{{Short description|American trade unionist, machinist and conservation expert}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_date = {{birth date|1876|3|22}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1939|12|31|1876|3|22}} | birth_place = Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S. | image = Inspects new CCC uniform. Washington, D.C., Feb. 1. Robert E. Fechner, left, Director of the Civilian Conservation Corps, inspecting the new uniform issued to members of the Corps for the LCCN2016874936 (cropped).jpg | caption = Robert Fechner in 1939 | resting_place = Arlington National Cemetery | office = Director of the Civilian Conservation Corps | term_start = {{start date|1933|4|5}} | term_end = {{end date|1939}} | president = Franklin D. Roosevelt | successor = James McEntee | preceding = ''Position created'' | occupation = Labor union leader }}
'''Robert Fechner''' (March 22, 1876 – December 31, 1939) was a national labor union leader and director of the Civilian Conservation Corps (1933–39), which played a central role in the development of state and national parks in the United States.
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee,<ref>The National Encyclopedia of American Biography, pp. 70-71.</ref> with only a public school elementary education he rose to become an American labor union leader and vice president of the International Association of Machinists. He had a reputation for fairness, tact, and patience in all his dealings.<ref name="Wirth, Conrad L. 1980. p. 80">Wirth, Conrad L. ''Parks Politics, and the People''. University of Oklahoma Press. 1980. p. 80</ref><ref>Ermentrout, Rccobert Allen "Forgotten Men, the Civilian Conservation Corps." (1982) p. 14</ref> On April 5, 1933 he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to be the Director of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It was Fechner's fairness and ability for organization and administration that impressed the president to his appointment as director.<ref name="Wirth, Conrad L. 1980. p. 80" />
Fechner insisted on segregating the CCC making it "almost out of reach for southern blacks." He also kept blacks out of CCC leadership positions claiming that "whites would feel safer in their communities near the camp if white officers and officials were in complete control."<ref>Frank Feidel. The South and the New Deal," in ''The New Deal and the Old South'' (1984), p. 253.</ref>
Although he had been an important labor figure, Fechner objected to attempts of union organizers to form unions among CCC enrollees in the camps. He felt that the government was doing all it possibly could for the well-being of the enrollees: well fed, supporting dependents with monthly earnings, getting an education; and they were contributing in a constructive manner to the conservation needs of the nation. The need for a union in this situation was not necessary, and he issued orders to keep union organizers out of the CCC camps and gave instructions that if any of the CCC enrolees joined a union they were to be discharged.<ref>Wirth, Conrad L. ''Parks Politics, and the People''. University of Oklahoma Press. 1980. pp. 80, 82.</ref> Upon Fechner's death in office, he was succeeded as CCC Director by James McEntee.<ref name="nytobit">Staff report (January 1, 1940). Robert Fechner, Head of CCC, Dies; Director Since Its Founding Was Ex-Vice President of the International Machinists. Roosevelt Praises Work. Administrative Ability and Vision Cited, His Death Is Called Loss to Nation. ''New York Times''</ref>[[File:Franklin D. Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, and Robert Fechner in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia - NARA - 197051.jpg|thumb|Fechner with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Henry A. Wallace]]Fechner's likeness appeared on the cover of ''Time'' magazine on February 6, 1939. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/fall/ccc.html Into the Woods: The First Year of the Civilian Conservation Corps] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080307061634/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19390206,00.html ''Time'' cover, February 6, 1939] * [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rfechner.htm Robert Fechner grave] in Arlington National Cemetery
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fechner, Robert}} Category:1876 births Category:1939 deaths Category:American trade union leaders Category:Civilian Conservation Corps people Category:People from Chattanooga, Tennessee Category:International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers people Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery