The establishment of the Selective Service System (SSS) by Congress was intended for conscientious objectors to serve their country during World War II without compromising their principles. On July 1, 1943, the SSS opened the Civilian Public Service Camp #111 at Jackson Gulch, in Mancos, Colorado. The director of the Selective Service was General Lewis B. Hershey; he oversaw the implementation of section 5g that created the non-combat service that for COs. CPS #111 took up the work of the previous Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp at the same location, preparing the Bureau of Reclamation's Mancos Project. The project was a dam and irrigation system that would provide water to farmlands, the town of Mancos, and Mesa Verde National Park. The camp operated for 966 days, from July 1, 1943, to February 20, 1946. In the camp's brief history, 364 men were assigned to the camp; their ages ranged from 17 to 40. The heart of this thesis will tell the stories of the men at camp. The camp's newsletter Action revealed the inner workings of camp life. It further debated the unconstitutionality of the CPS programs and how men essentially performed indentured labor or jail time for their personal convictions. As a result, the impact of the CPS has been overshadowed by WWII publications. Nonetheless the CPS program paved the way for a more tolerate view towards conscientious objectors.
