Online Exhibits

“We Can Take It!”: History of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Western Montana

Open April 2023 – June 2025
Heath Gallery
 
The American economy reached an all-time low after the stock market crash of 1929. In response, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps to employ young men from poor families to work on public land conservation projects. In 1933, Fort Missoula was named the Northwest District Headquarters Detachment and, over the course of the Depression decade, processed and trained thousands of young corpsmen. These men would go on to do many meaningful projects throughout Western Montana, many of which you can still see today.
 
This exhibit explores the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps from its initial organization in 1933 to the lasting legacy that it has provided to many areas around the country. Learn what it would have been like to be an enrollee in this groundbreaking program and the organizations that are keeping this history alive.
 

Walk through the gallery:

Click the below image for a virtual walk through the exhibit. For full screen click the
360° Photos by David Eggebraaten

 
On display
Reproduction photographs from:

• HMFM’s permanent collection
• Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library
• Glacier National Park Museum and Archives
• University of Montana Mansfield Archives and Special Collections
• Montana Historical Society
• National Archives
• National Park Service
• Stan Cohen
• National Museum of Forest Service History
• Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

 
Artifacts from:

• HMFM’s permanent collection
• Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History
• National Museum of Forest Service History
• Stan Cohen

 
We thank Friend of the Museum Steve Bixby and Browman Intern Cassidy Vandervoort for all their help in bringing this exhibit to life!

 
Click here to see the 25th Infantry Band Timeline Project in full screen.
 

 
Click here to see The Brownsville Affair in full screen.