Learn about Civilian Conservation Corps at Virginia Kendall Park

UPDATE:  Due to the heavy wind storms, there is no electricity at the Ledges Shelter, and our program for March 9 is cancelled. Please stay tuned for updates on a new date and time.  Thank you for your understanding! 

Hudson Heritage Association will host its March 9 meeting on the road when it meets at the Ledges Shelter in Virginia Kendall Park to learn about the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, part of a program signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. The meeting will begin at a special time – 7:00 p.m. – and is free and open to the public.

Dr. Kenneth J. Bindas, professor of history at Kent State University and author of “The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Construction of the Virginia Kendall Reserve, 1933-1939,” will speak about the CCC’s work in the Cuyahoga Valley during the Great Depression, and the many buildings and structures that still stand as testament to the program, conceived as a way to put Americans back to work while rebuilding the country’s abused and neglected park lands.

Virginia Kendall Park began as a hunting retreat for Cleveland industrialist Hayward Kendall. After his death, the 530-acre property was given to the state of Ohio, with the stipulation that it be named in honor of his mother. In 1933, the Akron Metropolitan Park District applied to create a CCC camp there. The trails and buildings throughout Virginia Kendall that are still in use today, including the Ledges Shelter, were constructed by members of the CCC.

Dr. Bindas specializes in modern American culture and has written widely on the intersection of politics, culture and class during the Depression era. In addition to his book on Virginia Kendall Park, he has authored several other books, written and produced for public television, and published numerous book chapters, articles, essays and reviews in a wide variety of scholarly journals. He received his B.S. in education from Youngstown State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Toledo.

The Ledges Shelter is located on Truxell Road in Peninsula, one mile west of Akron Cleveland Road. A parking lot is located near the Shelter entrance. Refreshments will be served following the presentation.

(Photo of Kenneth Bindas at Zion National Park with a statue of a Civilian Conservation Corps worker. The same statue can be found outside of the CVNP’s Happy Days Lodge)