"Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful and most noble employment of man."
---George Washington
The History of Camp S. C. S. La. 18, Company 4421 - Camp Sanders - taken from the 1937 Civilian Conservation Corps, District E, 4th Corps Annual noted that the first contingent of 24 men from the Bogalusa Forestry Camp arrived on June 23, 1935, while the primary group of enrollees, made of 170 men, appeared on July 26, 1935 (a slight variation in numbers/dates previously cited). Enrollees at the CCC camp began their first work on November 4, 1935, on contracted farms.
It was notable that the arrival of electric power in Mt. Hermon can be attributed to the CCC camp. As Calvin Simmons described the material he sent me, "It talks about the organization of the camp and the camp being a key reason that electrical power came to Mt. Hermon." According to the History, "Company 4421 was instrumental in getting an extension of the electric light line from Franklinton, La., to Mt. Hermon, a distance of seventeen miles…."
In addition, CCC camp members helped to beautify the grounds of Mt. Hermon High School. The talented young men took advantage of the training offered them, learning to paint signs, to play instruments, and to operate radios. Another endeavor, they also published the "Lighthouse," an excellent monthly news journal which helped to preserve the history of the CCC camp. Athletic, the members of Camp Sanders were not only the basketball champions but were also outstanding at baseball, volleyball, and softball.
As for their work that first year, the History established that the Soil Conservation Service had contracted 68 area farms, with work completed on 8,800 acres out of a total of 12,217 under contract. And the farmers were on board with erosion control, utilizing practices such as pasture work, terraces, strip-cropping, and retirement of inferior land.
Perhaps the first anniversary of the CCC camp passed with sadness and without much fanfare, but the same cannot be said for the second. On April 5, 1937, a fabulous tour of local farms, focusing on their Soil Conservation practices, was held in Mt. Hermon. Eight hundred farmers were said to have participated, and I like to think my grandfather Thomas Colter Brumfield, who farmed cotton, corn, sugar cane, and soybeans, was in that number for what a day it was!
Celebrating the second anniversary of the CCC in Mt. Hermon, Leon V. Bankston, in his role as President of the Washington Parish Soil Conservation Association, welcomed the farmers before they delved into the soil maps, farm maps, cooperative agreements, and land use maps. Displays and explanations of terracing equipment, plane tables, and levels took place. The contingent of farmers then proceeded to the fields of 17 area farms, where they inspected terraces (both farmer built and tractor built), outlet channels, strip crops, outlet meadows, sodded terrace outlets, and pasture work, among other conservation practices.
Highlights of the tour were the Quin and Jackson farms featuring five miles of terraces, built by farmers with a V drag and Kelly plow, and also the C. C. Smith farm boasting an outlet channel that was 1500 feet long and 25 feet wide, providing drainage of 125 acres. A big barbecue was had at the Smith farm before the farmers returned to the CCC camp for additional fare, a motion picture presentation, and more soil conservation information. The success of the farm tour confirmed the interest in and success of soil conservation in the area, which was at the heart of Camp Sanders.
The History of the CCC camp at Mt. Hermon established that an exhibit of a model farm was placed on display at the Washington Parish Fair where some 3,000 people admired it, asking questions. Made of plaster of paris, it demonstrated farm ponds, pasture, roads, and woodland in conjunction with strip cropping, terraces, and contour ridges.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention additional names of those in administration and on staff at Camp Sanders, during its heyday. In August of 1936, prominent attorney Philip Pfeffer became the Educational Adviser at Camp Sanders, replacing Charles Price who served before him. Pfeffer was also the editor of the "Light House," the journal for the camp boys. In addition to Commanding officers Lessard and Newton, Lt. Henry H. West and Lt. Fred L. Houston served as Commanding officers. In addition to Junior officers Lt. Fletcher and Lt. Melton, Lt. Fred L. Houston and Lt. Lyman M. Edwards served in this capacity. And in addition to Dr. Bailey, Dr. Armstrong and Dr. A. J. Feder also provided medical services.
T. H. Casanova worked as Technician in Charge. J. K. Livingston was Camp Superintendent. C. Carter Brown was Camp Engineer. John T. Phares and Dan A. Goins were Agricultural Aides. Dyson Booty, Norman J. Stafford, E. E. Walker, and John W. Simmons were Senior Foremen. Leon Jacobs was the Assistant to the Technician. Historical information is credited to the "Anniversary Issue of the Lighthouse Two Years of C. C. C. Usefulness July, 1935 - July, 1937" published by, and for, the members of Co. 4421, Camp La. S.C.S. 18, Mt. Hermon, La. Editor in Chief was Marvin E. Linder.
It was only logical that Camp Sanders was located in the highly desirable area of Mt. Hermon, which boasted verdant land and friendly farmers. As Mary Abarr described in a piece on Mt. Hermon that she wrote and published in the early 1900s in "The Times-Picayune," "The people there are 'the cream of the earth.' They are 'upright, downright, stanch [staunch] and strong,' and scorn anything that is little and mean. They are good people to know and good people to be among." And that's how they are and it is, in Washington Parish.
The CCC Camp, known as Camp Sanders, moved to Franklinton in 1939 - the end of an era at Mt. Hermon.
