Queen City Heritage

Cincinnati citizens respondedwillingly to the demands ofwar. Their experience servesas a microcosm of the entireAmerican experience in theSecond World War.

Spring 1991

The Queen City andWorld War II

The Queen City and World War II

Allan M. Winkler

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor shockedCincinnati, just as it jolted the rest of the United States. Forthe next four years, the Queen City struggled with the sameissues of mobilization, production, and adjustment at homethat all Americans faced in World War II. Asked to mounta more extensive effort than any yet made — and any thatwould later be required in the new nuclear age — the city'scitizens responded willingly to the demands of war. Theybought bonds, planted victory gardens, retooled theirfactories, and sent their boys abroad. Their experience servesas a microcosm of the entire American experience in theSecond World War.1

The onset of war brought a sense of relief. Thenation had been divided in the late 1930's as fighting brokeout in both Europe and Asia. While most Americans deploredthe hostile maneuvers of the Germans, Italians, and Japanese,they desperately wanted to stand aloof. They remaineddisillusioned with the outcome of World War I, whenPresident Woodrow Wilson had promised to make the worldsafe for democracy and failed in his quest. Isolationistsshunned involvement in the current struggle and resisted thegovernment's effort to provide antifascist nations with thematerials needed for their own defense. As the 1940's began,however, interventionists who understood that the UnitedStates had a vested interest in the outcome of the war createdtremendous pressure for a larger American role that was notrelieved until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor onDecember 7, 1941.

Cincinnati mirrored the national split. A localchapter of the America First Committee, with TheodoreRoosevelt's daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth as honorarychair and financier J. Austin White as president, protested theadministration's effort to aid the Allies. Meanwhile HenryWise Hobson, the city's Episcopal Bishop, served as nationalhead of the Fight for Freedom Committee that asserted theneed to assist Great Britain in its struggle against the Nazithreat.2

The Pearl Harbor attack — which camewithout warning, knocked out five battleships and ten smallerwarships, and left 2,400 servicemen dead — united nation and

city. "My first feeling was of relief that the indecision was overand that a crisis had come in a way which would unite all ourpeople," Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson declared. ANewsweek headline read: "AMERICANS ALL: NationalDisunity is Ended." Cincinnati Post columnist Alfred Segalobserved that isolationism was over, with everyone "broughttogether under the butcher knife," while America First headWhite acknowledged that "we should do all we can . . . to winthe war as completely and as quickly as possible."3

Americans welcomed the war, without alwaysfully understanding the national aims or the sacrifices theymight have to make. The Four Freedoms President FranklinD. Roosevelt had defined — freedom of speech, freedom ofworship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear — wereidealistic yet vague. Most Americans could not even namethose freedoms and fought the war instead to defend — andspread — the American way of life. Prosperity was animportant component of their dream, and economic concernsoften seemed paramount. Having weathered a decade ofdismal depression that only began to abate with the defensespending of 1940, people were sometimes reluctant to do

Allan M. Winkler, author ofHome Front U.S.A.: AmericaDuring World War II, is Chairof the Department of Historyat Miami University, Oxford,Ohio.

President Franklin D. Roose-velt defined the freedoms thecountry was fighting for: free-dom of speech, freedom ofworship, freedom from want,and freedom from fear.

Queen City Heritage

without goods they had only just been able to afford. To thatend, the administration embarked on a concentrated effort toinform the public about the struggle and to maintain morale.

The Office of War Information, headed byCBS news commentator Elmer Davis, trumpeted the liberalwar aims Roosevelt had defined and also broadcast themessage — in all forms of media — that "we are coming, thatwe are going to win, and that in the long run everybody willbe better off because we won." It explained in detailgovernment policies in an effort to persuade people that theyhad a vested interest in the war. But often something wasnecessary to cajole Americans to do their bit, and so the federalgovernment undertook a series of promotional programs.

Since the war required a massive infusion ofmoney, Roosevelt authorized a campaign to encourageAmericans to buy bonds. Secretary of the Treasury HenryMorgenthau, Jr., understood the need "to use bonds to sell thewar" and enlisted the support of such figures as singer KateSmith in the effort. Known best for her rendition of "GodBless America," Smith spoke sixty-five times in a radio drivein September 1943 that reached an audience of twenty millionpeople and raised $39 million. The first bond drive broughtin $12.0 billion; the entire series of drives earned a total of$135 billion.

Locally, the all-volunteer bond drives wereenormously successful. On June 25, 1942, actress MarleneDietrich sold the first official war bond in Hamilton Countyto Benjamin F. Stites, a direct descendent of the founder ofthe city. The next month a model destroyer, the S.S. Victory,was constructed on Fountain Square where it served as a navyrecruiting station and downtown war bond office. A bond pier

built at the corner of Fifth and Vine streets provided a placefor civic and social groups to sell bonds for the duration ofthe war. Divided into forty divisions, Hamilton Countyboasted 8,500 volunteer "bondadiers" who conducted door-to-door campaigns. Women, organized by MargaretTangeman, played an important role in the drives, with acoordinating committee called "Women at War" includingrepresentatives of 900 women's organizations. HamiltonCounty more than met its quotas. Seeking to collect$82,000,000 in the first drive, it raised $108,000,000; seekingto collect $117,000,000 in the second drive, it amassed anaward-winning $175,000,000. Over the entire series of drives,Hamilton County raised the extraordinary amount of morethan one and a half billion dollars.4

The nation's civil defense program also helpedfocus attention on the demands of war. The German bombingof Great Britain in 1940 prompted fears that the United Statesmight soon face a similar threat. To calm such fears, Rooseveltcreated an Office of Civilian Defense six months before theattack on Pearl Harbor. Headed by flamboyant New York City

Civic and social groups soldwar bonds from a downtownwar bond office, and groups ofvolunteer "bondadiers" con-ducted door to doorcampaigns.

