This MLK Day, let's remember how African American CCC units helped restore our nation's history at Yorktown and Jamestown

 
Above: Colonial National Historical Park (CNHP) is part of our national park system and consists of the Yorktown Battlefield, the Jamestown Settlement, Colonial Parkway, and few other related areas of Virginia (nearby Colonial Williamsburg is privately run, but of course contributes to the overall history and experience of the area). Image from Google Earth, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: At any give time, between 1933 and 1941, up to 1,000 African American CCC enrollees worked on the restoration of the Yorktown Battlefield and the Jamestown Settlement, and assisted in the construction and landscaping of Colonial Parkway. Here, we see some of the enrollees in a choral group at CNHP, participating in the CCC's 4-year anniversary celebration, April 4, 1937. Photo by the Daily Press newspaper staff, courtesy of newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Photo by the National Park Service, courtesy of the Daily Press (December 3, 1933) and newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: The completed Swan Tavern in Yorktown, re-built by the CCC. Photo by the National Park Service, provided courtesy of the Daily Press (May 24, 1936) and newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: A replica of a ship's gun deck, created with items found on a British ship sunk in the York River, which the CCC helped salvage as part of an underwater archaeology project. Photo by the National Park Service, provided courtesy of the Daily Press (May 24, 1936) and newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: CCC workers removing a tree, to be relocated somewhere on Colonial Parkway. Photo courtesy of Colonial National Historical Park and the Daily Press (January 8, 2015), and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: American Battery No. 2, from the Battle of Yorktown, restored by the CCC. Unknown photographer, provided courtesy of the Daily Press (May 14, 1939) and newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

A large, and largely forgotten history of the CCC at Colonial National Historical Park

The CCC's work at CNHP is mostly forgotten, which is unfortunate because its work was historically important and massive. From 1933 to 1941, the African American CCC men restored the battlefield, protected the park from wildfires, assisted in the construction and landscaping of Colonial Parkway, rebuilt historic structures, created walking trails and bridle paths, assisted in archaeological digs, and much more. A 1995 Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) observed: “For a decade the CCC actively restored [CNHP’s] landscape, and much of the innovative work accomplished during the 1930s was done so only because of their involvement. Today, the restoration work completed by the CCC holds up better than projects initiated just twenty years ago.”

During the New Deal, the CCC--white companies, black companies, and integrated companies--restored many historic sites across the nation. This, along with the history work of the WPA and other New Deal-era agencies, created an incalculable volume of work that still contributes to history tourism,  genealogy, and our understanding of American history.