Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Scrip Tickets
Shortly after assuming office in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent legislation to Congress proposing the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a public work relief program that was part of his New Deal initiative.
From the time of its inception until it was dissolved in mid-1942, the CCC recruited unemployed and unmarried young men to perform unskilled manual labor related primarily to the conservation and development of natural resources. During its organizational lifespan, the CCC put more than three million young men to work in the nation’s forests and parks, planting trees, constructing flood barriers, restoring historic battlefields, clearing beaches and campgrounds, and building and maintaining roads and trails.
The CCC involved several government agencies working in conjunction. The Department of Labor recruited the men, the War Department clothed and provided initial training, and the Department of Agriculture designed and managed the specific work projects.
Men hired into the CCC lived in camps. In addition to the shelter, food and clothing provided to the men, they received a small wage of $30 per month, but were required to send $25 home to their families. After working eight hours each day, most men took advantage of evening classes offered in subjects from literature to welding. These courses led to 40,000 illiterate men being taught to read and write, as well as receive training that would better prepare them for higher-paying jobs as the effects of the Great Depression eased.
By 1942, with the United States involved in World War II, the need for work relief declined and Congress voted to close the program, and shifted the resources and funding to the war effort.
From the time of its inception until it was dissolved in mid-1942, the CCC recruited unemployed and unmarried young men to perform unskilled manual labor related primarily to the conservation and development of natural resources. During its organizational lifespan, the CCC put more than three million young men to work in the nation’s forests and parks, planting trees, constructing flood barriers, restoring historic battlefields, clearing beaches and campgrounds, and building and maintaining roads and trails.
The CCC involved several government agencies working in conjunction. The Department of Labor recruited the men, the War Department clothed and provided initial training, and the Department of Agriculture designed and managed the specific work projects.
Men hired into the CCC lived in camps. In addition to the shelter, food and clothing provided to the men, they received a small wage of $30 per month, but were required to send $25 home to their families. After working eight hours each day, most men took advantage of evening classes offered in subjects from literature to welding. These courses led to 40,000 illiterate men being taught to read and write, as well as receive training that would better prepare them for higher-paying jobs as the effects of the Great Depression eased.
By 1942, with the United States involved in World War II, the need for work relief declined and Congress voted to close the program, and shifted the resources and funding to the war effort.
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The items in my collection are scrip tickets that were used in one of the Camp Exchanges.
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