African-AmericanYouthintheProgmmoftheCivilianConservationCorpsinCalifomia,1933-42

AnAmbivalentLegacy

OlenCole,Jr.

Although the Great Depression ofthe 1930s affected all Americans,

it struck some groups harderthan others. Because of competitionfor jobs from large numbers of joblessworkers, those without experience or aspecific skill found it extremely difficultto find employment. Among the groupsparticularly hard hit were America'syoung people. President Franklin D.Roosevelt responded to this effect ofthe depression in March 1933 by cre-ating the Civilian Conservation Corps.The CCC, aimed at the worst aspects ofyouth joblessness, bore Roosevelt's per-sonal stamp of approval and support.

Scholars of the New Deal have never

closely examined the experience ofAfrican-American youth in the CCc.Those few works that address the issue

focus almost entirely on racial issues;they completely ignore the conservationcontributions of African-American

corpsmen. This study of those youngmen's work in protecting and main-taining the national forests of Californiafills a gap in the historical record andat the same time adds to our under-

standing of western history, African-American history, and American historyin general.

In 1930 approximately one millionyoung people in the United States wereemployable but unable to find work.By 1933, the worst unemployment yearof the depression, the number was upto five million, representing over a thirdof the nation's known unemployed.!

The CCC was created to employyoung men between the ages of seven-teen and twenty-three in paramilitarywork camps, where they were to under-take various conservation projects.2Robert Fechner, vice-president of theAmerican Federation of Labor, waschosen to head the CCc. Its advisorycouncil included one representativefrom each of four government depart-ments: War, Labor, Agriculture, andInterior.3 A vital component of theCCC operation was that camps wereadministered by the U.S. Army. Withinseven weeks after President Roosevelt

had signed the corps into law, the armyhad mobilized 310,000 men into 1,315camps, "a mobilization more rapid andorderly than any in the Army's history."4

The Department of Labor, which wasresponsible for keeping up the strengthof the camps by providing a regularflow of men, prescribed enrollmentpolicies and eligibility requirements.A corpsman was to be employed in theCCC for no longer than eighteenmonths, and his monthly salary wasthirty dollars, twenty-five dollars ofwhich was sent home to his family. Inaddition, a corpsman received food,clothing, shelter, medical care, andeducational and recreational oppor-tunities.5 Various technical agencies,such as the National Park Service, theU.S. Forest Service, and the CaliforniaDepartment of Forestry, located suitablecamps, selected work projects, andsupervised the work performed on thevarious projects.6

TheDepressionandAfrican-American,YouthinCalifomia

Government jobs and work projectswere the largest source of new employ-ment for African-American Califor-

nians during the depression years.Unfortunately, little systematic infor-mation is available about the Great

Depression's economic impact on Cali-fornia's African-American population.Certainly, however, that populationwas economically desperate duringthat time. By employing youth, the seg-ment of the population hardest hit byunemployment, the CCC offered vitaleconomic assistance to the African-

American community.In 1930 the total population of

California was recorded as 5,677,251,of which 1.4 percent were African-American. In October 1933, it was esti-mated that 413,000 Californians werejobless.7 In its Annual Report of 1931,the National Urban League estimatedthat in the 106 major cities in the UnitedStates, which included Los Angeles,"the proportion of Negroes unemployedwas 30 to 50 percent greater than forwhites."8 In Los Angeles, African-Americans had the highest unemploy-ment rate of any racial group.9 In a27 July 1934 article, the California

CaliforniaCCC 121

Eagle, the state'slargestAfrican-American newspaper, noted thatAfri~an-Americans in the city of LosAngeles had occupied close to eleventhousand janitorial or similar positionsin 1920, whereas in 1934, with a popu-lation increase of twenty-two thousand,African-Americans held fewer thanthree thousand such jobs. Even thosefamilies not directly affected by unem-ployment were indirectly affected bythe loss of revenue to the city's African-American community.!O

The law establishing the CCC con-tained a provision that "no discrimina-tion shall be made on account of race,color or creed:'!! Yet despite instruc-tions from National Selection DirectorW. Frank Persons that enrollees be

selected without regard to raceF corpsadministrators in many states refusedto select a proportionate share ofAfrican-Americans. At the start of the

program, African-American enrollmentwas restricted to less than 10 percent ofthe national corps total.13By 1935African-American participation hadreached 10 percent, which might beconsidered equitable, insofar as itcorresponded to the proportion ofAfrican-Americans in the total popula-tion counted in 1930. But as historian

Nancy Weiss points out, it was "lessthan adequate when measured againstthe disproportionate relief needsof blacks?,!4

