The Civilian Conservation Corps As Means of Social
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THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS AS MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL: A SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA PERSPECTIVE By LEON CHAD KINDER Bachelor of Science Southwestern Oklahoma State University Weatherford, Oklahoma 1993 Master of Education Southwestern Oklahoma State University Weatherford, Oklahoma 1995 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION December, 2003 Tueiis 2DD3D K5lc THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS AS MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL: A SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA PERSPECTIVE Thesis Approved: ,~(l,g ,, Thesis Advisor ~ Dean of the Graduate College 11 PREFACE I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Lowell Caneday, my dissertation advisor, for the many hours he spent in support of my work. To Dr. Christine Cashel, doctoral committee chair, my deepest appreciation is extended. Thanks is also expressed to the other members of the doctoral committee, Dr. William Bryans, Dr. Colleen Hood, and Dr. Thomas Kuzmic for their time, suggestions, and support given in the development of this project. I also wish to express thanks to my mentor, Dr. Ken Rose, Dean of the School of Professional and Graduate Studies at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, for his assistance and support during my doctoral work. To my wife Gayla, children Natalie and Carson, and members of my extended family a special thanks is given. Thank-you all for your love and support. 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION, STATEMENT OF THESIS AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ......................................... 1 Introduction and Statement of Thesis ............................ 1 The Great Depression ............................................. .2 The Great Depression in Oklahoma .............................. 3 Hoover's Response to the Great Depression ................... 5 Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal.. ................ 8 Theoretical Background ........................................... 10 References ........................................................... 15 II. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS ................................................21 F.D.R. and the Creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps ................................................................. 21 The Civilian Conservation Corps is Created ................... .27 The Labor Department and the Civilian Conservation Corps ................................................................. 37 The War Department and the Civilian Conservation Corps ..40 The Department of the Interior and the Civilian Conservation Corps ................................................ 54 The Department of Agriculture and the Civilian Conservation Corps ................................................ 59 The Civilian Conservation Corps in Oklahoma ................ 64 References ........................................................... 65 III. THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS IN THE WICHITA MOUNTAINS: CO. 812 BUFFALO SPRINGS, CO. 870 ELM ISLAND, CO. 859 PANTHER CREEK ................................. 70 Regional History ................................................... 70 Roosevelt's Tree Army Arrives in the Wichita Mountains ... 73 Two More C.C.C. Camps for the Wichitas ..................... 80 Military Involvement. ............................................. 81 IV Camp Life ........................................................... 87 Medical Care ........................................................ 89 Camp Education .................................................... 91 Camp Recreation ................................................... 94 Work Projects ....................................................... 97 Community Relations ............................................. 111 The Camps Close ................................................... 114 References ........................................................... 117 IV. THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS IN QUARTZ MOUNTAIN STATE PARK: CO. 2810, CAMP SP-16 .............. 128 A C.C.C. Camp at Quartz Mountain ............................. 128 Military Involvement .............................................. 139 Camp Life ........................................................... 142 Medical Care ........................................................ 144 Camp Education .................................................... 146 Camp Recreation ................................................... 149 Work Projects ....................................................... 151 Community Relations ............................................. 154 The Camp Closes ................................................... 159 References ........................................................... 161 V. THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS IN CLINTON OKLAHOMA: CO. 2826, CAMP SCS-5 ............................... 170 A C.C.C. Camp for Clinton ....................................... 170 Military Involvement. ............................................. 175 Camp Life ........................................................... 182 Medical Care ........................................................ 186 Camp Education .................................................... 189 Camp Recreation ................................................... 192 Work Projects ....................................................... 194 Community Relations ............................................. 199 The Camp Closes ................................................... 205 References ........................................................... 207 VI. THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS AS A MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL. .................................................. 220 References ........................................................... 24 2 V VII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................... 249 APPENDIXES ........................................................................ 254 IRB Approval ....................................................... 254 Vl 1 CHAPTER I Introduction, Statement of Thesis and Historical Background Introduction and Statement of Thesis Both to save a generation of upright and eager young men and to help save and restore our threatened natural resources, I had determined even before Inauguration to take as many of these young men as we could off the city street comers and place them in the woods at healthful employment and sufficient wage so that their families might also be benefited by their employment. (Rosenman, 1938b, p. 82) Franklin Delano Roosevelt overtly claimed that the function of the newly formed Civilian Conservation Corps work relief program was twofold. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine if, and if so, to what degree and how, the United States government designed and utilized the C.C.C. as a means of social control during the Great Depression. Social control, as defined by Talcott Parsons and utilized in Dorceta Taylor's (1999) study of the use of Central Park as a model for social control, is an "analysis of the processes that tend to counteract deviant tendencies (p. 422)." Based upon the writings of Parsons and J.P. Gibbs, Taylor states more broadly "social control is an attempt by one or more individuals to manipulate the behavior of others by means other than a chain of command (p. 422)." For the purposes of this dissertation these definitions of social control will be used. 2 Historical Background The Great Depression In order to understand the New Deal work relief programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, it is necessary to first examine the economic conditions that led to the need for these agencies. An economic depression can be defined as a failure of aggregate demand or total spending to keep pace with aggregate supply or total productive capacity (Graham & Wander, 1985). What became known as the Great Depression began with the stock market panic of 1929 (Rauch, 1963). It continued through 1941, ending with increasing U.S. economic involvement in World War II. It was the most severe and longest lasting depression in U.S. history (Graham & Wander). The Great Depression was a time of decreased income and increased business failure. From 1929 to 1932 the total income of Americans fell from eighty-two billion to forty billion dollars. During the same period corporate income fell from eleven billion to two billion dollars. Prior to 1929 approximately 20,000 industrial and commercial ventures failed each year. In 1931 alone, 31,000 businesses failed (Rauch, 1963). Unemployment rose dramatically in the early years of the depression. From March 1930 to March 1931, American unemployment rose from four million to eight million people (Schlesinger, 1957). Between the November 1932 presidential elections and F.D.R. 's inauguration in March 1933 the American people suffered through the worst of the depression. By 1932, the last full year of the Herbert Hoover presidential administration, the unemployment rate was 29.4 percent of the total labor force. By 1933, the first year of the F.D.R. administration, it had risen to 30.5 percent (Graham & 3 Wander, 1985). An estimated fifteen million men and women were unable to find jobs. Others struggled to survive with reduced hours and lowered wages. Three million Americans received a subsistence level of public relief (Feis, 1966). Many of these unemployed workers were young. Some lived at home futilely looking for local jobs while countless others took to the road searching for better conditions