CCC APPLICATIONS AND NECESSITY

This essay is about what we have seen and heard since our births in the Pittsburgh Region during the 1929 Depression Era that lasted until the virtual ending of World War II in year 1945 during which we witnessed a million or more boys nurtured to become helpful and useful young men.

How strange it is to find any politicians and statesmen with wisdom to comprehend and understand that most growing youth bodies, especially boys have dynamic food intake needs other than mother-love, sugar and other substances such as narcotics to induce energy and stamina.  Mother-love and good intentions are not good enough for all or even most boys.  It is a national matter now with an estimated 80 percent of military age young men (Black and White) physically unfit for service demanding stamina. 

The great fallacy of the consequent for America is that it absolutely needs and knows how to help young boys to men, who are often hungry. lowly educated and poor, help the country by helping themselves as was done prior to World War II. The environment in most Americanof America’s counties obviously need caring youthful hands along their high ways and by-ways including the interstate systems. Functional Caring is not about assigning guards and disciplined boys from juvenile detention Centers and Prisons.   

It is all about the long-term natural wisdom of Congress such as establishment of the Buffalo Soldier regiments back in 1866 with youth that served as America’s first National Park rangers, among many firsts including cowboys, mail-boys, stock boys, tree and brush clearance, coal clear-boys, farm-boys, and other maintenance jobs that older men did not physically want or able to do. Indeed, like the mythical squires of Robin Hood stories, boys still need to be recruited and apprenticed to be useful and helpful to men more senior in modern-day skills and crafts now most often unionized to keep them out and away from marketable opportunities.   

The often forgotten Buffalo Soldiers must be remembered

Post-World War II Social science and political consideration neglected continuation of many economic depression era programs focused on boys to men, like CCC camps.  So doing, a new world order of men and women envisioned newly emerging public welfare policies at federal, state and county levels to be adequate nurturing for growing boys to men, such as three hot meals per day (Eisenhower called “three hots  and a cot necessity.”  Social science reasoned that parents, with government encouragement and support, could, would and should be the caring providers to all underage boys.  . 

The reality of single mother households have generated a new reality that government cannot ignore by building more housing for mothers and jails/prisons for bad boys due to violations of laws.  Such policies have functionally ignored the puberty, priorities and attitudes of young mothers and their sons.

Civilian Conservation Corps is and was a model project for consideration by the U.S. Government various Departments  in planning, programing and budgeting in the short-term, midterm and long-term manpower years of underage boys to useful and helpful men, planned for and recruited. to be so.

Congress debates, processes and funding for executive proposed programs (including demonstrations dating back to the Freedmen’s Bureau of 1866 up through the Civilian Conservation Corps of 1933.  But demonstrations are not permanent.   They can be continued and renewed if and when government chooses to do so   

We believe and understand Ex-Congressman Tip O’Neil’s prognosis that all politics are low, and realize that local government politicians are the ones who grease the wheels of county, state and federal government actions for change.

A good example we believe to me youthful new-comers like Mayor Gainey of Pittsburgh, the region my wife and I were born into.  Pittsburgh is the largest center but has many neighboring smaller cities, towns, mills, mines, manufacturers, wholesale businesses plus other enterprises including professional football, baseball, hockey pushed and praised by fans and governments.  And, teamed up for better tomorrows it is still a place for champions made of steel hearts, minds, and hands.   

This essay focus is on who, how and why teenage boys in the Pittsburgh Region and elsewhere need champions in their corner to back and support them in getting head starts afforded by past programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps. 

What Do I Know? Ed Gainey

A life’s recounting in the subject’s own words

by JEFF SEWALD

2022 SUMMER
WHAT DO I KNOW?

I have to say that it feels good to be the mayor of my hometown, to be connected to the place where I was born and raised. My family is from the Hill District, but I was actually born in South Oakland. We were only the second black family to live on Lawn Street.

