Last updated: March 25, 2025
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Guide to the NPS Job Corps Collection
This finding aid describes the National Park Service (NPS) Job Corps Collection, part of the NPS History Collection. To search this guide for names, places, key words, or phrases enter Ctrl + F on your keyboard (command key + F key on a Mac). Request an in-person research appointment or get more information by contacting the archivist.
Collection Overview
Collection Number: HFCA 1645 (Series II.C.2)
Creator: National Park Service
Title: National Park Service Job Corps Collection
Dates: 1933-1990 (Bulk dates: 1964-1969)
Extent of Collection: 2.0 LF
Language of Materials: English
Digital Access: The collection has not been digitized.
Conditions Governing Access: This collection is open to research use. See the NPS general copyright and restricted information here.
Provenance: Copies of materials received from Jim Sheire and the NPS Office of Information.
Processing Note: This material was processed and described by Lloyd Williams in February 2015. This finding aid was updated by Nancy Russell in March 2025.
Rights Statement for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: National Park Service Job Corps Collection (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
Related Materials:
- National Park Service Oral History Collection (HFCA 1817), NPS History Collection
- National Park Service Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Collection (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
- Assembled Historic Records of the National Park Service (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
- National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection (HFCA 1607), NPS History Collection
- The Charles F. Riebe Great Onyx Job Corps Conservation Center Oral History Project, University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collection Research Center
- Records of the Employment and Training Administration, National Archives and Records Administration
Administrative History Note
The Job Corps was established on August 20, 1964, as part of the Economic Opportunity Act (Public Law 88-452). It was a central part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. From the beginning, there was some division of thinking about the basic goal of the Job Corps. Some wanted it to be a conservation corps much like the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Others favored training young people in skills which would help them obtain jobs in modern society. In response, it was decided that the Job Corps would have three different types of training centers: conservation centers, men's urban centers, and women's urban centers. The legislation required that 40% of enrollees be placed in the conservation centers. Sargent Shriver, director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), exercised direct administrative control over the program.
The conservation camps, called Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers (JCCCCs), were established as centers for boys with reading levels of fifth grade or less. The enrollees spent half their days in general education classes and the other half working on conservation projects. When an enrollee graduated with high school equivalency, he could then go to an urban center to learn a vocation. In the JCCCCs, the enrollees learned useful skills such as carpentry, masonry, equipment operation, typing, and cooking in addition to remedial math, writing, and reading. The initial camps faced high staff turnover rates and enrollees found that many recruiters had promised better conditions than existed.
In 1964 the Department of the Interior (DOI) established an interagency agreement with the Department of Labor establishing 13 JCCCCs to be managed by the DOI. Nine of these were associated with the National Park Service (NPS). Placing JCCCCs in national parks provided young people with an opportunity to learn about natural ecosystems, natural resource management, conservation skills, and provided the NPS with an additional work force to complete needed work projects. The NPS Youth Programs Division was established to oversee Job Corps as well as the Student Conservation Association, and the Young Adult Conservation Corps (now abolished). The US Forest Service also hosted Job Corps camps and took a leadership role in the program.
Catoctin Mountain Park was investigated as a potential Job Corps site in May 1964, six months before passage of the Economic Recovery Act. A site within Camp Round Meadow was chosen for the site of the nations's first Job Corps Center. A crew of 85 young men arrived in January 1965 to rehabilitate the camp first used by the CCC in the 1930s. The official public opening of the building was held in February 1965. Dignataries included Congressmen, Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall and NPS Director George B. Hartzog Jr. Although President Johnson wasn't at the dedication, he visited the camp the next month. The Wellfleet JCCCC was located in Cape Cod National Seashore from late December 1964 to June 1966. Other Job Corps centers included Acadia (1966-1969), Oconaluftee JCCCC at Great Smoky Mountains (1965-2007), Great Onyx JCCCC at Mammoth Cave national parks, Gap JCCCC at Cumberland Gap (1965-1969) and Harpers Ferry JCCCC (1966) near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The Harpers Ferry trainees conducted work at Antietam and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.
By the end of 1966, there were 88 JCCCCs nationwide with 12,426 enrollees. However, the dropout rate was about 45% that year, likely because most camps were in remote places with limited facilities for entertainment and social life. Although Job Corps had contributed more than $66 million worth of conservation work, in 1969 President Nixon closed 59 centers. Those that remained dropped conservation work and turned to vocational training sponsored by labor unions.
Job Corps remains the nation’s largest residential educational and career technical training program. It prepares economically disadvantaged youth ages 16-24 for productive employment. The US Forest Service operates 24 JCCCCs associated with national forests and grasslands under an interagency agreement with the US Department of Labor. These include Oconaluftee (reopened in 2008), Great Onyx, and Harpers Ferry. In 2017 the NPS re-established a partnership with Oconaluftee JCCCC through an agreement with the Forest Service.
