Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation Celebrates 75th Anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt (depicted) will be a special guest along with Dr. Harley Jolley at a celebration of the creation of the CCC at historic Claxton Farm near Weaverville, NC this June. The celebration is a ticketed event and open to the public.

The celebration is hosted by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation in recognition of the contribution of the CCC to the Blue Ridge Parkway and North Carolina, as well as honoring the scholarship and personal contributions of Dr. Harley Jolley, noted Parkway historian, author, and professor emeritus of history at Mars Hill College.

The CCC was established by President Roosevelt as part of the New Deal to counter two major problems of the early 1930s -- mass unemployment and severe erosion that was literally washing away the soil of America.

Single men, ages eighteen to twenty-five were recruited, lived in camps, and began work on projects that made North Carolina a leader in tourism. Dr. Jolley is the author of a new book released this spring “That Magnificent Army of Youth and Peace” that gives a scholarly account of the North Carolina CCC program and is very entertaining by the many photographs from the era.

On Thursday evening, June 19, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation will celebrate both Dr. Jolley and the CCC at the event which will be reminiscent of an authentic CCC camp plus wonderful food, Parkway wines, and entertainment. Tickets are $60 per person.

The CCC implemented many of the landscaping construction projects along the Blue Ridge Parkway following road construction. Four CCC camps were located along the Parkway but only one was in North Carolina. It was near Laruel Springs (Doughton Park) from 1938 to 1942. However, the contributions of the CCC there and in other parts of North Carolina are legendary extending from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and to Nantahala to Cape Hatteras.

All Welcome!

June 19, 2008       6 PM-10 PM     Claxton Farm, Weaverville, NC

Ticket $60 per person includes admission, dinner, beverages including beer and wine, entertainment, speaker.Groups may reserve tables of 8 for $400 saving $10 per ticket. So get your group together today! To reserve call 336 721-0260 or email lfletcher@BRPFoundation.org.

To order the book “That Magnificant Army of Youth and Peace” The Civilian Conservation Corps in North Carolina, 1933-1942 by Dr. Harley E. Jolley visit blueridgeparkwaystore.com

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