Camp Assignment

Initially African-American enrolleeswere assigned to CCC camps withoutregard to race. However, because of anti-pathy from local communities, racistattitudes in the U.S. Army, and theusual racial fears, African-Americanand white corpsmen were soon sepa-rated. In this decision, as one scholarhas written, "President Roosevelt con-curred:'!5 The policy announced in July1935 ordered: "Complete segregationof white and colored enrollees is di-

rected. Only in those states where thecolored strength is too low to form acompany unit will mixing of coloredmen in white units be permitted.Colored companies will be employed

122 Forest &Conservation History 35 (July 1991)

in their own states, except where locatedon a military post and then withintheir own Corps area:'!6 In the summerof 1935, Ninth Corps Area Headquar-ters (representing California, Nevada,Utah, Wyoming, Oregon, Montana,Idaho, and Washington) in San Fran-cisco instructed all CCC districts inCalifornia with African-American

corpsmen in integrated companies totransfer them for the "formation of five

colored companies in California;'effective 9 August 1935. The directivealso stipulated that companies withAfrican-American corpsmen transferthe proportional share of existing com-pany funds to the new companies}7Throughout the remaining seven yearsof the corps, racially segregated campswere the norm. In 1942, when theCCC was officially terminated, almostall of the African-American corpsmenin California had at one time been

assigned to one of the all-African-American companies.

African-AmericanCCCCompaniesinCalifomia:1935-42

Four all-African-American CCC

companies were established in south-ern California during the fall of 1935,two of which were in Los AngelesCounty. The two Los Angeles Countycompanies spent the fall months con-structing and maintaining forest ser-vice roads. Between 1935 and 1942there were fiveAfrican-American com-

panies located throughout the state ofCalifornia: Company 2922-C, F-157;Company 2923-C, F-164; Company2924-C, F-140;Company 2925-C,P-295; and Company 2940-C, SP-4.Letters of designation identified boththe type of camp and the agency admin-istering it. CCC projects in Californiawere divided into four major categories:statepark camps (SP),national forestcamps (F), state forest camps (P),and national park camps (NP). WarDepartment army officers managed theday-to-day operations of the camps,coordinated by a state CCC director.A civilian projects superintendent as-sumed responsibility for the variouswork projects, which were administeredthrough the U.S. Forest Service}8

Although most CCC companies inCalifornia, which averaged about 150men each, performed a variety of tasks,some were assigned to special workprojects-priority tasks that mademajor contributions to California andthe overall status of CCC programs.For example, in March 1937 CampDalton Canyon, a white camp, wasselected to manufacture concrete crib-

bing to be used on truck trails in theAngeles National Forest. A special CCCcribbing plant turned out betweenthree and four thousand pieces of con-crete, which were used on the Monroe,Big Dalton, and Saw-Pit-Monroviatruck trails. Some of the cribbing wassent to other camps to be used in theconstruction of trails.!9Company 1950,Camp Coldbrook, also a white com-pany located in the Angeles NationalForest, worked on the largest camp-ground project in the state. During thefire season of 1936 the company's sup-pression crew, the so-called "FightingFifties;' was dispatched to eight differ-ent forest fires and, for all of 1936, hadmore man-hours on fires than anyother camp in the state.20

Less well-known, but neverthelessimportant, were the duties performedby California's African-AmericanCCC companies. In many forests, can-yons, and parks of the state, African-American companies maintained andhelped to construct major parks andcampground facilities. Most of the CCCcamps occupied by African-Americancompanies in California can best bedescribed as multipurpose facilities.Each camp had between two and sixproject superintendents; each superin-tendent had a crew assigned to a par-ticular task such as fire suppression,construction of truck trails, and tele-phone lines, to mention but a few.Each camp performed different typesof work projects; a project usuallytook about three weeks. Routine workdone by African-American CCC com-panies in California included construc-tion and maintenance of park roads,service-truck trails, fire breaks, andhiking trails.

The~can-~ericaneee CompaniesatWork

Camp San Pablo Dam

Camp San Pablo Dam was located.inthe East Bay Municipal Utility DistrictRecreation Area in Richmond, Cali-fornia. Work projects undertaken byCompany 2940-C included construc-tion and maintenance of park roads,development and maintenance of picnicground facilities, fire hazard reduction,park beautification, long.range water-shed protection, and the fighting offorest fires.!The average number ofmen enrolled in this and other campsat anyone time was 150.

Camp LaCienega

Elsinore,California,was the siteof .

