After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis, Friedolin found employment in 1936 by joining the Civilian Conservation Corps as an "artist enrollee."

The "CCC" had been created in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt as a means of employing 500,000 youths, part of the contingent of 13,600,000 people unemployed at the time. These young men were put to work in forests, parks and range lands across the country. While working 40 hours a week, they were taught a new skill and could also attend classes to further their education. They received a salary of $30 a month.

This was Friedolin's introduction to California. He was stationed at Camp 739 in what is now Almaden Quicksilver County Park in San Jose. His company, along with five others that would serve this area from 1933 to 1939, built fire roads and lookout towers while also working as firefighters.

As the artist enrollee of Camp 739, Friedolin's responsibility was to create a pictorial record of camp life. He chose to do this with a series of linoleum cuts. Prints were then made by inking the linoleum cut, placing a sheet of thin Japanese rice paper over it, and rubbing a tablespoon over the entire surface to transfer the image onto the paper. He was required to send all of the work that he produced to Washington at his own expense.

Friedolin remained with the CCC for two years, which was the maximum enrollment period allowed. The Almaden Quicksilver area would always be special to him. It became a public park in 1975, and he returned often to hike its trails. In the early 1990s, Friedolin paid a final tribute to his CCC days by designing and building a monument to the Civilian Conservation Corps that is located within the park.