About This Stamp
A 20-cent commemorative stamp marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps was issued April 5, 1983, in Luray, Virginia. The First Day of Issue ceremony was held at Big Meadows, a recreational facility on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Mountains that was the site of Camp Fechner, the second CCC camp established. Camp Roosevelt, near Edinburg, Virginia, was the first CCC camp.
On April 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6101 which created the Civilian Conservation Corps and appointed Robert Fechner as its National Director. The Executive Order also established a special advisory council comprised of representatives of the Departments of War, Labor, Agriculture and Interior to oversee the CCC. The CCC's mission was to employ thousands of young men to develop and conserve our country's deteriorating natural resources at the height of the Great Depression.
The CCC proved quite successful in helping these young men to provide for themselves and their families while contributing to national economic recovery. The youths built roads, irrigation dams, telephone lines, fire towers, and numerous campgrounds and trails. They also saved thousands of acres of productive land from erosion, planted nearly 1.3 billion trees, developed many of our national parks, stocked streams and lakes in wilderness areas with fish and game, and fought forest fires.
The stamp was designed by David K. Stone of Port Washington, New York, and modeled by Esther Porter.
It was printed in the photogravure process, with 50 stamps per pane.