Camp La Cienega, whose men workedin the Cleveland National Forest. The

men of Company 2923-C carried outnumerous and diversified assignments.Major work projects included pinebeetle control and eradication and

containing a wild elk herd within theLaguna Plateau Reserve. The companyalso fought many major forest fires,including the 1935 Malibu Mountainand Brown Mountain fires, both in theAngeles National Forest; the 1936Cajon Canyon and Lake Arrowheadand Crestline fires, both in the San Ber-nardino National Forest; and the NorthCreek and Ramona fires, both in theCleveland National Forest.2

Camp Castaic

Camp Castaic was one of the firstCCC camps established in the AngelesNational Forest. It was located in theforested atea of Soledad Canyon,about fifteen miles northeast of thetown of Saugus, California. Like theother African-American companies,Company 2924-C spent most of itstime constructing and maintainingcampgrounds.3

Camp Pine Valley

Camp Pine Valleywas located inthe Cleveland National Forest, aboutfony-five miles east of San Diego. Thework projects undenaken by Company2925-C consisted of maintaining andrepairing Forest Service roads andtruck trails, and the construction offire breaks.4

Camp Topanga Canyon

Camp Topanga Canyon, a tent fa-cility, was established in Topanga,California, nine miles south of thecommunity of Canoga Park. This camphad been previously occupied by twoout-of-state companies. AlthoughCompany 2925-C occupied this sitefor only a short period, it had to assigna crew to the task of making the camplivable. This crew was also on call for

fire suppression. S

Camp Alta Lama

Camp AIta Loma was located fivemiles nonh of the community of AItaLoma, California. The regular activitiesof Company 2925-C were limited be-cause the work crews were frequentlycalled out to fight forest fires, and as aresuJt the company accomplished littleroad maintenance.'

Camp Kenworthy

Camp Kenworthy was one of thefirst CCC camps established in the SanBernardino National Forest. Althoughthe principal assigned work projectswere construction and maintenance,the most time-consuming task was firefighting. In the first few months on site,Company 2925-C spent more timefighting forest fires than on regularwork projects. Major fires included theLake Arrowhead and Crestline, HewittRanch, Sawpit Canyon, Seeley Ranch,and San Servaine Canyon.7

Camp Piedra BlancaThe Santa Barbara National Forest

{later renamed Los Padres NationalForest}was the site of Camp PiedraBlanca. While assigned to Camp PiedraBlanca, Company 2925-C carried outerosion-control projects, includingremoving fire hazards, cleaning upflammable debris, and constructingdrainage ditches and channels.8

CampCity Creek

At Camp City Creek, near Highland,California, Company 2922-C workedprimarily on public campground devel-opment and maintenance. Company2922-C spent only four months at CityCreek, after which all232 enrolleeswere transferred to other African-

American companies in California.Although the reason for the massivetransfer remains vague, and the avail-able sources provide no firm verifica-tion, community resistance could havebeen the motivating factor in disbandingthe company. Shortly after the disband-ment of 2922-C in January 1936, aCalifornia white company was trans-ferred in. Camp City Creek remainedon the CCC roster until as late as

August 1941,always occupied by awhite company.9

1. Civilian Conservation Corps, Work ProjectS

Reports, California, 1933-42, RG 35, National

Archives, Washington, D.c. (hereafter cited as

Work Reports, with specific camps cited where

possible).

2. Civilian Conservation Corps, Camp Inspection

Reports, California, 1933-42, RG3S, National

Archives, Washington, D.C. (hereafter cited as

Inspection Reports, with specific camps cited

where possible). Donald Hobart to author,

U August 1982. Hobart is currently a histori-

cal research analyst for the state of California.

He is also the official historian of the National

Association of Civilian Conservation Corps

Alumni (NACCeA).

3. This information was compiled from indi-

vidual camp files, California, RG 35, National

Archives, Washington, D.c.

4. Inspection Reports, Camp P-233, Jamul, Cali-

fornia, 12 March 1941.

5. The enrollees who initially filled the cce

camps of California were mostly from other

corps areas. This was buause the numerous

work projects in the public areas of California

far exceeded the available manpower. Ohio,

Indiana, and Kentucky, representing the Fifth

Corps Area, supplied the largest number of

men. Inspection Reports, 1933-42.

6. ~rk Reports, Camp P-29S, Alta Loma,

California, 1933-36.

7. Hobart to author, n August 1982.

8. Work Reports, Camp F-364, Wheeler Springs,

California, 1937-40.

9. eee Distri£t Roster Memorandum n, Head-

quarters, Los Angeles District; Inspection

Reports, 1933-42.

