What FDR's Job Program Can Tell Us About Putting Young People Back To Work During Hard Economic Times

During the Great Depression, many young people struggling economically went to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps, a program created by Franklin D. Roosevelt to create jobs that included planting trees, and building roads and bridges.

Now the idea of a CCC is regaining traction as a possible way to create jobs for young people as they weather the coronavirus pandemic. The program could look very different and could include jobs needed to reopen the economy, such as contact tracers.

Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with Meg Jacobs, who teaches history at Princeton University and is also writing a book about The New Deal.