Spring 1991

mayor Fiorelllo La Guardia, the agency aimed to "provideopportunities for constructive civilian participation in thedefense program." Regarding non-protective activities as"sissy stuff," La Guardia devoted his own attention to air raidwarning systems and warden schemes. When pressed toconsider moral questions further, he finally appointed FirstLady Eleanor Roosevelt assistant director, and she establisheda series of national programs to encourage public involvementin the defense effort. Her choice of actor Melvyn Douglas tolead a volunteer talent branch and dancer Mayris Chaney tohead a physical fitness section drew the ridicule of politicalopponents who charged that the Office of Civilian Defensewas just another New Deal agency masquerading behind theneeds of war. Their criticisms led to resignations and to adrastically reduced role for the national office.

Despite those bureaucratic difficulties, theeffort proved successful at the local level. In May 1941,Cincinnati mayor James G. Stewart and councilman CharlesP. Taft persuaded Chamber of Commerce president PhillipO. Geier to serve as chairman of the city's defense council andplan for civilian protection. Five months later, Governor JohnW. Bricker certified the Hamilton County National DefenseCouncil as part of the statewide defense program. Followingthe Pearl Harbor attack, local volunteers guarded bridges,utilities, and defense plants against possible sabotage. Likecitizens in countless other cities, they served as air raidwardens and fire watchers. Public and parochial schoolsprovided classrooms for training sessions that dealt with firstaid techniques, blackout precautions, and the basic principlesof civil defense. City manager Clarence O. Sherrill, who alsoserved as civilian defense coordinator, considered convertingthe abandoned underground subway tunnel into a bombshelter. The zoo superintendent decided that in an emergency,dangerous animals which might be a menace if loose wouldbe destroyed. As fear of an attack subsided, Cincinnaticitizens, like their counterparts around the country, shiftedtheir attention to other home front activities that could helpmaintain wartime morale. The Hamilton County NationalDefense Council undertook salvage drives, bond sales, andprovision of child care for working mothers. When the OhioRiver flooded in early 1943, 1,000 civilian defense workershelped the Red Cross evacuate victims, while others guardedshelters and patrolled flooded streets.5

At the same time, the government launched anumber of other initiatives to encourage people to do theirpart. In particular, it tried to help them cope with theinevitable shortages of war. With raw materials diverted tomilitary use, civilians found virtually everything in short

The Queen City and World War II 5

supply. Japan's seizure of the Dutch East Indies and Malayacut off more than ninety percent of America's crude rubbersupply, particularly before development of a synthetic rubberindustry. Metal that could have been used for consumer itemswent into guns, ships, and tanks. Fabric for civilian clothingwas now used for military uniforms. Silk for women'sstockings made parachutes instead.

To counter the inevitable grumbling andpromote a sense of participation, the administration cajoledpeople to conserve and collect scarce resources. Homemakers,for example, were asked to save kitchen fats and turn themover to the butcher. One pound of fat presumably containedenough glycerin to manufacture a pound of black powder thatcould be used for bullets or shells. Similarly, scrap metal wasuseful. If each American family bought one less can a week,that could save 2,500 tons of tin and 1,900 tons of steel, whichcould be used to produce 5,000 tanks or thirty-eight Libertyships. The iron in one old shovel could be converted into fourhand grenades; old lipstick tubes contained brass that couldbe reused in cartridges. In mid-1942 FDR asked people athome to collect "old tires, old rubber raincoats, old gardenhose, rubber shoes, bathing caps, gloves — whatever you havethat is made of rubber." Everywhere the slogan became: "Useit up, wear it out, make it do or do without." For those whoresisted or proved reluctant, there was another refrain: "Don'tyou know there's a war going on?"

Cincinnati participated actively in the cam-

City manager Clarence 0.Sherrill considered convertingthe abandoned undergroundsubway tunnel into a bombshelter.

paigns. Soon after the attack on Pear Harbor, HamiltonCounty organized a Waste Materials Conservation Commit-tee. Headed by Harold W. Nichols, president of the Fox PaperCompany in Lockland, it collected everything from old keysto abandoned cars. Nichols initiated a number of ingeniousprojects. Movie theaters held scrap iron and scrap papermatinees, where children could enter with a donation of scrapmaterial. More than 3,000 large red, white, and blue barrelsplaced in schools and other buildings encouraged citizens to"Get In The Scrap." The same message appeared on cityposters and streetcar signs.6

Salvage officials were active on all fronts. Theyregularly sent trucks into residential neighborhoods andenlisted the assistance of Boy Scouts in the collection effort.In August 1942, the Scouts conducted a six-day door-to-doordrive that netted impressive amounts of iron, copper, brass,aluminum, and rubber. In January 1944, Nichols, now statesalvage chairman, organized a one-day waste paper drive.Noting that paper was a necessary packing material for foodrations, blood plasma, and ammunition, he encouraged localcitizens to clean out old files and remove scrap paper fromthe basements and attics. "On the battle fronts, the drive goes

GLYCERINEhits the Enemy Hard...and heals our own men's wounds !

