CCC Exhibit Dedicated at CAVE 5/17/2000

On May 17, 2000, the park dedicated an exhibit to the Civilian Conservation Corps "Boys" who worked at the caverns from 1938 - 1942 and lived at Rattlesnake Springs.

While I was certainly interested in the CCC program here even before I became the park's first historian in 1992 (and had done oral histories with several such alumni), the staff member who at the time was Mr. CCC History on staff was Park Interpreter Dave Hutson who later transferred to a park in Arizona.

Dave also conducted some interviews and referred to the CCC "Boys" quite frequently in his interpretive programs, more so than other interpreters as I remember. In my judgment he was probably the main impetus for the exhibit to honor the CCC employees who worked here.

Their lasting contributions here and across the nation, in many organizations besides the National Park Service, were exemplary.

The actual dedication here was on May 17, 2000. Mr Lemon, president of the NM Chapter of CCC Alumni, and a Mr. Ximenes, whose organization I am still researching, attended. He also had a great deal of interest in the CCCs.

I also remember that Mr. Ximenes daughter, who worked for a NM political agency also attended. I am still researching more information about her.

Thanks to Avelina Childress for supplying the two photos so quickly. The pix are Acrobat .pdf format and could not be scanned at the park. I printed and scanned on my thrifty all-in-one. Again, thanks for your help, Avelina.


































For more CCC information on this site, see

CCC at CAVE


The exhibit, and Mr. Lemon and I, all looked better in person almost nine years ago in May 2000 than these photos seem to allow. :)