An Interview About The Civilian Conservation Corps

An Interview with Eleanor Ramos (my grandmother)
I had two interviews with my grandmother. I conducted one interview over the phone, and another one through e-mail. I have posted both here.

My Notes from the Phone Interview:

Me: What were the CCCs (Civilian Conservation Corps)?

Ramos: It was one of President Roosevelt’s programs in the Great Depression. Lots of young people were out of work, and the CCCs hired young men. It was set up in an army style, and the young men were given army training. They mainly worked in the National Parks. When World War II started, a lot of the men became soldiers because they had that army training in the CCCs.

Me: How did the CCCs change your father’s life?

Ramos: It saved him. He was young, and he couldn’t find work anywhere. In the CCCs he was able to get a salary.

Me: Was the salary large enough to support a family?

Ramos: Probably not enough to support a family, but it helped, and it was better than being unemployed.

Me: How did he join?

Ramos: I don’t know… He joined at the same time as my Uncle George. They were unemployed and it was one of the only options at the time.

Me: What did your father do in the CCCs? How did it change his life?

Ramos: He fought forest fires and planted trees at Yellowstone. The CCCs were where his love of nature really grew. One of the pictures I have from his time there shows all the men going to Mass outside by Jackson Lake with the Grand Tetons behind them. The CCCs not only gave jobs, they also trained the men to be responsible citizens.

Me: Thank you for letting me interview you!



E-mail Interview (my questions are italicized):

Hi Marina, Here are some background facts about my father, your great grandfather that I had written a while back.

John James Lovas, Jr. (12/28/1909 to 2/16/1965)

Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Dad was the second child in a family of four boys and three girls. He grew up speaking Hungarian. When his older brother Joe started school at Sacred Heart Parochial School, Dad missed him so much that the nuns let him come to school, too, at age four. But he spoke no English and Uncle Joe had to translate for him. Dad remained bilingual all his life. Dad told me once that no one could trace the roots of the Hungarian language; it is not related to any of the Indo-European tongues. I was fascinated by the strange-sounding and mysterious-looking language that I heard him use with my grandparents and that I saw embroidered on the wall hangings in their home.

Young John or Janos (his parents called him “Yanch”) was an altar boy at the Hungarian church. He would go to two churches every Sunday, first to serve on the altar in the Hungarian liturgy, then to Mass in English.

Dad did not like high school at all and dropped out after two years. He would always be defensive about his deficient education; perhaps that was why he valued learning so much and like my Mom, encouraged his children to get as much schooling as they could.

Aunt Elizabeth remembers walking home from the store when she was six or seven years old. She met Dad (he was 16 or 17 at the time) and he told her he was leaving, to say goodbye to Mom and Pop. He would up in Ohio and came home a few years later. Once again he encountered his sister Elizabeth , this time on the train. He was very ill with the flu. Later he went to New York because Aunt Anna and Aunt Helen, my grandmother’s sisters, visited Erie with stories of how it was easier to find work in New York City. Dad lived with Aunt Anna in NY. This was the time of the Great Depression and finally Dad took advantage of one of the programs of the New Deal; he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and traveled to Idaho and Wyoming to fight forest fires and plant trees. This experience shaped his life immensely and enkindled a great love of nature that he passed on to all of us.

Now for your questions.

1. What were the CCCs? (Also, I remember you saying that a lot of men fought in WWII after the CCCs. Did your father do that too?) The CCC's (Civilian Conservation Corps) were one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs to bring the country out of the Great Depression. The CCC was for young men only and sent them to work on park projects in all of the 48 (at that time) states. They were responsible for building the roads and amenities in the National Parks and for conservation projects, fighting forest fires and planting trees. My Dad was sent to Idaho and Wyoming and I think that his love of nature deepened greatly through this experience. The CCC's organized the men in a military model, giving them discipline and good work habits and skills that served them well later. When my Dad got a job later on after the CCC's, it lasted the rest of his life.

2. How did your father join the CCC? My Dad joined the CCC's because there were no other jobs. The CCC's offered food, lodging and a small stipend that the men sent home to their families who were also struggling in the Depression. I am not sure how he heard about it but I think his brother George was also in the CCC's so maybe they joined up together. My Dad tried to enlist in the Navy when WWII broke out but they wouldn't take him because he was "old" (31!) had a baby (me!) and was working at a defense plant which supported the war effort. But my Uncle George did join the Navy.

3. What did your father do in the CCC? He worked in the National Parks in Wyoming and Idaho. Mostly he talked about the Grand Teton Park. The picture of him and the other men attending Mass on the shores of Jackson Lake with the Teton Mountains in the background sums up his spirituality: he was a devout Catholic and found God in nature. This portrait was the perfect setting for him. (I'll bring the photo for you to scan). I remember him telling me he fought forest fires and planted trees; maybe you can get a better sense from the photos which I will bring to you.

4. Was the salary large enough to support a family? I don't think the men who were in the CCC's were married; I doubt the salary could support a family even in those days. But it probably helped the family back home to have a few dollars more. Most likely it was a small stipend like the Peace Corps and VISTA that were 1960's service programs. My brother Jim was in VISTA and they had barely enough money to live on. He did social work in Miami.

5. How did the CCC change his life? I believe the CCC's changed my Dad's life significantly. It kept him out of trouble, gave him a practical education that helped him develop good job habits that lasted a lifetime. Most of all it gave him a deep love of his country and nature.

6. Can you remember a specific story or event that he told you about his time there? I can't remember a specific story or event. You could use the Mass picture in front of the Tetons. That was memorable.



Ramos, Eleanor. Personal Interview. 3 December 2010.