Scope and Content Note
General Job Corps material including training manuals, handbooks, articles, photographic images, reports, and notes. Documents primarily related to the Harpers Ferry Job Corps Conservation Center near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, although other sites are included. Memoranda and correspondence from the desk files of Lawrence C. Hadley, chief of Information, and L.F. Cook, Job Corps coordinator, document topics such as the establishment of the Job Corps and related programs; the War on Poverty; the support, operation, and responsibilities of JCCCCs; and establishment, recruitment for, and activation of Job Corps camps. A small amount of reference material from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) is also present.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Container List
BOX 01
Folder 01: Activity Scheduling Procedures, 1966
Folder 02: Administration Brochure for Progress Points in Physical Education and Recreation, 1967
Folder 03: Administrative Manual, 1965 (1 of 2)
Folder 04: Administrative Manual, 1965 (2 of 2)
Folder 05: Admissions Manual, 1966
Folder 06: Affirmative Action Plan—Harpers Ferry Job Corps Center, 1977
Folder 07: Articles, 1964-1969, 1981
Folder 08: Benefit/Cost Analysis, 1968
Folder 09: Catoctin Living Conditions—Slides, 1965
Folder 10: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Foremanship Handbook, 1939
Folder 11: Corpsmen Allowances and Allotments Handbook, 1966
Folder 12: Criteria and Guidelines for Clear Writing and Report Construction, 1966
Folder 13: Cultural Activities Guide, circa 1960s
Folder 14: Departmental Manual, 1967
BOX 02
Folder 01: Department of the Interior News Releases, 1964-1969
Folder 02: Equal Employment Opportunity Committee, 1977
Folder 03: Film Catalog, 1965
Folder 04: General Accounting Office (GAO) Report, 1969
Folder 05: Guide for Teachers, Youth Workers, Counselors, Neighborhood, and Community Leaders, 1966
Folder 06: Handbook for Corpsman Advisors, 1966
Folder 07: Harper's Ferry Corpsmans Handbook, 1965
Folder 08: Health Activities Guide, 1966
Folder 09: Immunization Requirements and Procedures Handbook, 1965
Folder 10: Implementation Brochure for the Corpsman Advisor Coordinator, 1966
Folder 11: Implementation Manual for the Corpsman Advisor Coordinator, circa 1960s
Folder 12: Instructor's Manual for the World of Work Curriculum, 1967
Folder 13: Job Corps Act, Public Law 88-452, 1964
Folder 14: Job Corps Camp Position Descriptions, 1964
Folder 15: Job Corps Center Descriptions, 1965
Folder 16: Job Corps Centers Tables of Allowances, 1967
BOX 03
Folder 01: Job Corps Staff Newsletter, 1966
Folder 02: Job Profiles, circa 1960s
Folder 03: Language and Study Skills Manual, 1967
Folder 04: Liberty Park Ground Breaking Ceremony—Packet Information, 1966
Folder 05: Manual for Job Corps Community Relations, 1966
Folder 06: Mathematics Manual, 1965
Folder 07: Memoranda, 1964
Folder 08: Memoranda, 1965-1966
Folder 09: Memoranda, 1967-1969
Folder 10: Memoranda, 1970-1971, 1990
Folder 11: National Conference Report, 1967
BOX 04
Folder 01: Park Service Emergency Conservation Work Handbook, 1933-1941 (1 of 2)
Folder 02: Park Service Emergency Conservation Work Handbook, 1933-1941 (2 of 2)
Folder 03: Physical Development and Recreation Manual, 1966
Folder 04: Program Report Analysis, 1965-1966
Folder 05: Program Review, October-November, 1966
BOX 05
Folder 01: Reading Manual, 1967
Folder 02: Reference Guide for Mathematics Manual—Notice of Amendment, 1967
Folder 03: Report of the Secretary of Labor on Restructuring the Job Corps, 1969
Folder 04: Safety Program—Driver Education Manual, 1965
Folder 05: Social and Special Activities Guide, 1966
Folder 06: Test Administrator's Manual, 1965
Folder 07: Thesis: “Analysis of the Status of a Volunteer Student Conservation Program Combining Education and Work Experience in Olympic National Park” by John Douglas Dolstad, 1960
Folder 08: Training Procedures, 1967
Folder 09: Transportation Handbook, 1967
Folder 10: Vocational Course Entry Requirements for Job Corps Men's Urban Centers, 1967
Folder 11: Weber Basin Job Corps Civilian Conservation Corps (JCCCC), 1974
Folder 12: Work Accomplishment Report, 1969
Folder 13: Work-Education Program Manual, 1965
Folder 14: World of Work Achievement Log, 1967
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