Robert Fechner:
Born 1876
Chattanooga, Tennessee

Died December 31, 1939
Washington, D.C.

Administrator, union leader

Aubrey Williams:
Born August 23, 1890
Springville, Alabama

Died March 5, 1965
Washington, D.C.

Social worker, reformer

Robert Fechner. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

"Today, we hear again and again from CCC veterans about how the 3C's turned their lives around. Desperate young men in desperate times were given the chance to be gainfully employed.…"

Craig Holstine, in the foreword to the 1990 book In the Shadow of the Mountain: The Spirit of the CCC by Edwin G. Hill

By 1935 five million youths were unemployed. Deeply concerned, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945; served 1933–45; see entry) created both the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the National Youth Administration (NYA) to help youths in need during the Great Depression. Roosevelt appointed Robert Fechner as the CCC director. The CCC provided employment to young...