CPS Camp Number 027

Technical Agency: Public Health Service

Summary:

CPS Camp No. 27 consisted of multiple units in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties in northern Florida. This first Public Health Service CPS camp developed in response to assignee desires to address human needs. In this case the men worked in the “hookworm belt” of the South, since the disease can be controlled and eliminated through simple medical and sanitary measures when coupled with effective education. The camp opened in March 1942 with overall administration by the Brethren while Mennonites and Friends shared in the project. Dan West of the Brethren Service Committee and Henry Fast of the Mennonite Central Committee worked with the Florida State Board of Health to start the projects. The camp and its subunits closed in 1946.

Group of conscientious objectors at CPS Camp # 27

Group of conscientious objectors at Civilian Public Service Camp No. 27, Mulberry, Florida, January 1944, during World War II, with visiting ministers Ernest E. Miller and M.C. Lehman. Front row, left-right: 1. Herman Ropp, 2. George Bohrer, 3. Arthur Thiessen, 4. Ethan Horst, 5. Jacob Guhr, 6. Edwin Weaver, 7. Dr. Ernest E. Miller Back row, left-right: 1. Ernest Pankratz, 2. Harold thiessen, 3. William Yoder., 4. Delman Stahly, 5. Dennis Lehman, 6. Lester Hiebert, 7. John Horst, 8. M.C. Lehman, 9. Wesley Prieb, 10. Paul Schmidt, 11. Galen Widmeer, 12. Menno Lohrenz, 13. Willard Baer, 14. Paul Milelr, 15. Roland Bartel, 16. Ernest Shank, 17. Franklin Wiebe, 18. Roland Kauffman, 19. Leo Goertz, 20. Mrs. Harold Martin, 21. Harold Martin, 22. C. Nelson Hostetler Not on picture, but part of group: Peter Bartel, George Falb, Hugh Hostetler, Mervin Hostetler, Dwight Jacobs, Dallas Voran, Harry Weirich, Edmund Zehr, Martin Schroeder, Albert Bohrer

Mennonite Central Committee Historical Archives

Date: January 1944