CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC)

Roosevelt's New Deal

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was the child of poverty and neglect, but it lived in honor and died because of World War II. It was a pseudo military operation and taught skills for a lifetime. In addition to vocational education, there were obvious benefits such as discipline, work habits and proper relationships.

To attack the depression, the CCC was created by the Unemployment Relief Bill under its founder, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. By executive Order 6101, dated April 5, 1933, the Emergency Conservation Work was officially activated which became the Federal Security Agency in 1939.

The CCC's twin aims were to alleviate the critical unemployment situation among American youth and to curtail the destruction of America's natural resources.

The unemployment Relief Commission of Louisiana had a quota of 4250 men for the Forest Conservation Corp. By 1934, 27 camps were established and functioning well in Louisiana. By 1940 the camps were assigned to the Forestry Division of the Louisiana Department of Conservation and the number of camps were reduced to five on private land, one on state forest land and four in national forest areas.

A typical CCC camp consisted of 12 wooden buildings; mess hall, four barracks with capacity for 50 men, officer's quarters, garages, tool houses, supply building, and bath houses. Such camp existed on the east side of DeRidder, Louisiana, at a site where the present Beauregard Electric Cooperative, Inc. (beci) is located on Highway 171 South.

Enrollees of the CCC could enlist in the program for terms of six months, with a maximum period of two years. They were paid $30. a month of which $25. was sent home to their families. They were selected only from families on relief rolls, without discrimination on either religious or racial grounds. Negroes were enrolled in the ratio of one to every 10 men. The men were kept strictly segregated except for those in the northeastern states.

Men, mostly 17 and 18 year olds, received vocational and on-the-job training at the camps. Thousands completed elementary and high school and illiterates were taught to read and write. Locally, mechanics classes were taught which trained Dan Dugas for a vocation that was useful to him throughout his working years. Locals who had signed up and were assigned to the DeRidder camp were: Teddy Eaves, Louis Burge, Owen Slaydon and Dan Dugas. All worked 8 hour days, 5 days per week for $30. per month. At the time, cigarettes could be bought for 14 cents a pack and theater tickets sold for about 15 cents.

Many state and national leaders were squeamish about the CCC program because of its "Nazi youth camp" implications, but only organized labor and a few communist groups opposed it openly. An exception was Huey Long, an enigma, who resorted to low comedy and called himself "Kingfish" after a radio character on "Amos 'n' Andy." He broke with President Roosevelt and called the CCC a "sapling bill." He didn't want any of Roosevelt's trees in his state of Louisiana. He is quoted as saying "I will eat every one of them that comes up in my state."

Inasmuch as young men were needed in the armed forces, World War II led to the termination of the CCC. On July 2, 1942, some six months after the Pearl Harbor attack, Congress enacted legislation that provided for the disbandment of the CCC. Thus, the Corps was officially dissolved on June 30, 1943. By then, almost 3 million men had gained experience in the CCC program. Supervisors, who were Regular Army or Reserve Officers, had gained invaluable experience in organizing and training men that would serve their country well during the war.

1. It gave employment to hundreds of thousands of men who because of abnormal economic conditions were unable to find jobs.

2. It provided assistance for thousands of families dependent upon public relief.

3. It began a sound nation wide conservation program and cleaned up American landscape 4. It took boys off the streets and incucated in them a sense of values.

5. It stimulated the nation's economy by the spending for the purchase of all types of equipment and supplies.