My mother was young, 15, when I was born and needed a lot of help, so I stayed with my grand-mama for a while. When she moved to East Liberty, I moved with her, in August 1977, when I was 7. Before long, my mom moved there, too, and when she did, I moved in with her. So, I grew up in public housing — “Section 8.”

On my mom’s side, there’s me and my sister, Shadé. We grew up together. On my dad’s side, there is my sister Valerie, my brothers Jacob and Philip, my sister Latoya, and my sister Janese. Sadly, in 2016, Janese was shot and killed one night by a man who had followed her out of a bar in the Homewood section of town.

Janese’s death affected our family deeply. I’d never seen anyone put into a body bag before, let alone a loved one. I was 46 at the time, but a traumatic experience like that is difficult to go through at any age. To be honest, a lot of it is a blur to me now. But the actions of my father, who delayed his retirement to take in and raise Janese’s three children, were nothing short of heroic. My dad was just 17 when I was born, and wasn’t prepared to be the father that I needed. So, to see him, after so many years, grow into the father’s role by being there for my nephew and twin nieces was truly awe-inspiring. That’s the power of family.

Ed Gainey
Faith in Leadership
– 61st Mayor of Pittsburgh (2022)
– Board of Directors, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (2014-2022)
– Member, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 24th District (2013-2022)
– Chairman, Pittsburgh Democratic Party Committee (2010)
– Economic Development Coordinator for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (2007-2012)
– Special Projects Manager for Mayor Tom Murphy (2002-2006)
– Legislative aide to Pennsylvania State Representative Joseph Preston, Jr. (1997-2002)
– Community Development Organizer, East Liberty Development, Inc. (1996-1997)
– Morgan State University, B.S., Business Management (1994)

When we lived in Oakland, police officers would often come knocking on my grand-mama’s door just to see how she was doing. They really looked after the neighborhood. East Liberty, however, was different. By the time we moved there, the “war on drugs” was building. It was still a good community, and I made a lot of friends there, but 80 percent of the households were headed by single moms, and all were poor.

I started school at Dilworth Traditional Academy, then went on to the Holy Rosary School. In eighth grade, I left Holy Rosary and attended Central Catholic for two years. In the end, in 1988, I graduated from Peabody High School and headed off to college — the first person in my family to do so. But it would take time for me to get a proper college education. As a young man, I didn’t really understand the value of it.

I went to Norfolk State University in Virginia, and lasted just one semester, having earned only a 1.8 GPA. Why did I do so poorly? At 18, I was too immature to be so far from home. And I just wasn’t focused. I had no discipline. So, I left Norfolk and returned home to attend the Community College of Allegheny County for several semesters to try and raise my GPA. That’s when I finally got focused. Eventually, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management from Morgan State University, in Baltimore, in 1994.

So, did I ever think that I’d go into politics or become the mayor of my hometown? No. Growing up, I had never met a politician. None ever knocked on our door. None came to our school, either. So, how could I aspire to be an elected official when I didn’t even know what that was? I aspired to be a basketball player. After all, that’s what was happening in the neighborhood. It was all we knew. So, I played for Holy Rosary, and then for Peabody. I wasn’t at Norfolk long enough to even try to play, and when I went on to Morgan, I decided to hang up my sneakers for good, becoming laser-focused on getting a college degree. My mom made sure of it. The power of her love fueled my desire to become somebody, and I was determined to leave Morgan State an educated man.

Early on at Morgan, I remember going to class, and my professor asked me what I was doing there. “Your lesson’s not in the classroom,” she said. “It’s out there,” and she pointed out the window to a gathering of students who were holding a sit-in. Now, I’m from Pittsburgh. Generally, we don’t protest here. Nevertheless, I decided to join my classmates to call for an increase in government funding for historically black colleges like Morgan State. We all marched Downtown to city hall where I met the first elected official I’d ever known — and he was black like me. That person was a gentleman named Kurt Schmoke, who was then the mayor of Baltimore. Mayor Schmoke helped us to secure more funds for Morgan State, and it was the first time that I witnessed how the system of government works. That got me thinking, “Maybe I should get involved in politics, at some level.”

