In the early years of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated a series of programs to spur relief, recovery and reform of the national economy.
One of the first of those programs was the Civilian Conservation Corps, which engaged unemployed young men in agricultural and conservation projects throughout the country. The CCC reached the Hawaiian Islands in 1934 with the establishment of two camps in Hawaii National Park (as it was called then), the main one at the Kilauea Section and a smaller one at Haleakala.
Throughout the next seven years, the CCC built or reinforced much of the park’s infrastructure and completed many emergency war projects needed by the military in 1941-42.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’s Jadelyn Moniz Nakamura will present “Roosevelt’s ‘Tree Army’ Takes Roots in Hawai‘i: The Story of the Civilian Conservation Corps and Hawai‘i National Park” and additional information about this fascinating piece of local and national history on two occasions at the Lyman Museum in downtown Hilo — from 7-8:30 p.m. Monday, July 29, and again from 3-4:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 30.
The cost to attend is $3, or free for museum members.
The Lyman Museum is located at 276 Haili St.
For more information, call 935-5021 or visit www.lymanmuseum.org.