Life in a CCC camp: A history of Camp NF-8 Sherando, Virginia oral histories

Access and use

Location of collection:
James Madison University
Second Floor Room 203, MSC 1704
Carrier Library
James Madison University
880 Madison Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tiffany Cole
Phone: (540) 568-3444
Phone: (540) 568-3612
Fax: (540) 568-3405
Restrictions:

Collection open to research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Life in a CCC camp: A history of Camp NF-8 Sherando, Virginia oral histories, 1990-1991, SdArch 0016, Special Collections, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
1 cubic feet 13 folders, 21 audiocassettes, 12 vhs, 2 3.5" floppy disks
Creator:
Benavitch, David W.
Abstract:
The collection comprises 12 interviews with people associated the Sherando CCC camp as prisoners, enrollees, prison guards, and other various military personel. Interview topics range from camp establishment to the lasting effects and ending of the program.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Life in a CCC camp: A history of Camp NF-8 Sherando, Virginia oral histories, 1990-1991, SdArch 0016, Special Collections, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection comprises 12 interviews with people associated the Sherando Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp as prisoners, enrollees, prison guards, and other various military personel. Interview topics range from camp establishment to the lasting effects and ending of the program.

The interviewees held a range of positions with Larry Ballard, James Blackwell, Roger "Hillbilly" Bryant, and Edward VanFossen recounting their time as enrollees within the CCC camp. Karl Baumann,Albert Moreman, and Hans Schagus were all German prisoners of war in the CCC camp during World War II. Colonel John A. Betterly and Jack Branch recount their role as military personel within the camps. Finally, Reverend Mark E. Wolfe was a conscientous objector assigned to civilian service within the Sherando Camp.

More detailed topics for their interviews include: camp establishment, command and administration, discipline, the role of the Forest Service, local "experienced men," women in camp life, effects of the CCC program on the local area, road construction (Sherando Lake Forest Camp and Dam Project, Big Levels Game Refuge), fire fighting, reflections on the CCC experience, its lasting effects and the end of the program.

Biographical / historical:

Sherando Lake Recreation Area, located in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia, was built (1933) and maintained by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Depression era. Known as Camp NF-8 during World War II, it served as a Civilian Public Service (CPS) facility for conscientious objectors (1941-1944), and then as a German Prisoner of War (POW) stockade (1944-1946). It is now a part of the federal national recreation area system.

Acquisition information:
Collection was donated on January 21, 1998.
Processing information:

Collection was originally cataloged at the item level; the descriptive metadata was compiled into a finding aid format in 2022.

Arrangement:

Interviews are arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Names:
Benavitch, David W.