Nestled along the Ohio River, Scioto County, Ohio, is a rural town with a complexhistory shaped by racial divide. Although Ohio was a free state, post-Reconstruction Americastill saw racial discrimination, and Scioto County was no exception. Racial segregation wasdeeply embedded in everyday life, and Black people were often excluded from many of thebetter-paying jobs that were available. This historical backdrop set the stage for racialsegregation in the 1930s, when the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program wasimplemented in the county. The Civilian Conservation Corps, established in 1933 as part ofRoosevelt’s New Deal, was one of the most effective and well-known programs designed toprovide relief and employment during the Great Depression. The federal government created thenew program to combat widespread unemployment and economic hardship while also focusingon environmental conservation. The CCC initially allowed Black Americans to participate, butsegregation persisted within the camps. African American enrollees were assigned to separatecamps from their white counterparts, often receiving fewer resources and stricter supervision.
This paper examines how the establishment of all-Black Civilian Conservation Corpscamps in Scioto County, Ohio, reinforced racial segregation by legitimizing federal segregationpolicies and influencing local resistance to integration efforts, highlighting how the CCC campswere just one example of a broader history of racial segregation in Scioto County, whichpersisted in schools, public spaces, and social institutions.
Shawnee State Forest, located in West Portsmouth Ohio, was home to seven CivilianConservation Corps camps, four which were all-black. The segregated camps include: CampAdams, the most rural camp, situated on the Scioto/Adams county line. Camp Roosevelt, which
was built on Turkey Creek. Camp Gordon, also located on Turkey Creek. Camp Shawnee No. 2,which was positioned in the headwaters of Pond Creek. The first Black Civilian ConservationCorps camp in Scioto County, Ohio, was Camp Roosevelt established in 1933. It was one of thefirst CCC camps in the country specifically for African American enrollees. Camp Roosevelt hadnearly 120 enrolled members that were entirely World War 1 veterans.
Even though these men fought for our country, that did not stop local Scioto Countyresidents from attacking and criticizing the enrollees. On December 6, 1934, a suspicious middayfire engulfed and destroyed the barracks and camp of Company 584, a segregated AfricanAmerican CCC unit stationed at Camp Adams. Reports of the incident appeared in regionalnewspapers, with the Portsmouth Daily Times providing the most detailed coverage. OnDecember 7, the Daily Times reported that a special army board of inquiry had been convenedunder Major Robert Barrett of Fort Hayes in Columbus and Captain Elmer J. Armstrong, DistrictCommander of CCC units in southern Ohio. Initial findings indicated that "more than 180 menof the company were working in Shawnee Forest, leaving only 18 on camp duty when the firewas discovered.”
The fire ultimately consumed four barracks, the kitchen, mess hall, recreation building,power house, and supply building, leaving only the Administration building standing. CaptainArmstrong, who had been visiting nearby CCC Camp Gordon on Turkey Creek, arrived at CampAdams just in time to witness the destruction. Before the fire had even been extinguished, he hadalready submitted a request for an immediate transfer of Company 584 to Fort Knox, Kentucky.Within seven hours, nearly 200 African American enrollees were transported to the Norfolk &Western railway station in Portsmouth, where a special train carried them westward to FortKnox. At Fort Knox, Army officials completely reorganized Company 584. While the unit
retained its original designation, its roster was entirely replaced with newly enrolled whiteworkers. By the end of April 1935, Company 584 was back at Churn Creek in Shawnee Forest,this time as an all-white unit. Four months later, they were replaced again by another segregatedAfrican American unit, Company 350.
The fire occurred in the months following a violent altercation that fueled localopposition to the enrollees. On Sunday, May 27, 1934, while traveling to a game in Manchester,the African American players of Company 584 passed a truck carrying another baseball team, agroup of white locals. Later that afternoon, tensions escalated. One of the CCC players struck awhite player, William Graham, on the forehead and side of the face. According to aCongressional report, the blow was severe, “knocking his eye out upon his cheek and causingother injuries.” The Adams County Sheriff arrested all of the CCC ballplayers and held them inthe county jail. Wilkins Green was identified as the attacker and turned over to authorities, whilethe others were released.
