Minnesota’s African Americans and their struggle with the CCC March 27, 2010

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a 1930's New Deal relief organization, was designed to provide work on conservation projects to men between the ages of 18 and 25. While it provided job experiences, regular payments to enrollees’ families, and education, African American enrollment was capped at 10%. In Minnesota they were a small fraction of this. Drawing on oral history interviews, Barbara Sommer will review the experiences of the state’s African American CCC enrollees.

Barbara is a Minnesota native and has been an oral historian for almost thirty years. She has led workshops and presented at state, regional, national, and international conferences. She is one of the founders of the Oral History Association of Minnesota and the Nebraska Foundation for the Preservation of Oral History, has taught at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and at Nebraska Wesleyan University. She has authored and co-authored numerous books and is the winner of several book awards, including the Minnesota Book Award. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and a master’s degree in history from the University of Minnesota.

Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum.