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Unit 6: Set 7. The Civilian Conservation Corps: Youth in the Great Depression - Memoir of Harold Perry Leland

Introduction | Selection | Photos | Leland | Activity

Leland Intro | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

Harold Perry Leland was born in Lake Williams Township of Kidder County in 1915.  His parents were Henry, a farmer, and Rachel Riskadahl who had immigrated from Norway eight years before Perry was born.

He had ten siblings of which he was the third oldest.  When he entered the CCC in 1934, there were probably eight children at home between the ages of nine and sixteen for his parents to raise.

Perry Leland graduated high school in 1933, a fairly rare event in those days.  His education was extended by CCC training in office procedures and aeronautics.  Following his CCC service, Leland worked as a civilian logistics officer at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah.  He married, and remained in Utah after his retirement.