[Original Panoramic Photograph Picturing the Members of Civilian Conservation Corps Company 303 at Camp in Pennsylvania]

Du Bois, Pa, 1933. Very good plus.. Panoramic photograph, 8 x 34.5 inches. Rolled. Minor edge wear, light foxing. Good contrast, minimal fading. A rare photographic record of a segregated African-American CCC company in Benezette, Pennsylvania in September 1933, just a few months after this New Deal program was created. African-American recruits made up only about seven percent of total enrollment in the Civilian Conservation Corps, and their camps were kept strictly segregated, except for the commanding officers, as seen here. Company 303 was among the original six segregated CCC companies established in May 1933; the company spent most of its existence at Camp S204 in Benezette, in the northwest quadrant of the state. Their primary duties involved woodlands management, specifically building and maintaining forest roads. The company was disbanded in 1942 at which point most of the enrollees were then enlisted in the U.S Armed Forces during World War II. The present panoramic photograph pictures about 175 Black members of the company in basic uniforms, bookended by about a dozen white commanding officers and another half dozen officers sitting at center. A striking image of an important and early African-American CCC unit. (Inventory #: 5404)