Until I spent the weekend with my 92-year-old grandfather, I assumed that the epitome of one’s past, present and future was reflected in the children. But after being with Grampa, it’s definitely him more than my two little ones that shows me this.


Grampa reminds me of what I used to be: a little girl drawing pictures of flowers and writing, “I LOV YUO GAMBA” in squiggle crayons. Grampa reminds me of what I am: a 44-year-old woman who needs to remember that being 44 is just a number. Grampa reminds me of my future: if I take care of myself, I’ll hopefully be 92 and working and taking care of a house and running circles around my 44 year old grandchildren.

Grampa taught me so much this weekend about our family history, about him, and even about myself. I think it’s a rare treat for a family historian to come home from a family visit with her 92-year-old Grampa with 485 scans, 602 stories, and a lifetime of memories.

Thanks, Grampa.

Grampa and his sister Harriet

“Our greatest task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our national resources.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 4 March 1933

Franklin Roosevelt at CCC  Camp, Shenandoah National Park, 1933

From the spring of 1939 to the summer of 1941, at the age of 20, my grandfather, Pierre Conner, was in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCCs), working in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The CCCs were part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (FDR) New Deal. The most popular of all New Deal programs. The CCCs provided jobs to conserve and develop natural resources in rural government lands. The CCCs began in 1933 and ended in 1942, providing nearly 3 million unemployed men, age 18 to 25, with $30 a month ($25 went to their parents).

Two weekends ago, I got a bug up my you-know-what and had to know more about Grampa and the CCCs. Here is the result of that Butt Bug:

My Grampa and the CCCs.

It was fun to pick Grampa's brain, write up the information, and then send it to him along with a book that I found, titled, "Civilian Conservation Corps: In and Around the Black Hills," by Peggy Sanders. There is a Thanksgiving menu in the book that lists Grampa and his best friend, Harry, who my dad is named for.