Job Corps Program Helped Build the County

In the early 1960s unemployment of young people in the U.S. was twice that of older adults.  In response, the Kennedy Administration designed a program, known as Job Corps, offering free education and vocational training to young men and women ages 16 to 24 to improve their lives. 

After Kennedy’s death, President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty task force was able to quickly implement the Job Corp program.  Sargent Shriver, brother-in-law of the former president and Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, is credited as the founder of the program which operated under his department.  He modeled it after the Civilian Conservation Corps program of the 1930s.

In November 1964, it was announced that a Job Corps camp would be established in Transylvania County.  Located on the Davidson River in the Pisgah National Forest, the camp initially housed 100 corpsmen in mobile facilities.

At the dedication ceremony one year later, Edward Schulz of the U.S. Forest Service stated that the corpsmen are walking in the paths used by such men of vision as Dr. Carl Schenck, Gilford Pinchot, John W. Weeks and George Vanderbilt, carrying on their conservation efforts.

In 1974 Schenck Job Corps students painted the Sapphire-Whitewater
Community Center.

Corpsmen worked on reforestation, stream improvement, trail construction and wildlife habitat projects in the National Forest.  They built the Black Balsam Road into the Shining Rock Wilderness Area and assisted with projects at the Cradle of Forestry, which had begun construction in November 1964.  Corpsmen also helped with community projects such as roadside litter clean-up and landscaping at the Brevard Music Center.

During its 55 years, Schenck Job Corps has evolved and expanded to meet the needs of their students in a changing world.  The campus has grown to include classrooms, workshops, dormitories, a cafeteria, a wellness center and recreational facilities.

The original Cradle of Forestry facility and property was constructed and developed with assistance from Schenck Job Corps students in the mid-1960s.

Today the facility trains 180 young men and women in basic education, social skills and employment skills.  Programs in automotive and machine repair, carpentry, culinary arts, facility maintenance, painting and welding are available for students.  Schenck is the only Job Corps center that offers courses as an Advanced Forestry Technician and one of just two that provides training in Advanced Wildland Fire Management.  Schenck Job Corps students help fight wildfires throughout the United States as needed.

The Jobs Corps mission remains the same after more than a half century—to provide a no-cost education and career technical training program that helps young people ages 16 to 24 improve the quality of their lives through career technical and academic training.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.