CaliforniaCCC 123

Although some of the African-American camps did only routinework, others were associated withspecific projects. Such was the casein an area of the Cleveland National

Forest. Working under foreman C. L.Hayes, Company 2923-C of Camp LaCienega gained prominence in fire sup-pression, using pigeons to transmitmessages during fires.21According toone former corpsman in the company,"None of the other companies in thedistrict would take on this project. Wewanted to be differene'22 The companybuilt the coops, raised the pigeons inthe camp, and trained them to fly fromfire areas to fire-suppression camps attimes when other media of communi-

cation were impractical. Company2923-C was the first company in theUnited States to use homing pigeons asmessengers.23

Another special project undertakenby an African-American company wasthe construction of a telephone line link-ing the Forest Service line at Descanowith that of the state Division of For-

estry at La Mesa, California. Thisproject was begun under considerablehandicap. The end of the enrollmentperiod six months before had left thetelephone con~truction crew of Com-pany 2924-C with only three experi-enced men and a handful of rookies.Yet the company successfully com-pleted the project,. performing all ofthe work from start to finish, exceptfor surveying.24

African-American Company 2925-Cboth rebuilt and improved Camp AltaLorna, and also constructed the DeerCreek Flood Control Dam, located nearthe small community of Alta Lorna,California. The corpsmen worked onthe dam for months in winter con- .ditions. The dam, known as the DeerCreek Flood Control Project, improvedboth recreation facilities and flood pro.tection.2S The performance of Com-pany 2925-C was also commendableat Camp Kenworthy. Here, J. W. Salle,forestry superintendent, directed thework of constructing the first trucktrails on Santa Rosa Mountain andForbes Ranch, located in the San Ber-nardino National Forest. In spite ofhazardous working conditions, the

124 Forest & Conservation History 35 (July 1991)

One African-American CCC company usedpigeons to transmit messages during fires.The company trained the pigeons to flyfrom fire areas to fire-suppression campswhen other ways of communicating wereimpractical. Photo courtesy of NationalAssociation of Civilian Conservation CorpsAlumni, St. Louis, Missouri.

work of these "trail blazers" was com-

pleted without a single reportedinjury.26

Both white and African-AmericanCivilian Conservation Corps companiesmade major contributions to the devel-opment, protection, and maintenanceof California's national forests and

parks. They completed importantcampground development and land-scaping, and removed hazards fromhundreds of miles of roads and trails.The CCC substantially reduced theforest acreage lost to fires in the state,leading to dramatic savings of timberand property. The president pointed outthe benefits of the CCC to the nation

generally and the nation's forests specifi-cally in a 1938 message to Congress:

Whenin 1933IaskedtheCongressto pro-videfor the CivilianConservationCorpsI was convincedthat forestlandsofferedone sourcefor worthwhilework. . . forlargenumbersof our unemployed.Eventsof the past fiveyearshaveindicatedthatmyearlierconvictionwaswellfounded.In rebuildingand managingthose lands,and in the manyusesof them and theirresources, there exists a major opportu-nity for new employment and for increas-ingthe national wealth.27

The CCCi. Califomia:

The Corpsme.'s Evaluatioa

The Civilian Conservation Corpsexperience benefited African-Americanparticipants in varied ways. In answer-ing written survey and oral interviewquestions about their experiences yearslater, individual participants in theCCC testified to the program's benefitsin three primary areas: employment,training, and character development.28

ElllploymentThe reason for founding the corps

was, of course, to provide employmentfor needy youth. Former corpsmen citethe opportunity to work as clearly amajor reason for joining the CCc.One CCC veteran who had been a

squad leader remarked: "This was dur-ing an extreme depression in the coun-try. No jobs were available and themoney was needed to help support mymother:'29 A former truck operatorrecalled that "jobs were scarce at thetime and the Three C's . . . helped myfamily in Fresno who needed it." "Timeswere extremely hard in California;'declared an ex-Oklahoman, "and jobswere hard to find. I just had to have ajob:' A former dynamite handler com-mented: "I joined because of a lack ofjobs. . . . One could earn his way."30

