Excerpts from the interview given by Ansley Hall, 2 November 2002

Nelson: What was a typical day like in the CCC for you?  Woke up in the morning, what happened?

Hall: Well if you didn’t have a job, you got a job when you were there and you got a place to sleep and you got a place to eat and then you got a doctor. So you got just about everything you need to live. In other words it was CC operated, right, you had near about the comforts of home. But it wouldn’t be like home—well, it was a little bit like military because you had your discipline. Then they had day rooms and stuff like that there where you read your newspaper and radio and things like that. Well anyway it was a good thing. Then they had shop, take up shop, woodwork or something. I took up a course in that, I believe it was about 700 hours and something hours and I made a table that. It was a radio/magazine combination table and it took every power tool that they had in the woodwork shop to build that table. The reason for that was to familiarize you with all the tools that’s in there and then they taught you to paint and all that stuff in the shop.  Then they had other things to. I took up a little bit of arithmetic while I was there and you’d probably have it there on your thing [refers to notes created by Nelson before the interview.].

Nelson: Who did the teaching of the classes?  Who taught woodshop?  Who taught arithmetic?

Hall: Oh I think they had, I’m not for sure about whether they was using civilians to come in and teach that or not but..

[omission]

Hall: Well I didn’t do much in them some of them other camps, but I did make signs at one time, CC -- that come under woodwork. You’d draw the letters on there and then you carved out the background and that letter raised up and then paint them letters.  I thought it was a nice way to make a sign. 

Nelson: So at most of these parks you spent most of your time doing woodwork jobs? Like building and making furniture and stuff like that?

Hall: Well they keep you busy at something. So much time a day, everyday its about. If you wasn’t careful they’d put you in the kitchen pealing spuds [laughs].  That’s the part I didn’t care much about. I got to where I go wash dishes for over 200 men. If all the stuff was brought to me to the sink and I could wash it and someone would take it away I could wash dishes for 200 men in 45 minutes.  That was moving on. I don’t move that fast no more.

Nelson: What do you remember about the couple nights you spent at Florida Caverns at Marianna, do you remember what the park was like when you were there?

Hall: I don’t know how long I really stayed there to tell you the truth. I went off to military through the war and all that stuff, and its got my mind kind of pushed around into a lot of things. Well anyway they was just going to build a park up, and they wasn’t worrying too much about the Caverns until some of the boys got to going down in them holes and they found something big down there. So they decided to make enough opening so you could get in there and you could see the room part of the cavern and they named it that on account of, they called it Caverns State Park on account of the caves. 

Nelson: Did you work in the caves at all, or did you do other things?

Hall: No, it wasn’t really too much work in that stage, was on other project. At least I didn’t get into it, someone might would have to, I guess, to cut right-of-ways.  But I went down in them caves, but I wasn’t brave when I was down there in them.

Nelson: And they were not giving tours for the public at this time, right? This is when they first started working on the caves.

Hall: Yeah, that was the beginning of that place up there, I went in kind of at beginning of it. Of course you have to get the paper down and check the times off cause my comprehension don’t pick up all that back yonder.

Nelson: Do you remember anything about the town of Marianna back then?  Did you go into town?

Hall: Yeah we were allowed to go to town and do whatever you could do, lawful you know, and stay out of trouble you did alright.  You get in trouble in town or you bring it back to the camp you still in trouble.  They was some of them got acquainted with the girls back there, I never did get too strong with any of them.