Records of the Civilian Conservation Corps [CCC]

Search this Record Group in the National Archives Online Catalog

(Record Group 35)
1933-53 (bulk 1933-48)
725 cu. ft.

Table of Contents

  • 35.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 35.2 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE EMERGENCY CONSERVATION WORK AND CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS 1933-42 590 lin. ft. and 193 rolls of microfilm
  • 35.3 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS 1933-43 (bulk 1933-42) 457 lin. ft.
  • 35.3.1 Records of the Division of Selection
  • 35.3.2 Records of the Division of Planning and Public Relations
  • 35.3.3 Records of the Division of Research and Statistics
  • 35.3.4 Records of the Division of Investigations
  • 35.3.5 Records of the Safety Division
  • 35.3.6 Records of the Automotive and Priorities Division
  • 35.4 RECORDS OF THE CCC LIQUIDATION UNIT 1933-53 34 lin. ft.
  • 35.5 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)
  • 35.6 MOTION PICTURES (GENERAL) 1934 2 reels
  • 35.7 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)

35.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: As an independent agency by act of June 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 319).

Predecessor Agencies:

  • Emergency Conservation Work (1933-37)
Transfers: To Federal Security Agency by Reorganization Plan No. I, effective July 1, 1939.

Functions: Provided employment and vocational training for unemployed youths and, to a lesser extent, for war veterans and Indians, through conservation and natural resources development work, and beginning in May 1940, defense work on military reservations and forest protection.

Abolished: By Labor-Federal Security Appropriation Act (56 Stat. 569), July 2, 1942, providing for liquidation by June 30, 1943. Liquidation appropriations continued through June 30, 1948.

Finding Aids: Douglas Helms, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Civilian Conservation Corps, PI 11 (Revised, 1980).

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Civilian Conservation Corps in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government. CCC enrollee personnel and payroll records in National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, MO. Records of the Office of Education, RG 12.
Records of the Veterans Administration, RG 15.
Records of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, RG 16.
Records of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, RG 22.
Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, RG 48.
Records of the Government of the Virgin Islands, RG 55.
Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, RG 75.
Records of the National Park Service, RG 79.
Records of the Forest Service, RG 95.
Records of the Soil Conservation Service, RG 114.
Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1917- , RG 407.

Subject Access Terms: New Deal agency.

RECORDS
RECORD TYPES RECORD LOCATIONS QUANTITIES
Textual Records Washington Area 691 cu. ft.
Arch/engrg Plans College Park 169 items
Motion Pictures College Park 2 reels
Still Pictures College Park 10,850 images

35.2 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE EMERGENCY CONSERVATION WORK AND
CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS
1933-42
590 lin. ft. and 193 rolls of microfilm

History: Emergency Conservation Work established as an independent agency by EO 6101, April 5, 1933, under authority of an emergency employment act of March 3l, 1933 (48 Stat. 22) to relieve unemployment and to restore the country's natural resources through public works. Superseded by CCC, 1937. SEE 35.1.

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1933-42 (427 ft.), with index, 1933-40 (127 ft.). Reference file, 1933-42. Records relating to the organization and operations of the CCC, with emphasis on the role of the Forest Service in CCC activities, 1933-42. Correspondence of the Director, 1933-39. Minutes of the Advisory Council to the Director, 1933-42. Procedural manuals, 1933-42. Microfilm copy of work progress reports, 1933-42 (193 rolls). Army corps area camp status reports, 1941-42. Camp directories, 1933-42. Organization charts, 1941-42. Happy Days, the CCC weekly newspaper, 1933-40. Records relating to proposed merger of the National Youth Administration and the CCC, 1939-42. Correspondence and resolutions relating to memorials for Robert Fechner, first CCC Director, 1940-41.

Architectural and Engineering Plans (169 items): Blueprints of typical CCC camp buildings, 1935-40.

35.3 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS
1933-43 (bulk 1933-42)
457 lin. ft.

35.3.1 Records of the Division of Selection

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1933-42. Policy file, 1933-42. Correspondence with state selecting agencies, 1933-42. Records relating to cooperation with federal agencies and the American Youth Commission, 1933-42. State procedural records and manuals, 1933-42. Records relating to enrollment plans and operations, 1933-42. Records relating to the development of the "Plan of Operation," 1936-41. Individual state plans for CCC selection, 1937-42. Records relating to legislation, conferences, and the CCC educational program, 1933-42. Directives, circular letters, bulletins, and instructions, 1933-42. Quarterly and statistical reports, 1933-42. Public relations and publicity files, 1933-42. Speeches and publications, 1938-42. Biographical sketches of "success stories," 1939. Records relating to state personnel merit systems, 1940-41.

35.3.2 Records of the Division of Planning and Public Relations

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1933-42. Publicity materials, pictographs (periodic summary statistics of work accomplishments), articles and speeches, publications, and press releases, 1933-42. News clippings, 1937-42. Radio scripts, 1939- 40.

Photographs (10,342 images): General file of the Emergency Conservation Work and the CCC, 1933-40 (GE, 1,300 images). CCC programs, taken by Wilfred J. Mead and other photographers, 1940- 42 (G, 2,900 images). Recruitment and early activities of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's reforestation army, 1933 (EC, 125 images). Camp superintendent reports (1 ft.) containing photographs illustrating enrollee activities at twelve camps supervised by the National Park Service, 1933-35 (MP, 500 images). Religious services in camps and nearby communities in Kentucky, 1935-42 (GK, 1,000 images). Black enrollees in vocational training sessions, recreational activities, and conservation and other work programs, 1936-39 (N, 150 images). Army corps area enrollee activities, 1936-38 (GC, 3,525 images). Interiors of buildings at Camp Ludington-Pere, MI, ca. 1938 (MOPA, 18 images). CCC activities, ca. 1938, and companies, 1939- 42 (SU, 800 images). Restoration by native enrollees of Haida and Tlinget totem poles in the Tongass National Forest, AK, 1938-39 (TA, 24 images).

Composite Photographic Prints (150 images): CCC sites and company personnel, 1939-40 (MOPD).

Aerial Oblique Photographs (62 images): Camps in CT, MA, and RI, taken by the Connecticut National Guard, 1933 (CA).

Panoramic Prints (14 images): Camps and personnel in AR, CO, OH, and WY, 1934-40 (MOPB).

Photographic Negatives (60 images): Enrollees visiting memorials in Washington, DC, 1941 (WM, 19 images). Civilian defense training methods, 1942 (CD, 41 images).

Color Slides (202 images): Enrollee activities in ID, OR, and WA, by Wilfred J. Mead, 1941 (K).

Lantern Slides (20 images): National Youth Administration slides of emergency conservation work, ca. 1938 (LS).

35.3.3 Records of the Division of Research and Statistics

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1933-42. Records relating to legislation, 1937-42. Monthly station and strength reports, 1933-42. Reports on educational activities, 1935-42.

35.3.4 Records of the Division of Investigations

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1933-42. Administrative files, 1933-42. Camp inspection reports, 1933-42.

35.3.5 Records of the Safety Division

Textual Records: Correspondence and reports, 1933-42. Reports of investigations into deaths of enrollees, 1937-40. Reports of injury, 1937-40. Accident reports, 1933-42.

35.3.6 Records of the Automotive and Priorities Division

Textual Records: Correspondence, 1935-43. Records relating to the Central Motor Repair Divisions and Shops, 1938-40. Reports of inspection trips, 1937-39.

35.4 RECORDS OF THE CCC LIQUIDATION UNIT
1933-53
34 lin. ft.

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1940-53. Correspondence relating to the disposal of buildings and property, 1935-48. Records relating to the transfer of CCC camps to states and federal agencies, 1942-47. Records used in facilitating the liquidation process, 1933-53.

35.5 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)

SEE Architectural and Engineering Plans UNDER 35.2.

35.6 MOTION PICTURES (GENERAL)
1934
2 reels

A Day in Virginia Camps, documenting a variety of work projects and recreational activities of CCC members, 1934 (1 reel). The Civilian Conservation Corps at Work: Erosion Control, documenting CCC methods of controlling soil erosion, 1934 (1 reel).

35.7 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)

SEE Photographs UNDER 35.3.2. SEE Composite Photographic Prints UNDER 35.3.2. SEE Aerial Oblique Photographs UNDER 35.3.2. SEE Panoramic Prints UNDER 35.3.2. SEE Photographic Negatives UNDER 35.3.2. SEE Color Slides UNDER 35.3.2. SEE Lantern Slides UNDER 35.3.2.

Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.

Ordering information

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.