I rocter & Ijamble107 YEARS 56RV1NG OUR COUNTRY-IN PEACE AND IN WAS!

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forward incessantly," he declared, "and here on the homefront, we can't slacken our efforts, either . . . . We have to havescrap paper to keep that stream of supplies flowing to the boyson the battle front." In Cincinnati, as elsewhere, gas stationsagreed to collect worn out tires and other forms of scraprubber. And local residents responded to the conservationcommittee's appeal with a number of unusual scrap metaldonations. Veterans organizations offered old cannons to thecause. The Paramount Theater at the corner of Gilbert andMcMillan streets contributed an old steel tower, whileWoodward High School provided the iron fence thatsurrounded the campus. When buses replaced some of thecity's streetcars, the Cincinnati Street Railway Companyoffered its abandoned iron tracks for scrap. For a brief time,the committee considered taking the statue of the Capitolinewolf in Eden Park, but fortunately found other sources of theneeded bronze.7

Still another effort to deal with the shortagesresulted in a national rationing program. The Office of PriceAdministration attempted both to cap rising prices and toration scarce supplies by establishing allocations for suchgoods as sugar, coffee, meat, butter, tires, and gasoline.Ration books, issued by local boards, contained stamps orcoupons entitling consumers to purchase different products.Initially each coupon counted for a given amount of an item;later a flexible point system required more points forparticularly scarce items, with a maximum limit on the numberof points that could be used each month.

Cincinnati, like every other part of the country,was plugged into the national program. Public school teachersand other personnel handed out ration books for sugar, thefirst food to be apportioned, to all residents of HamiltonCounty in May 1942. Six months later they distributed booksfor gasoline, with allocations dependent on occupationalneeds. As the rationing scheme kicked into gear, localinhabitants felt the pinch. Stier's Prescription Pharmacy inClifton curtailed nonessential deliveries; Pogue's likewise cutback on delivery service. City bus service was reduced byfifteen percent to save the wear on bus tires and businessestried to stagger employee work days to reduce congestion onpublic transportation as workers had less and less gasoline todrive their own cars.8

One final response to food shortages was toplant Victory gardens. Encouraged by the government,Americans planted some twenty million such gardens, whichin 1943 provided more than a third of all the vegetables grownin the country. Slogans like "Food Will Help Win the War"and "Vegetables for Victory" persuaded people to participate

Homemakers were asked tosave kitchen fats as fat con-tained glycerin used in themanufacturing of black pow-der for bullets or shells.

TUHEFUL BIT

•

Movie theaters held scrap ironand scrap paper matinees,that children bringing a dona-tion of scrap material couldenter.

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The salvage committee evenconsidered taking the EdenPark statue of the Capitolinewolf.

Spring 1991

in the voluntary effort. There were more than a milliongardens in Ohio, an estimated 60,000 and 75,000 in HamiltonCounty alone. Within the city the program also flourished.C.L. Miller, principal of Garfield School, authorized Victorygardens on school grounds and encouraged students to helptheir parents plant vegetables at home. McCullough Seed onEast Third Street faced far greater demands for seed than everbefore as soon as spring weather beckoned, and the CincinnatiCity Council supported the program when it consideredlegislation to penalize those stealing from or damaginggardens. Whether or not the plots were profitable, theyencouraged a sense of participation in the larger war effort.9

That participation was important, for theUnited States had undertaken the monumental task of fullmobilization. Well before the attack on Pearl Harbor,Roosevelt recognized the need to bolster the defense effortand to provide the resources the Allies needed for victory. In1940 he asked Congress to appropriate one billion dollars fordefense, and he returned again and again with requests formore money. "We must be the great arsenal of democracy,"

The Queen City and World War II

IMPROVEDSTREET CAQ

"Well have lots to eat thiswinter, wont we Mother?

your ownyour own

he declared, as he established first one coordinating agency,then another, to help the American economy shift fromcrafting consumer goods to making the implements of war.National goals were enormous. In 1943 alone Roosevelt calledfor production of 125,000 planes, 75,000 tanks, 35,000 anti-aircraft guns, and 10,000 tons of merchant shipping - and theindustrial system responded successfully to those demands.

Business boomed. Industrialists, out of favor inthe dismal years of the Great Depression, now nocked toWashington to coordinate the production process at thenational level. "Dollar-a-year" men were permitted to stay ontheir company payrolls to preclude sacrificing regular incomeswhile they worked for the federal government. The cost-plus-a-fixed-fee system mandated that the government guaranteeall development and production costs and then pay apercentage profit on the wartime goods produced. It meant,in short, that the government assumed all risks.

The results were visible around the country. InMichigan, at Willow Run, Henry Ford built a mile-long

Businesses staggeredemployee work days andworkers were urged to carpool.

"Food Will Help Win the War"and "Vegetables for Victory"urged people to participate inthe war effort by planting vic-tory gardens.

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bomber assembly plant that Charles Lindbergh called "a sortof Grand Canyon of the mechanized world." On the WestCoast, Henry J. Kaiser, who had helped construct the Boulder,Bonneville, and Grand Coulee dams, mass-produced thirtypercent of all the ships launched in 1943. In virtually everystate, industries retooled to meet the needs of war.

