FDR and the Civilian Conservation Corps
(Speech delivered at dedication of CCC Camp Historical Marker, September 30, 2006)
By Steven R. Butler

A little more than three years ago, when I was in the process of writing my history of White Rock Lake Park, From Water Supply to Urban Oasis, I approached the board of For The Love Of The Lake asking that they sponsor a Texas Historical Commission marker commemorating White Rock's Civilian Conservation Corps camp, and offering to write the historical narrative from which the text of the marker would be derived. I did so because while I was aware of the historical significance of this site, it occurred me to me that the casual visitor, seeing only two baseball diamonds here, probably did not, there being no trace of the camp remaining.

To my delight, the board agreed to my proposal, and so here we are today, gathered together to dedicate that marker in the presence of some of the men who served here more than sixty years ago. At this time I would like to extend my grateful thanks to both past and present board members of For The Love Of The Lake, and also to Willis Winters and Sally Rodriguez of the Dallas Park and Recreation Department as well as Buddy Frazer of the Dallas Historical Commission, all of who had a hand in making this day possible. And of course I would also like to thank as well the Texas Historical Commission in Austin for approving the project.

As I did when we dedicated the CCC worker statue which stands only a few hundred yards from this site, I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words in praise of a man who more than anyone else made all this possible - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who in my opinion, and the opinion of most of my fellow historians, was the greatest president of the twentieth century.

In 1932 the United States was in the depths of the Great Depression. During the previous three years thousands of banks and businesses failed. One out of every four American workers had no job and a third of the nation's farmers had lost their land. In the summer of 1932, when thousands of destitute World War One veterans and their families marched on Washington, seeking relief, President Hoover used troops to drive them away with tanks, tear gas, and bayonets. Americans were beginning to lose hope that things would get better, and indeed, many already had.

In November of that same year, the Democratic governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was elected president promising Americans a "New Deal." Taking office on March 4, 1933, he kept that promise. With the cooperation of Congress, one of his very first acts was to create "a civilian conservation corps" to be used in "forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control, and similar projects."

Enrollment in the CCC was limited to unemployed young men in their late teens and early twenties, whose families were on relief, as well as unemployed veterans of the First World War. In a nationwide radio address delivered on May 7, 1933, FDR explained to the American people what the program was intended to accomplish:

"We are giving opportunity of employment to one-quarter of a million of the unemployed, especially the young men who have dependents, to go into the forestry and flood-prevention work. This is a big task because it means feeding, clothing, and caring for nearly twice as many men as we have in the regular army itself. In creating this Civilian Conservation Corps we are killing two birds with one stone. We are clearly enhancing the value of our natural resources, and we are relieving an appreciable amount of actual distress."

Most people, both then and now, agree that the CCC was by far the most popular and successful of FDR's New Deal programs. Paid a monthly wage of $30, enrollees sent $25 home to their families, which allowed them to be taken off relief rolls, restoring their dignity. Many enrollees received a practical education. Altogether, 3 million men participated.

On April 17, 1936, the third anniversary of the opening of the first CCC camp in Virginia, FDR used another of his celebrated "fireside chats" to commend enrollees for "the promptness with which [they had] seized the opportunity to engage in honest work, the willingness with which [they] performed [their] daily tasks, and the fine spirit [they had] shown in winning the respect of the communities [where their] camps [were] located." He concluded by saying:

"Although many of you entered the camps undernourished and discouraged through inability to obtain employment as you came of working age, the hard work, regular hours, the plain, wholesome food, and the outdoor life of the CCC camps brought a quick response in improved morale. As muscles hardened and you became accustomed to outdoor work you grasped the opportunity to learn by practical training on the job and through camp educational facilities. Many of you rose to responsible positions…"

"Our records show that the results achieved in the protection and improvement of our timbered domain, in the arrest of soil wastage, in the development of needed recreational areas, in wildlife conservation, and in flood control have been as impressive as the results achieved in the rehabilitation of youth. Through your spirit and industry it has been demonstrated that young men can be put to work in our forests, parks, and fields on projects which benefit both the nation's youth and conservation generally."

In closing I would also like to add my personal thanks and praise for the CCC enrollees, both here at White Rock and elsewhere in the United States, who in their youthful vigor, performed work that not only benefited themselves and their families, but the nation as a whole, and not just for the people of that time but for future generations as well. With this marker here, they will know.

Copyright © 2006 by Steven Butler. All rights reserved.