We Can Take It!
The Roosevelt Tree Army at New Jersey’s High Point State Park 1933-1941
by
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Poems were included in company newsletters and often reflect camp life and the great affection the CCC boys had for the camps. Also, the kinds of dreams young men have. They demonstrate the literary promise of some of the enrollees including Owen "Black" Murray wrote the following in February 1937: What if we sweat in the summer
Murray wrote two other poems for the newsletter, the first entitled "Darkness up in High Point" and the "Contentment."
"Darkness up in High Point" The flowers stop their nodding The birds all stop their singing The day is through and play is through The wind itself is crooning "Contentment" To know the joy of working Other poems appear in the 1280 newsletter written by "Pat" under the heading of "This and That" in 1938. Prayer of the Unemployed Oh my God, I pray that Thee This poem also comes from "Pat" and reflects a concern of the time. Give Me Work With weary heart and heavy feet
For those of us who use and love our nation’s parks and forests, we can never express our gratitude enough to the Roosevelt Tree Army or to President Franklin D. Roosevelt who had a far-sighted vision about conservation and young men and acted upon it. Some CCC boys understood what they were doing went beyond the building of roads or lakes or even a paycheck. They saw a larger purpose. Peter Lutz reflected upon that mission: "We were from the city, and we realized what we were doing, see, we were building that park for our next generation, see we knew that. And we were only kids, we didn’t have anything, we were from the city and we had no toys, Christmas didn’t mean a thing to us. And so we thought, well, when we get married and have children we want them to be able to see what nature is all about." When we drive over the roads of High Point, camp at one of its beautiful sites or canoe on its lakes, we can tip our hats to men like Messrs. Gibbons, Gemmill, Mastriani, Thiede, Lutz, Polisi and the others who made it possible. We remember, as Ray Hoyt said in his history of the CCC, "We Can Take It" that life in CCC camp was a great adventure.
And what if in the winter we freeze
Though we grumble and kick
Somehow we stick
To life in the CCC’s
When enlistment times comes around
And we all get the urge to breeze
A couple may go but the rest of us know
We’re home in the CCC’s
Each bows its pretty head
For there’s darkness up in High Point
They know it’s time for bed.
And nestle close instead
For there’d be darkness up in High Point
They know it’s time for bed
All’s been done and said
When shadows creep it’s time to sleep
Time to go to bed
There are pleasant dreams ahead
For there is darkness up in High Point
And it’s time to go bed.
These things I ask of life
I know I’m asking much
Are a simple life, a home and a wife
The thrill of a baby’s touch
How sweet this life can be
When someone is waiting - Anticipating
The safe arrival of me.
Will send a job, not Charity
Give me a chance to earn my bread
And a place to rest my head
If I could just find work again
I’d bow my head and say, Amen.
I tramp along the dusty street;
My throat checked by a sob
For tho’ I look I find no job.
"No help wanted," employers say
Then I plod my weary way
I’m groping blindly in my grief
I want a job, not relief.
Of course I could live on a Dole
But work itself is a better goal;
With work I could keep my pride;
There’d be no grief for me to hide.
In work I could be content,
A job would be Heaven sent;
Then my heart would fill with glee;
For in work I’d find Security.
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About the Book
This is the story of a national organization called the Civilian Conservation Corps, created by one of the last century’s leading figures, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was our nation’s 32nd president and one of the most beloved and one of the most reviled men of his day. It is also the story of one of the most effective and important efforts ever undertaken by our nation to combine relief efforts, as welfare was then known, with major conservation projects in our parks and forests in the 1930s and early 1940s. It is the story of three million young men who served in the Roosevelt Tree Army, as it was known. Their motto was "We Can Take It!" because of the hard work they undertook. Finally, it is about the young men who served in New Jersey’s most famous state park of the 1930s, High Point State Park and how High Point came to be developed. John C. Keator, Superintendent, High Point State Park said "Peter Osborne’s extensive use of taped and personal interviews has presented this topic in a very warm and human format. As I read this book, I could feel the hardships and triumphs that these enrollees experienced at High Point State Park. Prior to starting this book, I thought I had a good grasp of this subject but the wealth of new information presented here makes this book a must read for anyone interested in an intimate look at the Civilian Conservation Corps." Area historian and coauthor of High Point of the Blue Mountains Ronald J. Dupont, Jr. said, "Peter Osborne hasn’t merely written a history of the CCC at High Point–he has virtually brought Camp Kuser and its C boys back to life, vividly, with his meticulous research and his obvious love for the subject. It’s a stirring tribute to an epic chapter of our history." Albert Mastriani, one of the National Park Service Foreman at High Point from 1933-1941 said "The remarkable story of the Civilian Conservation Corps at New Jersey’s High Point State Park that needed to be told now or forever lost."
About the Author
Peter Osborne has been the full-time executive director of the Minisink Valley Historical Society for twenty-two years and the historian for the City of Port Jervis for the last ten years. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey having majored in American history. He has long been interested in preserving the Upper Delaware River’s heritage, is a community activist and has written extensively about the region’s history. He has received the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year Award and the Upper Delaware Heritage Alliance’s Merit and Repeat Offender awards. Osborne was involved with the restoration of the Port Jervis Erie Depot an 1892 building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Port Jervis Erie Turntable and Fort Decker, a 1793 stone house museum. In addition to his work at the society he has served on the board of directors of the Orange County Historical Society and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation. He is married to Janis Osborne who is the editor of the weekly newspaper, The Gazette in Port Jervis, New York and has a son Ryan.