Audio Descriptions and Screen Reader Text for Georgia Goes to War.
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Audio Tour Script: Georgia Goes to War
Introduction
The Georgia Goes to War Exhibit features six sections that each have colored banners that connect and correspond with the other panels in the section. Each section additionally consists of a main panel that includes a Before, During, and After section and a timeline, and two secondary panels. One that features an infographic and the other with a “Consider This” panel where features a question and two pictures to consider.
Bell Bomber
Banner:
The Bell Bomber section features a sage green banner with Bell Bomber written in large, yellow font at the top. Below the title is a yellow image of the state of Georgia within a circle. Bell Bomber is labeled prominently with a red star beside the label “Marietta” as well, just north of Atlanta.
Below the map is a section labeled “Meet History Face-to-Face” with “Geraldine Anthony” written underneath it. The image below shows a black and white photo of Geraldine Anthony looking off to the side of the camera, sitting in a large chair, with a sage green filter over the photo. The caption of the photo reads “Geraldine Anthony in her Rome, Georgia, home, 2018. Courtesy Geraldine Anthony.” The text below the photo reads, “Born in Bartow County, Georgia, in 1927, Geraldine Anthony worked as a janitor at the Bell Bomber plant in Marietta during World War II. She swept the factory floor of metal shavings and debris that fell from B-29 planes during construction. After the war, she worked on a cotton farm before taking a job with Goodyear Tire in Rome, Georgia.”
In an oral history interview with KSU, Geraladine Anothony said of the people she worked with at Bell Bomber: “All kinds of people. They were good. They were nice people. I have to say they were really nice. I know one of them there run up to the machine he said, ‘If I don’t get to see you no more,’ he said, ‘I’ll see you in heaven.’” (11:33-11:47) https://soar.kennesaw.edu/handle/11360/2415
Before, During, After:
To the right of the section banner is the main section panel with text that reads “War Time Industry Changes Cobb County” on top of the same sage green background as the section banner. The main section image, covering the right side of the panel, is a black and white photo with a sage green filter over it. It shows employees sitting atop and surrounding different parts of a B-29 Superfortress in a warehouse factory with multiple similar planes being worked on by various employees. The caption of the photo reads: Employees working on a B-29 Superfortress in the B-1 Building of the Marietta Assembly Plant of Bell Aircraft, ca. 1942-1945. Courtesy Kennesaw State University Archives.
The section text below reads:
Before:
- When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president in 1933, he promised a “New Deal” for America. Cobb County was largely land-rich and cash-poor, and many of its residents were enthusiastic about the potential for federal dollars pouring into the region. Decades of frugal fiscal policy had stifled broad economic growth, just as cotton had overtaxed the land. With tensions mounting in Europe and Asia, FDR also saw the potential of the interior South to house airplane manufacturing, far from the vulnerabilities of the West Coast and the Northeast. To jump-start production after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the War Department required airplane manufacturers to share secrets and work together to produce planes quickly, and it awarded contracts accordingly.
During:
- Lured by local advocates, Bell Aircraft opened a plant to build B-29 bombers in Marietta, which was home to Rickenbacker Airfield that ran along two major highways connected to Atlanta. The Cobb County Times called it "the greatest single industrial enterprise ever established south of the Ohio River." Bell Bomber, as the plant was known locally, produced 668 airplanes for the war effort and it paid more than twice the average wage rates in the area.
After:
- Less than a month after two B-29s dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Bell Bomber closed its doors. Marietta residents feared abandonment by the new industry, but the established infrastructure proved attractive to the burgeoning military-industrial complex. With the onset of the Korean War, the federal government awarded a factory contract to Lockheed in 1950 to build Boeing B-47 aircraft in the former Bell plant. Lockheed has remained an anchor industry in the region ever since, and Cobb County has become an affluent suburb of Atlanta. In fact, the postwar baby boom in Atlanta's northern suburbs during the 1950s led to the 1963 decision by the Georgia board of regents to establish a junior college in Kennesaw. Fifty years later, Kennesaw State is Georgia's third largest public university.