After graduating from Morgan State, I returned to Pittsburgh where I learned of an organization called “East Liberty Development, Inc.” It had been closed down for a while due to racial tensions between the nonprofit and the community, but it was about to reopen. So, I went in to see its interim director, Wheeler Winstead. I knew they had no money, but I wanted to learn about community development, so I told Mr. Winstead that I’d work for free, if he showed me the ropes. If he liked my work, when the organization acquired some funding, he could pay me then. In a short time, I learned much about community development. I knew many mamas and grandmamas in East Liberty. And I knew a lot of the business owners, too. So, I devised a workable plan for the community to act on, and felt good about that.

With that experience under my belt, I left East Liberty Development and went to work for a Pennsylvania state representative named Joseph Preston, Jr., who served the 24th District, which includes East Liberty. I stayed with Joe for six years, then moved on to work for two Pittsburgh mayors in succession: Tom Murphy and Luke Ravenstahl.

For Tom, I was “special projects manager.” He was a true visionary, and a lot of community development took place during his administration. He was focused on that. I also worked for Luke Ravenstahl to promote economic development. Luke was very unlike Tom Murphy. He was more charismatic, but a visionary he was not. Luke grew up in a political family and had been president of Pittsburgh City Council before becoming mayor, having succeeded Bob O’Connor, who died unexpectedly only six months into his first term. Luke was just 26 years old when he took office. It was a big job to tackle for someone so young. Anyway, working in the Mayor’s Office, I couldn’t help but learn a lot. For me, the place was like an “institution of higher learning,” and I wanted to absorb as much as I could, and I did.

After that, in 2004, I ran for Pennsylvania state representative for the first time, and didn’t even make it onto the ballot. The second time, in 2006, my race was closely contested, but I lost by only 94 votes. Then, on my third try, in 2012, I defeated my old boss, Joe Preston, with two-thirds of the vote. My district included many majority-black neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, including East Liberty, Homewood, East Hills and Lincoln-Lemington, plus the demographically similar municipality of Wilkinsburg. I became a member of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, and served in the State House for the next eight years.

So, why did I decide to seek elected office? You know the old saying: “If you want to make a difference, you’ve got to get in the game.” I believed that things could always get better for everyone. If you don’t believe in something, you can’t make it happen. So, you must have faith because faith is part of leadership.

During my years as a state representative, I realized that my district and Pittsburgh as a whole were changing. I witnessed protests for social, economic, LGBTQIA, and environmental justice, and learned how sensitivity to these issues was beginning to transform my hometown, organically. But we didn’t have the kind of leadership that was needed to help the city blossom. So, in 2021, I decided to run for mayor. I defeated the incumbent in the Democratic primary, 46 to 39 percent, and went on to win the general election with 70 percent of the vote, thus becoming the first African-American to be elected mayor in Pittsburgh’s history.

Being mayor is a big responsibility. So, how will I lead? My leadership style is basically bottom-up. I always ask my staff, “What do we have to do to make things happen?” Most importantly, we must have a core set of values: “This is what we stand for; here’s where we want to go; and here’s how we’re going to get there.” We want Pittsburgh to be a safe city. We also want it to be affordable, a place where everyone can live and thrive. As for safety, we plan to work hard on improving the relationship between the police and our local communities. We must build trust. And while we are not opposed to gentrification, per se, we intend to push for an increase in the availability of affordable housing, to give poor people a leg up.

Think about the issues that my administration had to face in its first 90 days. We had six snowstorms, but not enough funding to handle them. All we could do was promise that we would learn to do better. And with each snowstorm, we did. The reality was, all the main streets in the city had been plowed. Our Department of Public Works staff worked 16-hour shifts to accomplish this. But when you don’t have the proper equipment, and only 80 percent of the personnel needed to do the work, plowing all secondary streets is not possible. Fortunately, we were able to find discretionary funds to buy six more trucks, and to lease six others. And when our last storm hit, leaving six inches of snow, we received very few complaints.

