Civilian Conservation Corps

Many hoboes finally found work and shelter through the Civilian Conservation Corps, a government relief project that President Franklin D. Roosevelt established in 1933 as part of the New Deal.  From 1933 to 1942, CCC enrollees built new roads, strung telephone wires, erected fire towers, and planted approximately 3 billion trees.  By 1935, the program was providing employment for more than 500,000 young men. 



CCC Camp Watersheet, ca. 1937;  Courtesy of Chester Siems

"I worked at any job I could find to earn my keep: farmhand, gandy dancer, quarryman, logger, sawmill hand, dishwasher, woodcutter, and berry-picker.  For a time I even sponged off friends and relatives before enrolling in FDR's CCC, where I became a company clerk and received training."   Tom Clarke, Seattle, Washington



 
The CCC workers earned $30 per month:  $25 to send home to their families and $5 for spending money.  In addition to cash, the young men received sleeping quarters and clothing, although these benefits consisted of drafty tents in outdoor camps and ill-fitting uniforms.  The young men's earnings helped stimulate the economy near the camps as well as in their home towns.  By the end of 1935, there were over 2,650 camps in operation in all 48 states.

"After being inducted into the CCC in May 1933, I spent one year in a beautiful area near Idabel, Oklahoma, ten miles from Arkansas and ten miles from Texas.  We built roads and bridges, planted trees and fought forest fires."  Arthur Goldsmith, Oklahoma

Teenager Surveying with CCC, ca. 1938; Courtesy of National Archives 


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