While most Cincinnati firms never operated onthe scale of the plants of Ford or Kaiser, they played animportant role in war production. The city's diverse industrialbase and large pool of skilled workers allowed it to converteasily to military demands. Midway through the struggle,more than 180,000 residents of the greater metropolitan areaworked in 2,000 different manufacturing facilities, rangingfrom a husband and wife operation with one machine tool ina garage to the huge Wright engine plant with 35,000employees. Government contracts brought five billion dollars

worth of orders to the region.10

Some area firms received contracts to continuemaking the same kinds of goods they produced in peacetime.Plants manufacturing glycerine, soap, food products, andcertain types of clothing kept making those items, thoughoften in far greater quantities than before. Sometimes the mostminor adjustments allowed a company to carry on prewarpatterns. Tie manufacturer Beau Brummel, for example, stillproduced ties, but now turned out the narrow, khaki-coloredmodel the army required. Procter and Gamble likewise hadto make only small shifts. It replaced metal packing with glassand made white laundry soap without naphtha, for steel andnaphtha had other military uses. It also dropped some brands,like Dreft, when key ingredients proved unavailable, anddiscontinued production of the largest boxes of powderedsoap to discourage consumer hoarding.

Other firms changed course to meet militarydemands while still remaining in the same general field.Fashion Frocks ceased making women's dresses and began toproduce parachutes. Mosler Safe stayed in the metal-workingbusiness but now made armor plate and tank turrets. WhenCincinnati Air Conditioning found that metal was unavailablefor luxury items like cooling units, it turned to productionof meat lockers, for which metal was found, to help stretchthe national food supply. The Kroger Company remained inthe retail grocery business but also won a contract to producecyinaya tushonka, a kind of braised pork, for the beleagueredSoviet army.11

Still other companies changed directionentirely. One sign company now prepared and heat-treatedarmor plate. Rookwood Pottery produced wooden water piperather than ceramic goods, and the Progress LithographingCompany left the printing trade and obtained machine toolsfor use in metalworking.12

Most Cincinnati production involved subcon-tracting — making components or parts of larger items thatwere assembled elsewhere. Machine tools and chemicalsmanufactured in the city went to other factories, in othercommunities, for use in production of military items like riflesor artillery shells. Components like the armor shields, aircraftwing flaps, and engines, found their way into cannons, planes,and tanks that were put together in other plants.

Cincinnati's largest subcontractor was theWright Aeronautical Corporation. Aircraft productionrequired reliable engines, and Wright's twenty-five-acre, one-million square foot facility north of Cincinnati providedWhirlwind and Cyclone radial engines for military planes. Theparent company, headquartered in Patterson, New Jersey,

The Hamilton County NationalDefense Council sponsoredsalvage drives, bond sales,and helping with child care forworking mothers.

Spring 1991 The Queen City and World War II 11

Tests Parachutes Made in Cincinnati

l l l l l l l

Standing, left to right, Lt. Margaret Bartholomew, CAP; Lt. John Quist, AAF; Capt. James L.Shepherd, AAF; Maj. Harry T. Shepherd, AAF; Lt. Melville Meyers, CAP, and Edgard F. Shepherd, CAP.With the tempo of air combat constantly being stepped up on the battle fronts of the world, probablya good many American pilots, forced to take to their parachutes, will live to feel a glow of gratitude to-ward those at home who made sure those parachutes would operate properly. Some of that testing isbeing done right here in Cincinnati, where many of the parachutes are being manufactured by FashionFrocks, Inc., formerly devoted exclusively to the manufacture of women's dresses. Courier Station 51-2,Civil Air Patrol, Chamber of Commerce Building, under arrangements with the Army Air Forces, is doingthe testing. A plane attached to the courier service takes the parachutes up to designated altitudesand subjects them to drop tests prescribed by the AAF. Lt. Herbert L. Thompson, in charge of thecourier service, has assigned Lt. Melville Meyers, 169 Van Zandt Road, a member of Squadron 5111-1,based at Lunken Airport, to the work. Lt. Meyers uses his own plane for the job. Maj. Harry T. Shep-herd, Army Air Force, has supervision of the parachutes in this area. His son, Edgar F. Shepherd, alsois a member of the Civil Air patrol, Lunken Airport.

Fashion Frocks ceased makingwomen's dresses and pro-duced parachutes instead.

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settled on Cincinnati because of its central geographicallocation and ample labor supply. Begun in the summer of1940, the plant turned out its first engine in mid-1941.Operating at full tilt, three shifts a day, it produced some60,000 engines by the end of the war.

Mobilization involved more than industrialproduction alone. Systematic manufacturing schedulesrequired an acceptable transportation system, and Cincinnatihad to extend its preexisting network. Lunken Field, expandedand improved in the late 1930's, remained the city's principalairport, although its limitations for heavy commercial andmilitary use quickly became clear. Short runways, lack of fieldspace, and tricky flying conditions caused by surrounding hillshampered efforts to supply firms with needed items and ledlocal leaders to plan for a second airport in the future.13

The Ohio River was a more importantcommercial link. Barges hauled coal for heating andmanufacturing, oil for propelling merchant and war ships, andlimestone and crushed rock for use in construction. Thoughsome barge lines had limited equipment, much of it out ofdate after the difficult Depression years, they now revived andtheir growth continued for the duration of the war. The OhioRiver Company, a subsidiary of the West Virginia Coal andCoke Corporation, had run in the red in 1938 and 1939; from1940 through 1944 it showed increasing profits, and continuedto make money after the war.14

But railroads were most important of all inmoving people and freight. Cincinnati, a junction connectingroutes running to the South, the East, and the West, servedas a crucial link in the national rail network. Large groups —troops, government personnel, and prisoners of war — oftentraveled on special trains, while civilians and other soldiersused regular commercial trains. Here as elsewhere, thenumber of regularly scheduled passenger trains remainedrelatively constant during the war, although the number ofmiles per passenger doubled between 1940 and 1944. Therailways also served the city's — and the nation's — factories.From mid-1941 to mid-1945, an average of 27,800 cars permonth were loaded, 28,800 unloaded, in Greater Cincinnati'splants and warehouses. Meanwhile, an average of 110,000freight cars each month, almost doubled the prewar number,passed through the city and switched from one line to anotheren route to destinations around the country.15

Union Terminal was the center of rail activity.As wartime restrictions limited airplane and automobiletraffic, more and more people took the trains that came inand out of the nearly new station. At the wartime peak, thenumber of rail passengers using the terminal was more than

Queen City Heritage

two and one half times the figure for 1933. Whether they livedin Cincinnati or were simply passing through, as many as34,000 people used the building each day in 1944. Though theterminal operated at maximum passenger capacity, it couldhave accommodated far more than the 145 passenger trainsthat came through daily. Rather than adding other carriers,the railroads simply ran longer and more crowded trains.16

Mobilization of the American industrial systemwould not have been possible without the cooperation of thelabor force. Workers welcomed the conversion to a warfooting, for it heralded an end to the ever-presentunemployment of the 1930's. Jobs first became more readilyavailable as the nation began to organize for defense in 1940,and employment opportunities expanded further after formalentrance into the war. By 1943, the unemployment rate stoodat 1.3 percent, less than a tenth of the figure in 1937, the bestyear during the Great Depression. Full employment alone,however, did not guarantee the necessary coordination of thework force. The War Manpower Commission played animportant role in making sure that workers were availablewhere they were needed most.

The flourishing economy improved labor's lot.The war enhanced union membership, which rose from 10.5million in 1941 to 14.75 million in 1945, and also bolsteredthe national wage rate. Average weekly earnings for peopleinvolved in manufacturing increased from $32.18 to $47.12 inthe forty months after Pearl Harbor. Even after correctionsfor inflation, real earnings rose twenty-seven percent inmanufacturing work.

Nonetheless, there were frustrations. Mostimportant of all was the perceived gap between wages andprofits that seemed to increase for the duration of the war.Wage controls, which along with price controls helped checkinflation, capped what workers could earn, even as businessesmade increasing profits. Although organized labor had madea no-strike pledge in late 1941, workers in Cincinnati andelsewhere occasionally took matters into their own hands.Strikes — overpay, personnel, and union representation issues— occurred at area plants including Williamson Heating,Lunkenheimer Valve, and Stacey Manufacturing. In 1944,15,000 white workers at Wright Aeronautical Corporationwalked out to protest the assignment of seven black machiniststo the central shop.17

Still, on balance mobilization worked as wellin Cincinnati as in the rest of the country. Americanmanufacturing firms produced what was necessary to win thewar, and workers took enormous pride in their accomplish-ments. While monetary rewards provided the best motivation,

Spring 1991 The Queen City and World War II 13

. .-.,. ...........

0

• • . & . - •

Machine tools and chemicalsproduced in Cincinnati wentto other factories in other cit-ies for use in manufacturingmilitary items.

14

owners and workers both appreciated the "E" awards givenby the Army, Navy, and Merchant Marine to war plants withexcellent records in the areas of production, quality control,and labor relations. At a ceremony, military officials presentedan "E" flag to the facility and "E" pins to the employees.Among local firms to be so honored were American ToolWorks and Cincinnati Milacron.

But winning the war meant more than simplyboosting morale and mobilizing the economy. It was equallyimportant to assemble the military machine to fight thenecessary battles on two fronts and grind the Axis powers tothe ground. In this war, as in past wars, conscription was themost equitable way to enlarge the nation's military forces,though it did not come without initial protest. A proposeddraft bill in 1940 caused a real uproar, with opposition fromstudents, clergymen, and isolationists who attempted topersuade Congress to defeat the measure. One Senator washanged in effigy by women calling themselves the "Congressof American Mothers" and "Mothers of the USA." When thefuror died down and the bill finally passed, the United Stateshad the first peacetime draft in its history. After the attack onPearl Harbor the draft was tightened, but in all essentialscontinued as before.

