Civilian
Conservation
Corps
The
Civilian
Conservation
Corps
(CCC)
was
born
from
the
despair
of
the
great
depression:
the
soup
lines,
the
Hoover
villages,
and
the
conditions
of
a
nation
in
desperate
need
of
help
and
action.
In
1933,
President
Franklin
D.
Roosevelt
faced
a
nation
bankrupt
in
money
and
spirit.
In
his
First
Hundred
Days,
Roosevelt
took
many
bold
actions.
Passage
of
the
Emergency
Work
Act
in
March
1933,
authorized
several
program,
one
of
which
was
the
CCC.
The
CCC
was
a
program
to
recruit
thousands
of
young
men
in
a
peacetime
Army
to
work
in
forests,
parks,
lands
and
waters.
Robert
Fechner
was
appointed
as
National
Director
on
April
5,
1933.
He
was
from
Quincy,
Mass.
and
received
a
salary
of
$12,000
per
year.
His
two
objectives
for
the
CCC
were
to
give
employment
to
the
youths
and
assistance
to
their
families.
The
first
camp
opened
on
April
17,
1933,
in
Virginia,
and
by
the
first
of
July
there
were
275,000
enrollees
in
1,300
camps
across
the
country.
The
CCC
was
the
work
of
many
agencies.
The
Dept
of
Labor
did
recruitment.
Transportation,
camp
construction
and
management
was
done
by
the
Army
while
the
Dept
of
Agriculture
and
Interior
selected
the
campsites,
planned,
designed
and
supervised
the
work
projects
in
cooperation
with
the
State
Dept
of
Forest
and
Parks.
Through
cooperative
arrangements
the
Corps
worked
on
national,
state
and
metropolitan
lands
and
projects.
The
young
men
needed
to
be
between
the
ages
of
18
and
25,
be
physically
fit,
unemployed,
and
unmarried.
In
1935
the
age
limits
were
reduced
to
17
and
increased
to
28
years.
The
men
were
paid
$1
a
day.
The
enrollees
were
required
to
send
$25.00
of
the
$30.00
monthly
wages
home.
The
men
were
given
the
$5
to
spend
as
they
wished.
The
CCC
program
had
an
immediate
economic
impact.
This
money
helped
greatly
the
towns
across
the
nation.
The
enrollee
felt
that
he
was
working
to
help
his
family,
many
of
whom
were
in
dire
need.
Many
families
were
kept
from
the
relief
rolls
with
the
monthly
checks.
The
families
were
interested
and
proud
of
what
their
sons
were
doing.
Leaders
received
$45
and
assistant
leaders
received
$36.
The
CCC
had
a
social
impact.
Young
men
were
taken
off
the
streets.
Since
there
were
not
enough
projects
in
the
east
to
take
care
of
all
the
eastern
men,
many
eastern
youths
were
sent
west.
The
War
Dept
assigned
each
company.
The
operating
agency
usually
had
a
name
for
a
camp
as
well
as
a
letter
to
designate
the
type
of
land
ownership.
Thus,
P
indicated
private
land;
S
stood
for
state
forest
land;
SP
for
state
park
land;
F
for
national
forests;
DG
for
Division
of
Grazing;
and
SCS
for
Soil
Conservation
Service.
When
a
company
arrived
at
a
site
that
had
been
established
by
a
cadre
of
25
enrollees,
tents
were
used
as
quarters
until
wooden
buildings
were
built.
The
men
went
to
work
and
built
the
camp.
The
camp
had
a
main
building,
four
50-man
barracks,
a
mess
hall,
a
recreational
building,
quarters
for
Army
and
technical
personnel,
an
infirmary,
educational
and
library
buildings,
small
garage,
tool
shed,
and
a
machine
shop.
Each
enrollee
was
required
to
spend
a
part
of
his
time
at
camp
cleaning
up
the
barracks,
policing
the
grounds,
aiding
the
cook,
and
assisting
in
the
maintenance
of
equipment
and
structures.
The
staff
was
an
important
part
of
the
camp.
The
Quartermaster
was
responsible
for
obtaining
supplies
and
maintaining
them.
He
was
also
responsible
for
providing
each
enrollee
with
three
balanced
meals
a
day,
sending
them
to
work
in
suitable
clothing,
supplying
soap
to
use
to
bathe,
heating
the
barracks,
providing
a
bed
with
blankets
and
washing
the
sheets.
He
was
also
the
librarian,
carpenter,
plumber,
electrician,
surveyor,
engineer,
fireman,
bookkeeper,
chauffeur,
mechanic,
train
conductor,
station
master,
ice
man,
milkman,
and
if
needed,
the
undertaker.
A
medical
officer
was
stationed
in
nearly
every
CCC
camp.
