Roosevelt's Forest Army · Episode 1 of 14 · 34 min
The 37 Days That Built the Civilian Conservation Corps
In spring 1933 Franklin Roosevelt turned a campaign idea into a quarter-million men working in the woods in just thirty-seven days, the fastest peacetime mobilization in American history. The Emergency Conservation Work Act stitched four federal agencies into one machine, and the Civilian Conservation Corps was beloved from day one. The episode opens at a 90-year-old Sierra stone wall.
Who's who
- Franklin D. Roosevelt+28 more episodesPresident who created the CCC in his first weeks in office
- Robert Fechner+5 more episodesFirst CCC director, a labor leader chosen to reassure unions
- Frances Perkins+3 more episodesSecretary of Labor whose department selected enrollees
- George DernSecretary of War whose department ran camp logistics
- Henry WallaceSecretary of Agriculture overseeing Forest Service work
- Harold Ickes+6 more episodesSecretary of the Interior overseeing park and public-land projects
Where it happens
- Camp Roosevelt, Luray, Virginia+1 more episodeFirst CCC camp, opened April 1933
- Sierra Nevada, California+6 more episodesWhere a 90-year-old CCC stone wall opens the episode
Timeline
- March 4, 1933Roosevelt inaugurated amid roughly a quarter of the workforce unemployed
- March 31, 1933Roosevelt signs the Emergency Conservation Work Act
- April 5, 1933Executive Order 6101 names Fechner director
- April 7, 1933First enrollee enters the program, 37 days after inauguration
- July 1, 1933About 275,000 enrollees at work
Still debated
The '37 days' count and the first enrollee's exact date vary slightly by source. Enrollment was formally voluntary, but relief rolls and mass unemployment added soft pressure. Calling the CCC Washington's most popular program is the series' thesis to test.
Connected episodes in other series
What Was the WPA? The Program That Built Modern AmericaThe Infinite Dividend: The WPA · Episode 1Also features Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harold Ickes
The Deal: Wagner, Flint, and Taft-HartleyThe Long Argument: Capital vs. Labor · Episode 7Also features Frances Perkins, Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR's Thousand-Mile Tree Wall: The Dust Bowl ShelterbeltGround Truth: Forest Service Research · Episode 5Also features Franklin D. Roosevelt
Court-Packing and the Switch in Time: Why the Court Has Nine JusticesThe Least Dangerous Branch? · Episode 8Also features Franklin D. Roosevelt