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Civilian Conservation Corps

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CCC workers constructing road, 1933.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program for unemployed men, focused on natural resource conservation from 1933 to 1942. As part of the New Deal legislation proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), the CCC was designed firstly, to aid relief of high unemployment stemming from the Great Depression and secondly, carry out a broad natural resource conservation program on national, state and municipal lands. Legislation to create the program was introduced by FDR to the 73rd United States Congress on March 21, 1933, and the Emergency Conservation Work Act, as it was known, was signed into law on March 31, 1933.[1] The CCC became one of the most popular New Deal programs among the general public and operated in every U.S. state and territories of Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The separate Indian Division was a major relief force for Native Americans.

Members lived in camps, wore uniforms, and lived under quasi-military discipline. At the time of entry, 70% of enrollees were malnourished and poorly clothed. Very few had more than a year of high school education; few had work experience beyond occasional odd jobs. The peace was maintained by the threat of "dishonorable discharge." There were no reported revolts or strikes. "This is a training station we're going to leave morally and physically fit to lick 'Old Man Depression,'" boasted the newsletter of a North Carolina camp.

CCC camps in Michigan; the tents were soon replaced by barracks built by Army contractors for the enrollees.

The total of 200,000 black enrollees were entirely segregated after 1935 but received equal pay and housing. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes pressured Director Fechner to appoint blacks to supervisory positions such as education directors in the 143 segregated camps.

Initially, the CCC was limited to young men age 18 to 25 whose fathers were on relief. Average enrollees were ages 18-19. Two exceptions to the age limits were veterans and Indians, who had a special CCC program and their own camps. In 1937, Congress changed the age limits to 17 to 28 years old and dropped the requirement that enrollees be on relief.

Indian Division

The CCC operated an entirely separate division for members of federally recognized Indian tribes, the Indian Emergency Conservation Work, IECW, or CCC-ID. It brought Native men from reservations to work on roads, bridges, schools, clinics, shelters, and other public works near their reservations. The CCC often provided the only paid work in remote reservations. Enrollees had to be between the ages of 18 and 35 years. In 1933 about half the male heads of households on the Sioux reservations in South Dakota, for example, were employed by the CCC-ID. Thanks to grants from the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Indian Division built schools and operated an extensive road-building program in and around many reservations. IECW differed from other CCC activities in that it explicitly trained men to be carpenters, truck drivers, radio operators, mechanics, surveyors, and technicians. A total of 85,000 Natives were enrolled. This proved valuable human capital for the 24,000 Natives who served in the military and the 40,000 who left the reservations for war jobs in the cities.

Disbandment

Although the CCC was probably the most popular New Deal program, it never became a permanent agency. A Gallup poll of April 18, 1936, asked "Are you in favor of the CCC camps?"; 82% of respondents said yes, including 92% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans.[2]

The last extension passed by Congress was in 1939. The CCC program continued to be reduced in operations as the Depression waned and employment opportunities improved. Also fewer eligible young men were available after the draft commenced in 1940. Beginning in May 1940, as war raged in Europe, the program began a shift toward national defense and forest protection. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 all federal programs were now focused on the war effort. Most CCC work except for wildland firefighting, was shifted onto U.S. military bases to help with construction. The CCC disbanded one year earlier than planned. as the 77th United States Congress ceased funding, causing it to formally conclude operations at the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 1942. The end of the CCC program and closing of the camps involved arrangements to leave the incomplete work projects in the best possible shape, the separation of about 1,800 appointed employees, the transfer of CCC property to the War and Navy Departments and other agencies, and the preparation of final accountability records. Liquidation of the CCC was ordered by Congress by Labor-Federal Security Appropriation Act (56 Stat. 569) on July 2, 1942; and virtually completed on June 30, 1943.[3] Liquidation appropriations for the CCC continued through April 20, 1948.

Some former CCC sites in good condition were reactivated from 1941 to 1947 as Civilian Public Service camps where conscientious objectors performed "work of national importance" as an alternative to military service. Other camps were used to hold Japanese internees or German prisoners of war. After the CCC disbanded, the federal agencies responsible for public lands administration went on to organize their own seasonal fire crews, roughly modeled after the CCC, which filled the firefighting role formerly filled by the CCC and provided the same sort of outdoor work experience to young people.

