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I The Civilian Conservation Corps Drive through almost any American state or national park and most likely you will find a marker commemorating the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps. For nine years—from 1933 to 1942—the CCC put over three million unemployed men to work rehabilitating, protecting, and building America’s natural resources; their work remains of environmental consequence today. The CCC also had important civic and political consequences . Although not considered so at the time, it was America’s first, and largest, civilian national service program; understanding its lessons as public policy for democracy and its development and demise is central to assessing the possibilities and limits of national service more broadly. Civically, the CCC influenced how its participants and the public understood their relationship to government and the meaning of citizenship. The principles of reciprocity and collaboration between government and citizens were central. The CCC emphasized a work-based approach to citizenship but also incorporated constitutional, patriotic, and service understandings. Sometimes it viewed CCC enrollees as present-day citizens, sometimes as citizens in training. This conceptual diversity reflects the contested nature of American citizenship and prevailing cultural norms. Most striking, however, was the sheer pervasiveness of the language and idea of citizenship. The CCC had an explicit, formative, civic mission: to create citizens. In no other national service program, past or present, has citizenship been such a driving, central concern. Politically, the CCC was never deeply institutionalized, nor was it used as a model for future national service policymaking. Well recognized and strongly Part 35 03-2380-6 ch3.indd 35 12/24/12 10:43 AM 36 the civilian conservation corps supported, the CCC certainly had institutional potential. Its support, however , was largely contingent on the Great Depression; it was conceived as a short-term measure and, despite attempts by the Roosevelt administration, never achieved the permanence that institutionalization requires. Its influence on future policymaking was thus limited: it is hard to build upon a program that no longer exists. The intimate connections between the CCC and President Roosevelt, the Democratic Party, and the New Deal era also limited its future influence and foreshadowed a pattern that over time has facilitated and constrained the creation and development of America’s national service programs. 03-2380-6 ch3.indd 36 12/24/12 10:43 AM ...

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