Preface
This is the life story of a federal agency. It is
also the chronicle of a successful experiment. The plan to put
unemployed young men to work on the conservation of natural resources,
conceived amid general skepticism in the first fruitful weeks of
Franklin Roosevelt's first administration, flourished to become one of
the most popular of all the New Deal measures. It was also one of the
most successful. During its life span of nine years more than 2.5
million young Americans passed through the Civilian Conservation Corps.
In so doing, they benefited both themselves and the nation. These
benefits were immediate, obvious, and well distributed. Farmers were
assisted by soil erosion camps and by work in reforestation and fire
control; local businessmen received an economic boost from their
participation in the camp trade. The families of the enrollees were
aided by the monthly allotment checks which they received. The youths
themselves gained both physically and in outlook from the camp
experience. The purpose of this book is first to examine these matters
at greater length.
These practical benefits account, to a degree, for
the CCC's extraordinary popularity. Even without them, however, the
Corps would probably have touched a responsive chord in American hearts.
For it appealed to one of the most durable of American folkways, the
mystique of the forest. In an age of rapid urbanization, the CCC boys
made one think of the frontier. This appeal was, in a sense, nostalgic;
the boys re-created the spirit of an heroic age now past. Moreover, in a
predominantly pacifist society, perhaps the CCC's military connection
had some special meaning for those who still valued martial virtues.
These, too, are themes which I have considered.
This book does not pretend to be a comprehensive
history of the Civilian Conservation Corps. My concern, primarily, is
with the central organization, not the thousands of camps. I have tried
to explain how the Corps was developed and operated, I have discussed
both its successes and its failures, and I have identified the reasons
for its widespread popular appeal. But I have not been able to examine
the Corps at the grass-roots level
to any great extent. This, therefore, is a history of
the Civilian Conservation Corps as seen, in large part, though
Washington eyes.
Many people and institutions have aided in the making
of this book, and I can mention but a few by name. I must thank, first
of all, the Duke University Commonwealth-Studies Center for financing my
researches. My greatest academic debt is owed to Dr. Richard L. Watson,
Jr., chairman of the History Department at Duke, who first suggested the
subject to me, and whose advice, encouragement, and criticism have been
the formative factors in this work. Dean Snyder, formerly director of
CCC Selection, graciously took the time to discuss aspects of his work
with me, while my research would have taken far longer, and been much
less enjoyable, had it not been for the constant assistance and
attention of Mr. Stanley Brown, National Archives, Washington, and
Messrs. Jerry Deyo and Joseph Marshall, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library,
Hyde Park, New York. To all these gentlemen, I owe my thanks.
My friends and colleagues, Mr. M. W. Raffel, Victoria
University of Wellington, New Zealand; Dr. M. E. R. Bassett, University
of Auckland, New Zealand; Dr. Lynn L. Marshall, University of California
at Santa Barbara; and Dr. Bruce L. Clayton, Allegheny College, have each
read the manuscript, either whole or in part. Their textual criticisms
have been invaluable, while, with great fortitude, they have also acted
as sounding boards for my ideas. Mesdames C. van Ginkel and M. Firth,
secretaries in the History Department of Victoria University of
Wellington, have typed the complete manuscript, saving me much time and
tedium. I wish to thank, too, the Editorial Board of the Journal of
American History for permitting me to use in Chapter V material
which first appeared in that journal as part of an article. My greatest
debt is to my wife, Barbara Ann Salmond. She has assisted me in my
research, in formulating my ideas, and in setting them on paper. This
book is dedicated to her.
All the people mentioned above have helped give this
book whatever merit it may possess. For its defects, I alone am
responsible.
John Salmond
July, 1966
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