Articles

Archives and Historic Preservation: The Case of the CCC

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Abstract

After 1942 when the federal government dismantled New Deal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and retreated from involvement in the activities of state park systems, it left the states with an impressive legacy of rustic park architecture impossible to duplicate and difficult to maintain. In the 1980s, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, custodian of the state's system of parks and historic sites, engaged in a patient effort to document and preserve hundreds of buildings and structures erected by Depression era relief workers on Missouri's park lands. Records held by the National Archives and the department itself played an important and continuing role in determining the future of this great New Deal legacy. This paper discusses how archival materials were used in the preservation effort and suggests, through this discussion, how they might be used in other historic preservation projects.

How to Cite:

Stepenoff, B., (1988) “Archives and Historic Preservation: The Case of the CCC”, Archival Issues 13(2), 77–83. doi: https://doi.org//archivalissues.10557