Beneath the During section is a yellow, highlight portion of text that reads:
Family Matters:
- Many Bell workers had young children, but the Bell plant did not provide onsite daycare. In partnership with the federal government, the Marietta Housing Authority built housing projects for Bell employees with 24-hour childcare facilities in 1943. Bell workers established themselves in the community with the help of these facilities, and many chose to stay even after the war ended.
Timeline:
The timeline runs along the bottom of the main panel. It is the same sage green of the main panel background. It has white vertical dashes that form a horizontal line across the middle. Above the line are slightly longer dashes with years written above them. 1943 is the first year, then 1943, 1944, 1945, then a larger space before 1946, and 1951 are labeled. There are yellow dots on dashes throughout the timeline that correspond to events that occurred within the years above the dashed line and text written below the timeline. The first two dots are between 1943 and 1944. The first one reads “March 15, 1943: Bell plant opens for business in Marietta.” The next reads “November 1943: First b-29 rolls off the assembly line.” Then, between 1944 and 1945, “Fall of 1944: Bell plant produces b-29s at a rate of one per day.” Between 1945 and 1946 there are four events marked. The first reads “February 1945: Bell plant reaches its peak employment of 28,158 workers.” Then “Summer 1945: Bell plant produces b-29s at a rate of two per day.” Then “August 17, 1945: Bell lays off 8,000 employees two weeks after the dropping of the atomic bombs.” Then “September 1945: Bell closes its doors after the U.S. government cancels its b-29 contract.” The last date marked is under 1951 and reads “January 1951: Lockhead takes over Bell plant.”
Infographic:
The graphic to the right of the Before, During, and After section is titled “Population Growth.” There are two horizontal bar charts with the vertical axis labeled with years and the horizontal axis labeled with population amount. The top bar chart is light blue and labeled “Cobb County Population.” The first year is 1942 and the corresponding bar has “38,000” written on it as it extends nearly to the 40,000 mark. The bar below, beside the year 1950, extends farther than the first going just past 60,000. The second bar is labeled 61,830. The bottom bar chart is brick red and is labeled “Georgia Population.” This graph has three years: 1942, 1945, and 1950. Beside 1942, the bar extends just past the 3 million mark and is labeled 3.245 million. The bar beside 1945 is slightly shorter than the previous one above it and is labeled 3.119 million. The last bar, beside the year 1950, is the longest by a slight amount and is labeled 3.458 million. The caption at the bottom reads “Source: United States Census Bureau.”
Consider This:
Below the Infographic is the “Consider This” panel. “Consider This” is written at the top of a sage green background and the text below reads “At its peak employment, 90 percent of Bell Bomber plant workers were southerners, and most came from North Georgia. How were conditions different for the employees shown in these images?”
There are two black and white images with sage green filters over them side-by-side beneath the question.
In the photo on the left there are five white employees working on the tail assembly of a B-29 Superfortress. An employee stands beside the tail, while others work throughout the interior.
The caption reads: Men and women work the tail assembly of a B-29 Superfortress at Bell Bomber, ca. 1942-1945. At peak employment, 37 percent of Bell workers were women, and 6 percent had physical disabilities. Courtesy Kennesaw State University Archives.
The image on the right is a black and white photo of two black employees in a wooden structure. There is a white officer that stands near the open door dressed in a police-type uniform watching as the employee on the right places objects into a machine. The other employee stands to the left and holds a long pole as he watches the shredded remnants of material come out of the machine and land on the ground where scraps are scattered.
The caption reads: Two black employees shred scrap materials while a white officer watches, ca. 1942-1945. At the height of the war 8 percent of Bell employees were African American in a county where they made up 16 percent of the population. Courtesy Kennesaw State University Archives.
Fort Benning
Banner:
The Fort Benning section features a forest green banner with Fort Benning written in large, yellow font at the top. Below the title is a yellow image of the state of Georgia within a circle. Fort Benning is boldly indicated with a red star just Northeast of Columbus located in West Georgia.
