Award-winning hometown newspaper for Potomac, Md for almost 60 years.
02/05/2020
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park
For African American History Month, we remember the contributions of the young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps who contributed to the early preservation and restoration of the canal throughout the New Deal era. In 1939, young African American men between the ages of seventeen and twenty five, were afforded work during the Great Depression to provide for themselves and their families while restoring the first twenty two miles of the canal. The work they contributed included clearing the towpath of fifteen years of overgrowth, removing debris from the prism, resurfacing the towpath, repairing breaches caused by the 1924 and 1936 floods, and restoring numerous lift locks to working order.
The work of the Civilian Conservation Corps contributed greatly to the opportunities we experience today in our national parks, state parks, and other public lands. It is important to construct an inclusive narrative of our canal history so that their participation can be recognized and remembered. {Image description: African American CCC workers make repairs to the canal}
