Michigan.
As a public official, I have given a lot of thought to the question of leadership. What is leadership and how does it manifest itself in public life? Although the answer to that question is far from clear or simple, it seems to be embodied in the memory of the person I consider our nation’s greatest president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. My father was one of the millions who found themselves out of work after the Crash of 1929. He directly benefited from President Roosevelt’s policies, taking part in the Civilian Conservation Corps. That program helped my dad get back on his feet, giving him, along with millions of others, hope and purpose at a time when both seemed in short supply. Years later, facing another crisis—World War II—President Roosevelt came to my hometown, Warren, to visit the tank plant that was then producing Sherman Tanks by the thousands. Moved by the sacrifice, commitment and ingenuity of the people of southeast Michigan working to ensure that Naziism was defeated, he dubbed that plant the ‘‘Arsenal of Democracy.’’ Now we in Warren are trying to follow his example, as we work to transform the recently abandoned tank plant into a new kind of arsenal: an arsenal for economic growth. As I go to work each day, I frequently ask myself what President Roosevelt would have done with today’s issues. Looking at the future of his Arsenal for Democracy, I believe that FDR would be pleased.—Mark A. Steenbergh, Mayor, City of Warren, Warren, Michigan.
My father subscribed to the Chicago Tribune during the depression since it was the cheapest paper in town at two cents a copy. The Tribune had cartoonist by the name of ‘Orr’. His cartoon appeared on the front page of the Tribune and more often than not, his work of art was a slam against President Roosevelt. As it turned out, the subscription was a bad deal for my father, because my mother, being a staunch Democrat and a supporter of FDR, would wait for the mailman and promptly put the paper in the stove.—James F. Sodergren, Marquette County Treasurer, Ishpeming, Michigan.
I was a high school teacher during the Great Depression. According to my memory, the American people had great faith and believed that our President would do what was best for the ‘‘common good.’’ We listened carefully and with pride to his fireside chats. And today, as we drive over miles of paved roads in northern Michigan, we marvel at the lines of majestic evergreens —so beautiful in summer and effective snow-barriers in winter! I relate with pride the work of the C.C.C., that group of younger men who earned their livelihood at that time by beautifying and preserving Michigan’s natural environment. Roosevelt’s foresight has kept Michigan a wonderful state!—Sister Agnes Thiel, O.P., Grand Rapids Dominicans, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
MICHIGAN REMEMBERS F.D.R.
Back in the 1920’s, my father Alfred Angeli and a number of his friends came over to this country to escape the Fascism and Communism in Italy. They found a new life here in America and they adored Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They had great respect for him for the job he did in creating jobs and putting everybody back to work. My father and about eight of his friends were very serious in their respect for FDR, and honored him by naming their hunting camp ’Campobello’. It was a very sad day when the great man died. My parents, who are now gone, would be very proud to know they are taking part in this tribute to Mr. Roosevelt.—Mike Angeli, Marquette, Michigan.
About ten years ago, I appeared before the county board to obtain approval for a grant to fund a senior citizens feeding program. The chairman of the board got very upset calling me something like ‘‘a big spending-liberal-government interferer (like FDR)’’. I told him I’m not old enough to have served with President Roosevelt, but that he is an idol of mine and that I was extremely honored to have been put in the same category.—Ron Calery, Chippewa-Mackinac- Luce Community, Action Agency Director, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
When FDR ran, the stock market had crashed and times were tough. There were no jobs and no money. Hoover ran on a platform of ‘‘a chicken in every pot’’, but people wanted a job. Roosevelt won in a landslide, after he said he would put people back to work. He did just that. Everyone had bills, and few people had the money to pay them. So a situation was created where people could work off their bills. If you had to go to the hospital while on welfare, you worked the bill off with the city by sweeping streets or picking up trash or cleaning the parks. Each time you worked, you would reduce your bill. Though there were years we didn’t have two nickels to rub together, we survived.—Arthur Carron, Bark River, Michigan.
FDR literally transformed the country from a feeling of overwhelming despair to hope and confidence. When Roosevelt was elected I was approaching my 16th birthday. On the west side of Detroit in a neighborhood of autoworkers practically everyone was jobless. The giant Ford Rouge plant was working at 25 percent of capacity. Other auto companies and all of the auto supplier companies were in a similar situation. My father and the fathers of all my boyhood friends were unemployed. Men who were really willing and anxious to work. There was a feeling of desperation and hopelessness. Most important of all they lost their sense of dignity when they could not provide for their families. Roosevelt, through the various governmental programs, gave these men hope and a sense of well being they had not experienced for some time.—Doug Fraser, Professor of Labor Studies, Wayne State U., Former President of U.A.W., Northville, Michigan.
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, ‘‘A man’s mind stretched by a new idea, will never return to its former dimension.’’ I was one of those fortunate unemployed young men who joined with over three million other destitute kids and signed up with the Civilian Conservation Corps. It seems that FDR scratched out his C.C.C. idea on a restaurant napkin. This vision was an unprecedented gamble in bringing a bankrupt nation back on its feet. I was one of those three million who was lifted from the depths of despair, each given a chance to earn self-respect, dignity and self-esteem. How does a nation measure a dimension such as that? Just consider the families that these men represented, grateful for the monthly $25.00 and the succor it supplied. I can testify to that. Sixty-four years ago when men’s spirits were tested by want and deprivation, it seems like only yesterday that I walked into that welfare office. I was not afraid of the hunger, but the indignity it caused. I felt not a pain in my stomach, but an ache in my heart. . . I was sworn into the C.C.C. Now, I was accepted, now I could say, ‘‘Hello to tomorrow’’. I became a member of an idea whose time had come. Roosevelt’s tree army.—Rev. Bill Fraser, First V.P. National Assoc. of C.C.C. Alumni, Grayling, Michigan.
My mother named me Franklin Delano Garrison in his honor. From the time I was a small child I took a great pride in being named for someone who was a hero to everyone I knew, even though at first I wasn’t really sure why. Then I came to understand that my family was eating only because the New Deal was providing some food assistance, and my father was working only because the Works Progress Administration was providing jobs. I came to see for myself the hardships that the Depression had brought to the old, the hungry and the deserted—and to realize that one man had led the nation in providing not only sustenance but also hope where both had been lost.— Franklin Delano Garrison, President, Michigan State AFL-CIO, Lansing, Michigan.
I am very happy that President Roosevelt is finally having a memorial dedicated in his honor. I am 83 years old and lived through the Depression, and know how bad times were. Before the election of President Roosevelt, I worked on welfare for $2.00 a day for an eight hour shift. With President Roosevelt’s election times got better. With the New Deal of the WPA, I got $22.00 a week for a four day six hour shift. I will always be grateful to President Roosevelt for social security, unemployment benefits and being able to unionize for better wages and benefits and to protect jobs. President Roosevelt will always be my idol.— Rudy Gregorich, Painesdale, Michigan.
We members of the Eighth Armored Division had been on the march, without a break, around the clock, for days—sometimes unopposed, in other places, held up by the familiar and bitter last-ditch Nazi resistance. At last, late one morning, a halt was signaled. We dropped—dirty, hungry, and almost unconscious—and slept, some in the ditches along the road, others stretched out on the rear decks of their tanks, others where they sat in tank turrets, in half tracks, or on truck seats. Then a startling message started down the line from the lead vehicle, which had a shortwave radio. Men, as they heard it, shook the next man awake and passed it on: President Roosevelt was dead. In a sense, President Roosevelt was a soldier in that fight—just like us. And like us, this good man was exhausted. He was a casualty of the war. But he had the satisfaction of knowing that he left the field with the battle well in hand.—Jack R. Hendrickson, Ph.D., Birmingham, Michigan.
