- Breeze Hill, NY
1935-1936
Images from Aubrey J. Weeks' albums.
Notes: The Civilian Conservation Corps was a depression-era employment initiative that was part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Young and unmarried men were employed in projects to improve public forests and parks and they worked in segregated units.
From New York City Parks Blog: Enrollees from big cities and small towns all over New York found themselves at Camp Dix, New Jersey, with thousands of other men who were desperate for work. Upon arrival, men were assigned to a 200-man company, although many colored companies numbered less than 100. Each company was given a number, and a lowercase 'c' was added for 'Colored' where needed. And policy dictated that those in charge of all companies were white Army officers. Men from New York quickly filled slots in several 'Colored' companies forming at Camp Dix. From Virginia, the men of 246-c headed back to New York to the Orange County town of Wawayanda to begin working on the Wallkill Flood Control Project, a ten-mile-long canal designed to change the direction of the river and stem seasonal flooding.