The municipal challenge of snow removal enabled us to demonstrate that we could handle adversity. But before long, we also had to deal with the tragedy of a young person getting shot and killed near Oliver High School. Then there was the Oakland Crossing development, for which we had to make sure that the agreement would include affordable housing and a grocery store for residents, all the while protecting the park and green spaces. And we were successful. That deal marked the first time a private developer agreed to accept Pittsburgh Housing Authority vouchers to subsidize housing for lower-income residents.

Next came the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge, and the tragic death of a man named Jim Rogers, who was tased multiple times by local police and died. All of this happened at a time when we were still not fully staffed. In Pittsburgh, the mayor’s race is essentially over in May, and you have from May to January to put your transition team and personnel in place. But we didn’t have that because we still had to win the race in November. So we only had from November to January to get things together.

As I said, my family is from the Hill District, a part of the city that has a rich history and was once a great source of pride for the local African-American community. The Hill features some wonderful real estate that is prime for the development of affordable housing. The area is also prime for a revitalized commercial district. Many merchants, shops, restaurants and clubs could be located along its streets. Considering the rebirth of a historically racially and ethnically mixed community, I think it’s time that we talk seriously about the economy — and diversity.

I believe that economies are made up of people, and our people are diverse. Now, how can we ensure a middle-class life for not only white people, but for black and brown citizens as well? Sadly, in Pittsburgh, no black or brown community is “middle class.” Every community where the residents look like me is locked in poverty. So, as citizens, we must work to ensure that we’re building a city where all people have a place to live and access to opportunity.

What I like about my job is that no day is ever boring. I’m still learning, every day. I always tell my team, “The more we learn and create an environment of learning, the more we’ll be able to accomplish.” I don’t ever want to come to work and talk only about what we know. I want to talk about what we’ve learned. If we all leave here at the end of each day knowing more than we did the day before, we will do just fine.

It pleases me that, in recent decades, our nation’s history has become a bit clearer. Police batons, attack dogs, water hoses, lynching and mass incarceration are all part of that history. There’s a lot of pain out there, and a lot more that we need to acknowledge. I have to laugh when people say, “Can’t we just move forward?” We cannot move forward until we understand where we’ve been. We must address the fact that certain things really happened in our history. But my team has heard me say, many times, that I’m proud of my history, even the part about slavery. Our people’s story is a remarkable one. Think about it. We were brought here on ships. We didn’t speak the language. We were given new names. We watched our mothers be brutalized; our fathers, whipped and even murdered. We were sold as property. Under “Jim Crow,” we were considered only three-fifths human. We couldn’t go to school. We had no access to capital. We couldn’t own land. And not until the passage of the 15th Amendment could black men vote. Yet, while there is a lot that must be accounted for, we can also talk about the progress that has been made.

The “civil rights movement” put an end to “Whites here; Coloreds there.” Then came “Affirmative Action,” which gave our people better access to education. And let’s not forget that we — brown, black a people coming that far in such a short period of time?

When I look back, and forward, I am hopeful. Hope changes things. But I tell my children — my wife, Michelle, and I have three — that there’s a difference between wishing and hoping. A wish is when you sit and wait for something to come your way. Hope is patiently seeking what you want, and putting in the time and effort that’s required to get it. For me, life is more about hope every single day. And to create more hope, we all must continue to learn. It doesn’t have to be about anything major. Small things multiply.

One thing I’ll say about my executive team, that I love so much, is that they all come from diverse backgrounds. The richness that they bring to the table to solve problems is wonderful because they all see issues through the prism of their own life histories. The give-and-take between our team members will determine, collectively, how we should move, and that adds value to our end product. And what are we saying when we talk about “value”? Learning, tolerance, understanding and love. That’s the reality I see.

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The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program that gave millions of young men employment on environmental projects during the Great Depression. Considered by many to be one of the most successful of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, the CCC planted more than three billion trees and constructed trails and shelters in more than 800 parks nationwide during its nine years of existence. The CCC helped to shape the modern national and state park systems we enjoy today.

