![]() ![]() They also opposed Army involvement in the CCC, which they feared could lead to state control and regimentation of labor. Trade unions opposed the training of unskilled workers when so many union members were out of work. Though the CCC enjoyed overwhelming public support throughout its tenure, the agency’s programs initially drew criticism from organized labor. Veteran conservationist and author Aldo Leopold supervised CCC erosion control and forestry projects in Arizona and New Mexico. American league baseball hall-of-famer Stan Musial also worked for the CCC, as did test pilot Chuck Yeager, the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. Several celebrities served in the CCC before they were famous.Īctors Walter Matthau and Raymond Burr labored in Montana and California, respectively. Women were prohibited from joining the CCC. It’s estimated that nearly three million men – about five percent of the total United States male population – took part in the CCC over the course of the agency’s nine-year history. At the time, more than 500,000 corpsmen were spread across 2,900 camps. Supreme Court didn’t think of segregation as racial discrimination.Įnrollment in the CCC peaked in August 1935. In addition to younger men, the CCC enrolled World War I Army veterans, skilled foresters and craftsmen, and roughly 88,000 Native Americans living on Indian reservations.ĭespite an amendment outlawing racial discrimination in the CCC, young African American enrollees lived and worked in separate camps. New York Times Co./Getty Images Minorities in the CCC Reforestation members of the 117th Company of the New England Civilian Conservation Corps camp form the letters of their organization in Tamworth, New Hampshire, January 17, 1934. The popular New Deal program was phased out by 1942 as the same young enrollees enlisted for World War II. In fact, it’s estimated that some 57,000 illiterate men learned to read and write in CCC camps. Some corpsmen received supplemental basic and vocational education while they served. The men were required to send $22 to 25 of their monthly earnings home to support their families. Men enlisted for a minimum of six months.Įach worker received $30 in payment per month for his services in addition to room and board at a work camp. ![]() The men came primarily from families on government assistance. The CCC enrolled mostly young, unskilled and unemployed men between the ages of 18 and 25. To encourage citizens to get out and enjoy America’s natural resources, FDR authorized the CCC to build bridges and campground facilities. Forest Service, the National Park Service and the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, CCC employees fought forest fires, planted trees, cleared and maintained access roads, re-seeded grazing lands and implemented soil-erosion controls.Īdditionally, they built wildlife refuges, fish-rearing facilities, water storage basins and animal shelters. ![]() It was the most rapid peacetime mobilization in American history. By July 1, 1933, 1,433 working camps had been established and more than 300,000 men put to work. The Army organized the transportation of thousands of enrollees to work camps around the country. Most of the unemployed men were in Eastern cities while much of the conservation work was in the West. ![]() The United States Army helped to solve an early logistical problem – transportation. As governor of New York, he had run a similar program on a smaller scale. The CCC combined FDR’s interests in conservation and universal service for youth. The CCC was part of his New Deal legislation, combating high unemployment during the Great Depression by putting hundreds of thousands of young men to work on environmental conservation projects. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, with an executive order on April 5, 1933. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |