The war bonds of World War II were closely tied to the technology of the times: the campaigns utilized all forms of common technology to reach as many people as possible. From radio to film to print ads, war bonds became a part of daily life for these Americans. In addition to this, many huge corporations were also supporters of the war bond effort including Nabisco, the National Biscuit Company. ...
“Thursday May 17, has been set as Senior Day, when high-school senior students of Robeson County are invited to visit the college, see its various activities and mingle socially with its students and faculty,” reports the May 15, 1945, issue of The Robesonian. As the article described, the students had a full day planned for them at Pembroke State College, including tours of many...
Frank Baily was an engineer on the project, a project seen as the triumph of modern technology over the unpredictability of nature. On the date of September 30, 1945 as President Roosevelt opined about the Dam’s incredible existence at the dedication ceremony, Baily couldn’t help but marvel at a creation that was very much his own. As Baily struggled to find the words to describe this mammoth...
In the New York Times article entitled, “Rickey Takes Slap at Negro Leagues”, Branch Rickey, the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers faced a hailstorm of critics as he announced his decision to sign Jackie Robinson to the previously all white Brooklyn Dodgers farm team. Facing the press, he dispelled the rumors that he had been forced into making the deal, that the Negro leagues had...
The rush to marry during World War Two may have had negative effects on Opal Bonilla, wife of Nicholas Bonilla. The couple met in Birmingham in June of 1942. Stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia, Nicholas and Opal began corresponding and continued reciprocating mail throughout their courtship. After only months of dating, “Nicky Boy” and “Darling Opal” wed in November of 1942. ...
During the late 1930’s and early 1940s, Paradise Valley was one of the few Detroit neighborhoods in which black people were allowed to reside. Paradise Valley was a over populated neighborhood because of so many black migrants from the South moving up North to find jobs that could only live in certain areas such as Paradise Valley. It became a well known area for hosting famous African-American...
Stamatis Demoes was saddened to leave his Greek hometown behind. He would miss the people and the vineyards he worked in. But he had no choice because his town had been destroyed in an attack by Communist rebels. Demoes was part of the outnumbered troops that fought against them to the very end. After his town was virtually destroyed, Demoes and his family managed to come to Birmingham, AL with...
Zora Neale Hurston was an African American woman born in the first all African American town in America. She wrote countless accounts of different things she saw and experienced and this is very important because what she experienced was completely different than what most other African Americans experienced. In the short story “Turpentine” she accounts when she walks down to see where the...
In 1946, the thriving Pennsylvania Railroad Company celebrated its 100-year anniversary. The railroad company took out a national advertisement in Time Magazine in February 1946 identifying some of the major milestones in the railroad’s history and discussing its current operations. The advertisement noted that the railroad dispatched 1,340 passenger trains and 3,170 freight trains across...
The United States’ industrial strength was crucial to Allied victory in World War II. Throughout the 1930s, American industry had languished during the Great Depression. However, the American economy quickly rebounded as demand for war materials spiked. Textiles were amongst the most important goods produced during the war. Mills across the country ran night and day to churn out a variety of fabrics...