Queen City Heritage

Cincinnati played its part in implementing thedraft. By the terms of the Selective Service Act, Ohioestablished 338 draft boards, thirty-five of them in HamiltonCounty. In October 1940, the region registered more than81,000 men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-six,including nearly 4,600 at Draft Board No. 35, which served

Cheviot, Colerain, Crosby, Delhi, Greene, and Harrisontownships. Once registered, the men received a number fora lottery that would select draftees, though initially volunteerssatisfied quotas set in Washington. Cincinnati's first draftee,Ralph Davis, a/one holder of number 158, was not called intoservice for several months.18

Local volunteers and draftees, between 100 and175 each day, reported to Fort Thomas in northern Kentucky.There they were interviewed, fingerprinted, and given aphysical exam. Inductees who failed to meet physicalrequirements or who could not sign their names or read ata fourth grade level received military deferments. Accordingto state surveys, 0.2 percent of Hamilton County's whitedraftees, and 1.3 percent of the black draftees were illiterate.19

Some men of draft age sought to avoid militaryservice. Frederick Waehaus, Jr. of South Cumminsville refusedto register claiming that he was a member of the AmericanCommunist Party. Conscientious objectors, citing religiousor moral convictions, could obtain deferments, but usuallyhad to perform some sort of alternative service. Draftees withjobs vital to the national defense effort could similarly stay

Barges on the Ohio Riverhauled coal for heating andmanufacturing, oil for propel-ling merchant war ships, andlimestone and crushed rockfor construction purposes.

Wright Aeronautical Corpora-tion, the Queen City's largestsubcontractor, manufacturedWhirlwind and Cycloneengines for military planes. Bythe end of the war WrightAeronautical had producedsome 60,000 engines.

Spring 1991

out of the military if their petitions were successful, althoughnot all requests were granted. Jerome Hoersting, for example,asked for a deferment to continue working in his father'sbusiness. When he was turned down, he refused to report forinduction, and spent seventeen days in jail before agreeing toreport to Fort Thomas. There, ironically he failed his physicalexamination and received the deferment he had long sought.20

Altogether nearly 100,000 local residentsfought in the armed forces during the war. Of those, 70,000men and 4,000 women served with the Army, 11,000 men and500 women with the Navy, and 9,000 men with the Marines.Ted Combs and Bob Doepke fought with George Patton'sThird Army in Europe; Chuck Wolever served with a mortarteam attacking German towns; Bill Nimmo participated in theinvasion of North Africa as a member of the First Division;James Ferguson worked as an anti-aircraft gunner through thePhilipine campaign; William L. Jones fought in the Pacific as

The Queen City and World War II 15

part of the all-black 93rd Division. Local Women, servinglargely in support roles, were equally active. M. Eileen Lutzworked as a driver and spent a good deal of her service timein New Guinea; Ruth Boenke trained as a radio operator, thenguided B-17s in and out of a Florida air base.

The National Guard provided another outletfor military service. In the summer and fall of 1940, reservistswho had been training on weekends and during the summerwere called to full-time active duty and incorporated into thearmy. Hundreds of local men, most of them members of the107th Cavalry or the 147th Infantry, were among those somobilized. The 107th Cavalry was one of the last Americanunits still to use horses. In maneuvers in Wisconsin andCalifornia in 1941, its members rode both on horseback andin motorized vehicles, but in Europe they receivedassignments in armored and motorized reconnaissance unitsalone. The 147th Infantry, called "Cincinnati's Own" because

• . • '

The Army, Navy, and Mer-chant Marine gave "E"awards to war plants withexcellent records in the areasof production, quality control,and labor relations.

16

most original members came from this area, served in thePacific theater where they fought in the island campaignsagainst the Japanese.21

Not all national service involved joining themilitary. Many local residents served in federal agencies or inthe diplomatic corps. City councilman Charles Phelps Taft II,son of a former president and brother of an Ohio senator,became assistant director of the Office of Defense Health andWelfare Services in early 1941, moved on to direct CommunityWar Services for the next two years, and finally served asdirector of Wartime Economic Affairs at the StateDepartment. Theodore M. Berry, prominent in breakingdown local racial barriers in the late 1930's, served asmidwestern coordinator of the Committee for the Participa-tion of Negroes in National Defense, then joined the Officeof War Information, only to resign and return to Cincinnati

Youli be happy too, andfeel so proud serving asa W A V E 'n t'ie

Queen City Heritage

when he felt the propaganda organization was not workinghard enough to attack white prejudice. Both men continuedtheir public service. Taft became mayor in the late 1950's, Berrythe city's first black mayor in the early 1970's.22

The Second World War changed Cincinnati,just as it transformed the rest of American society. It madeunprecedented demands on regional residents, alteredtraditional patterns of behavior, and so laid the groundworkfor the postwar years. Local frustrations echoed those felt inother cities; local victories reflected similar achievements incommunities throughout the United States. Closely tied tothe massive military and economic effort, Cincinnatiexperienced all the trials, and triumphs, of the nation at large.

Economically, the war ushered in the Keynes-ian revolution, and vindicated the theory of the great Englisheconomist. It proved that positive steps could be taken tomitigate the effects of a business cycle that seemed stalled ona downward turn, and demonstrated that aggressive publicpolicy could make a difference. It also promoted the growthof big business, as it underscored the military-industrial linksthat made possible the massive production necessary for thewar. War Department ties to the nation's largest firmsremained important at the war's end.

Socially, the war brought progress at long lastfor women and blacks, especially when their own interestscoincided with larger military demands. The need for labor,as the draft drew white male workers into the armed forces,opened new opportunities for them and for a variety of groupsoutside the mainstream of American life.