Although most of the former corps-men conceded that CCC paychecksimmediately benefited them and theirfamilies, they did not all feel that em-ployment in the corps was necessarily oflasting value. Some felt that the corpsdid not prepare them for their lifetimevocations. A respondent who had beenassigned to kitchen duty recalled thatafter leaving the CCC, "I worked in alaundry starching shirts. . . . The CCCexperience did not apply." A respondentwho had four years of service com-mented: "I was a cook before I wentinto the CCC and being a cook in theThree C's was just another job:' A re-tired construction worker and packing-house employee in Los Angeles felt that"the CCC did not help me at all when Ilooked for a job. . . . In fact, I didn'texpect the work in the CCC to prepareme for employment once my CCC duty

was over:' Another former kitchen

worker in the corps, who later heldsuch jobs as dishwasher, cotton picker,and waiter, noted that "I didn't learnanything that benefited me when I gotout of the Ccc. . . . I can say that theCCC in no way helped me to get a job:'"The CCC did not prepare me forfuture employment;' declared a respon-dent who had been a police detectivewith the Los Angeles PoliceDepartmentafter leaving the corps. 31

But though many of the work proj-ects of the CCC required only thesimplest types of common labor, therewere other things to be learned in thecorps. Most of the respondents admittedthat they had learned cooperation withfellow workers and supervisors, theproper care of equipment, the impor-tance of hard work, and a responsibleattitude toward a job.

Although there were some detractors,some of the respondents spoke of theCCC experience as a valuable asset inlater years. One respondent who hadlearned to operate a truck in the CCCmaintained that his experience-as adriver was extremely important whenhe applied for a position with the Cityof Los Angeles in 1939. He recalls that"when I received a recommendation

from my camp commander. . . andpresented it to the city, I was hired:'Another former truck operator in thecorps, who also applied for a positionwith the City of Los Angeles upondischarge, commented that his workassignment as a driver was not a wasteof time. In all respects, his experienceprepared him for "a job driving a heavy-duty truck with the city for thirty-threeyears." He also pointed out that hisexperience as a truck operator wasresponsible for his assignment as avehicle operator in the army duringWorld War II. A retired teacher in San

Diego, California, felt that his assign-ment as "an assistant to the Educational

Advisor and a clerk in the ForestryOffice was immensely beneficial whenI was a student at San Diego JuniorCollege."J2

Most of the respondents did notthink of the CCC as a conservation

program. Although they had foughtfires, planted trees, built and main-

tained roads, none of the former corps-men indicated that the work projectsafforded them a view on the "outdoorlife" or the conservation of natural

resources. Indeed, the training theyreceived in the corps did not influenceany of those interviewed to pursuecareers in conservation-related areas.

In recalling the forestry work he did inthe CCC in California, a former fire

fighter and dynamite handler remarked:"We were just city kids doing a job thatwas required:'33 This seems to be theconsensus view of the respondents.

Overall, although CCC veterans hadmixed opinions about job training theyreceived in the corps, most of themconsidered their work experience in thecorps to be valuable. The CCC notonly provided direct .and immediatefinancial benefits, it enhanced futurework attitudes and habits.

Training

The CCC program provided a typeof formal education, which was con-ducted during off-duty hours on astrictly voluntary basis. The generalpurpose of the ~ducational programwas to enable the participant to im-prove himself so that he might be moreemployable once his service in the corpswas over. Although many respondentssaid that the formal instruction hadbeen informative, they also said that ithad little long-term benefit. In fact,of those interviewed who had taken

courses, only one thought that the CCCeducational program had lasting value.He asserted that courses in conserva-

tion, photography, and especially libraryadministration were of considerable

value when he applied for a position inthe San Diego school system.

But overall, the respondents did notconsider the educational program tobe of much benefit. One respondentremarked that although he had enjoyedthe course in radio operation, it was oflittle value as far as developing skillsnecessary for entrance into the jobmarket. A respondent who had takensuch courses as law, public speaking,and American history said: "They wereinformative and enjoyable, . . . but

how many Negroes in the 1930s gotjobs in public speaking and law?"

Another remarked: "The course in first

aid training did very little for me as far asproviding a skill. . . . I never expectedit to be [helpful):'34

Charader Development

Former corpsmen interviewedthought that the most important aspectof their CCC experience had been itseffect on the development of character.Respondents spoke with respect of thecorps' contribution to self-discipline,maturity, and ability to get along andcooperate with others. The followingremarks represent a consensus opinion.

A former truck driver at Camp PiedraBlanca commented: "It was a chance to

grow up and helped much in later life:'A mess sergeant with four years in thecorps recalled: "The CCC was a goodplace to be. . . . It taught me disciplineand how to get along with others." Stillanother truck driver felt that his service

in the CCC "was definitely responsiblefor my career, having taught me disci-pline and the incentive to try differentthings." A respondent who had per-formed a variety of tasks in the corpsrecalled that his experience as a firefighter taught him "what real dangerwas. . . . It also helped me to matureand. . . to cooperate and get alongwith others," A former kitchen worker

remarked: "I enjoyed the CCC becauseit taught discipline, self-reliance, ma-turity, and quite a few other things thatI wouldn't have known otherwise."35

Indeed, the chief benefit of the CCCseems to be that it developed character.Corpsmen left the service with a new-found sense of responsibility, a knowl-edge of how to associate and cooperatewith others from different backgrounds,and a belief in the value of discipline.In fostering future vocational prepared-ness, the CCC was less than satisfac-tory; but as a builder of character,the corps was uniquely successful forits time.