The year may have been 1932, or 1934, and my mother a widow of some 60 years had been left well-provided for by my father at his death in 1931. But the Great Depression struck the USA and its economy was stagnant, mired down, seemingly unable to extricate itself from the doldrums it found itself caught in . . . It was a time of calamity, of no one knowing quite what to do. Mother had never experienced this type of emergency in her long life. There was little or no relief in sight. Radio broadcasts were discouraging and gave no hint of the end of the Depression in sight. My sister, married with three little ones, recalls walking three or more miles to obtain government free food and carrying it home, walking as she had come. The one light on the horizon in the midst of this gloom was the radio program when President Delano Roosevelt, elected a few months previously, would address the people in his famous fireside chats. His voice soothing, deep-textured, commanding confidence as he spoke words of optimism were most welcome by the bewildered public. ‘‘We have nothing to fear, except fear itself,’’ he said on one momentous occasion. How the people clung to his words bearing hope that this President of the United States instilled over the air. As someone noted sixty years later, FDR could not raise himself from a chair, but by moral strength was able to lift a great nation out of the Depression in the Thirties! All America hung onto his words, hung on to the confidence he instilled, in their government, in their country, awaiting with patience for the clouds of Depression to lift!—Dr. Marie Heyda, O.P., Grand Rapids Dominicans, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
My younger sister was in the wars and had the honor of meeting President Roosevelt at his summer home. I feel that FDR was one of the greatest presidents that ever lived. Even though he was so educated, he still was for the average person. He did so much for the people while in office.—Kathryn V. Holden, Saginaw, Michigan.
1940. I was pregnant and Newman, my husband, was working for Labor’s Nonpartisan League in the office of the Philadelphia Joint Board, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, 2000 South Street. Since I was not working and had no child care needs, I was a volunteer in the office, handing out literature at rallies and some house to house visiting in North Philly, in the Kensington area and a bit in South Philly. Our work culminated in a huge rally for the President in the stadium, shortly before the election. It was raining and my husband and friends did not think I should go. But I did, and it was the most impressive, exciting and largest rally I ever participated in. My labor came early, and daughter Sharon was born at St. Luke’s Hospital November 3, the election was the next day. Since I had made no plans for an absentee ballot and there was no way I could get one of those days, I missed my opportunity to vote for the third term of FDR. The only time in my life I have failed to vote in an election either primary or general.—Mildred Jeffrey, Detroit, Michigan.
When the 73rd Congress opened FDR bombarded Congress with bills to stimulate the economy. During his first month in office, he used his authority to establish the Public Works Administration which helped my father while laid off from the railroad for about a year.—Leonard Klemm, Saginaw, Michigan.
President Roosevelt really left a great impact upon our country. He came into office at the time of the Great Depression and did much to relieve the suffering of the people and to restore confidence in our banking system and the Government in general. He won great respect through his fireside chats, radio connection and as the first President to address the nation on national television.—B.L. Little, Saginaw, Michigan.
I had only one personal encounter with President Roosevelt, but it is one I can recall quite vividly even today. FDR had been campaigning for reelection that day in New England, but the end of the day had brought him to New York. By chance we saw his motorcade, which couldn’t have been more than two or three cars. He rode in an open car, and I can still see him waving his hat and smiling as he passed by. He was an inspiration to me then and he continues to inspire me today.—William G. Milliken, Former Michigan Governor, Traverse City, Michigan.
I became aware that President Roosevelt was planning to recruit thousands of youths between ages 18 and 25 to serve in forestry camps throughout the nation to perform tasks, such as planting trees, building roads, erosion control, fighting forest fires, miles of fire trails and telephone lines strung, and other conservation related work. I had just turned 18 when I heard about the program, and at the time was a barber’s apprentice in Cascade, Michigan. The Civilian Conservation Corps sounded like the answer to my situation, and I immediately made myself available. After leaving the C.C.C. camps, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy. While assigned to the Sick Officer’s Ward, I was attendant to then Secretary of the Navy, Claude Swanson. During that time President Roosevelt visited Swanson twice. This was a great honor for me to have the opportunity to stand close to the President of the United States. Following a military career, I became involved in organizing a civilian conservation corps alumni group here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. With the support of the C.C.C. Alumni veterans, I was able to convince Governor Blanchard, and the state legislature, to establish a Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps patterned after Roosevelt’s depression era C.C.C. program.— Frank Munger, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
My uncle, Billy Rogers, living in Chicago, was one of the many. No job, no money and dependent on the small income of his mother gave him little hope for the future. Thank God for the C.C.C.! They took him in—fed and clothed him, taught him the value of manual labor and gave him a sense of pride. Friendships made in camp endured for many years. Diligent work and a cheerful attitude earned him the most coveted job in camp: truck driver! After completing his enrollment, he returned to Chicago. Due to his experience, he was eligible to join the Teamsters Union and continued working as an over-the-road truck driver until he retired. All this due to the vision and persistence of one man—F.D.R.!—William Oberschmidt, Saginaw, Michigan.