Even before the baseball team incident, local opposition to the camp had beendocumented. An inspection report filed January 31, 1934, noted a local resident had written “aletter complaining against Colored men being located here.” The report also described thecamp’s upkeep and fire safety precautions. Whether the quarantine imposed after the trial was formedical reasons or to limit local contact, it was clear the presence of Black enrollees had becomea source of concern for the community. After the courts failed to deliver the outcome someresidents desired, it is not difficult to imagine that an individual or group set fire to the camp todrive out the Black forestry workers.
Barracks fires were rare occurrences. Throughout the history of the Three-Cs in ShawneeForest, only one other fire was recorded, and it involved another all-Black unit, Company 1520,in January 1934. One of their barracks burned down without reported explanations or injuries.Much of the details of the Camp Adams fire come from a Congressional Report on the damagesclaim, which relied on the perspectives of white residents. The voices of the Black CCCenrollees remain frustratingly silent in the historical record.
In June 1936, Robert Fechner, Director of the Civilian Conservation Corps, addressed aletter to Ohio Senators Robert J. Bulkley and Vic Donahey in response to complaints fromNimrod B. Allen, Secretary of the Columbus Urban League. Allen alleged that CCC officials haddiscriminated against Black Ohioans. Fechner defended the CCC, adhering to the “separate butequal” doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson. “Whether we like it or not,” Fechner stated,“we cannot close our eyes to the fact that there are communities ... that do not want and will notaccept a Negro Civilian Conservation Corps company.”
Despite the advancements that African Americans made in Shawnee Forestry, racialdivides persisted in community institutions within the county. In Portsmouth, Ohio, segregationin education mirrored national trends. The city had established separate schools for AfricanAmerican students, such as the Booker T. Washington School. Due to overcrowding there, theLincoln Elementary School became the city's first integrated elementary school in 1953. Thevote to integrate was 8-6. Robert May, a farmer and board of education member, argued AfricanAmerican students would “endanger the wellbeing” of white students and pointed to the attackon William Graham as proof. His claim was dismissed, and schools were integrated, thoughprotests followed. Many community members, including his daughter, believe Robert May wasthe one to set fire to Camp Adams.
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling further shaped integration in Portsmouthand across the country, striking down “separate but equal.” Yet resistance persisted. Despiteprogress, racial discrimination remained deeply rooted in employment and public spaces. TheDreamland Pool was integrated in 1965 after Black youth staged a “wade-in” protest. Today,Dreamland serves as a reminder of Portsmouth’s segregationist history.
The presence of Black CCC camps influenced white public opinion in ways thatnegatively impacted job opportunities for Black residents. Many Black families migrated tonorthern parts of Ohio in search of better prospects. As locals Gary and Greg Myers recalled, inthe early 1990s many Black residents left because “the white folks really didn't treat them rightand there weren't a lot of jobs for them.” West Portsmouth, where Shawnee State Forest islocated, still maintains its reputation as a sundown town.
The story of Scioto County’s CCC camps is more than just a chapter in the history of theGreat Depression, it is a painful reminder of how systemic racism was deeply embedded into thefabric of American life, even in places far from the Deep South. Black men who had served theircountry, who sought only the dignity of work and opportunity, were met not with gratitude butwith fire, violence, and forced removal. Their barracks burned in broad daylight, their presencein the community met with hostility, and their contributions erased as white men took their place.Yet, their struggle did not end with the CCC. The same resistance to integration that fueled thefire at Camp Adams echoed in the halls of Portsmouth’s school board meetings, in the protestsagainst Black children simply seeking an education, and in the barriers that kept Black familiesout of public spaces like Dreamland Pool. Even as federal law demanded progress, the scars ofsegregation remained, shaping the public opinion in Scioto County for decades. Today, remnantsof these struggles linger. The trees in Shawnee State Forest stand tall, silent witnesses to the
injustices that once unfolded beneath them. The segregated past of Scioto County is not justhistory, it is a legacy that shaped lives, determined opportunities, and left wounds that time alonecannot heal. But history is not just something to be remembered; it is something to be reckonedwith. The fight for equality that those Black CCC workers endured did not end when their campwas burned to the ground, it continues today, in the pursuit of justice, acknowledgment, andtruth.