In Cincinnati as elsewhere, women, who wereunquestionably second-class citizens at the start of thestruggle, now became part of the huge productive effort.Nationally, the number of working women rose from14,600,000 in 1941 to 19,370,000 in 1944. Where former femaleworkers had been single and young, now married womenaccounted for 72.2 percent of the total increase and for thefirst time in American history outnumbered single women. Bythe end of the war, half of all female workers were over thirty-five. Women — and men — worried about the disruption oftraditional social patterns, about what to do with childrenwhile they worked, about the possibility of maintainingfemininity in new places of work. Yet they welcomed the newopportunities and used them to provide the groundwork forthe women's movement in future years.

Similarly, the war helped in the black strugglefor equal rights. Again Cincinnati's experience mirrored thatof the rest of the country. A movement aimed at endingdiscrimination against blacks had been underway for years,

Nearly 100,000 local resi-dents fought in the armed for-ces during the war. Of those70,000 men and 4,000women served in the army;11,000 men and 500 women

with the navy; and 9,000 menin the marines.

Spring 1991 The Queen City and World War II 17

with people like Ted Berry active in the struggle, but blacksremained acutely aware of the gap between American dreamand American reality. Now, in the face of powerful pressuresfor manpower and production, blacks pressed for newopportunities. The "Double V" campaign, started by thePittsburgh Courier, demanded V for victory in the struggle forfair treatment at home. The Army, needing men, acceptedmore and more blacks, as the number rose from 97,725 in late1941 to 467,883 in late 1942, although the Army remainedsegregated. Perhaps the greatest gains came in industry.Between 1940 and 1944, the number of blacks employed rosefrom 4.4 million to 5.3 million; by 1945 blacks comprised eightpercent of all war workers, compared to three percent in 1942.Equally important, the war established the framework forfurther protest in the postwar years.

Finally, in Cincinnati and the rest of thecountry, the war changed political relationships and patterns.Americans now looked to the government, local and federal,as never before. Despite pressure from Cincinnati's RobertTaft and others to circumscribe that growth, governmentplayed an increasingly active role in people's lives. The waralso gave a boost to a conservative coalition of southernDemocrats and Republicans that had begun to form in thelate 1930's. More and more influential, it propelled Taft,commonly known as "Mr. Republican," into the politicallimelight until his death in 1953.

Cincinnati citizens pulled together in meaning-ful ways in World War II. They did their part and more. Inaddition to serving in the military, working in the city'sfactories, and participating in the numerous wartimecampaigns, they reached out to others whose lives weredisrupted by the war. When the War Relocation Authorityallowed some Japanese Americans, who had been internedwithout legitimate cause, to leave the camps, Cincinnatihelped some 600 resettle here. Local Quakers opened one

hostel, Episcopalians another, to provide released detaineesa first place to stay as they searched for housing and jobs.Claude V. Courter, Cincinnati superintendent of schools,worked with his staff to make school-age Japanese Americanchildren feel welcome, while the University of Cincinnatiencouraged Japanese American students to enroll and reducedtuition by $50 for evacuees who had lived in the city for a year.Similarly, the city's Jewish population worked to assist Jewishrefugees who were fortunate enough to leave Europe resettlehere. The Hebrew Union College established a "College inExile" that provided foreign Jewish scholars with teachingpositions to meet the requirements of immigration laws. AnEmergency Rescue Committee, organized by Rabbi EliezerSilver, assisted the relocation effort of more than 1,000refugees. Finally, more than 2,300 local residents made theultimate sacrifice and died during the struggle. Alex Bishopof Clifton, Robert Horton of Westwood, Roland Cox ofIndian Hill, Nick Smith of Hyde Park — they were but a fewof the non-returning casualties of war.23

In 1941 city councilmanCharles P. Taft II becameassistant director of the Officeof Defense Health and Wel-fare Services.

Theodore M. Berry served asmidwestern coordinator of theCommittee for the Participa-tion of Negroes in NationalDefense and with the Officeof War Information.

Hundreds of thousands of others, of course,survived the struggle. Whether their war unfolded in factoriesor on battlefields, they were eager for it to end, and welcomedthe capitulation of the Germans in May and the Japanese inAugust, 1945. Celebrations on Fountain Square, andthroughout the city, were much like celebrations in everycommunity in the country. Some citizens were exuberant,others quietly thankful that the mighty effort had come to asuccessful end. They were ready to put the war behind them,to return to what they recalled of the pattern of the prewaryears.

Yet these veterans, soldiers and civilians both,soon found that it was impossible to recreate the past.Outwardly their city seemed the same, but inwardly it hadchanged, and continued to change, in important ways.Planners learned from the war that industries, and workers,were mobile. That awareness guided the redevelopment of the

riverfront and downtown. Builders here and elsewhere reliedon Federal Housing Authority loans and G.I. Bill benefits thatmade new suburban housing affordable to veterans of the war.Women and blacks in Cincinnati and communities around thecountry remained insistent on enjoying the full benefits of theAmerican dream and, even when relegated to subservientstatus once again, they maintained their pressure until the restof American society finally caught up with their demands. ForCincinnati, and for the rest of the nation, the war broughtthe long-awaited return of prosperity, but it also broughtmuch more. It pushed city and country toward postwarcommitments that changed the patterns of American life.Continuities with the prewar period persisted, to be sure. Butin fundamental ways the war altered hopes, expectations, anddaily patterns, as Americans embraced new responsibilities athome and abroad.

Civilians and soldiersexchanged ideas and war sto-ries at the canteen at LunkenAirport.

