Vintage 1930s Photo LotAfrican American Men in CCCCivilian Conservation Corps

Large lot of original vintage Great Depression Era ca. Young African American men in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) working, in groups, some portraits, candid images, cooking, a few landscapes, etc.

39 total photos including 6 duplicates. About the CCC: In 1933, at the peak of the Great Depression, the overall unemployment rate in the United States was well over 20%.

African Americans were hit hardest, experiencing an unemployment rate two to three times that of white Americans. In these desperate times, President Franklin D.

Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): a federal work relief program that, from 1933 until 1942, put 3 million unemployed young men to work building and restoring America's natural resource infrastructure. The CCC was created with progressive intentions. With persuasion from Oscar De Priest, an Illinois representative and the only Black member of Congress, the legislation that established the CCC included language forbidding discriminatory practices based on race, color, or creed.

Throughout the years up until World War II, more than 200,000 African Americans and 80,000 Native Americans served in the program. However, their experience was, in many cases, markedly different from that of their white peers. The CCC failed at its promise of inclusivity, existing as it did during the era of Jim Crow segregation.

Though CCC camps were, at least in the beginning, supposed to be integrated, this largely only happened in areas where the African American population was not large enough to warrant a separate camp. To reduce community outcry, many of the 150 African American CCC camps were built on remote federal lands, away from the public. To this day, the more than 200,000 Black corpsmen of the CCC remain "hidden figures" in the development of America's public lands. Overall condition is good to very good; light wear and/or soiling to some; a few with creases or chips at margins or corners please review pictures above sizes range from largest at 3.5" x 5.5" to smallest at 3.5" x 2.5". Please see our other original vintage photographs, antique books and ephemera. Please Read the Following Terms. We understand that unusual circumstances may arise, and we're happy to work with you whenever possible.

Mailing is done once or twice a week and day varies depending on orders. Please be sure to check back for additional historical and antique items as we'll be adding new items throughout the week. The items we offer are all original vintage / antique. International Buyers - Please Note.

---