Dollar-A-Day Boys

Description

Join Bill Jamerson for a musical exploration of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s! Imagine, you’re 17 years old trying to survive during the Great Depression. Life is tough in Chicago. Food is scarce, jobs are non-existent and you’ve turned to petty crime to eke out a living. One day you hear about a new job works program created by the federal government that pays a “dollar-a-day.” You soon find yourself in the Wisconsin northwoods spending long days planting trees and building roads. Over the next year, you put on 20 pounds, develop good work habits, gain confidence and make life-long friends. The job skills you learned help you find a job when you leave camp. Your experience in the CCC turns out to be the most important event in your life. It turned you from a boy into a man.

Bill Jamerson is an author, filmmaker, songwriter, and historian. He resides in Michigan and travels the Midwest to share stories and songs about our region.