Author Bill Jamerson will give presentation

Author Bill Jamerson will give a multimedia presentation on the Civilian Conservation Corps at 6:30 p.m. Monday May 21 in the River Falls Public Library's lower level community room.

More than 3 million young men ages 17 to 25 years old enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. They came from families on relief and were sent to work camps in America's wilderness and rural areas.

They planted trees, fought forest fires, constructed roads, worked on soil erosion control programs and participated in thousands of projects restoring our nation’s natural resources. In the process, the CCC turned boys into men, teaching them good work habits and responsibility, he said.

Since 1992, Jamerson has interviewed hundreds of former CCC enrollees and used their stories in his historical novel “Big Shoulders,” PBS documentary “Camp Forgotten” and his CD of songs “Dollar-a-day Boys.”

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