U.S., "Happy Days" Newspaper of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1940

This database contains issues of Happy Days, a newspaper published for members of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Historical Background

To help address the severe unemployment that accompanied the Great Depression, Congress authorized the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. The Corps provided employment to unemployed, single men typically between the ages of 17 and 28. Most of its efforts focused on conservation projects such as building roads, planting trees, erosion control, and responding to floods, fires, and other natural disasters. By time the program ended in 1942, the CCC had established work camps in every state, and more than 3 million men had passed through its ranks.

Shortly after the Corps’ organization, Melvin Ryder, Ray Hoyt, and Theodore Arter printed the first issue of Happy Days, a privately owned paper that aimed at serving the CCC’s new enrollees. This database includes issues from 1933 through 1940.

What You Can Find in the Records

NARA’s description of Happy Days notes that the paper “was intended for the entertainment and information of the enrollees and included sections on sports, work project notes and accomplishments, firefighting reports, heroic deeds of enrollees, education in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), safety information, success stories of former enrollees, comments on camp newspapers, changes in the CCC administration, and CCC personnel. It also includes editorials, general entertainment articles, and advertisements.”

Issues can be browsed by publication date.