In 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, the federal government under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched the Civilian Conservation Corps. This popular public works project put thousands of otherwise idle young men to work building and restoring infrastructure and trails in many of the nation’s national parks. Grand Canyon National Park played host to as many as eight hundred of these industrious laborers.
Among their many accomplishments were the construction of the Clear Creek Trail, the transcanyon telephone line, trailside shelters, and the stone-and-mortar protective wall that runs along the South Rim in the Historic Village District (providing peace of mind to not a few nervous mothers over the decades). At Kolb Studio in Grand Canyon Village, a free exhibit entitled “It Saved My Life, the CCC at Grand Canyon, 1933-1942” will run through October 19th in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the CCC’s legacy at Grand Canyon.
