Bill Jamerson will present a program on the Civilian Conservation Corps on Wednesday, September 12th at 2 p.m. at the Cresco United Methodist Church.

Bill Jamerson knows a good story when he hears one. Since 1992, when he produced his first PBS film, Bill has been collecting stories and turning them into films, books, articles and songs. His programs have been presented in eleven states at diverse venues including college life-long learning groups, libraries, state and national parks, historical societies, etc.
Bill discovered his love of history at an early age through his grandfather, an orphan who emigrated to Canada in 1915 to become a lumberjack. Those stories stirred up Bill's imagination and led to his lifelong interest in the past. History was a hobby for Bill until the summer of 1991 when he discovered archival films of CCC Boys. He used the films to produce his first PBS documentary, Camp Forgotten – The Civilian Conservation Corps in Michigan. Bill went on to produce 10 more films for Michigan Public Television.

In 2002 Bill began presenting live programs to schools and libraries on the CCC as well as on lumberjack and iron mining history. He began writing and performing original songs on his guitar which he integrated into his performances. Most of the songs are based on oral histories he collected from people with first hand knowledge of specific historic events.

In 2007, Bill published a historic novel based on the life of a dear friend who spent two years in the CCC. It is a coming-of-age story of a teenager from Detroit who joins a CCC camp in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. There he encounters the rigors of hard work, dealing with a tough sergeant and learning responsibility. Bill has performed his CCC program at over 70 Michigan libraries and dozens more in other states.

In 2010, Bill turned his book talk "Dollar-A-Day Boys" into a school motivational assembly. "The program is a hit with youth," Bill says, "because I play the role of a teen who goes through hardships that today's teens would find unimaginable – they really get into stories from The Great Depression. By the end of the program, they understand that High School is the CCC of today, and they need to get serious because it's preparation for life."

Example: The Civilian Conservation Corps was created as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program in 1933.  The Holmen (Wisconsin) area Civilian Conservation Corps Site 601 saved the lives of hundreds of Wisconsin men who desperately needed work in the 1930s.