Civilian conservation corps why

CCC Hobart Camp planting a windbreak On March 31, , the U. Roosevelt's presidential administration. The program was designed to relieve the economic and humanitarian distress caused by the onset of the Great Depression in In the early s large numbers of young men roamed the cities and countryside, looking for work. The Roosevelt administration feared that, without jobs and training, a whole generation of young men would be unprepared to assume the financial responsibilities of home and family.

Life in CCC camps would also rehabilitate young men who were not only jobless, but suffered from a lack of physical and spiritual nourishment. The CCC had a dual purpose. Roosevelt also envisioned that the agency would provide necessary labor for various conservation projects designed to revitalize overworked agricultural land, reverse soil erosion, and implement reforestation. Working together, the CCC and NPS developed parks and built structures that left a legacy of distinctive architecture, quality craftsmanship, and in each man, a lifeline to a more productive future.

This was particularly true in Oklahoma where CCC men put into use unproductive land on which they built dams and lakes, planted trees and shrubs, and quarried stone to establish the state's first park system. Shortly after taking office in , Roosevelt asked his secretaries of war, interior, agriculture, and labor to coordinate plans for the development of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

CCC administration was shared by these four departments and one outside agency, the Veterans Administration. It was the responsibility of the Department of Labor to select CCC enrollees from state and local welfare agencies. To be eligible as a junior enrollee, a young man must be between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, unmarried, and a citizen of the United States. One of the conditions of enrollment was that out of the enrollees' monthly thirty-dollar pay, twenty-five dollars would be sent home to assist their dependent families.

Once the selection of men was made, the Department of War organized, conditioned, transported, and supervised the enrollees from induction to final discharge. This included organization into CCC units, transportation to work place, construction of CCC camps, and supervision in camp when the enrollees were not working on assigned duties. The buildings featured the rustic style of architecture popularized by the National Park Service.

They were made with local materials, especially rough-cut limestone quarried nearby and timber and lumber stained dark brown. Today, the results of the CCC's work at Big Spring remain one of the most impressive collections of Depression era work projects in the state of Missouri.

The lodge and cabins built by the CCC are currently closed for renovations at this time, however, visitors are encouraged to visit and experience the hard work young men did years ago. It provides the opportunity to explore what it may have been like to been enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The CCC was a great boon to the conservation of natural resources in the Ozarks. One reason why conservation had lagged was the lack of funds and manpower to carry on the work. The CCC was an answer, not only to the question of unemployment of young men, but to that of conservation.

Into the national and state forests of the land went many thousands of CCC workers, to be trained and put on the job of reforesting and protecting our nation's lands.

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Dismiss View all alerts. Civilian Conservation Corps. This did not always happen. Because of hostility and harassment from some communities, officials separated black and white enrollees. In the South, racially segregated camps were the norm from the beginning. Letters in names identified the racial makeup of the camps. Most CCC companies in the state performed a variety of tasks, with the camps best described as multipurpose facilities. Each superintendent had a crew assigned to a particular task: fire suppression or installation of telephone lines, for example.

Specific work projects usually lasted for three weeks, at the most. Some African American companies worked on special projects. In an area of Forest City, in Rutherford County , for example, Company C workers gullied and fenced over 3, acres. They planted hundreds of trees and shrubs to reshape the land and stabilize the erosion. It later moved to Rainbow Springs.

Community resistance to its placement may have been the reason. Initial work projects in the forest around Franklin included construction of truck trails, roads, and telephone lines, and prevention and suppression of forest fires. In addition to contributing to the development of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park , the company worked on construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Four CCC camps were established along the parkway route. A paycheck was not the only good thing about being in the CCC. In written surveys and oral interviews done between and , African Americans who served in the program in North Carolina said that they mainly benefited in three areas: employment, training, and character development. The CCC emphasized providing jobs for needy youth, and that was the main reason for joining.

Although many CCC projects required only the simplest types of common labor, enrollees could learn other things. Indeed, most of the CCC veterans interviewed admitted that they learned about cooperation with fellow workers and supervisors, the proper care of equipment, the importance of hard work, and a responsible attitude toward a job. While most respondents indicated that their CCC duties did not prepare them for future employment in terms of specific skills, some said that the work did prepare them for their lifetime careers.

The CCC also provided an education program, conducted during off-duty hours on a voluntary basis. The goal was to help enrollees improve themselves and become more employable once of some academic courses.

The CCC educational program gave some of the respondents a chance to complete high school. It motivated others to continue with college work. Overall, although former enrollees had mixed opinions about the job training they got in the CCC, most considered their work experience to be valuable.

The CCC provided direct and immediate financial benefits, and participation enhanced future work habits. Although the CCC program ended in , its impact continued. They planted millions of trees; built hundreds of lookout towers; built thousands of miles of telephone lines, truck trails, and minor roads; and saved thousands of acres of land from the ravages of disease, fire, and soil erosion.

African Americans in the Civilian Conservation Corps. New Deal Network. The Civilian Conservation Corps. Interactive periodic table of the New Deal. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Paige, John C. National Park Service.