The CCC

During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps became one of the most successful programs aiding Americans, providing training and employment to more than 3 million young men from 1933 to 1942. Enrollees were sent to camps in every state and territory of the U.S. to work on conservation projects, fight fires, assist during emergencies, and build roads, bridges, and buildings. Illinois was one of the first states to use the program, and over the years about 165,000 individuals worked in at least 50 camps in the state, many of them on projects in state parks. In Illinois, the men built shelters and buildings, constructed roads and 1,192 miles of trails, planted 60 million trees, built nearly 400 bridges, and carried out many other park improvement and maintenance activities. Each enrollee was paid $30 a month, receiving $5 while $25 was sent home to his family, and also received meals, lodging, clothing, footwear, inoculations, medical and dental care, and optional vocational, academic, or recreational instruction.

Illinois · United States