Civilian Public Service Camps

What was Civilian Public Service?

CPS was a civilian alternative for men whose convictions prevented military service. It combined government oversight with support from religious organizations, especially Mennonite, Brethren, and Quaker agencies. Many early camps reused Civilian Conservation Corps facilities; the two programs had different purposes. Program structure ↗

Assignments included soil conservation, forest-fire work, hospital care, agricultural projects, and medical research. Service could be demanding and dangerous. Men worked without wages, and their families did not receive the support available to military families. CPS participants also faced public suspicion and disagreements about how their work related to the war. Life and challenges in CPS ↗

CPS was one response to conscription. Other conscientious objectors entered noncombatant military service, while some refused cooperation and were imprisoned. The map therefore covers only part of the history of wartime conscientious objection.

A short timeline

1. May 1941Patapsco, CPS Camp 3 near Elkridge, Maryland, becomes the first CPS camp to open. Read its history.
2. During the warThe program encompasses both base camps and detached units, including hospital service and research assignments. Explore the types of work.
3. 1946–1947Service and demobilization continue after the fighting ends; the camp-operations record extends to March 1947. See the archival overview.

Where Catholic peace traditions meet CPS

The Association of Catholic Conscientious Objectors appears in the directory as an operating agency for Camp 15 in Stoddard, New Hampshire; Camp 26 in Chicago, Illinois; Camp 54 in Warner, New Hampshire; and Camp 102 in Owings Mills, Maryland. These records offer concrete starting points for researching Catholic participation. Check the directory ↗

Select Show Catholic-run units in the explorer above to find those four records. For the wider theological context, read our Catholic peace tradition guide and introduction to conscientious objection.

How to use these records

• Start with the camp number. Follow the history link for opening and closing dates, accounts of the work, and links to individual units. A camp can have several subunits in different places.
• Treat the map as an overview. Coordinates come from the archival directory and indicate general locations. They have not been independently surveyed and are not directions to surviving buildings.
• Check whether a project opened. Swarthmore lists numbers 38, 65, 96, 99, 101, and 145 as suspended before opening. We label those records and leave them off the map. Consult the histories where descriptions differ.
• Distinguish archival groupings. Record 152 covers the related Seagoing Cowboys relief project. Number 153 groups camp A and territorial service records; it is not an original camp number.
• Look beyond this map. Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and entries without coordinates remain in the searchable directory. The map itself shows the contiguous United States.

The directory was checked on September 28, 2026. Agency and work labels follow the archive; F&W means Fish and Wildlife, and FS&R means Foreign Service and Relief. Missing fields are shown as unlisted. The outline uses public-domain Natural Earthdata. For a person's service history, continue to the archive's Find a CPSer resource.