History of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the White Mountains of NH and Maine

Program on Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in the White Mountains of NH and Maine
   The monthly evening speaker series presented by the Littleton Area Historical Society will continue on Friday, March 13 with a talk by David Govatski, a former U.S. Forest Service employee. His presentation entitled, “We Can Take It,” chronicles the life and work of the 21 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in the White Mountains of NH and Maine from 1933 to 1942.
   The program will take place in the Grand Hall of the Littleton Opera House at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13.  Govatski’s talk will discuss some of the causes of the Great Depression which stirred FDR to create programs like the CCC to combat the economic disaster of the 1930’s. Other topics to be broached will be the Dust Bowl, the Army March on the capital, and an attempt by Eleanor Roosevelt to create an all woman CCC.
   The CCC camps were run by the U.S. Military and staffed by U.S. Forest Service personnel and NH State Parks employees. There were approximately 4200 enrollees in the White Mountains camps. The goal of the CCC was to get people back to work and improve our natural resources and parks.
   David Govatski’s  33 year career with the U.S. Forest Service included a six year stint as a Works Project Director at a residential Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) camp in Mount Tabor, Vermont. The March 13 evening will be highlighted with archival photographs of the CCC camps.