Solution

CHANCE OF A LIFETIME:
​​​​​​​The Civilian Conservation Corps

PLAN

("Franklin D. Roosevelt Creating the E.C.W. (CCC)" southdakotaccc.org)

"The 1932 Presidential election was more a cry for help than it was an election." (Apps 15)

At the start of 1930, President Herbert Hoover was extremely unpopular. He believed solving problems caused by the Great Depression was not the US government's job. FDR won the 1932 election against Hoover in a landslide; winning all but 5 states. FDR promised people he'd fix their problems with a "New Deal.”

"'I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. Let us all here assembled constitute ourselves prophets of a new order of competence and of courage. This is more than a political campaign; it is a call to arms. Give me your help, not to win votes alone, but to win in this crusade to restore America to its own people.' Franklin D. Roosevelt" (fdr.library.com)

 ("1932 Democratic Convention – in the midst of scary times" pastdaily.com)  

("Franklin D. Roosevelt" fdrlibrary.marist.edu)

Five days after taking the oath of office, FDR met to start the Emergency Conservation Work Act, later renamed Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). He planned to recruit 500,000 unemployed young men to work on conservation projects.

("FDR and His Cabinet Met to Discuss the Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) Program"  ups.gov)

"FDR realized that losing a job took away more than a person’s income.  It took away that person’s dignity and feeling of worth, of being useful.  Vast unemployment led to crime and tore families apart. Men, in particular, lost confidence and self-esteem without jobs." (Pearson 29)

The CCC was planned and operating in 37 days.  It required cooperation of four separate Government departments working together: the War Department; Department of Interior; Agriculture Department; and Labor Department. When the CCC ended 9 years later on June 30, 1942, more than 3 million men had participated in the program.

"Roosevelt's vision was to provide work opportunities, primarily for young men to repair the land from decades of poor management and over-use. The final bill went through several changes, but on March 31, 1933 Congress passed the Emergency Conservation Work Act (Public Law No. 5, 73d Congress). On April 5, 1933 the President signed Executive Order No. 6101 creating the Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) program." (fws.gov)

("Executive Order 6101: Relief of Unemployment Through the Performance of Useful Public Work. 5 Apr. 1933" fdrlibrary.marist.edu)

("The Local Selection Agent Explains How to Enter the CCC" The CCC at Work 19)

"The Labor Department oversaw the recruitment with stations set up in counties across the nation. . .  The War Department administered the camps, physical training, transportation, and camp construction. The Agriculture and Interior Departments were in charge of finding work projects for the men that emphasized natural resource conservation. . . [B]y July 1933, 250,000 boys were enrolled. The Army had successfully undertaken the largest peacetime mobilization of men the United States had ever seen, had built more than 1,300 camps, and had installed recruits in all of them."  (fws.gov)

"The guidelines for prospective enrollees were:  

  • Men eighteen to twenty-five years of age
  • Physically fit and unmarried
  • Unemployed
  • Citizens of the United States
  • The names of eligible men should be selected first from the list of families receiving public aid;
  • Young men selected 'were to be young men of character, clean cut, purposeful and ambitious.’" (Apps 19-20)

("CCC to Enroll" Coeur d'Alene Press)

("Civilian Conservation Corps Poster" spartacus-educational.com)

"The men were expected to complete a duty period of six months, and could re-apply for six month stints, for up to two years. The enrollment periods were from June to September and October to March. Recruits were selected in the months of January, April, July, and October to fill vacancies. Applications could be made any time during the year."  (fws.gov)

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