Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
The Burning of CCC Camp Adams: Segregation & Sabotage in Ohio's Shawnee State Forest
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
In December of 1934, in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio, a suspicious fire destroyed the barracks of a segregated black company of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Company 584 had first arrived at Camp Adams nine months earlier. They were one of seven camps (four of which were African-American) that had been located in Shawnee State Forest. The fire occurred in the months following a violent incident that had led to the arrest of the company’s baseball team and ignited local opposition to the stationing of African-American enrollees in the community. In May of 1934, while traveling to play a game in the nearby town of Manchester, one of the CCC men had swung a bat and hit a local white resident, striking him “on the forehead and side of the face, knocking his eye out upon his cheek and causing other injuries.” This presentation will explore a fragmentary historical record of newspaper reportage, records in the National Archives, and a Congressional report. It will argue that the fire was a case of racially motivated sabotage and that officials acted quickly to resolve local opposition to the New Deal program, but they did so in ways that reinforced racial prejudice in the region. Upon the destruction of Camp Adams, Army officials moved Company 584 to Fort Knox, where the men were transferred to other segregated camps throughout the nation. Company 584 was then reconstituted as a white unit and the camp was rebuilt and staffed by all white CCC enrollees.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Andrew Feight is Professor of American and Digital History at Shawnee State University, where he serves as President of the University Faculty Senate. He is the developer and editor of Scioto Historical, the mobile app and website for exploring the history of Ohio's Scioto Valley.
The Burning of CCC Camp Adams: Segregation & Sabotage in Ohio's Shawnee State Forest
In December of 1934, in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio, a suspicious fire destroyed the barracks of a segregated black company of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Company 584 had first arrived at Camp Adams nine months earlier. They were one of seven camps (four of which were African-American) that had been located in Shawnee State Forest. The fire occurred in the months following a violent incident that had led to the arrest of the company’s baseball team and ignited local opposition to the stationing of African-American enrollees in the community. In May of 1934, while traveling to play a game in the nearby town of Manchester, one of the CCC men had swung a bat and hit a local white resident, striking him “on the forehead and side of the face, knocking his eye out upon his cheek and causing other injuries.” This presentation will explore a fragmentary historical record of newspaper reportage, records in the National Archives, and a Congressional report. It will argue that the fire was a case of racially motivated sabotage and that officials acted quickly to resolve local opposition to the New Deal program, but they did so in ways that reinforced racial prejudice in the region. Upon the destruction of Camp Adams, Army officials moved Company 584 to Fort Knox, where the men were transferred to other segregated camps throughout the nation. Company 584 was then reconstituted as a white unit and the camp was rebuilt and staffed by all white CCC enrollees.
