BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN
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BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN
The vast effort required to fight a global war had a transforming effect
on Virginia. World War II unleashed forces that brought the common­
wealth back into the national mainstream and reinforced Virginians’ iden­
tity as Americans.
STANDARDS OF LEARNING
K.1, 1.2, 2.5, 2.11,VS.7, US1.8, US1.9,VUS.7,VUS.14
KEY POINTS
• American participation in World War I was too short to effect permanent change in
Virginia, but the war accelerated the migration of black Virginians to northern cities.
• The sudden collapse of France in World War II triggered a huge American defense buildup
that affected Virginia enormously.
• Virginia thrived economically because of its shipbuilding facilities, numerous military bases
and camps, the munitions industry that was protected by the western mountains, and the
state’s proximity to Washington, D.C., from which there was a huge spillover of federal jobs.
• In 1942, there was naval combat off the coast of Virginia, but the state was never attacked
by the Axis powers.
• Although the war was not fought on Virginia soil, it was a total war that reached into every
community and touched every Virginian.Three hundred thousand Virginians served in uni­
form, and 7,000 were killed.
• The mechanization of agriculture spurred by wartime labor shortages permanently freed
large numbers of Virginians for the retail and service economy of the postwar period.
• Vast tracts of prefabricated single-dwelling houses built for war workers were prototypes
for the postwar suburbs.
• The broadened experiences of blacks and women gave impetus to the postwar civil rights
and women’s movements.
BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN • 99
WORLD WAR I
Virginia-born president Woodrow Wilson led the war effort against the Central Powers in 1917
and 1918. Virginians welcomed the jobs opened up by a huge guncotton (explosive) plant at
Hopewell and the growth of the largest naval base in Norfolk. They also mourned the loss of
1,200 Virginians who gave their lives in their country’s service.American participation in the war
lasted only nineteen months—too short a time to alter Virginia’s economic, social, or political sys­
tem.
World War I bond drive
100 • BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN
WOODROW WILSON (1856–1924)
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the twenty-eighth presi­
dent of the United States. He was born in Staunton,
Virginia, on December 28, 1856, the son and grand­
son of Presbyterian ministers.Wilson left Virginia at
an early age. He grew up in Georgia and South
Carolina, where he read the classics and devel­
oped a love of history. Wilson was greatly influ­
enced by his study of the Civil War and the
Reconstruction period.
Wilson served as a history and political science
professor at several colleges before he became
president of Princeton University in 1902. His inno­
vative reorganization of the university caught the
attention of James Smith, boss of the New Jersey
Democratic Party. Smith encouraged Wilson to run for
governor, and he was elected to that office in 1910. Under
Wilson’s stewardship, the New Jersey legislature passed a
number of Progressive measures, including direct primaries, munici­
pal reform, antitrust legislation, regulation of public utilities, and reorganization of the school sys­
tem.These accomplishments as governor brought Wilson into the national spotlight.
Woodrow Wilson was elected president in 1912. As president, he pushed for Progressive
reforms. Known as, “New Freedom,” this program lowered the tariff, established the Federal
Reserve, and directed antitrust legislation through Congress. In 1916, Wilson was re-elected
through his efforts to keep America out of the war in Europe. Less than six months later, how­
ever, on April 6, 1917, Congress declared war on Germany.
For the idealistic Wilson, World War I was a crusade to make “the world safe for democracy.”
When the treaty was debated at the Versailles Conference, Wilson advocated the famous
“Fourteen Points,” which included leniency for the defeated countries, democracy and self-deter­
mination for all peoples, and the creation of a League of Nations to resolve international con­
flicts.The League of Nations was established but the Senate refused to ratify the Versailles treaty
and join the international organization. This congressional defeat left Wilson bitter and disillu­
sioned. The elections of Republican Warren G. Harding to the presidency in 1920 signaled an end
to Wilsonian idealism and a return to “normalcy.” Wilson died on February 3, 1924.
Critical Thinking
Wilson and Democracy
President Wilson believed in world democracy and a world organization to promote global peace.
Do you think that democracy can be achieved in most nations? What are the major accomplish­
ments of the United Nations? What are some of the reasons why peace is so difficult to maintain?
BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN • 101
WORLD WAR II
Adolf Hitler’s lightning-quick conquest of France in 1940 led to an American defense buildup that
had enormous consequences in Virginia.Virginians were more willing than many other Americans
to send aid to Great Britain as that country faced the Nazis alone after the fall of France.
World War II ration book and coupons
WAR WORK
The defense buildup of 1940–41 effectively ended the Great Depression and raised Virginia to
unprecedented levels of prosperity and employment. Several factors contributed to this growth,
including shipbuilding in Hampton Roads, the construction and expansion of federal facilities
across the state, the manufacture of munitions and other materials across the state, and enor­
mous growth of the federal government, some of which spilled over into Northern Virginia from
Washington, D.C. Among southern states,Virginia ranked behind only Texas in the value of war
contracts.
In war industry jobs and in other jobs left open by men serving in the military, the war opened
up new fields for women. African Americans also benefited, especially after the federal govern­
ment proclaimed equal pay regardless of race for workers doing the same job.When many blacks
left Virginia for employment in northern cities, the war work transformed black Virginians from a
rural to a largely urban people. The opening of the Pentagon in 1943, the world’s largest office
building, symbolized the growing importance of the federal government to Virginia’s economy.
102 • BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN
“WHAT CAN I DO?”
After Pearl Harbor, Virginians asked, “What can I do?” Many
found the answer in volunteer war work. Some assumed
civilian defence functions as air raid wardens or plane spot­
ters. Others worked for the Red Cross, rolling bandages and
serving coffee and doughnuts to traveling servicemen and
women.
