ONLINE – The Civilian Conservation Corps
Did you know? Pocahontas State Park is the home to the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum, where the legacy of the “CCC Boys” is kept alive through archival photographs, artifacts and personal mementos.
By March of 1933, 13.6 million people were unemployed in the United States. In the face of this emergency, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, only two days after his inauguration, called a meeting of government officials to create a Civilian Conservation Corps. Roosevelt intended to put 500,000 unemployed youths to work in forests, parks and range lands across the country.
During its nine-year run, the CCC employed more than 3 million men and left an undeniable imprint on the nation’s landscape. The CCC built more than 40,000 bridges, planted two billion trees, restored nearly 4,000 historic sites and structures, improved thousands of beaches, roads and shorelines, and created 800 state parks across America, including six in Virginia.
Join Chief Ranger Visitor Experience Rebecca Whalen for a look into the lives of the CCC Boys, their impact on the Virginia State Park system, and their life after enrollment.
As always, our online programs are FREE and open to the public, but advanced registration is required.
