The economy of 1932 was in shambles. When Herbert Hoover was voted out of office in 1932, people were searching for hope amid economic chaos and unemployment rates that had crippled the nation for two years. They put their hope in Franklin D. Roosevelt.
When Roosevelt took office, he began a massive revitalization of the nation’s economy. President Roosevelt knew that for us to pull out of the depression, he had to preserve the pride of American workers, so he concentrated on creating programs designed to put Americans back to work.
As part of his “New Deal,” Roosevelt approved several measures including the Emergency Conservation Work Act, better known as the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC.
The driving force behind the formulation of the CCC was the high unemployment rate among young males. In doing so, he united the nation’s young men and our land to save them both. Roosevelt proposed to recruit thousands of unemployed young men, enlist them in a peacetime army, and set them about battling the erosion and destruction of our natural resources.
Believed to be an extension of Roosevelt’s personal philosophy, this plan was moved through proposal, authorization, implementation and operation with miraculous speed. From his inauguration on March 4, 1933, to the induction of the first CCC enrollee, only 35 days elapsed. The first young man was enrolled on April 7, 1933. By July, there were almost 275,000 young men enrolled and occupying 1,300 camps!
Though problems arose with different aspects of the program, they were confronted quickly and dealt with, at times, by the cooperation of several government agencies. One such problem was the number of enrollees in the East versus the workload available in the West. To solve this problem, the Department of War mobilized the nation’s transportation system to move thousands of workers to the various work camps. The Departments of Agriculture and the Interior were responsible for planning and organizing the work to be performed in each state. The Department of Labor was responsible for the selection and enrollment of applicants.
This program, unlike any other, enjoyed great public support. In June 1933, it was decided that men in the CCC camps would be offered vocational training and other educational opportunities. In all, more than 90% of all enrollees received some form of educational training and more than 40,000 illiterate men were taught to read and write.
There were 105 CCC camps in Mississippi. Many of the state parks were built by the CCC and their work can still be seen around the state. At Legion State Park near Louisville, the Legion Lodge still stands. At Tishomingo State Park, the cabins, lodge, pavilion and swinging bridge are still in use. Some of the work the CCC did in our national parks and forests can be seen at Clear Springs Recreation Area in the Homochitto National Forest, where two small lakeside gazebos and a large pavilion are still standing.
James L. Cummins is executive director of Wildlife Mississippi, a nonprofit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources throughout Mississippi. The website is www.wildlifemiss.org.
