History of the CCC Print Share
A Popular New Deal Program
President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 6108, issued on April 15, 1933, officially established a national conservation program. The Civilian Conservation Corps, as it had become known by mid-1939, employed jobless young men ages 18 to 25, along with older World War I veterans, in rebuilding the nation's environmental infrastructure. Roosevelt selected a union leader Robert Fechner to head the organization. The CCC became one of the most popular of Roosevelt's New Deal Programs.
“I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps to be used in simple work… more important, however, than the material gains will be the moral and spiritual value of such work.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt March 9, 1933.
The CCC aimed its work at both restoring and developing the resources of the country. During the nine year history of the CCC, workers replenished forests, built roads, erected dams and reservoirs, and planted, by one estimate, over two billion trees.
In his 1996 report to the National Park Service entitled, “The Historic & Architectural Resources of the New Deal in New Mexico, 1933-1942,” David Kramer made the following points regarding the CCC.
“Typical of many New Deal programs aimed at stimulating employment and fining solutions to problems for which traditional practices held no solutions, the CCC was marked by an innovative, pragmatic inter-departmental cooperation.”
The Labor Department dealt with the processes of enrolling participants and establishing regulations, the War Department trained the men and established camps for housing them, and the Departments of Agriculture and Interior managed the planning and execution of many of the work projects.
“Much of their work took place on federal and state-owned lands, which accounts for the high percentage of CCC projects being located in the West.... With 33% of its land under federal ownership New Mexico drew a high number of CCC projects.”
In addition to providing numerous jobs for young men, the CCC also helped to stimulate the economy of New Mexico. Each camp required various goods and services from towns across the state, including construction crews, physicians, and food supplies.
“The slogan of the Civilian Conservation Corps is "We can take it!'” - Wilfred J. Mead, Civilian Conservation Corps, undated. National Archives, Records of the Civilian Conservation Corps (35-G-830)
Several camps operated in New Mexico throughout the existence of the CCC. Because of its large number of camps and the small population of New Mexico, the state often had difficulties providing the needed enrollees for every camp. By 1942 CCC camps in New Mexico had seen over 32,000 young men enroll.
Source (unless otherwise noted): Kramer, David, Ph.D. “The Historic & Architectural Resources of the New Deal in New Mexico, 1933-1942.” 1996. On file, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20002.