CCC and the New Deal

WATCH: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal

President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, with an executive order on April 5, 1933. 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.

The CCC combined FDR’s interests in conservation and universal service for youth. As governor of New York, he had run a similar program on a smaller scale.

The United States Army helped to solve an early logistical problem – transportation. Most of the unemployed men were in Eastern cities while much of the conservation work was in the West.

The Army organized the transportation of thousands of enrollees to work camps around the country. By July 1, 1933, 1,433 working camps had been established and more than 300,000 men put to work. It was the most rapid peacetime mobilization in American history.

Under the guidance of the U.S. 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.

Additionally, they built wildlife refuges, fish-rearing facilities, water storage basins and animal shelters. To encourage citizens to get out and enjoy America’s natural resources, FDR authorized the CCC to build bridges and campground facilities.

CCC Camps                               

The CCC enrolled mostly young, unskilled and unemployed men between the ages of 18 and 25. The men came primarily from families on government assistance. Men enlisted for a minimum of six months.

Each worker received $30 in payment per month for his services in addition to room and board at a work camp. The men were required to send $22 to 25 of their monthly earnings home to support their families.

Some corpsmen received supplemental basic and vocational education while they served. In fact, it’s estimated that some 57,000 illiterate men learned to read and write in CCC camps.

Minorities in the CCC

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.

Despite an amendment outlawing racial discrimination in the CCC, young African American enrollees lived and worked in separate camps. In the 1930s, the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t think of segregation as racial discrimination.

Enrollment in the CCC peaked in August 1935. At the time, more than 500,000 corpsmen were spread across 2,900 camps. 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.

Women were prohibited from joining the CCC.

Notable CCC Alumni

Several celebrities served in the CCC before they were famous.

Actors Walter Matthau and Raymond Burr labored in Montana and California, respectively. 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.

Veteran conservationist and author Aldo Leopold supervised CCC erosion control and forestry projects in Arizona and New Mexico.

Criticisms of the CCC

Though the CCC enjoyed overwhelming public support throughout its tenure, the agency’s programs initially drew criticism from organized labor.

Trade unions opposed the training of unskilled workers when so many union members were out of work. They also opposed Army involvement in the CCC, which they feared could lead to state control and regimentation of labor.

In order to quell union opposition, FDR appointed American labor union leader and vice president of the International Association of Machinists as the first director of the CCC.

CCC Achievements

By the time the CCC program ended at the start of World War II, Roosevelt’s “Tree Army” had planted more than 3.5 billion trees on land made barren from fires, natural erosion, intensive agriculture or lumbering. In fact, the CCC was responsible for over half the reforestation, public and private, done in the nation’s history.

CCC companies contributed to an impressive number of state and national park structures that visitors can still enjoy today. More than 700 new state parks were established through the CCC program.

Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy

In 1942, Congress discontinued funding for the CCC, diverting desperately needed resources to the effort to win World War II.

Monuments and statues dedicated to the CCC and its alumni dot parks across the country. The extensive development and expansion of park facilities and services by the CCC made possible the modern state and national park systems Americans enjoy today.

The CCC became a model for future conservation programs. More than 100 present-day corps programs operate at local, state, and national levels engaging young adults in community service and conservation activities.  

The National Civilian Community Corps, part of AmeriCorps – a national service program – enrolls 18- to 24-year-old men and women for 10-month stints working for non-profit and governmental organizations, often with an environmental purpose.

Sources

The Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service, 1933-1942: An Administrative History. National Park Service.
Into the Woods: The First Year of the Civilian Conservation Corps. National Archives.
CCC Brief History. Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy.

