system of parks. ♪ >> in 1933, the chief concern of the american government was break the back of the bad depression. among the conditions to be remedied were to that president roosevelt recognized it will. employment for hundreds of men and war young>> veterans was imperative. has a crocs -- havoc by soil erosion. one solution for both problems, the organization and work of the civilian corps was undertaken. within two years, both problems were well on their way to solution. resources of natural with conservation, pure and simple. one important phase of this was more than that, the making of a nationwide system of recreational areas, smaller more numerous state parks closer to the men and war veterans people, mark festival r their use. work in all its many phases is being done in the state park areas from one end of the country to the other. better facilities for forest firefighting are being provided. speed is imperative in fighting forest fires. the trees and dry undergrowth are being cleared where it is necessary to prevent the start of the fires. an aggressive war is being waged on the insects which slowly but surely are destroying natural beauty in the wide-open spaces. tens caterpillars are a menace to the forest plants. fields are being constantly stripped of the .egetation the value of modern tree surgery in saving our forests is being liberally attested. importants another conservation measure. savings, literally in the millions, are being set out to replace trees that are ruthlessly destroyed. more spectacular is the moving of trees for landscaping purposes. there is a world of power in this mighty movement. .en and machinery the restoration program, which is an important part of the park development program, represents another form of conservation. historic events are still marked by an old mansion there, and other evidences of things that are important that happened. restoration work is saving or conserving general knowledge of these events. historic parks have great spiritual and recreational value. frederick is being restored as a center of attraction in one of maryland's parks. it is the most interesting survivor of three wars. near morehead city, north carolina, the civilian corps is doing another job repairing the ravages of time. the sea and the wind has been destroying one of the earlypieces of fortification. the president for required 12 years to build. when completed sometime after 1824, it was considered the last word in coastal defense. commission during the war between the states, it was seized by the confederates and recaptured by union forces the following year. the walls are of brick-and-mortar and are rocksalt solid after more than 43 years. the civilian conservation corps is restoring many of the constructional details of the fort. all park work of this picture, exhaustive research is done to ensure that the restoration is active -- authentic. not only the four, but all the immediately surrounding property is being improved to make it more accessible and interesting to the thousands who visit each year. an interesting state park in georgia surrounds the one-time home of alexander stevens, vice president of the comparison. longer go, this was honored by the election of a statue at his home estate. now the mansion is being restored and the grounds are being made more attractive to visitors. strict attention is being paid to details. along georgia subtropical coast are many memories of the spanish civilization that marched this part of the world one century before jamestown. santo domingo state park is being developed with these walls as a center of interest to the painstaking investigation of was still in progress. as beautiful spring near was discovered in 1772, abandon, and rediscovered several years later. the rehabilitation program is transferring people from places where they find it difficult to make a living to more desirable surroundings. this program is pertinent to the parkland because much of the nonproductive land being abandoned is being transformed into parks and recreational areas. in the functioning of the civilian conservation plan, there is another more distinct form of rehabilitation. among hundreds of thousands of young veterans, there have been many unable to read and write, others whose score was interrupted. the important job of mentally rehabilitating this cross-section of the country has been entrusted to the office of education, department of the interior. competent instructors conduct classes in many of the educational branches. the boys are given the opportunity to go to school just as they may have done years ago. in addition, there are many practical training courses fornded to train them better work when the court has ended. many of the conservation camps communicate with th one another over radios that the boys themselves have made. tuesday enrollees welcome these opportunities? disclosed that within one single month, five enrollees spent a big share of their cash allowances on fountain pens. chipmunks, squirrels, and all the little brothers of the forest who we expect to see in our adventures outdoors have a place in saving and rebuilding. without them, there could be no real conservation. all too few of us are concerned about the rapidly progressing a station of wildlife -- extinction of wildlife in the united states. we do not know that the extinction of not only these buffaloes but the chipmunks, snakes, has,d even for a long time, been making even our present-day lives more difficult to live. this, without mentioning the truly heroic service that many of our native birds perform. is preservation of wildlife an important part of state park planning. great friendships have been developed between the boys in the natives of the area. in the conservation corps development of state parks, they have found the blend of conservation and recreation, besides protecting and saving gland, timber, and wildlife, this develops recreation areas for people who have not had them before. many kinds of work are required to develop this plan. create lakes in areas where bodies of water are unknown. hiking and bridal trails wind through the parks. each of these trails being constructed by the conservation corps in state parks in 42 placed so expertly that the area will be hard as little a possible, and yet, so .2 interest can be reached. points of interest can be reached. racing brooks and deep streams are spanned by purchase of good design. edey are built with skill labor. though thousands gather to enjoy these facilities, the old parking problem is no ba bother. adequate spaces have been provided. camping is encouraged and every outdoor convenience is furnished. picnic tables are spotted through the areas. these also builds by skilled laborers and designers. probably the most attractive feature of the state park is the calving community, open to visitors who want to spend the night or the week. cabins in colorado are going up, despite the winter snow. recreational buildings and picnic shelters are state park essentials. this one stands on the banks of one of south carolina's loveliest low country streams. in some section, notably the runswest, park development more strongly than elsewhere. in the country as large as america, the characteristics of the different regions vary widely. there are mountainous areas covered with fresh green trees and dripping with clear streams. elsewhere, the lowlands that stretched down to the sea. the natural features of the state parks very with the located.here they are in each region there is a different appeal. if all is that the development plan generally conforms to the requirements of the surrounding country. in texas, where nature takes on a rough magnificence, many of the required park structures are built of stone. quizis the land of the cliff dwellers -- of the cliff to others. this recognition and further development of the architecture, typical of the history and natural characteristics of the country is important in emergency conservation work. building trails, cutting fire lanes, and protecting and improving timber and land, make the program requiring well directed mass manpower. on the construction projects, skilled labor is necessary. carpenters and electricians are hired by death nearby community. furnish does this employment for skilled labor and get the job well done, it provides enrollees with a full opportunities to learn trades. splitting handmade shingles is a colorful task. almost every camp have a village blacksmith flying his fascinating and still useful trade. so, it is all these factors that join forces in this unique phase program toral aid whereature unspoiled possible. a project directed by the government agency that has given national the american parks. the national park service of the department of the interior. ♪ >> you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook. >> up next on american history tv, rutgers university economics professor jason barr discusses his book "building the sky line: the birth and growth of manhattan strikers whose -- skyscrapers." we hear about the economic history behind the skyscrapers and lower and midtown manhattan and learn why there's a gap in the iconic sky line. the skyscraper museum of new york city hosted this event. it's about an hour. >> first i would like to thank