{"product_id":"the-african-american-experience-in-the-civilian-conservation-corps-by-olen-cole-jr","title":"'The African-American Experience in the Civilian Conservation Corps' by Olen Cole, Jr.","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"\"\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [\u0026amp;:has([data-writing-block])\u0026gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-8 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv dir=\"auto\" class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eThe Civilian Conservation Corps is often remembered through its grandest image: Roosevelt’s “forest army,” putting unemployed young men to work planting trees, building parks and repairing a country physically and psychologically damaged by the Depression.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOlen Cole Jr. restores what that civic mythology usually leaves at the edge of the photograph. Focusing on California, he reconstructs the experiences of African-American enrollees who entered the CCC seeking wages, training and mobility, only to encounter segregated camps, restricted advancement and white control over leadership positions. \u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on administrative records, photographs and testimony from former enrollees, Cole treats the program’s legacy as genuinely divided rather than conveniently heroic or wholly fraudulent. The CCC provided food, income, education, work experience and, for many participants, an enlarged sense of possibility. Yet Black companies were routinely assigned lesser-status labour, kept apart from white communities and denied the institutional authority their work should have earned them. Cole’s oral histories are especially valuable here: the men themselves remember both discrimination and transformation, refusing the cleaner verdicts later history likes to manufacture. \u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a tightly focused study of race inside one of the New Deal’s most celebrated institutions, but its implications are broader. It asks what public service means when citizenship is offered materially but withheld socially—and how a state can improve lives while reproducing the hierarchy that made those lives precarious in the first place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUniversity Press of Florida, 1999. First edition. Hardcover with dust jacket. Light shelf wear and minor creasing to jacket edges, including a small crease at the upper front corner; internally clean.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45914978910291,"sku":null,"price":42.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/Untitleddesign-2026-08-06T122916.069.png?v=1785983439","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/the-african-american-experience-in-the-civilian-conservation-corps-by-olen-cole-jr","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}