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Civilian Conservation Corps Timeline

(1933–1942)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a New Deal program that employed young men in conservation and public works projects across the United States. Less

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Founding and expansion

CCC concept begins

1932

The CCC was started in early 1932 as a proposal to use unemployed men to improve existing reforestation areas.

Roosevelt requests CCC legislation

Mar 21, 1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to establish a conservation work-relief program, submitting the legislation on March 21, 1933.

CCC legislation passes Congress

Mar 31, 1933

Congress passed the CCC legislation by voice vote on March 31, 1933, and Roosevelt signed it the same day.

Executive Order 6101 establishes the CCC

Apr 5, 1933

Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6101, formally creating the CCC, appointing Robert Fechner as director, and assigning Army corps-area commanders to begin enrollment.

Image source: Civilian Conservation Corps

Executive Order 6101 establishes the CCC

Veterans added to the CCC

May 11, 1933

Following the second Bonus Army march on Washington, Roosevelt amended the program to provide CCC work opportunities for veterans.

Image source: Bonus Army

Veterans added to the CCC

First CCC camps reach national scale

Jul 1, 1933

By July 1, 1933, the CCC had 1,463 working camps and 250,000 junior enrollees, along with veterans, Native Americans, and adults in the Local Experienced Men program.

Second CCC enrollment period begins

Oct 1, 1933

Director Robert Fechner was directed to arrange the second period of CCC enrollment.

CCC enrollment reaches 300,000

Jan 1934

By January 1934, approximately 300,000 men were enrolled in the CCC.

CCC drought enrollment cap expanded

Jul 1934

The enrollment cap was increased by 50,000 to include men from Midwestern states affected by drought.

CCC enrollment peaks in 1935

1935

Enrollment peaked at the end of 1935, when 500,000 men were serving in 2,600 camps operating in every state.

Image source: Civilian Conservation Corps

CCC enrollment peaks in 1935

Emergency Relief Appropriation Act funds CCC

Apr 8, 1935 - Mar 31, 1937

Congress approved continued CCC funding through March 31, 1937, as part of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935.

Image source: Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935

Emergency Relief Appropriation Act funds CCC

CCC enrollment reaches 505,782

Aug 31, 1935

Enrollment reached 505,782 people in about 2,900 camps by August 31, 1935, before declining the following year.

Public support for CCC recorded

Apr 18, 1936

A Gallup poll found that 82 percent of respondents favored CCC camps, including 92 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Republicans.

CCC funding extended for three years

Jul 1, 1937

Public Law No. 163 extended CCC funding for three more years.

Administration and enrollment

Army begins administering the CCC

1933

About 3,800 of the Regular Army's officers and 4,600 enlisted men were assigned to administer the new CCC.

CCC compensation and benefits established

1933

Enrollees received $30 per month, with a compulsory $25 allotment sent to a family dependent, as well as housing, food, clothing, and medical care.

CCC company structure formalized

1933

Each camp operated under dual authority: military personnel supervised overall administration, while civilian technical staff directed fieldwork for the Interior or Agriculture departments.

Regular Army instructors return to duty

Jul 1933

The War Department ordered Regular Army officers serving as instructors with ROTC and Organized Reserve units to return to their former duties.

CCC military staffing shifts to reservists

Sep 1933

By the end of September 1933, Regular officers on CCC duty had fallen to about 2,000 while Reservists increased to approximately 2,200.

Reserve officers take command of CCC units

Oct 1934

By October 1934, Reserve officers had assumed command of almost all CCC companies and sub-districts.

CCC camps become segregated

Jul 1935

By July 1935, all CCC camps in the United States were segregated, reflecting prevailing state and federal racial policies.

CCC legally established as an agency

Jun 28, 1937

The Civilian Conservation Corps was legally established and transferred from its original designation as the Emergency Conservation Work program.

Regular officer assignments limited

Jan 1, 1938

The War Department limited the number of Regular officers assigned to CCC duty to 117.

CCC transferred to Federal Security Agency

1939

Congress ended the CCC's independent status and transferred it to the control of the Federal Security Agency.

Reservists relieved from CCC duty

Jul 1, 1939 - Sep 1939

Roosevelt directed that all Reservists be relieved from CCC duty because of benefit-equity requirements; the changeover was complete by September 1939, although many continued as civilian employees.

Programs and public service

Sioux reservation employment expands

1933

About half of the male heads of households on Sioux reservations in South Dakota were employed by the CCC Indian Division during 1933.

Indian Reorganization Act supports tribal lands

1934

Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act, ending allotments, helping preserve tribal lands, and encouraging tribes to re-establish self-government.