The Corps movement today

A CCC pillowcase on display at the CCC Museum in Michigan.

The original CCC was closed in 1942, but it became a model for state agencies that opened in the 1970s. Present day corps are national, state and local programs that engage primarily youth and young adults (ages 16-25) in community service, training and educational activities. The nation’s approximate 113 corps programs operate in 41 states and the District of Columbia. In 2004, they enrolled over 23,000 young people. The Corps Network, originally known as the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps (NASCC) works to expand and enhance the corps movement throughout America. The Corps Network took shape in 1985, when the nation's first 24 Corps directors banded together to secure an advocate at the Federal level and a central clearinghouse of information on how to start and run "best practice"-based corps. Early support from the Ford, Hewlett and Mott Foundations was critical to launching the association.

Another similar program is the National Civilian Community Corps, part of the AmeriCorps program, a team-based national service program to which 18- to 24-year-olds dedicate 10 months of their time annually.

With the new administration, there is a grassroots citizens call for action movement called "We Can Take It!" This grassroots movement urges our policy makers in Washington to reactivate and dust off the books and use the template of the best shovel ready government program of all times, the Civilian Conservation Corps. The reactivation would mobilize the largest civilian workforce and put over the years millions of work boots on the ground working on our infrastructure and ecosystems in all of our over 700 million acres of US public lands in all 50 states, US Territories and US possessions. See http://www.wecantakeit.org/. There is a national petition on the site aid this cause. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/national-petition-for-the-reactivation-of-the-us-civilian-conservation-corps.

Student Conservation Association

The CCC program became an inspirational model for the creation of team-based national service youth conservation programs such as the Student Conservation Association (SCA). SCA founded in 1957, is a nonprofit organization that offers conservation internships and summer trail crew opportunities to more than 3,000 people each year. The SCA mission is to build the next generation of conservation leaders by inspiring lifelong stewardship of the environment and communities by engaging high school and college-age volunteers in hands-on service to the land. SCA program is active nation-wide in the USA, including national and state parks, forests, wildlife refuges, seashores and historic sites. SCA National Headquarters is located in Charlestown, NH with regional offices across the country.

E-Corps

Established in 1995 Environmental Corps (E-Corps) is an American YouthWorks program which allows youth, ages 17 to 28, to contribute to the restoration and preservation of parks and public lands in Texas. The only conservation corps in Texas, E-Corps is a 501(c)3 non profit based in Austin, Texas, which serves the entire state. Their work ranges from disaster relief to trail building to habitat restoration. E-Corps has done projects in national, state and city parks.

California Conservation Corps

In 1976, the Governor Jerry Brown of California established the California Conservation Corps. This new program differed drastically from the original CCC as its aim was primarily youth development rather than economic revival. Today it is the largest, oldest and longest-running youth conservation organization in the world.

Montana Conservation Corps

The Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission to equip young people with the skills and values to be vigorous citizens who improve their communities and environment. Each year the MCC engages more than 120 corps members in service projects. Collectively, MCC crews contribute more than 90,000 volunteer hours each year. The MCC was established in 1991 by Montana's Human Resource Development Councils in Billings, Bozeman and Kalispell. Originally, it was a summer program serving disadvantaged youth, although it has grown into an AmeriCorps-sponsored non-profit organization with six regional offices that serve Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota. All regions also offer MontanaYES (Youth Engaged in Service) summer programs for teenagers who are 14 to 16 years old.

Washington Conservation Corps

The Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) is a subagency of the Washington State Department of Ecology. It employs men and women 18 to 25 years old in an outreach program to protect and enhance Washington's natural resources. WCC is a part of the AmeriCorps program.

Minnesota Conservation Corps

The Minnesota Conservation Corps provides environmental stewardship and service-learning opportunities to youth and young adults while accomplishing conservation, natural resource management projects and emergency response work through its Young Adult Program and the Summer Youth Program. These programs focus on the development of job and life skills through conservation and community service work.