In
addition
to
a
medical
officer,
a
Chaplain
was
also
assigned.
One
of
the
basic
principles
of
the
CCC
program
was
for
the
men
to
develop
good
citizenship.
The
Chaplain
played
an
important
part
helping
the
men
meet
this
goal
in
maintenance
of
the
morale
and
welfare
of
the
thousands
of
young
men
of
the
camps.
The
Chaplains
brought
the
gospel,
new
hope
and
high
character
to
the
youth
of
the
camps.
The
Chaplains
helped
the
men
to
develop
initiative,
love
of
country
and
obedience
to
its
laws,
honesty
and
character
in
the
men.
One
of
the
problems
that
faced
the
young
men
in
the
CCC
was
to
get
a
job
when
their
term
of
service
was
completed.
To
help
solve
this
problem
each
camp
had
an
educational
program.
Educational
Advisers
were
first
placed
in
the
CCC
camps
in
the
spring
of
1934.
Educational
Advisers
were
required
to
have
a
Bachelor's
Degree
from
a
recognized
college
or
university.
The
advisers
received
training
in
conferences.
The
advisers
needed
to
be
trained
in
the
techniques
that
would
apply
to
camp
conditions
and
CCC
educational
objectives.
The
adviser's
needed
real
leadership
qualities.
The
adviser's
helped
build
and
rebuild
young
manhood.
The
Educational
Advisors
were
called
to
counsel
in
all
the
different
fields
and
to
give
advice.
Over
60%
of
the
enrollees
took
part
in
the
courses
presented.
Courses
were
taught
on
a
quarterly
basis
and
subjects
were
organized
in
units.
Each
unit
contained
from
ten
to
twelve
lessons.
Certificates
were
issued
enrollees
who
successfully
finished
the
required
number
of
units.
The
subjects
taught
were
selected
as
a
result
of
the
expressed
need
of
the
enrollee
through
personal
interviews.
The
new
men
were
contacted
individually
to
discover
what
their
educational
background
was
and
where
their
interests
were.
They
were
then
encouraged
to
commit
themselves
to
a
regimen
of
training
that
fit
their
needs.
Then
the
classes
were
organized
for
those
enrollees.
Many
of
the
men
had
never
had
a
job.
Some
had
never
had
an
opportunity
to
use
tools
such
as
a
hammer,
ax
or
saw.
Here
they
were
taught
how
to
use
tools
and
equipment
including
jack
hammers,
compressors,
how
to
drive
heavy
trucks
and
trailers
and
bulldozers.
From
the
Educational
adviser
40,000
men
learned
to
read
and
write.
They
learned
how
to
use
a
typewriter
and
adding
machine
and
do
bookkeeping,
etc.
They
were
taught
first
aid,
safety
with
tools,
machinery
and
equipment.
The
men
also
learned
good
housekeeping
by
their
KP
chores,
how
to
make
a
bed
and
how
to
clean
their
clothes,
and
learned
about
a
proper
diet.
They
learned
to
be
punctual,
to
take
orders
from
their
superiors,
accept
responsibility,
to
be
disciplined
and
learned
to
cooperate
with
others.
Swimming
and
life
saving
schools
were
conducted
during
the
late
spring
of
1936
and
1937.
Selected
enrollees
from
all
the
companies
in
the
District
were
given
Red
Cross
training
in
swimming
and
life
saving.
With
the
cooperation
of
the
National
and
State
Employment
Services,
interviewers
were
sent
from
the
district
employment
offices
to
interview
the
best
trained
men
and
get
their
applications
on
file.
Due
to
the
training
experience
the
men
had
received
through
CCC,
about
12,000
enrollees
left
the
camps
to
accept
employment
elsewhere.
The
government
purchased
nearly
400,000
acres
of
sub
marginal
land
for
the
use
of
CCC
camps
and
to
plan
and
develop
areas
for
recreational
purposes.
The
men
engaged
in
outdoor
work
on
forest,
park
and
soil
conservation.
These
projects
were
of
practical
value
to
all
the
people
of
the
nation.
The
records
show
that
the
results
were
very
impressive.
These
men
built
fire
towers,
truck
roads,
fire
breaks,
planted
millions
of
trees,
reclaimed
thousands
of
acres
from
erosion,
built
countless
Federal
and
state
parks
and
campgrounds,
improved
fish
and
wildlife
habitats.
By
1935
over
600,000
enrollees
were
working
out
of
2,650
camps.
DENTON
2738TH
COMPANY,
SCS-19
Nebraska-South
Dakota
District,
CCC
Seventh
Corps
Area
The
Nebraska
District
CCC
was
organized
in
April,
1933,
with
Headquarters
at
Fort
Robinson,