Citation Information

Article Title

Civilian Conservation Corps

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/civilian-conservation-corps

Access Date

July 15, 2022

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

March 31, 2021

Original Published Date

May 11, 2010

ENVIRONMENT

BY

 HISTORY.COM EDITORS

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African Americans and the Civilian Conservation Corps (1941)

in: Eras in Social Welfare History, Great Depression, New Deal, Organizations

WHAT THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC) IS DOING FOR COLORED YOUTH

The CCC and Colored Youth.
Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Offices, 1941.
[Edgar Brown]

Editor’s Note: This is a slightly edited copy of a publication produced by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1941.  The original copy is in the Documents section of the New Deal Network

Approximately:
250,000 — colored youth have served in the corps since President Roosevelt and the Congress initiated the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. Regular habits of work, training, discipline, fresh air and three     well  prepared and ample meals a day have combined to improve the health and morale of all enrollees. The gain in weight has ranged from seven to fifteen pounds for each boy.
30,000 — young colored men and war veterans, one tenth of the total CCC enrollment, are actively participating in the Civilian Conservation Corps. They are engaged on work projects throughout the country, and the Virgin Islands.
$700,000 — a month for the past year has been allotted by colored CCC boys to their parents and dependents back home.
90,000 — books have been supplied through the War Department and the Office of Education for colored camp libraries. Current magazines, daily and weekly newspapers are made available in camp recreation halls.
12,000 — colored CCC enrollees in the past five years have completed courses in first-aid through cooperation of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Red Cross
2,000 — colored project assistants’ leaders and assistant leaders are on duty at CCC Camps.
600 — colored cooks are steadily employed in CCC Mess Halls.
900 — classes in Negro history were conducted in the camps during the past five years. National Negro Health exhibits have been shown for five consecutive years in cooperation with the U. S. Health Service.
800 — colored boys have gained business training in the capacity of store clerks and mangers of the Post-Exchanges in CCC camps.
400 — colored typists are assigned to CCC headquarters of commanding officers, camp superintendents and educational advisors.
147 — colored college graduates are serving CCC camps as educational advisers.
1,200 — part-time, experienced teachers are actively engaged in instruction of these colored enrollees at CCC camps.
25 — colored medical reserve officers and chaplains of the U. S. Reserve Corps are on active duty in the nations CCC Camps.
106 — colored CCC camps are located in forests, parks, recreational areas, fish and game reservations, and on drainage and mosquito control projects.
48 —  colored CCC companies are engaged on soil Conservation projects.
2 — colored commending officers with the rank of Captain and Lieutenant, in the U.S. Reserve Corps are on active duty with the CCC; one at Gettysburg National Park, Pennsylvania, and the other at

Fishers landing, New York. Four other line officers are on active duty at these two Camps.

4 — colored engineers and six colored technical foremen have served Pennsylvania camps for more than two years, At Gettysburg, the camp superintendent is a Negro.
1 — colored historian who received his Ph.D degree from Columbia University is included in the camp personnel at Gettysburg.
1 — colored CCC company is at work at Zanesville, Ohio on one of the largest tree nurseries in the U.S.
3 — colored companies have made possible during the past five years the restoration of the battlefields at Yorktown, Virginia in the Colonial National Park.
1 — colored company in Ohio, near the Taylorville Dam carriers on in the renowned Miami Conservation District, a flood control project started after the 1913 Dayton flood.
1 — colored company has been engaged on the unique historic project at Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia.
1 — colored company is located on the TVA site in Tennessee.
11,000 — colored enrollees have been taught to read and write. More than 90 per cent of the colored CCC enrollees regularly attend classes from elementary to college level which are conducted in each camp’s education building which is well equipped and especially constructed for vocational instruction. Howard University, Wilberforce University, Tuskegee Institute, Hampton Institute, Florida A. & M. College at Tallahassee, Tennessee A. & I. State College and a number of other Negro collages have granted scholarships and fellowships to CCC enrollees.

INDUSTRY AIDED
The textile and food industries and the railroads have received orders for more than $33,000,000 worth of supplies needed to run colored CCC camps.