On April 12, 1945. I was 13 years old at the time and I remember the nuns grieving at school and how sad everyone felt. It’s about all anyone talked about or what you heard on the radio. I don’t think I understood the full impact of what Roosevelt had accomplished until I was stationed in the Pacific during the Korean War. I spent time on many of the Pacific Islands where the war took place and it made me realize what he had done to guide us through the second World War. — Jack Salter, Royal Oak, Michigan.
As a public official, I have given a lot of thought to the question of leadership. What is leadership and how does it manifest itself in public life? Although the answer to that question is far from clear or simple, it seems to be embodied in the memory of the person I consider our nation’s greatest president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. My father was one of the millions who found themselves out of work after the Crash of 1929. He directly benefited from President Roosevelt’s policies, taking part in the Civilian Conservation Corps. That program helped my dad get back on his feet, giving him, along with millions of others, hope and purpose at a time when both seemed in short supply. Years later, facing another crisis—World War II—President Roosevelt came to my hometown, Warren, to visit the tank plant that was then producing Sherman Tanks by the thousands. Moved by the sacrifice, commitment and ingenuity of the people of southeast Michigan working to ensure that Naziism was defeated, he dubbed that plant the ‘‘Arsenal of Democracy.’’ Now we in Warren are trying to follow his example, as we work to transform the recently abandoned tank plant into a new kind of arsenal: an arsenal for economic growth. As I go to work each day, I frequently ask myself what President Roosevelt would have done with today’s issues. Looking at the future of his Arsenal for Democracy, I believe that FDR would be pleased.—Mark A. Steenbergh, Mayor, City of Warren, Warren, Michigan.
My father subscribed to the Chicago Tribune during the depression since it was the cheapest paper in town at two cents a copy. The Tribune had cartoonist by the name of ‘Orr’. His cartoon appeared on the front page of the Tribune and more often than not, his work of art was a slam against President Roosevelt. As it turned out, the subscription was a bad deal for my father, because my mother, being a staunch Democrat and a supporter of FDR, would wait for the mailman and promptly put the paper in the stove.—James F. Sodergren, Marquette County Treasurer, Ishpeming, Michigan.
I was a high school teacher during the Great Depression. According to my memory, the American people had great faith and believed that our President would do what was best for the ‘‘common good.’’ We listened carefully and with pride to his fireside chats. And today, as we drive over miles of paved roads in northern Michigan, we marvel at the lines of majestic evergreens —so beautiful in summer and effective snow-barriers in winter! I relate with pride the work of the C.C.C., that group of younger men who earned their livelihood at that time by beautifying and preserving Michigan’s natural environment. Roosevelt’s foresight has kept Michigan a wonderful state!—Sister Agnes Thiel, O.P., Grand Rapids Dominicans, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
~ Tribute to the Civilian Conservation Corps ~
CCC values lauded as solution for state's foster care teens...
CCC values lauded as solution for state's foster care teens...
~ Tribute to the Civilian Conservation Corps ~
Author/Songwriter Bill Jamerson presents music and storytelling about the CCC.
Author/Songwriter Bill Jamerson presents music and storytelling about the CCC.
In 2018: Over the years various individuals and groups have used the location of Camp Wolverine CCC in Chandler Township Charlevoix County for camping. One annual group which meets the second full weekend in August there, commemorates the use of Amateur Radios which were used during the time of the actual Camp Wolverine. This group communicates with other camps across the United States. Their website which further explains their activities is:
http://www.qsl.net/ccc/
Camp Wolverine CCC Photo & Names
Civilian Conservation Corps Amateur Radio Ops
The Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-42
Michigan Camps List
Roosevelt's Tree Army ~ Michigan's Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps Video Websites Listing
2008 Celebration of Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps Amateur Radio Ops
The Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-42
Michigan Camps List
Roosevelt's Tree Army ~ Michigan's Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps Video Websites Listing
2008 Celebration of Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps