Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Civilian Conservation Corps Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0930
Creators:
National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni
Ward, C.E.
Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.)
Bidwell, Timothy
Bires, Andrew, G.
Dates:
1853-2009, undated
bulk 1933-1942
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
155 Cubic feet
331 boxes, 57 map folders
Repository:
The Archival collections of the National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni (NACCCA) donated in 2006. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), created as part of the New Deal legislation initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, was a public work relief program for unemployed men designed to reduce high unemployment during the Great Depression. The CCC carried out a broad natural resource conservation program on national, state, and municipal lands from 1933 to 1942. This collection contains papers, photographs, and ephemera collected and created by alumni of the CCC and donated to the NACCCA archives.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This material was acquired by the National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni (NACCCA)from CCC alumni and originally housed in the NACCCA archives in St. Louis, Missouri. Photographic materials, including loose photos, slides, snapshots, group photos, panoramic photos, and albums and binders of photographs; printed materials, including newspapers published by individual companies, camps and districts, and the national CCC newspaper,
Happy Days
; materials documenting each camp, including camp histories, personal memoirs, blueprints of camps and projects worked on; the papers of C.E. Ward, Educational Director of the CCC's 3rd Corps, which document the planning and implementation of educational activities in that region; miscellaneous materials, including camp rosters, cartoons, menus, poems, pamphlets, booklets, magazines, manuals, enrollee discharge papers, work logs, and sheet music; and other more recent materials such as research papers, books on the CCC, selected audiotape and video interviews with some of the alumni; and other miscellaneous items. The collection is arranged into nine series.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is divided into nine series.
Series 1: Scrapbooks, 1853-2003, undated
Series 2: State Material, 1922-2008, undated
Series 3: Publications, 1924-2006, undated
Series 4: C.E. Ward, 3rd Corps, 1933-2001, undated
Series 5: Photographs, 1929-2008, undated
Series 6: General Ephemera, 1915-2006, undated
Series 7: Bidwell Addendum, 1933-1987, undated
Series 8: Bires Addendum, 1934-1985, undated
Series 9: Audiovisual Materials, 1933-2009, undated

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a New Deal era program, created in 1933 to reduce unemployment, a direct result of the Great Depression. The CCC provided national conservation work across the United States for young, unmarried men. Veterans could be enrolled in the CCC after verification of their service by the Veteran's Administration. Veterans were exempt from the age and marriage restriction. Projects included planting trees, bulding flood barriers, combatting forest fires, maintaining forest roads and trails, and building recreational facilities in the National Park system and a host of other projects. There were separate CCC programs for Native Americans of recognized tribes and African Americans. In 1942, with the waning of the Great Depression and America's entry into World War II in December 1941, resources devoted to the CCC (men and materials) were diverted to the war effort. Congress ceased funding for the CCC and liquidation of the CCC was included in the Labor-Federal Security Appropriation Act (56 Stat. 569) on July 2, 1942, and for the most part completed by June 30, 1943. Appropriations for the liquidation of the CCC continued through April 20, 1948.

Administration

Author
Franklin A. Robinson, Jr. and Emily Woessner
Accruals
Addenda were donated by: Diane De Libero in 2011, Robert Kelley and Timothy Bidwell in 2013, Andrew G. Bires in 2017, National Park Service in 2018, South Carolina Cotton Museum in 2019, Angela Thor in 2021.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni in 2006.
Custodial History
The National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni, formed in 1977, was the repository for the initial donation of these papers, photographs, and artifacts donated from CCC alumni.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr. archives specialist, assisted by Kendra Ciccone, Ashley Davies, Helena Iles, Emily Woessner, interns, and Sarah Allen, volunteer; supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist and Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archives specialist, 2010-2017.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Civilian Conservation Corps Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with cotton gloves. Researchers may use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis and as resources allow.
Viewing film portions of the collection requires special appointment, please inquire; listening to LP recordings is only possible by special arrangement.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view materials in cold storage. Using cold room materials requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Related Materials
Materials at Other Organizations
National Archives and Records Administration
Record Group 35, Civilian Conservation Corps

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Panoramas Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newspapers Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pamphlets Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audiovisual materials Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newsletters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Books Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blueprints -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Conservation of natural resources -- 1930-1950 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cartoons (humorous images) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Logs (records) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Depressions -- 1929 -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Magazines (periodicals) -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Menus Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Memoirs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National parks and reserves Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Deal, 1933-1939 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rosters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Poems Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
State parks Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sheet music -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-3270
Fax Number: Fax: 202-786-2453
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