         $15,000,000 — has been obligated for clothing worn by colored enrollees, including shirts, underwear, trousers, socks, denim jumpers, shoes, caps, raincoats and overcoats.
$19,000,000 — has been expended for food served colored boys and men at camp during the past 6 1/2 years.
$1,500,000 — has been received by railroads for transportation of colored CCC enrollees to camp and back home again.

COLORED MEN AND BOY’S PARTICIPATION IN THE CCC

The Civilian Conservation Corps was established by President Roosevelt and the Congress on April 5, 1933. On the same day the late Robert Fechner was named Director. James J. McEntee, now Acting Director of the CCC, has been Assistant Director since its inception.

The purpose of Civilian Conservation Corps work is to relieve acute conditions of distress and unemployment in the United States and to provide for the restoration of the countries natural resources along with the advancement of an orderly program of useful public Works.

Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees are selected on a state-quota basis by the Labor Department from unemployed and needy young men. Veterans are selected by the Veterans’ Bureau, and make up ten per cent of the total enrollment.

From the beginning of the Civilian Conservation Corps, colored youths have shared in the program. At the peak strength of the CCC, reached in August 1935, there were 506,000 young men and war veterans enrolled. Of this number, approximately 50,000 were colored.

Mindful of the health of these young men, medical officers from the U. S. Army Reserve Corps hare been assigned to look after their physical well being. Fourteen colored medical officers are now on active duty at CCC camps throughout the country. Each company is provided with a first-aid building, company, hospital, or dispensary with a medical officer in charge. Orderlies are appointed from among the enrollees.

The Office of Education has acted in an advisory capacity to the War Department in working out an educational and recreational program. Each company has an educational adviser, who develops a program suited to the individual needs of each camp. College graduates are appointed to fill these positions. Eleven thousand colored enrollees who were illiterate have been taught to read and write in classes offered by the CCC camps. There are today 147 colored men serving the CCC camps as education advisers. Most of the educational work is carried on at camp. Arrangements are often made, however, for enrollees to take additional school work in public school evening classes in nearby cities. The camp educational programs offer instruction in carpentry, shorthand, tying, forestry, auto mechanics, landscaping and numerous other vocational subjects. While attendance at classes is voluntary, approximately ninety per cent of the colored enrollees attend. Classes in first-aid, safety, morale, guidance, leadership and hygiene have been well attended. While at work, CCC enrollees are given practical instruction on the job by the project superintendent and the technical staff.

Baseball and soft ball diamonds, tennis courts and basket ball courts have been laid out to provide recreational facilities at the camps. Some of the camps have produced championship teams in baseball and other sports. Current movies, health education films, lectures on geography, conservation, history and other topics, and plays are included in the camp educational and entertainment program. Trips to nearby museums and other points of interest are frequently scheduled.

Six colored chaplains of the U.S. Army Reserve Corps direct the religious activities in a number of the colored camps. They are aided by ministers from nearby communities.

Through the experience and training received in the CCC, boys learn how to live together and work together amicably. Experience and training afforded by the CCC has helped many boys to secure employment. The specialized knowledge gained by filling such positions as mess sergeant, company clerk, assistant educational adviser, leaders, project assistants, store clerk manger, foreman and first-aid men has proved valuable to these enrollees in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

TYPES OF JOBS AND COURSES TAUGHT AT THE CCC CAMPS

Approximately 5,000 different courses in 116 different subjects are being given in Forest service oaks each month. In all camps, including National Park Service camps, probably 11,500 courses in 150 different subjects are being taught.

Source: New Deal Network:  The CCC and Colored Youth. Author: Brown, Edgar. United States Government Printing Offices, 1941.

For further information:

Edgar G. Brown papers, 1936-1981. Amistad Research Center, Tulane University.

Gower, C. W. (1976). The Struggle of Blacks for Leadership Positions in the Civilian Conservation Corps: 1933-1942. The Journal of Negro History, 61(2), 123–135. https://doi.org/10.2307/2717266

Pamphlet: The Civilian Conservation Corps and Colored Youth (1940). Broward County Library Digital Archives.