Conclusion

Although the CCC was aimed atthe worst aspects of the depression,it was never more than a short-term

and inadequate solution. How couldsuch a program be so admired by itsformer participants? Why did African-

Californiacee 125

American former corpsmen so appre-ciate a program that never challengedthe racially discriminatory practices ofits time?

In the first place, times were hardin the 1930s, and enrollees were wellaware of the bleak alternatives to CCC

employment. The opportunity of corpsemployment was especially importantto African-American youth because thedepression had combined with tradi-tional racial practices to their particulardisadvantage. Since African-Americanswere often in dire economic straits, thedirect benefits of the CCC were ex-

tremely attractive.Second, and equally important,

the CCC provided some lasting per-sonal benefits. The corps experiencetaught both discipline and interper-sonal skills - how to live and workwith others. As one former corpsmanat Camp Piedra Blanca noted: "I didn'tknow of anyone who got a dishonorabledischarge, because we all wanted to bein the CCC'36

Again, direct testimonials provide thebest explanation of why most lookedon the corps experience so favorably.An enrollee who was in the CCC from

July 1934 to July 1935 at Camp DiggerButte, near Manton, California, said:

, "The CCC taught me to be patient.Everything wasn't black and white,[or] cut and dr[ied]. . . . The sportsactivities such as basketball and base-

ball against other fellows and localcommunities taught me good sports-manship:' Another respondent whohad worked in the forestry office atCamp La Cienega said: "I really neededhelp. . . . I was in junior college at thetime. . . . My family needed the moneyand the CCC was a great help:' "I reallyneeded a job making money becausejobs were scarce;' wrote a former corps-man who had been stationed at CampsBouquet Canyon and Piedra Blanca."My service in the CCC was extremelyeducational. I met all kinds of people."A respondent from a family of fifteensaid: "I really needed a job at the time.

126 Forest &COftSIrwtion History 35 (July 1991)

My twenty-five dollars from the CCCwent to my mother and she used everybit of it. The CCC was a good thing:'"When I joined the Three C's in 1935;'declared a former fire fighter at CampSan Pablo Dam, "times were hard here inLos Angeles; I had no money and no job.The Three C's gave me food, clothing,and shelter. The CCC was great:'37

By and large, the only complaints byAfrican-American former corpsmenconcerned the occasional derogatoryracial jokes and remarks made by armyofficers and Forest Service personnel.One former enrollee recalled that at

Camp Piedra Blanca the army chaplain"told a racist joke and called one enrol-lee a 'nigger'; but the Chaplain criedand apologized?' Another respondentwho had served in the Sequoia NationalForest noted that on one occasion an

army officer from Texas "jokingly" re-ferred to him as "nigger boy."''At CampBouquet Canyon blacks were subjectedto numerous racial remarks;' said arespondent from Los Angeles. Overall,however, all the respondents felt thatdespite the occasional racial slurs, thecorps was a good experience. "Wehadsome good officers as well as a fewwho were not so good:'38

lnterviewees had different opinionsabout segregation in the CCc. Somedisliked it; others thought it to be thebest for all concerned. One respondentwho had served at various campsthroughout California remarked that atCamp Tuna Canyon "blacks were put ina separate barracks. This camp was verydesirable." "I never liked segregation;'explained a Louisiana native, but"everything in America was segregated,so it wasn't any different in the CCC'A former corpsman who served brieflyin Utah stated that African-Americans

were assigned to one barracks andwhites to another. "We didn't like beingsegregated, but we expected that sortof thing in Utah?' ''After I got out ofthe CCC I couldn't understand whythey segregated; remarked an enrolleewho had joined the corps in July 1934,but "at the time it didn't bother me

because I had put the CCC experiencebehind:'39 A respondent who had

served in the corps before its segrega-tion indicated that he was "surprised tohear of segregation in the CCc. I can'tunderstand the need for it. . . . I livedand socialized with whites and so didother blacks?'4O

In any case, the testimonials of therespondents make it apparent that theprogram did have a beneficial effect, atleast in the state of California. Althoughthe CCC failed to provide the enrolleeswith specific skills to enhance theirlong-term employability, it did succeedin developing healthy attitudes, renewedspirits, self-esteem, and the ability toget along and cooperate with neighborsand fellow countrymen.

