Robert Black Civilian Conservation Corps audiocassettes

This collection comprises oral histories with former Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees. The Civilian Conservation Corps was established by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. It was a Depression-era program designed to provide jobs and relief for unemployed youth and their families. The majority of jobs were unskilled manual labor for the purpose of developing the natural resources in rural areas of the United States and its territories.

From 1933 to 1942 there were 52,905 enrollees working in Arizona CCC camps. They built 5,783 miles of forest roads, constructed 3,559 miles of telephone lines and developed numerous recreational sites still used by Arizonans today. The program ended in 1942 when the United States Congress eliminated its funding.