Robert A. Waller

Emeritus Professor of American History serving at University of Illinois, Urbana, Clemson University in SC, and The Villages College in FL.

High school teacher, college professor, and college dean during the years 1955-2013. First book won the Illinois State Historical Society award for best book in 1977.

"Relief, Recreation, Racism" is the history of the establishment of the first SC state parks during the 1930s under a New Deal program of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The treatment examines the impact of this relief during the Great Depression, the extension of recreational opportunities, and the manifestations of racism.

A reviewer for "Living New Deal" describes the current book as providing "a congenial guide to how CCC camps functioned and how effective they were in healing damaged land while improving the physique and morale of the enlistees." Although the focus is SC, the analysis represents the national story.