But we need to recognize that theCivilian Conservation Corps was ashort-term and insufficient solutionfor the overall problems of African-American youth in the America of the1930s. Given that the majority ofcorpsmen hailed from the cities, themajority of corps assignments (e.g., treeplanting, erosion control, forest devel-opment) must have seemed artificial andimpractical- or at the very least, to havelittle relevance to their past and futurelives. The enrollee was, as historianJohn Salmond has noted, discharged tohis "home community physically great-ly improved, probably more alert men-tally, but with no new skills whichwould enable him to function more

effectively in that community?'41In short, the CCC was simply too nar-

rowly focused to meet the multiplicityof problems confronting African-American youths in the 1930s. A wider-ranging program of vocational educa-tion rather than work relief would have

been vastly preferable. In the CCC,corpsmen gained no long-term jobtraining. Once their corps duty wasover, they returned home without newskills that would qualify them as work-ers in an increasingly industrial andtechnological world. Beyond that, thesemen's attitudes toward nature, or eventhe sense that they needed to have anattitude toward nature, was apparentlycompletely unaffected by their experi-ence in the CCc. This failure, criticalthen, remains a failure of many envi-ronmentalorganizationstoday. .

Notes

I. Paul Webbink, "Unemployment in the United

States, 1930-1940;' Papers and Proceedingsof the American Economic Association 30

(February 1941): 248-72.

2. S-598, 73d Cong., 1st sess., 28 March 1933;

Congressional Record, 73d Cong., 1st sess.,

31 March 1933, 172, pt. 1:929-36, 1012-13.3. The CCC: What It Is and What It Does

(Washington, D.C.: Government Printing

Office, 1939), pp. 1-3; John A. Salmond, The

Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942:

A New Deal Case Study (Durham, North

Carolina: Duke University Press, 1967), pp.

27-30; Charles P. Harper, The Administra-

tion of the Civilian Conservation Corps

(Clarksburg, West Virginia: Clarksburg

Publishing Co., 1939), pp. 30-32.

4. Maurice Matloff, American Military History

(Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of

Military History, United States Army, 1973),

p.413.5. Director of the Civilian Conservation Corps,

Final Report of the Director of the Civilian

Conservation Corps, 1933-1942 (Washing-

ton, D.C.: Government Printing Office,

1942), p. 20.

6. The CCC: What It Is and What It Does, pp.1-3; Salmond, The Civilian Conservation

Corps, pp. 27-30; Harper, The Administra-

tion of the Civilian Conservation Corps,

pp. 30-32.7. California State Civil Works Administration,

Summary Report, 27 November 1933-29

March 1934, p. 33, cited by Frances Cahn and

Valeska Bary, Welfare Activities of Federal,

State, and Local Government in California

(Berkeley: University of California Press,

1935), p. 49; U.S. Department of Commerce,

Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930,

Population, vol. 2, General Report (Washing-

ton, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,

1933), pp. 52, 69; Federal Emergency Relief

Administration, Unemployment Relief Cen-

sus, October 1933, Report no. 1, United States

Summary (Washington, o.c.: U.S. Govern-

ment Printing Office, 1933), pp. 94-112.

a. Annual Report of the National Urban LEague,

1931 (New York, 1932), pp. 10-11, cited by

James A. Fisher, ''A History of the Political

and Social Development of the Black Com-

munity in California, 1850-1950" (Ph.D.

diss., State University of New York at StonyBrook, 1972), p. 226.

9. U.S. Department of Commerce, Fifteenth

Census of the United States: 1930, Unem-

playment, vol. 1, Unemplayment Returns by

Classes (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government

Printing Office, 1931), p. 143; Lawrence B.

deGraff, "Negro Migration to Los Angeles,

1930-1950" (Ph.D. diss., University of Cali-

fornia, Los Angeles, 1962), p. 79; Rudolph

Lapp, Afro-Americans in California (San

Francisco, California: Boyd and Fraser,

1979), p. 40.

10. Los Angeles California Eagle, 27 July 1934.

II. S-598, 73d Cong., 1st sess., 28 March 1933;

Congressional Record, 73d Cong., 1st sess.,

31 March 1933,77, pt. 1:929-36, 1012-1013;

Calvin W. Gower, "The Struggle of Blacks

for Leadership Positions in the Civilian Con-

servation Corps: 1933-1942;' The Journal of

Negro History 61 (April 1976): 131;Edgar B.Nixon, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Conserva-tion: 1911-1945 (Hyde Park, New York:

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, 1957), 1:147.

