CCC workers left their mark on Pa. parks
When Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated for his first term as U.S. president in March 1933, the nation was in shambles.
A little more than three years earlier, in October 1929, the bottom had fallen out of the New York Stock Exchange. The effects kept snowballing until a quarter of the workforce — more than 12 million people — were unemployed.
The stock market lost nearly 90% of its value in that four-year span, and according to figures from the University of Houston's Digital History project, average family income fell from $2,300 to $1,500 in that period.
Young people were especially hard-hit, as it was more difficult to find a first job, with many experienced workers also unemployed.
But Roosevelt had a plan. Known as the New Deal, he planned to use new legislation, regulations and government programs to help restart the economy.
Out of the New Deal came dozens of new agencies, many referred to by their initials, responsible for a range of programs. Collectively known as the alphabet agencies, they include many agencies still running today, from the FDIC, short for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, to the SEC, short for Securities and Exchange Commission.
One of the most popular lasted less than a decade, but it left its mark on the nation in general and Pennsylvania in particular.
The Civilian Conservation Corps was started to give work to unemployed, unmarried young men, most age 18 to 25 and most from families who were receiving some kind of aid. The idea of using unemployed young men to tackle conservation projects was being tried at the state level since the early days of the Great Depression.
In fact, Pennsylvania helped to serve as a model for what would become the CCC.
In his history of the CCC, written for the 50th anniversary of its founding, John C. Paige wrote about the state's early conservation project.
“Gov. Gifford Pinchot of Pennsylvania set up labor camps for young men to work on road construction and conservation work,” Paige wrote. “A number of the governor's critics in the state Legislature argued that this type of relief program was more costly than giving the money directly to needy recipients. Gov. Pinchot reluctantly concurred that it was beyond the financial capability of the state and requested that the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (a Hoover administration loan agency established to promote fiscal stability for the country) lend funds to Pennsylvania for this relief effort. The Hoover administration loaned money to the state on the condition that the conservation funds would be self-liquidating loans to be paid back in full to the federal government.”
Pinchot had been the first head of the U.S. Forest Service in the early 20th century and served as governor from 1923 to 1927 and 1931 to 1935.
Roosevelt corresponded with Pinchot while campaigning for the 1932 Presidential Election, and the idea for the CCC took shape over the following months. By April 3, less than a month after Roosevelt's inauguration, Congress had passed legislation creating the Emergency Conservation Work program, as it was officially known until 1937, and the first steps were taken toward organizing the effort.
While the law contained no restriction on who could take part, the administration decided to limit the first recruits to unmarried men between age 18 and 25 who would agree to send $25 of their $30 monthly pay to their families.
By July 1, there were more than 250,000 men enrolled in the program, hitting Roosevelt's goal, Paige wrote.
They would be put to work across the country, taking part in efforts to control soil erosion, replant trees, build drainage systems, fight wildfires and create outdoor recreation opportunities.
It was in part because of Pinchot that Pennsylvania would end up with the second most CCC camps — behind only California — with 151. Pinchot was an early conservation advocate and saw the economic benefit of carefully managing forests.
And in Pennsylvania, forest management was a big part of what the CCC did. Some worked planting new trees, while others were employed to clear brush, build bridges on state roads and build facilities that would eventually be used as parks.
Pinchot was governor of a state that had been devastated by deforestation. In the end, several of Pennsylvania’s most prominent CCC projects directly helped address the damage.
In the mid-1930s, the National Park Service launched the Recreational Demonstration Area program, which had the goal of using government-employed labor to build parks that would offer outdoor recreation opportunities to city dwellers. Five would eventually be built in Pennsylvania: Blue Knob, Hickory Run, French Creek, Laurel Hill and Raccoon Creek, all of which became state parks in 1945.
CCC workers, as well as those from the Works Progress Administration, which started in 1935, cleared land, built buildings, laid out roads and planted trees. In some cases, like at what would become Laurel Hill State Park, they also built dams.
For many, the CCC was their first job, and they learned essential skills from the professionals hired to manage the projects. The U.S. Army was in charge of the camps themselves, while foresters, engineers, carpenters and others were the ones in charge of the workers.
From early on, officials at nearly every level of the program saw a need to educate workers. In a history of organization, CCC Legacy, a nonprofit dedicated to the history of the CCC and the legacy of the work it did, pointed out that despite uneven efforts, many learned life-changing skills.
“Ultimately, the quality of the educational program was determined by the initiative and qualifications of the Camp Education Advisor,” CCC Legacy states. “Also, the attitude and cooperation of the Camp Commanders was important. Both in efficiency and results the education programs varied considerably from camp to camp.
“However, throughout the Corps, more than 40,000 illiterate young men were taught to read and write. Education was a volunteer activity undertaken during non-working hours. The benefits received from the education program were directly related to the amount of effort whether it be a high school diploma, learning to type, or wood carving.”
The CCC proved nearly instantly popular, both with the public at large and with lawmakers. It was so popular that Democrats in Congress rejected Roosevelt's efforts to scale back the program as a way to economize while campaigning during the 1936 Presidential Election.
In September 1935 there were about 500,000 in the CCC, split into 2,600 camps. As a way to cut costs, Roosevelt planned to cut those numbers to 300,000 workers in 1,400 camps by July 1936, but Democrats in the House made it clear they — and their constituents — wanted the CCC to continue as it was.
And a Gallup poll from April made it clear that was true. When asked whether they approved of the CCC camps, 82% said they did, with 92% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans in favor.
Over the next several years, as the economy continued to improve and the specter of war began to loom over the world, government priorities shifted away from conservation and toward defense. Better private-sector job opportunities also made recruiting more difficult, and the launch of the draft in 1940 further cut into the number of people available to serve in the CCC.
The attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and the country's entry into World War II spelled the end for the most beloved of the alphabet agencies, and the CCC officially shutdown on June 30, 1942.
In all, nearly 200,000 Pennsylvanians had served in the CCC in projects nationwide, according to the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
“The CCC transformed the forests and natural areas of Pennsylvania and the United States and transformed all of the young men who were involved,” the DCNR site on the CCC in Pennsylvania states. “Although it was a dark time for the economy and the many unemployed people, the conservation programs like the CCC and WPA greatly enhanced the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks.”