Spring 1991 The Queen City and World War II 19

1. For additional information on the American experience: mobilization,production, and adjustment at home in World War II see Allan M. Winkler,Home Front U.S.A.: America During World War II (Arlington Heights,Illinois, 1986). General information and quotes not otherwise noted aretaken from this work.2. Robert Earnest Miller, "Isolationism vs. Interventionism," CincinnatiGoes to War exhibit collection (CGW), Cincinnati Historical Society(CHS), Cincinnati, Ohio. See Bishop Henry Wise Hobson, The Messenger:A Newsletter for the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Southern Ohio (March1941) and The Cincinnati Post, December 18,1941.3. Miller, "Isolationism vs. Interventionism" (CGW). See The CincinnatiPost, December 11, 1941.4. Ruby Rogers, "Money for the War," (CGW). See The Cincinnati Times-Star, June 25, 1942; The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 18, 1942; The CincinnatiEnquirer, January 10, 1945.5. Robert Earnest Miller, "Watching for the Enemy," (CGW). SeeCincinnati Bureau of Governmental Research, Memorandum, June 12,1941, Civil Defense Collection, Box 1 (CHS) and The Cincinnati Enquirer,April 3, 1941, and January 6, 1943.6 Robert Earnest Miller, "Salvage Drives: Wartime Necessity or MoraleBuilders?" (CGW). See The Cincinnati Enquirer, October 1,1942.7. Miller, "Salvage Drives," (CGW) See The Cincinnati Enquirer, November8, 1942; The Cincinnati TimesStar, April 15, 1942, and January 28, 1944.8. Ruby Rogers, "Belt Tightening: Shortages and Handling Shortages,"(CGW). See War Rationing Board records Box 2 (CHS).9. Karen Regina, "Victory Gardens," (CGW). See The Cincinnati Post,February 12, 1943, and March 9, 1943.10. Geoffrey J. Giglierano, "Introduction: Swords Into Plowshares,"

(CGW). See The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 12,1944; The Cincinnati Times-Star, October 29, 1945.11. Geoffrey J. Giglierano, "Industry Adapts," (CGW). See The CincinnatiTimes-Star, October 29, 1945; conversation with Mark Radke, president,The Cincinnati Air Conditioning Company, January 1990; The CincinnatiEnquirer, July 19, 1943.12. Geoffrey J. Giglierano, "Industry Adapts" (CGW). See Ohio WarHistory Commission Records Box 3 (CHS); Thomas Grace, WarProduction Board Report; Production Division; Cincinnati District, August1941-August 1945 (CHS).13. Geoffrey J. Giglierano, "Wartime Aviation in Cincinnati" (CGW).14. Geoffrey J. Giglierano with James Coomer, "The River as WartimeHighway," (CGW). See West Virginia Coal & Coke Corporation, AnnualReport (1940).15. Geoffrey J. Giglierano, "Railways Carrying War Traffic" (CGW). SeeCarl W. Condit, The Railroad and the City: A Technological and UrbanisticHistory of Cincinnati (Columbus, Ohio, 1977).16. Jeff B. Sheppard, "Cincinnati Companies During World War II"(CGW). See, for Williamson, The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 24, 1944.For Lunkenheimer, The Cincinnati TimesStar, April 7, 1943; February 23,1944; April 29, 1944; May 16, 1945; The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 28 and30, 1944. For Stacey: The Cincinnati TimesStar, October 27-30, 1943; TheCincinnati Enquirer, November 2-15, 1943; The Cincinnati Times-Star, May13,1944 and July 5,1945; The Cincinnati Enquirer'July 14-19,1945. DeborahA. Overmyer, "Wright Aeronautical Corporation in Cincinnati," (CGW).See The Cincinnati Enquirer, June 611, 1944; The Cincinnati Post, June 5-12,1944, and The Cincinnati Times-Star, June 5-12,1944.17. Robert Earnest Miller, "Draft Boards in Cincinnati and Hamilton

Women joined the war effortby serving in the Red Crossand as volunteers for theU.S.O.

20

County" (CGW). See The Cincinnati Enquirer, October 30, 1940.18. Miller, "Draft Boards" (CGW). See The Cincinnati Enquirer, August1, 1941.19. Ibid.20 Geoffrey J. Giglierano, "Cincinnatians at War Before the War Starts"(CGW). See The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 19, 1945. 21. Robert EarnestMiller, "Cincinnatians in Federal Service: A Tale of Two Bureaucrats"(CGW).22. Robert Earnest Miller with Deborah A. Overmyer, "The Resettlementof Japanese Americans in Cincinnati" (CGW). See Ohio War History

Queen City Heritage

Commission Records, Box 11 (CHS) "Cincinnati: A City for Families"(Washington, D.C.: War Relocation Authority, 1945).Miller with Overmyer "Jewish Refugees in Cincinnati" (CGW). SeeMichael A. Meyer, "A Centennial History," in Hebrew Union College-JewishInstitute of Religion at One Hundred Tears, Samuel E. Kauffman, ed.(Cincinnati, Ohio, 1976); The Silver Era in American Jewish Orthodoxy: RabbiEliezer Silver and His Generation (New York, New York and Jerusalem, Israel,1981); and Abraham Peck and Uri D. Herscher, Queen City Refuge: An OralHistory of Cincinnati's Jewish Refugees from Nazi Germany (New Jersey, 1989).

More than 2,300 local citizensdied during the struggle.