SD Civilian Conservation Corps Celebrated for Acts of Excellence
Celebrating Acts of Excellence, One Act at a Time
The Acts of Excellence program connects us with individuals and organizations who are building a culture of excellence in South Dakota, one act at a time.Please join us and area inductees to celebrate this Act of Excellence on Wednesday, November 28, 2018, from 4:30 to 6 pm at the Suzie Cappa Art Center in Rapid City, South Dakota. See all of the event details here:
Museum Preserves History of Civilian Conservation Corps
President Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s depression-era inspiration that became the Civilian Conservation Corps put hundreds of thousands to work in one of the most expansive conservation projects ever created. The story of the CCC in South Dakota is told in words, photographs and videos in a museum in the Black Hills community of Hill City. The Civilian Conservation Corps of South Dakota is located in the Hill City Visitors Center along U.S. Highway 385.The museum’s website colorfully says, “Out of the economic chaos (of the Depression) emerged the Civilian Conservation Corps. The goal was two-fold: conservation of our natural resources and the salvage of our young men. The work of America’s young men dramatically changed the future. More than 30,000 men contributed to the many significant projects in South Dakota and were able to help support their families back home.’’ Nationally, as many as three million men worked for the CCC between 1933 and 1942. They worked in fields and forests, built roads and dams and built or rebuilt infrastructure in state and national parks.The CCC Museum of South Dakota contains a growing number of photos and artifacts from the program’s operation. It also has a roster of the South Dakotans who worked in the CCC during its lifetime. The roster is updated as more CCC workers are identified. According to a feature in South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s “Images of the Past,’’ South Dakota had 50 CCC camps located across the state, along with an unknown number of what were called side camps. The highest concentration of CCC camps was in the Black Hills, from Hot Springs in the south to as far north as Belle Fourche. More information may be found at: www.southdakotaccc.org.
Submit your own Act of Excellence here