Vermont Youth Conservation Corps

The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) is a non-profit, youth service and education organization that hires Corps Members, aged 16-24, to work on high-priority conservation projects in Vermont. Through these work projects, Corps Members develop a strong work ethic, strengthen their leadership skills, and learn how to take personal responsibility for their actions. VYCC Crews work at VT State Parks, U.S. Forest Service Campgrounds, in local communities, and throughout the state's backcountry.

Southwest Conservation Corps

Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC) is a non-profit employment, job training, and education organization with locations in Durango and Alamosa, Colorado, and Tucson, Arizona. SCC formed as a merger of the Southwest Youth Corps and the Youth Corps of Southern Arizona.

SCC hires young adults ages 14 to 25 and organizes them into crews focused on completing conservation projects on public lands. Corpsmembers work, learn and commonly camp in teams of six under the supervision of two professional crew leaders.


The 2009 American Independent film A Genesis Found features a frame narrative set at a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp in 1938 at the Moundville Archaeological Site, and dramatizes a number of Corps activities, including excavation work and barracks life.

See also

References

  1. ^ Wirth, Conrad L. "Parks, Politics and the People" University of Oklahoma Press (1980) pp. 69-75.
  2. ^ Public Opinion, 1935-1946 ed. by Hadley Cantril and Mildred Strunk 1951. p.111
  3. ^ Wirth, Conrad L., Civilian Conservation Corps Program of the US Dept. of the Interior, March 1933 to June 30, 1942, a Report to Harold L. Ickes, January 1944

Further reading

  • American Youth Commission. Youth and the Future: The General Report of the American Youth Commission American Council on Education, 1942
  • Colen, Olen Jr. The African-American Experience in the Civilian Conservation Corps (1999)
  • Gower, Calvin W. "The CCC Indian Division: Aid for Depressed Americans, 1933-1942," Minnesota History 43 (Spring 1972) 7-12
  • Douglas Helms, "The Civilian Conservation Corps: Demonstrating the Value of Soil Conservation" in Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 40 (March-April 1985): 184-188.
  • Hendrickson Jr.; Kenneth E. "Replenishing the Soil and the Soul of Texas: The Civilian Conservation Corps in the Lone Star State as an Example of State-Federal Work Relief during the Great Depression" The Historian, Vol. 65, 2003
  • Kenneth Holland and Frank Ernest Hill. Youth in the CCC (1938) detailed description of all major activities
  • Leighninger, Robert D., Jr. "Long-Range Public Investment : The Forgotten Legacy of the New Deal" (2007), providing a context for American public works programs, and detailing major agencies of the New Deal: CCC, PWA, CWA, WPA, and TVA.
  • Otis, Alison T., William D. Honey, Thomas C. Hogg, and Kimberly K. Lakin The Forest Service and The Civilian Conservation Corps: 1933-42 United States Forest Service FS-395, August 1986
  • Paige, John C. The Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service, 1933-1942: An Administrative History National Park Service, 1985
  • Parman, Donald L. The Navajos and the New Deal (1969)
  • Parman, Donald L. "The Indian and the CCC," Pacific Historical Review 40 (February 1971): pp 54+
  • Salmond John A. The Civilian Conservation Corps 1933-1942: a New Deal case study. (1967), the only scholarly history of the entire CCC
  • Salmond, John A. "The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Negro," The Journal of American History, Vol. 52, No. 1. (Jun., 1965), pp. 75-88. in JSTOR
  • Sherraden, Michael W. "Military Participation in a Youth Employment Program: The Civilian Conservation Corps," Armed Forces & Society, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 227-245, April 1981 pp 227-245; ISSN 0095-327X available online from SAGE Publications
  • Steely, James W. "Parks for Texas : Enduring Landscapes of the New Deal" (1999), detailing the interaction of local, state and federal agencies in organizing and guiding CCC work.
  • Wilson, James; "Community, Civility, and Citizenship: Theatre and Indoctrination in the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s" Theatre History Studies, Vol. 23, 2003 pp 77-92
  • Hill, Edwin G. In the Shadow of the Mountain: The Spirit of the CCC. Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 1990. ISBN 978-0-87422-073-5
  • Kiran Klaus Patel. Soldiers of Labor. Labor Service in Nazi Germany and New Deal America, 1933-1945, Cambridge University Press, New York 2005, ISBN 0-521-83416-3.
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