An Environmental History of the New Deal in Mississippi and Florida

Keywords: New Deal, Environmental History, United States South, Mississippi, Florida, Gulf Coast, TVA, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, landscape, lumber industry, CCC, WPA, state parks. The 1930s represented a time of distinct and encompassing change in the United States South. In assessing the impact of New Deal agencies and public works, this dissertation examines three distinct southern areas-northeast Mississippi, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the Florida Panhandle-highlighting the dynamic and fluid character of federal projects and their impact on landscapes human and natural. In the hilly Tennessee River valley of northeast Mississippi, the federally-funded incorporation of the Tennessee Valley Authority led to an immediate transformation of landscape and the opening of novel possibilities within a newly-anointed “region” for the area\u27s residents. Public works projects on the Mississippi Gulf Coast likewise reoriented the perspective of place by improving transportation networks and reinvigorating locally (and by the 1930s, globally) significant industries like lumber and seafood products. Federal aid in the fifteen western Florida Panhandle counties created a visibly new world for residents, as well. The construction of new roads and towns out of previously raw coastal timberlands led to a transformation of place and the emergence of not only new commercial and recreational spaces, but the development of a military-industrial complex that remains in place today. In addition to canvassing secondary historical works, primary sources utilized for this project include a wide range of regional newspapers and journals from Mississippi and Florida, federal and state agency reports, promotional material and publications, paper collections of New Deal officials, as well as oral histories and quantitative use of census data. Utilizing these previously neglected sources to demonstrate the malleability of post-Depression public works, this dissertation provides a nuanced historical understanding of the New Deal in the South

The Civilian Conservation Corps as a Tool of the National Park Service: The Development of Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks, 1933-1942

Throughout its seventy-two year history, the National Park Service has walked a fine line between the two parts of its mission as set forth in the Park Service’s organic act of August 25, 1916. Congress dictated that the Service provide for the enjoyment of the people, yet, at the same time, preserve the nation’s parks unimpaired for future generations. The fledgling Park Service’s officials needed to find ways of bringing more money to the Service to establish a firm base for park system growth. Park Service administrators knew that only by attracting more visitors to the parks could the public interest in the parks develop, which, in turn, would bring increased appropriations for the Service. Throughout the 1920s, Steven Mather and his successor, Horace Albright expanded the Park Service’s interests by including battlefields, historic sites, and recreation areas under the Service’s auspices to provide a greater variety of park experiences for more people. Faced with reduced appropriations in the depths of the Depression, the Park Service concentrated on the ’’use” aspect of its dichotomous mission as a way to increase visitation, and therefore, appropriations. The Park Service welcomed the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a harbinger of increased financial security. The financial resources and the manpower of the CCC enabled the Park Service to develop the nation’s parks for tourist comfort. This study concentrates on Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks as case histories of the National Park Service use of the CCC to develop the nation’s parks. Most of the CCC work projects in Glacier and Yellowstone concentrated on making the parks more comfortable or more attractive for visitors. Reforestation, campground development, the building of roads and trails, fire hazard reduction, and fire fighting were major CCC projects designed to achieve those ends in Glacier and Yellowstone parks. Materials used in this study include primary and secondary sources. The primary sources, including the Glacier and Yellowstone superintendents’ annual and monthly reports, Emergency Conservation Work/CCC directors\u27 reports and numerous ex-CCC enrollee reminiscences proved particularly informative

New Deal Public Works in the Florida Panhandle, 1933-1940

The 1930s represented a time of profound change in the South as it did across the nation. An examination of New Deal agencies and their public works in the Florida Panhandle highlights the dynamic character of federal projects and their impact upon human and natural landscapes. Federal aid in the form of public works projects in the sixteen western panhandle counties created a visibly-new world for residents. 1 The construction of roads and towns in previously-raw coastal timberlands led to a transformation of place and the emergence of not only new commercial and recreational spaces, but the development of a military-industrial complex that remains in place today

The Best Kind of Building The New Deal Landscape of the Northern Plains, 1993-42

\u27VWel are definitely in an era of building; the best kind of building-the building of great public projects for the benefit of the public and with the definite objective of building human happiness, proclaimed President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he introduced his New Deal programs of recovery and reform.1 From 1933 to 1942 such federal agencies as the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Public Works Administration (PW A), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Works Progress (later Projects) Administration (WPA) gave a new look to the northern plains landscape by placing a federal facade on the public architecture of local communities.

The Establishment and First Six Months of the Civilian Conservation Corps and Joe Hill, Wobbly Martyr of Utah

One of the most generally admired New Deal Agencies reflected the fact that Franklin D. Roosevelt, like his cousin Theodore was an ardent conservationist. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) by providing job relief to the people. However, most of the work was carried on in the more remote areas of the states and thus escaped day to day scrutiny. The completed conservation tasks were to stand as proof of accomplishment. Most histories dismiss the CCC with a paragraph and perhaps a picture of some boys planting trees; however, 2,400,000 young men and 145,000 war veterans served in camps of the CCC.

Teaching History from the Ground Up: One Teacher\u27s Appeal to Nature and the National Parks

This thesis is a three part study on teaching history from the ground up, using nature and the National Parks. 1)Historiography: From Grass to Grand Canyon: A Study of Historical Research on the Creation of the National Park Service 2)Original Research: Beauty as well as Bread : A Study of Primary Resources on the Civilian Conservation Corps, National Parks and Unemployment during the Great Depression 3) Curriculum Development: National Parks- Past and Present Introduction: A United States History Unit Curriculum Based on Historical and Original Researc

Conserving the American Man: Gender, Eugenics and Education in the Civilian Conservation Corps

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a novel United States federal education programme that enrolled nearly three million men during the 1930s and early 1940s. This public work relief programme provides a case study of the ways that masculine, eugenicist ideas concerning public education evolved from the Progressive Era through the Great Depression. This educational philosophy was espoused by a small group of men – some educators, some not – who sought to remedy what they saw as the failures of public schooling, namely its overly feminine nature. Through an analysis of their public writings and the images that were used to advertise the CCC, we examine the programme’s vision of education for white working-class men intended to help rebuild the United States following the Great Depression. Our exploration of these ideas provides an important bridge between the educational theories of the Progressive and the Post-Second World War eras