December 19, 1940
Civilian Public Service (CPS) camps were established for conscientious objectors following the institution of the first peacetime draft. Followers of the Quakers, Mennonites and Church of the Brethren worked nine-hour days except Sundays, had to pay their own room-and-board and were not released from the camps until 1947. Nearly 12,000 draftees, willing to serve their country in some capacity but unwilling to perform any type of military service, accepted assignments in work of national importance in 152 CPS camps throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, working in soil conservation, forestry, fire fighting and agriculture. Others helped provide social and mental health services.
