Men

CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) boys at work, Prince George's County, Maryland.

The majority of people employed during this time were young men. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) hired nearly three million young men between the ages seventeen and twenty-three to dig ditches, plant trees, fight fires, and build reservoirs, creating the foundation for the nation’s national and state parks. The men lived communally in camps designed after army barracks and were fed three meals a day.

For their labor, they were paid $1 per day, two-thirds of which was automatically sent back to their homes. In addition to the hard labor, the men participated in sports and hobby clubs, as well as classes to help them prepare to get jobs once they left the CCC. 

About 250,000 African American men were employed by the CCC, with membership limits restricted to ten percent of the total workforce. They worked in segregated companies, but performed the same duties as their white counterparts, often under greater scrutiny and dealing with harsh racial bias by their supervisors.

“The National Parks -- Episode 5: Great Nature” Public Broadcasting Service. http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/history/ep5/3/