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Virginia Civilian Conservation Corps Work near Blue Ridge Parkway, Photograph, ca. 1939

CONTENT WARNING

Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation. 

Context

Touted as the largest and most magnificent exposition of all time, the New York World’s Fair opened at Flushing Meadows in April 1939. In the Court of States, one exhibition was strikingly different from the rest: the Virginia Room, “an island of quiet” amid the fair’s raucous and more sensational attractions. Leslie Cheek, Jr., chair of the Department of Fine Arts at the College of William and Mary and designer of the Virginia Room, and his team of artists developed a plan for a spacious circular lounge with the visitor’s focus drawn to an ornamental fountain theatrically lit from above and below. The design offered tired fairgoers a place to sit, a chance to enjoy a complimentary glass of ice water served by a white-jacketed waiter, and an array of large photograph albums prepared by the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce.

The Virginia Room albums can be thought of as a sprawling infomercial for the state, promoting it as a place not just of historic shrines and natural beauty, but as one of scientific, artistic, and intellectual sophistication and as a modern state of concrete highway, Black colleges, world-class museums, and business-friendly public policies. When the World’s Fair closed, it was estimated that more than a million people had visited the Virginia Room and viewed its photograph collection. The photograph of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worksite along the Blue Ridge Parkway was included in the exhibit.

As part of his New Deal program to respond to the Great Depression, in April 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt established by executive order the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). A relief program for unmarried young men between the ages of 18 and 25, within three months 250,000 men had enrolled. Nicknamed the "Tree Army,” CCC workers planted trees to combat soil erosion and maintained national forests that helped eliminate stream pollution and led to the creation of fish, game, and bird sanctuaries. About two million young men took part in the program nationwide. By the program's end in 1942, more than 100,000 CCC workers in Virginia had built 986 bridges, planted more than fifteen million trees, strung more than two thousand miles of telephone line, and stocked rivers and streams with more than one million fish.

Citation: CCC workers have salvaged thousands of blight killed chestnut trees and made rails to fence an 800 foot right-of-way of Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia New York World's Fair Commission, 1939. Prints & Photographs, Special Collections, Library of Virginia

Standards

Social Studies: USII.1, USII.2, USII.6, VUS.10, VS.9
Science: ES.6, ES.8, ENV.7, ENV .8

Suggested Questions

Preview Activity

Look at It: Look at the photograph and the title of the photograph. Why does this image tell you about the work being done on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the 1930’s.

Post Activities

STEM Stat: Conservation is the responsible management of the environment which includes resources for present and future use. The CCC promoted the idea of conservation through a variety of means and led to the development of our current national park system. Conservation efforts are still needed to protect the environment. List three environmental or natural resource issues and a possible solution for each item on your list.

Up for Debate: The Civilian Conservation Corps is just one example of a New Deal program that sought to employ Americans who could not find private employment in the midst of the Great Depression. Do you think the government should create jobs to assist the unemployed? Why or why not?

Social Media Spin: Create a post or tweet in which you promote environmental conservation. Be sure to include at least one reference to the Civilian Conservation Corps.