When I joined the Virginia
National Guard, I thought I was
going to Virginia Beach. Instead, I
went to Omaha Beach.
—A Virginia veteran
A volunteer air raid warden employed by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company.
THE USO
The United Service Organization (USO) provided a home away from home for servicemen and
women on leave. It was extremely active in Virginia because of the state’s numerous military posts
and naval bases.The USO was a consortium of the Jewish Welfare Board, the National Catholic
Community Service, the National Travelers’ Aid Association, the Salvation Army, the YMCA, and
the YWCA. It sponsored special parties, dances, games, and sports for soldiers, sailors, and
marines.
BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN • 103
THE WAR AT HOME AND IN SCHOOL
World War II was called a total war because its prosecution involved all elements of American
society and economy. Conservation of resources became a civilian contribution.The motto was
“Use it up, wear it our, make do, or do without.” Schools conducted drives to collect rubber, scrap
metal, waste paper, cooking fats, and tin cans. Rationing limited the consumption of rubber, nylon,
sugar, shortening, butter, liquor, gasoline, vegetables, and meat.
Left: school-organized scrap rubber drive; Below:
Boy Scouts in Gloucester collecting aluminum.
Critical Thinking
During World War II, many items were rationed, and prices were fixed to prevent profi­
teering. Are these kinds of controls justified in a free enterprise system? If so, under
what conditions?
104 • BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN
BOND DRIVES
Only a small fraction of the war could be paid for by normal government revenue. The govern­
ment financed the war with loans from the American people.Americans were encouraged to put
10 percent of their income into buying war bonds.
War Bond Rally in Harrisonburg, 1944, by Evelyn Byrd Deyerle. (Lent by the Deyerle family)
BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN • 105
WORLD WAR AND AFRICAN VIRGINIANS
Migration to the North was nothing new for
African Virginians. Since the Civil War, blacks had
been heading north by the thousands to seek bet­
ter jobs and relief from the Jim Crow laws.The two
world wars not only helped bolster this migration
but also gave African Americans an opportunity to
show their mettle and prove to the world that
they deserved equal rights.
In World War II Americans fought against enemies
in Europe and in the Pacific who used ideas of
racial superiority to justify aggressive expansion­
ism. This irony was not lost on black Americans,
who nonetheless answered the call to arms and
performed bravely throughout the war, fighting for
the “Double V” (victory over the Axis powers abroad and victory over racism and Jim Crow seg­
regation at home). In 1941,A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters threat­
ened President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a march on Washington, D.C., if salaries for blacks and
whites in defense industries were not equalized. Roosevelt responded by creating the Fair
Employment Practices Committee, which attempted to end hiring and wage discrimination in
industries with government contracts.
In the Museum
Tuskegee Airmen
One of the war’s most famous fighting units was the Tuskegee Airmen—African American pilots who
protected bombers on missions over Europe. Clemenceau Givings, a Virginia Union University grad­
uate, was a member of the airmen. He was killed on a bombing mission in 1944. Find his scrapbook
and the telegram to his parents reporting his death.
PRISON CAMPS IN VIRGINIA
In mid-1945 there were 17,000 German prisoners of wars, (POWs), in twenty-seven different
camps across Virginia. In addition, Japanese diplomats and their families from the Washington
embassy were confined in Hot Springs.The number of POWs in Virginia increased in 1943 after
the North African campaign.
Camp Lee and Camp Pickett each had facilities to hold about 1,000 POWs, who were required
to work in war-related activities such as cutting plywood, picking fruits and vegetables, and work­
ing in factories. POWs were also required to take classes that focused on democracy, the U.S.
Constitution, political parties, and the American economy.
In December 1946, in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 1929, the United States
announced that it would pay $200 million to former POWs or their dependents for work done
while in American camps.
106 • BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN
In the Museum
Identify the following people:
1. Clemenceau Givings
____
As U.S. Army chief of staff during
World War II, he was called “the
organizer of victory” by Winston
Churchill. He attended the Virginia
Military Institute.
____
He was the only officer from Com­
pany A of the 116th Infantry to survive
the D-Day invasion. Company A was
from Bedford, which lost twenty-three
of its sons that day.
____
A Charlottesville native, he command­
ed the First Marine Division at
Guadalcanal.
____
Commander of the U.S. forces in the
Pacific, he chose to be buried in
Norfolk, his mother’s hometown.
____
A Newport News maritime attorney,
he probably saved the lives of eighty
Jewish refugees aboard the Quanza.
____
A Richmond native, he was member of
the Tuskegee Airmen.
____
This West Point native led the First
Marine Division at Peleliu.When he
retired, he was the most decorated
marine in history.
2. Archer A Vandegrift
3. George C. Marshall
4. Lewis “Chesty” Puller
5. Douglas MacArthur
6. Jacob Morewitz
7. Ray Nance
BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN • 107
Activities
World War II
•
As part of a class project, develop a simulation for the Versailles Conference similar to the
Model UN program. Assume the identity of one of the conference participants and argue that
nation’s position on such issues as territorial boundaries, reparations, and the League of Nations.
•
Discuss American isolationism in the late 1930s and early 1940s.Why was there so little isola­
tionist sentiment in Virginia?
•
Building on some of the ideas in the exhibition, discuss the ways ordinary Americans were
involved in fighting World War II. Find examples of these things in your community.
•
Using Virginia as an example, discuss the economic effect of mobilization on the home front.
How did this lead to social change?
•
Find a Life magazine from World War II. How is the war depicted in news articles? Study the
advertisements.
•
Listen to President Roosevelt’s “day of infamy” speech in class and write a reaction paper.
•
World War II has been called “The Good War.” Was it a good war? Why or why not?
Saying goodbye at the train station.
108 • BECOMING AMERICANS AGAIN