August 6, 2015

1933 Civilian Conservation Corps Featured in Heritage Center & State Museum Exhibit

BISMARCK – The public is invited to view Constructing a Legacy: The CCC in Our State Parks, a free temporary exhibit that opened on August 5 and will be on display through July 2016 at the North Dakota Heritage Center James E. Sperry Gallery in Bismarck.
 
Created by the State Archives of North Dakota, the exhibit includes items from the State Archives collections featuring the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in North Dakota.  Visitors can view documents and publications, camp newspapers, photographs, and moving images of tasks completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. 
 
To combat unemployment during the Great Depression, in 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as part of his New Deal relief programs.  The CCC was an army of young men who worked to conserve the natural resources of America.  Organized in the spring of 1933, the North Dakota District CCC began working to conserve the state’s land.  One of the most important conservation jobs the North Dakota CCC undertook was enhancing state parks.  The CCC was responsible for creating roads, shelters, information markers, dams, swimming holes, and recreational buildings at the International Peace Garden, Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Turtle River State Park, and many other historic and recreational sites throughout the state.
 
Constructing a Legacy: The CCC in Our State Parks is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Find information about other exhibits at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum at history.nd.gov or call 701.328.2666.

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CONTACT:  Shane Molander or Lindsay Schott, 701.328.2666

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