Enrollee sighting through an
engineer’s level at camp SCS-NC-5, Yanceyville, North Carolina --
National Archives-College Park 35G No 263 (click to enlarge) |
The Civilian Conservation Corps played a critical role in the
history of the Soil Conservation Service, predecessor to the Natural
Resources Conservation Service. March 31, 2008, marks the 75th
anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt’s signing of the law
authorizing the Emergency Conservation Work, the earlier official
name of the CCC. As Governor of New York, FDR had hired unemployed
youth to reforest abandoned farmland. In 1932, one-fourth of
America's men between the ages of 15 and 24 could not find work.
Another 29 percent worked only part-time. Incoming President
Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed on March 21, 1933, that Congress
create "a civilian conservation corps to be used in simple work, not
interfering with normal employment, and confining itself to
forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control, and similar
projects."
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