The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established in 1933 as part of U. S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal[1]. With the worldwide economic impact of the Great Depression[2], FDR devoted his presidency to turning America around. The CCC was just one of many programs designed to help. It was a voluntary, work relief program implemented to provide emergency economic relief to American families. It focused on unemployed young unmarried men ages seventeen to twenty-eight and was operational 1933 to 1942. Much of the work was accomplished by hand without the use of heavy machinery. Manual labor, strength and youth were key factors to keeping costs down and ensured enough work was available.
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The Genesis of the Idea
As chair of New York State Senate's Forest, Fish and Game Committee, FDR introduced eight bills addressing conservation, including the Roosevelt-Jones Bill[3] to regulate timber harvested on private land. He grew concerned about logging companies cutting timber with no regulations to limit their reach. He noted that the diminishing timber added to soil erosion, which impacted the fertility of land and ultimately impacted crop production. His interests grew as he took on the role of Governor of New York and later into his Presidency.
CCC Wages, Housing & Morale
Young men were hired for the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments. The program essentially provided a source of income for the youth but also helped families back home. A key component of the program was to positively impact the economic and overall morale of the nation.
- Wages were $30.00 a month, with young men only retaining $5.00.
- The remaining $25.00 was paid directly to their families back home, helping those impacted by the high unemployment rate.
- The camp housed and fed the enrollees, taking care of their basic needs, and reducing the amount of money needed to sustain themselves.
- Sending money regularly to their families back home relieved their worry and promoted self-pride for taking care of their families.
- These things allowed the young men to focus completely on the tasks before them.
CCC National Structure
The program was administered through the cooperative efforts of different arms of the government. The Department of Labor was responsible for recruitment and selection with emphasis on families receiving welfare. The Army handled transportation, feeding and clothing enrollees using surplus materials. Their role was later expanded to include the construction and operation of camps. The Department of Agriculture selected camp locations and projects and supervised the work. While the Department of the Interior worked alongside the Department of Agriculture in supervising projects. The National Park Service played a role in guiding conservation projects but has also proven to be a great source of documenting the efforts.
Discrimination Alive and Well
A provision barring discrimination was added to FDR’s Federal Unemployment Relief Act[4] in 1933 by Oscar DePriest[5] of Illinois, the first African American in Congress but was widely disregarded. Due to the times and ingrained beliefs, discriminatory behavior on a grand scale was not uncommon. Local communities generally, hand-picked candidates and helped them through the process, with white men generally being selected over non-whites. In Southern states, African Americans were regularly excluded from the program.
CCC Director Robert Frechner responded to the uproar regarding African Americans in the program by allocating 10% of the available placements to them despite the fact that African Americans nationally experienced unemployment at double the rates of whites. When selected, most were assigned to work in segregated camps. Since the youth worked a 40-hour week, they were free to spend their leisure time any way they wished. Since camps were located all across the nation, leaving the confines of a camp opened African American youth up to racism which could lead to disastrous outcomes.
Camps Developed Community Within Themselves
With an assigned hierarchy of command and well-defined schedules, youth learned discipline, experienced growth and development. Everyone understood that camps were temporary in nature based on the needs of the assignment. Added responsibilities could take many forms since running the day-to-day operations of a camp was like running a small city.
Camps had identities and many had newsletters to promote and document camp life. The Volcano was a newsletter published by the 2664th of Mt. Carroll, Illinois and often listed camp personnel, their duties, camp projects and educational pursuits. According to the November 1935 issue, the camp offered courses in Negro history, civics, mathematics, first aid, shop works, typing, auto mechanics, and airplane modeling. In their free time they played cards, ping pong, basketball against other camps and held boxing matches. The May 1937 issue of the 2664th Volcano newsletter reported that more than 4300 youth in 217 camps were taking correspondence courses from the University of North Dakota.
Some Important Contributions of the CCC Program
- 250,000 young men were working within three months of CCC Program establishment.
- An educational program was integrated into the CCC. Run jointly by the War Department and the Office of Education, it provided more in-depth job training, increased the literacy rate among the enrollees, and enabled thousands of men to gain their high school diplomas.
- The development of the National Parks System and their infrastructure.
- More than 3.5 billion trees were planted on land made barren from fires, natural erosion, intensive agriculture and lumbering.
Explore more about the Civilian Conservation Corps
- Newspapers record collection at MyHeritage
- Black Past. Oscar DePriest.
- Highlights from the Career of Oscar DePriest
- Chapter Five: Overall Accomplishments, 1933-1942. The Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service, 1933-1942: An Administrative History.
- Chapter One: A Brief History of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service, 1933-1942: An Administrative History.
- National Archives Catalog. Record Group 35: Records of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Annual, Special, and Final Reports, 1933–1943.
- National Archives Catalog. Record Group 35: Records of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Camp Inspection Reports, 1933–1942.
- Kirby, John B., ed. New Deal Agencies and Black America. Guide compiled by Robert Lester and Dale Reynolds. Frederick, MD: University Publications of America, Inc., 1984.
- Pearson, P. O'Connell. Fighting for the Forest: FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps Helped Save America. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019.
- Daley, Tracy. If The Fire Comes: A Story of Segregation During the Great Depression. North Mankato, MN: Jolly Fish Press, an imprint of North Star Editions, Inc., 2019.
References
- ↑ New Deal ‑ Programs, Social Security & FDR. History Channel
- ↑ Great Depression. BBC
- ↑ FDR's Conservation Legacy. National Park Service
- ↑ The Federal Emergency Relief Act of 1933. Virginia Commonwealth University
- ↑ DE PRIEST, Oscar Stanton. Office of the Historian