02/05/2024
Let's take a moment to shine a spotlight on the major, yet largely hidden role played by African-Americans in rebuilding this country from the depths of the Great Depression.
In 1933, with the nation in the grip of the devastating depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Men between the ages of 17 and 28 were paid $30 a month to build national wildlife refuges, parks, hatcheries, levees, reservoirs, campgrounds, roads and trails across rural America. They worked on more than 40 wildlife refuges, building roads, residences, levees and fire towers. They planted millions of trees, garnering the nickname “Roosevelt’s Tree Army.”
Because of segregation and an unwillingness to acknowledge the African-American CCC crews as equals, much of the conservation work done by African American crews went unrecognized for decades. People like USFWS archaeologist Richard Kanaski, are bringing this history to light. Kanaski is compiling information about the little-known history of the African-American CCC enrollees throughout the South.
“It’s part of our history and we’re working to acknowledge it,” Kanaski says. “We’re adding depth to the history of the CCC and, in particular, the African-American presence. They played a major role in the development of our refuges today.”
Photo courtesy of Civilian Conservation Corps
