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The Digital Blue Ridge Parkway

Oral History Interview with William Pruitt, June 14, 1996

Transcript (13 p.) PDF
Complete Audio File (MP3 format / ca. 103 MB, 56:27) MP3
Abstract William Pruitt talks about his time working on the Blue Ridge Parkway as part of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). He talks about the living arrangements and activities of those in the CCC. He was a truck driver, hauling crews to work sites, and did some landscaping. After service in the Navy, Pruitt joined the Park Service in the late 1940s and did maintenance work at Cumberland Knob. He describes being a caretaker – repair work, painting, mowing, snow plowing – in the Sparta area and talks about his interactions with tourists on the parkway.
Date June 14, 1996
Interviewee Pruitt, William
Interviewee occupation Caretaker, truck driver
Interviewee DOB 1923
Interviewer Gallant, Alicia
Subject Civilian Conservation Corps
Maintenance
Landscape development