Author and historian Martin Podskoch will discuss his latest book, Adirondack Civilian Conservation Corps Camps: History, Memories and Legacy of the CCC, Thursday, Oct. 25 at 5:30 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.
The talk, part of the Kelly Adirondack Center's lecture and concert series, is free and open to the public.
Between 1933 and 1942 as part of Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” the Civilian Conservation Corps took aim at poverty and unemployment. Many CCC camps were in the Adirondacks, where workers built roads, campsites and dams. They also fought fires and planted millions of trees.
Podskoch has written five other books on the Adirondacks and Catskills.
A book signing and light reception will follow the presentation, which is sponsored by the President's Office.
Last spring, Union purchased a building complex from the private conservation group Protect the Adirondacks! (PROTECT) that includes the former home of the noted Adirondack conservationist Paul Schaefer (1908-1996) and a modern addition that houses the Adirondack Research Library.
The decision to acquire the property on St. David's Lane and preserve and expand its use as an educational learning center builds upon the College's long connection to the Adirondacks and is consistent with President Ainlay's major initiative of capitalizing on Union's location.
The property is located on a two-acre parcel of land three miles from campus. It includes a 2,400 square-foot Dutch replica home built by Schaefer in 1934 that is used for offices and meetings. A 3,900 square-foot addition completed in 2005 houses additional offices, conference rooms and the Adirondack Research Library.
The library, which contains more than 15,000 volumes, as well as extensive collections of maps, photographs, documents and the personal papers of some of the region's foremost conservationists, was the creation of Paul Schaefer.
The lecture and concert series kicked off last month with "An Evening of Adirondack Songs & Stories with Dan Berggren."