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The Brilliant Way FDR Got America Back to Work—While Beautifying the Country and Protecting Our Environment
The New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration got us back on track
We're currently working up an entry on a very cool toolbox of historical significance. But before we can get to it, we have to give you this brief history lesson to provide some context. We hope you'll find it interesting on its own merits.
In 1933 America was doing poorly; the Great Depression meant millions of people were starving and out of work. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in January of 1933, he brought with him a couple of brilliant ways to improve the lives of citizens while boosting the long-term health of the country. Two of the New Deal programs he used to do this were the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration.
The Civilian Conservation Corps, as the name suggests, was focused on conservation. The CCC took hundreds of thousands, then millions, of young, unemployed men and sent them to camps. (I know that doesn't sound promising, stick with me here!)
Enter a caption (optional)At the camps these men were provided food, shelter, free medical care and a living wage. They were trained in how to build, fix and grow things, and then they were put to work in teams.
Enter a caption (optional)They renovated America's national parks. They created trails and built roads. They did landscaping to control erosion, dug ditches to contain flooding. They built public camping grounds, picnic grounds and service buildings. They planted nearly three billion trees, strengthening America's forests.
Enter a caption (optional)"This type of work," President Roosevelt told Congress, "is of definite, practical value, not only through the prevention of great present financial loss, but also as a means of creating future national wealth."
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Enter a caption (optional)Additionally, getting these men--70% of whom were malnourished at the CCC's start in 1933--fed and having them perform physical labor improved their physical health and well-being.
Enter a caption (optional)Morale was raised through the performance of important, meaningful work. The training and experience gave them marketable skills they could use to find work after the economy improved. Education programs in the camps taught the illiterate to read.
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Enter a caption (optional)The Works Progress Administration was similar to the CCC, but focused on public works, building roads, bridges, schools, libraries, courthouses, police and fire stations, hospitals, museums, community centers, playgrounds, et cetera. They also laid crucial infrastructure, installing water mains, sewage and electricity to areas that previously had none.
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Enter a caption (optional)The WPA also had a subsidiary project called Federal Project Number One, where they employed thousands of artists, designers, musicians and writers.
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Enter a caption (optional)You can see more of the graphic design work that came out of this program here.
By the time World War II obviated the need for both of these programs, 8.5 million people had participated in the WPA and a further three million had participated in the CCC. As a country, we came out of these programs stronger, smarter, more skilled and with money in our pockets. We also had better roads and infrastructure, more usable national parks and beautiful new municipal buildings.
Okay, history lesson over. Stay tuned for the toolbox story.
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this story might as well be about a country in another galaxy; this kind of enlightened thinking is light-years away from the dangerous clown we have now. that was only 70 short years ago ? how did this country regress and collapse so profoundly ?
Perhaps not so enlightened. The CCC suffered from the same racial segregation that prevailed at the time. Here are two good articles.
all of my asian relatives say that FDR was the best camp director ever.....
These types of national solutions could never occur today. For one, development of public lands are open to public comment, which often bring out opponents to the project who can lob "environmental impact" grenades, triggering requirements of conducting a multi-year, multi-million dollar report to be drafted. Secondly, prevailing wage would double the labor cost of any project.
Jason, I totally agree that these solutions couldn't happen today; however, what the CCC did wasn't really "development" (in the modern, real-estate sense of the word) of public lands so much as improvement and conservation. The CCC planted a crapload of trees, offset erosion and flooding and created facilities whereby the American public could enjoy these National Parks. As for the WPA, they extended water, sewage and electricity to areas that previously had none, which it's difficult to imagine there being opponents of. You're spot-on about the prevailing wage issue in modern times; one "benefit" of it being the Great Depression was that there was no prevailing wage. I think that in that time, offering three squares a day was enough to get people on board.
I know, that's the bad part. Even the most noble and appropriate conservation and or improvement projects are too easily bogged down by process.
The volume and quality of work that came out of this period is impressive. It laid a foundation that is still hard at work today and in many cases can still be seen and enjoyed. Design degrees may have been far and few between but the creativity and craft of the workers was certainly up to snuff. The loose guidelines that were followed were published in a book called Park and Recreation Structures by Albert Good. It is well worth a look!
When PBS did a documentary on the CCC, one of the interviewees said that when WWII came around, CCC veterans already knew how to work together as a group, as an army. Not saying FDR knew this but it was an ancillary benefit that should not be forgotten.