In 1933, the United States was struggling to survive the Great Depression. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt promised a New Deal to put the nation back to work. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was launched in Virginia s Blue Ridge Mountains, where the first camp, Camp Roosevelt, was built. The CCC was widely acclaimed as the most popular of Roosevelt s programs. In Virginia, CCC workers built Shenandoah National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the first six state parks, and more. Despite the program s success, senators from Virginia led the Congressional efforts to kill the CCC in 1942."