The Civilian Conservation Corps ( CCC ) was a public work relief program for unemployed men, providing vocational training through the performance of useful work related to conservation and development of natural resources in the United States from 1933 to 1942. As part of the New Deal legislation proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), the CCC was designed to aid relief of the unemployment resulting from the Great Depression while implementing a general natural resource conservation program on federal, state, county and municipal lands in every U.S. state, including the territories of Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The CCC became one of the more popular New Deal programs among the general public, providing economic relief, rehabilitation and training for a total of 3 million men. The CCC also provided a comprehensive work program that combined conservation, renewal, awareness and appreciation of the nation's natural resources. The CCC was never considered a permanent program and depended on emergency and temporary legislation for its existence. On 30 June 1942 Congress voted to terminate funding for the CCC, formally ceasing active operation of the program.
Creation
Modeled after precedent employment-conservation programs in the United States and Europe, FDR initiated creation of the program with his first inaugural address. Legislation to create the program was presented by FDR to the 73rd United States Congress on 21 March 1933:
The "Act for the relief of unemployment through performance of useful public works and other purposes," or Emergency Conservation Work (ECW), as it was known, was signed into law by him on 31 March 1933. FDR issued Executive Order 6101 on 5 April 1933 which established the organization and appointed a director, Robert Fechner (Mar. 1933-Dec. 1939). The organization and administration of the CCC was a new experiment in operations for a Federal government agency; the order also indicated that the program was to be supervised jointly by four Cabinet departments: War, Labor, Agriculture and Interior, by means of a CCC Advisory Council composed of a representative from each of the supervising departments. In addition the Office of Education and Veterans Administration participated in the program. Overseeing the advisory council was Director Fechner who had complete authority for CCC affairs.
Early Years, 1933-1934
The mobilization of the program occurred quite rapidly: The ECW Act was signed on 31 March 1933; on 5 April Director Fechner was appointed and War Department corps area commanders were given task to commence enrollment the next day; the first CCC enrollee was selected 7 April and subsequent lists of unemployed men were supplied by state and local welfare and relief agencies for immediate enrollment. On 17 April the first camp was established at George Washington National Forest near Luray, VA., and by 1 July 1933 there were 1,463 working camps with 250,000 junior enrollees (18-25 years of age), 28,000 veterans, 14,000 American Indians, and 25,000 Locally Enrolled Men (LEM). The typical enrolee was a U.S. citizen, unmarried, unemployed male, 18–20 years of age. Each enrollee volunteered, and upon passing a physical exam was required to serve a minimum six month period with the option to serve as much as two years. He lived in a work camp, received $30 a month (with a compulsory allotment $22–25 sent to a dependent) as well as food, clothing and medical care. Veteran qualifications differed from Junior Enrollees; one needed to be certified by the Veterans Administration by application, they could be any age, and married or single as long as they were in need of work. Veterans were mostly assigned to entire veteran camps.
Each CCC camp was located in the general area of conservation work to be performed, and organized around a compliment of up to 200 civilian enrollees in a designated numbered company unit. Each camp had a dual-authority supervisory staff: Department of War personnel, generally Reserve officers (until 1 July 1939), who were responsible for overall camp operation, logistics, education and training; and technical service civilians employed by the Departments of Interior or Agriculture, responsible for the type of field work. The CCC performed 300 possible types of work projects within ten approved general classifications: 1) Structural Improvements: bridges, fire towers, service buildings; 2) Transportation: truck trails, minor roads, foot trails and airport landing fields; 3) Erosion Control: check dams, terracing and vegetable covering; 4) Flood Control: irrigation, drainage, dams, ditching, channel work, riprapping; 5) Forest Culture: planting trees and shrubs, timber stand improvement, seed collection, nursery work; 6) Forest Protection: fire prevention, fire presuppression, fire fighting, insect and disease control; 7) Landscape and Recreation: public camp and picnic ground development, lake and pond site clearing and development; 8) Range: stock driveways, elimination of predatory animals; 9) Wildlife: stream improvement, stocking fish, food and cover planting; 10) Miscellaneous: emergency work, surveys, mosquito control.
The responses to this six month experimental conservation program were enthusiastic, and on 1 October 1933 Director Fechner was instructed arrange for a second period of enrollment. By January 1934, the second year of the CCC program, 300,000 men were enrolled. In July 1934 this cap was increased by 50,000 to include men from drought affected states of the mid-west. The temporary tent camps had also transitioned from tents to wooden barracks. An education program had been established emphasizing job training and literacy.
Approximately 55% of enrollees were from rural communities, a majority of which were non-farm; 45% came from urban. Level of education for the enrollee averaged 3% illiterate, 38% less than eight years' of school, 48% did not complete high school, 11% were high school graduates. At the time of entry, 70% of enrollees were malnourished and poorly clothed. Few had work experience beyond occasional odd jobs. Peace was maintained by the threat of "dishonorable discharge." At the beginning, thousands refused to take the CCC oath of allegiance. "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.
The total of 200,000 African-American enrollees were segregated completely after 1935 but received equal pay and housing. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes pressured Director Robert Fechner to appoint African-American to supervisory positions such as education directors in the 143 segregated camps. The separate Indian Division was a major relief force for Native Americans.
Program Expansion, 1935-1936
Responding to favorable public opinion to alleviate unemployment Congress approved the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, on 8 April 1935, which included continued funding for the CCC program through 31 March, 1937. The age limit was also expanded to 18-28 to include more men. From 1 April 1935 to 31 March 1936 was the period of greatest activity and work accomplished by the CCC program. Enrollment had peaked at 505,782 in about 2,900 camps by 31 August 1935, followed by a reduction to 350,000 enrollees in 2,019 camps by 30 June 1936. During this period the public response to the CCC program was overwhelmingly popular. A Gallup poll of 18 April 1936, asked "Are you in favor of the CCC camps?"; 82% of respondents said yes, including 92% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans.
Change of Purpose, 1937-1938
On 28 June 1937 the Civilian Conservation Corps was legally established, transferred from its original designation as the Emergency Conservation Work program. Funding was also extended for three more years through Public No. 163, 75th Congress, effective 1 July 1937. Congress changed the age limits from 17-23 years old, and eliminated the requirement that enrollees be on relief, instead "not regularly in attendance at school, or possessing full time employment." The 1937 law, in addition to providing employment and performance of useful work made the inclusion of vocational and academic training a mandatory minimum of 10 hours per week, to provide enrollees with necessary training for employment after discharge. In addition, enrollment was extended to those without dependents; orphans could make an "enrollee deposit" with the Army finance officer earning 5% interest returned in full at discharge or in emergency. Another change allowed for those in school to be enrolled during (summer) vacation.
Conservation to Defense, 1939-1940
On 30 June 1939 legislation ceased the CCC program to be an independent agency, transferred to the Federal Security Agency along with the Social Security Board, National Youth Administration, U.S. Employment Service, the Office of Education and the Works Progress Administration. About 5,000 Reserve officers for the camps were affected, transferred to Civil Service and military ranks and titles were eliminated. Despite this loss of an obvious military leadership in the camps by July of 1940, with war in Europe and Asia, an increasing number of CCC projects focused on resources for national defence, developing infr
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