12. Charles Johnson, "The Army, the Negro

and the Civilian Conservation Corps: 1933-

1942;' Military Affairs 36 (October 1972):87; Salmond, The Civilian Conservation

Corps, p. 27.

13. Leslie Fishel, "The Negro in the New Deal

Era;' Wisconsin Magazine of History 48(Winter 1964): 115; Frank Friedel, Franklin

D. Roosevelt: Launching the New Deal

(Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown,

1973), p. 266.

14. Nancy J. Weiss, Farewell to the Party of

Lincoln: Black Politics in the Age of FDR

(Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University

Press, 1983), p. 55.

15. Ibid., p. 54.

16. Robert Fechner to Dayton Jones, California

Selection Director, 16 July 1935, Correspon-

dence of the Director, RG 35, National

Archives, Washington, D.C.

17. CCC Selection Division, Policy: Negro, Gen-

eral-Negro Question, California, 1933-42,

RG 35, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

la. Civilian Conservation Corps, Correspon-dence of the Division of Research and Statis-

tics, 11 October 1940, RG 35, National

Archives, Washington, D.C.

19. "Civilian Conservation Corps;' Los Angeles

District News-Courier, 15 March 1937 (here-

after cited as News-Courier).

20. News-Courier, 1 April 1937.

21. CCC Official Annual, Los Angeles, Califor-

nia, CCC District, 1 February 1938, Ninth

Corps, CCC (Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Dis-

trict Advertising Company, 1938), p. 89.

22. Robert D'Hue, interview with author, San

Diego, California, 3 August 1985. Unless

otherwise noted, all transcripts of interviews

and copies of personal letters are in the pos-session of the author.

23. Ibid.24. News-Courier, 1 July 1938.25. Ibid.26. Ibid.

27. See Congressional Record, 75th Cong., 3dsess., 14 March 1938, 83, pt. 3:3321 for

President Roosevelt's message to Congress

recommending a study of the forestland

problem.2a. To obtain information about the African-

American experience in the CCC program in

California, letters and questionnaires were

sent to former enrollees or family members

and others who had personal recollections of

the participants. Follow-up interviews were

also conducted. Of the twenty-six people whoresponded, thirteen were former African-

American corpsmen and thirteen were family

members or other CCC veterans. Questions

asked, both in the survey and in interviews,

included the following: "Was your service in

the CCC a waste of time?" "How were youand other African-American CCC members

treated by nearby communities?" "What was

your first job after leaving the CCC?" "Did

your CCC service help you get your first

job?" "What did you learn from the CCC

experience?"

29. Algy F. Landry to author, 27 June 1985.

30. All interviews cited are with the author.

William Nelson interview, Los Angeles, Cali-

fornia, 9 July 1985; Willie Stovall interview,

Los Angeles, California, 9 July 1985; Norman

Moore interview, Los Angeles, California,

10 July 1985.

31. James F.Humphrey to author, 11 May 1985;

Walter Jacobs interview, Los Angeles, Cali-

fornia, 9 July 1985; Stovall interview, 9 July

1985; Walter Jacobs interview, 9 July 1985;

Landry to author, 27 June 1985. Other en-rollees had similar comments.

32. Nelson interview, 9 July 1985; Claude Pierce

interview, Los Angeles, California, 10 July

1985; D'Hue interview, 3 August 1985.

33. Moore interview, 10 July 1985.

34. Ibid.; Humphrey to author, 11 May 1985;

Pierce interview, 10 July 1985; Moore inter-

view, 10 July 1985.

35. Pierce interview, 10 July 1985; Walter Jacobs

interview, 9 July 1985; Nelson interview,

9 July 1985; Stovall interview, 9 July 1985;

Cleveland Jacobs interview, 9 July 1985.

36. Pierce interview, 10 July 1985.

37. Moore interview, 10 July 1985; D'Hue inter-

view, 3 August 1985; Humphrey to author,

11 May 1985; Pierce interview, 10 July 1985;

Stovall interview, 9 July 1985.

3a. Pierce interview, 10 July 1985; Nelson inter-

view, 9 July 1985; Humphrey to author,

11 May 1985.

39. Humphrey to author, 11 May 1985; Pierce

interview, 10 July 1985; Stovall interview,

9 July 1985; Moore interview, 10 July 1985.

40. Nelson interview, 9 July 1985.

41. John A. Salmond, "The New Deal and

Youth;' in Essays Presented to William P.Morrell, ed. G. A. Wood and P. S. O'Connor

(Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University

Press, 1973), p. 144.

CaliforniaCCC 127