Integration
Photograph of an integrated group of CCC workers.
In the early years of the CCC the program was very integrated, war veterans, white citizens, and African American citizens were all apart of the same camps. The members that were enrolled in the CCC was proportional to the national population at the time, for instance, ten percent of the enrollees had to be African Americans because ten percent of the population at the time was African Americans. However, it was hard to integrate African Americans in the same camps because there were still racial tensions so segregation began.
In 1935 segregated CCC camps were created, war veterans, whites, and African Americans would all be placed in separate, but equal, camps. As a result less effort was made to enroll African Americans into the program and applications made by African Americans were sometimes rejected in favor of white applicants. At the time there were complaints about how the CCC allowed there to be racial discrimination within the camps. Robert Fechner, director of the Emergency Conservation Work program at the time, assured these critics that there was no discrimination and African American members of the CCC were happy being segregated. He explained that the they got along with each other better and that being segregated was not a form of discrimination. This held true because the African American camps were given the same tools and materials as the white camps, they were also treated the same. The only form of discrimination came from the towns and cities where the African American camps would be built. Some communities did not want these African American camps so to respect the community and prevent racial tensions the camps were placed only in places where they were accepted.
In 1935 segregated CCC camps were created, war veterans, whites, and African Americans would all be placed in separate, but equal, camps. As a result less effort was made to enroll African Americans into the program and applications made by African Americans were sometimes rejected in favor of white applicants. At the time there were complaints about how the CCC allowed there to be racial discrimination within the camps. Robert Fechner, director of the Emergency Conservation Work program at the time, assured these critics that there was no discrimination and African American members of the CCC were happy being segregated. He explained that the they got along with each other better and that being segregated was not a form of discrimination. This held true because the African American camps were given the same tools and materials as the white camps, they were also treated the same. The only form of discrimination came from the towns and cities where the African American camps would be built. Some communities did not want these African American camps so to respect the community and prevent racial tensions the camps were placed only in places where they were accepted.
As the depression lessened and World War II came closer white enrollees were becoming fewer and fewer, so an effort was made in 1941 to recruit more African Americans into the program. A pamphlet was produced to attract more African Members. It described how over the years 250,000 colored youth had served in the corps and that throughout their enrollment they gained an average of seven to fifteen pounds. It explains that the CCC gives them an education and provides books, there are also magazines and newspapers. First-aid is provided for the members and how there are other services, like transportation and recreational activities, that the CCC provides.