Image source: Indian Reorganization Act

Indian Reorganization Act supports tribal lands

CCC activity reaches its greatest level

Apr 1, 1935 - Mar 31, 1936

This period represented the greatest activity and amount of work accomplished by the CCC.

CCC timber losses decline in Region 1

1937

Acting Regional Forester Clarence Strong estimated that CCC work reduced timber losses in the northern United States from more than one billion board feet before 1933 to about 80 million between 1933 and 1936.

CCC assists with 1937 floods

1937

CCC forces contributed to disaster relief after floods in New York, Vermont, and the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys.

Vocational training becomes mandatory

1937

The 1937 law required vocational and academic training for at least 10 hours per week.

CCC responds to 1938 New England hurricane

1938

CCC personnel helped with response and cleanup after the 1938 hurricane in New England.

Defense training added to CCC service

1941

Following the National Defense Vocational Training Act of 1941, CCC enrollees began participating in defense-oriented training.

Decline and legacy

CCC shifts toward military preparation

1939

The CCC ideal shifted from the hardy manual worker toward the highly trained citizen soldier prepared for war.

CCC alumni receive higher ranks after conscription

1940

When the draft began, the policy was to make CCC alumni corporals and sergeants.

CCC becomes a work-training system

1940

By 1940, the CCC was no longer wholly a relief agency and was becoming a work-training system with increasingly young and inexperienced enrollees.

Pride of the Bowery portrays a CCC camp

1940

Pride of the Bowery, the fourth film in the East Side Kid series, depicts friendship, trouble, and boxing at a CCC camp.

Image source: Pride of the Bowery

Pride of the Bowery portrays a CCC camp

CCC projects emphasize national defense

Jul 1940

With war underway abroad, the government directed an increasing number of CCC projects toward national-defense resources.

CCC sites become Civilian Public Service camps

1941 - 1947

Some former CCC sites were reactivated as Civilian Public Service camps where conscientious objectors performed work of national importance instead of military service.

Image source: Civilian Public Service

CCC sites become Civilian Public Service camps

Pearl Harbor redirects federal programs

Dec 1941

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Roosevelt administration directed all federal programs to emphasize the war effort.

Image source: Attack on Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor redirects federal programs

Liquidation appropriations continue

1942 - Apr 20, 1948

Appropriations for liquidating the CCC continued through April 20, 1948.

CCC operations conclude

Jun 30, 1942

CCC operations were formally concluded at the end of the federal fiscal year on June 30, 1942, as wartime mobilization reduced the need for work relief.

Congress funds CCC camp closures

Jul 2, 1942 - Jun 30, 1943

Congress provided funding for closing the remaining camps and reallocating their equipment; the process was virtually complete by June 30, 1943.

Student Conservation Association founded

1959

The Student Conservation Association, founded in 1959, began offering conservation internships and summer trail-crew opportunities.

Image source: Student Conservation Association

Student Conservation Association founded

California Conservation Corps established

1976

California Governor Jerry Brown established the California Conservation Corps.

Image source: California Conservation Corps

California Conservation Corps established

The Corps Network is founded

1985

The Corps Network began when the nation's first 24 corps directors organized to secure a federal advocate and share information about starting and managing conservation corps.

Montana Conservation Corps established

1991

The Montana Conservation Corps was established by Montana Human Resource Development Councils in Billings, Bozeman, and Kalispell.

Image source: Montana Conservation Corps

Montana Conservation Corps established

Environmental Corps established in Texas

1995

Environmental Corps, now Texas Conservation Corps, was established as an American YouthWorks program for young people ages 17 to 28.

Modern corps programs enroll over 23,000

2004

Approximately 113 corps programs operated in 41 states and Washington, D.C., enrolling more than 23,000 young people during 2004.

American Experience portrays the CCC

2009

The American Experience PBS series portrayed life in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the first episode of its 22nd season.

Image source: American Experience

American Experience portrays the CCC

Hitch novel explores the CCC

2012

Jeanette Ingold's young-adult novel Hitch tells the story of a teenager in the CCC.

Aina Corps performs pandemic-era restoration

2020

The Aina Corps performed environmental restoration work in Hawaii in 2020 with funding from the CARES Act.

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Key Facts

  1. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the CCC in 1933 during the Great Depression.
  2. The program involved three million young men in camps throughout the United States and its territories.
  3. CCC workers planted trees, built trails, roads, bridges, parks, dams, and firebreaks, and fought wildfires.
  4. Enrollees generally received food, housing, clothing, medical care, and a monthly allowance, while most of their pay was sent to their families.
  5. The CCC ended in 1942 as World War II created new military and industrial employment opportunities.

Source

This Civilian Conservation Corps timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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