CCC workers digging at "Sipe's Hell Hole", Camp 2601, Starved Rock State Park - CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image

The Illinois & Michigan Canal was once an important transport artery between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, but by the 1930s, the canal was in ill repair, and any significant commercial use was a distant memory. When the Civilian Conservation Corps was formed in 1933, work commenced on restoration of the I&M canal and the development of recreational amenities, eventually leading to the designation of the I&M Canal as a National Heritage Corridor in 1984. Lewis University’s CCC I&M Canal Photographs collection depicts the camp life and work of eight CCC camps, and the resulting fruits of their labor.

What I noticed immediately about many of the images in this collection is the lack of heavy machinery. Most of the work was done by hand, and it doesn’t look like it was easy labor. This image depicts a group toiling at the colorfully named "Sipe’s Hell Hole." The moniker suggests that this wasn’t the campers’ favorite spot, and it's not hard to see why. Contemporary visitors to the I&M Canal may not know how much work went into the trails, waterways, and scenery they enjoy today, but this image collection provides a window into the efforts that made it possible.

Written by Adam Strohm, Digital Collections Librarian, Newberry Library

For more information about this and other CARLI Digital Collections, visit http://collections.carli.illinois.edu

To learn more about becoming part of CARLI Digital Collections and using CONTENTdm, see http://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/contentdm and http://wiki.carli.illinois.edu/index.php/Portal:CONTENTdm.