A CCC Legacy Tradition
Gatherings
For years, CCC Legacy gatherings brought together members, descendants, and historians to celebrate the CCC heritage. Explore the highlights from the gatherings of 2013 through 2018.
A CCC Legacy Tradition
Past Gatherings
For years, CCC Legacy members gathered at historic CCC sites across the country — touring parks, sharing memories, and honoring the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Browse our archive of past gatherings below.
2018 2018 Annual Gathering
September 27–28, 2018
The 2018 gathering brought members to the Pacific Northwest to walk the ground shaped by CCC labor — Silver Falls State Park, Zigzag Ranger Station on Mt. Hood, and Timberline Lodge, constructed at 6,000 feet in 1937. An official proclamation honoring the CCC was issued by Oregon's Governor's office. The event was dedicated to Phil Gouzie (1922–2018), who championed CCC scholarships and facilitated placement of the CCC Worker Statue at Maine's State Capitol in Augusta.
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2017 2017 Annual Gathering
September 14–17, 2017
South Carolina offered a singular backdrop — sixteen CCC-built parks that together form the state's original park system. Twenty-seven members gathered in Greenville, including two CCC veterans, Walter Atwood and Hank Sulima, both of Florida. Tours of Oconee State Park, Table Rock State Park, and Paris Mountain State Park revealed the breadth of the Corps' "Parkitecture" — a term introduced by historian Tara Mitchell Mielnik to describe the National Park Service design language the CCC carried into every state.
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2016 2016 Annual Gathering
September 22–24, 2016
Centered at the Nevada State Museum on the Springs Preserve, the 2016 gathering explored the Desert Southwest legacy of the Corps. Four scholars presented on Nevada's 1930s history, the CCC's state operations, Lake Mead archeology, and park contributions. Field excursions reached the Lost City Museum — built by CCC Company 573 in 1935 to house Ancestral Puebloan artifacts before Lake Mead flooded the Moapa Valley — and Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada's oldest, where the CCC cut roads and trails through red sandstone formations.
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2015 2015 Annual Gathering
September 24–26, 2015
Author and CCC historian Marty Podskoch hosted thirty-four members from nine states across three days of guided exploration. Connecticut offered a concentrated lesson in what the Corps built — stone structures, dams, trails, and cabins still in active use decades later. The final dinner brought eleven CCC veterans to the table, each sharing memories of their time in the camps.
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2014 2014 Annual Gathering
September 24–27, 2014
Co-hosted with Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa, the 2014 gathering made the connection between past and present tangible — members visited CCC-built structures still in daily use, then joined modern corps members for National Public Lands Day tree planting at Hidden Falls Regional Park. Minnesota's approximately 77,000 CCC enrollees planted 123 million trees, built 149 fire lookout towers, stocked lakes with 275 million fish, and constructed 4,500 miles of new roads across the state.
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October 24–27, 2013
The 80th anniversary gathering drew 35 Legacy members — including 10 surviving CCC workers — to Tucson, co-hosted with Southwest Conservation Corps. Scholars Robert Audretsch, Ken Baldrige, Ren and Helen Davis, Sharon Hunt, and Robert Moore presented on CCC rescue operations and the Corps' diverse work experiences. The event closed with an optional bus tour to Saguaro National Park and Camp Pima (SP-7-A), where original CCC-built bathhouses, water towers, and truck sheds remained standing.
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