Below the map is the “Meet History Face-to-Face” section with “Andre Kessler” written underneath it. The image below shows a black and white photo of Andre Kessler looking off to the side of the camera dressed in a suit and tie with a forest green filter over the photo. The caption of the photo reads “Andre Kessler portrait, ca. 1950s. Courtesy Kessler family.” The text of the section reads, “Born in 1940, Andre Kessler was a hidden child during the Holocaust in Romania. He came to the United States with his mother in 1951 and joined the Navy after high school. As a paratrooper medic, he trained at Fort Benning. After playing basketball in college, Kessler played in the NBA for two years before becoming a salesman and moving to Georgia in the late 1960s.”
In an oral history interview with KSU, Andre Kessler said of how his mother kept him busy during their sixteen months in hiding when they lived in Romania: “She started to teach me to read and write and by the time we came out of hiding when I was almost five I could read and write in two languages, both Romanian and Hungarian. It was long, especially in the winter time because in Romania the winter gets dark very early and light very late, so did a lot of sleeping and a lot of studying and that is how we passed the days.” (13:05-13:34)
https://soar.kennesaw.edu/handle/11360/2174
Before, During, After:
The main section panel to the right is the same forest green as the section banner and has “Georgia Trains the Troops” written in white on the left side of the panel. The right side of the panel has a black and white photo of two soldiers wearing uniforms, goggles and helmets, on top of a tank on a steep hill that has run into another tank in front of it on the right side of the image. The caption reads: Tank training at Fort Benning, 1939. Courtesy National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning, Georgia
Beneath the title and main section image, the main text of the panel reads:
Before:
- General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, felt that better training would have prevented tremendous losses of life and limb during World War I. At his recommendation, the Army chose Fort Benning as the home of a new Infantry School in 1918. The institution of the nation's first peacetime draft two decades later would test the school's methods as well as provoke controversy. One U.S. senator said that the Selective Service law would "slit the throat of the last great democracy still living." Nevertheless, more than 16 million men between the ages of 21 and 35 registered for the draft. Many would train at Fort Benning.
During:
- The number of soldiers stationed at Fort Benning increased dramatically with U.S. entry into World War II. Soldiers who began their training at the Infantry School received specialized training elsewhere before shipping out to the European, Pacific, and North African theaters of war. Fort Benning was best known for its parachute school where some of the "toughest of American soldiers" were trained to "touch the ground fighting." Paratroopers began their training at Camp Toccoa in Northeast Georgia and then finished parachute training at Benning. Benning's units, including auxiliary units for women, were racially segregated. Black and white soldiers lived separate lives from the barracks to the mess hall.
After:
- Racial and gender integration of the infantry proceeded slowly after World War II. The last segregated facilities closed at Fort Benning in the 1970s, and combat units welcomed women for the first time in 2017. After World War II ended, Fort Benning became a demonstration site for new tactics and weapons. It continued to train soldiers for the conflicts of the Cold War, including Vietnam, when the draft became much more controversial. Once the draft was abolished in 1973, military training continued with an all-volunteer Army. U.S. involvement in global conflicts has required a combat force ready to "Win in a Complex World," and Fort Benning has remained vital as a training facility for that force
Timeline:
The timeline along the bottom of the panel has white vertical dash marks going across the middle with years indicated above, yellow dots that correspond with dates and events written below. The years listed are 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, and 1970. The first two dates indicated are placed before 1920. The first reads “October 1, 1918: Infantry School is moved to Camp Benning from Fort Sill, Oklahoma.” The next reads “November 1918: Eminent domain is used to acquire land for Benning from small farmers.” The next event, between 1930 and 1940, indicated reads, “1935: Site construction is completed with funds from the WPA and PWA.” Then, after 1940, “September 14, 1940: Peacetime draft begins with the passage of the Selective Service bill.” Then “April 15, 1943: President Roosevelt tours Fort Benning with Georgia governor Ellis Arnall.” Then “July 26, 1948: President Truman integrates the military.” The last event reads “January 27, 1973: The draft is abolished.”
Infographic:
The graphic to the right of the main section panel has the title “The American Soldier During World War II”. On the left side of the panel there is the silhouette of a soldier in uniform and helmet with a rifle resting over his shoulder. The bottom part of the soldier is colored in a forest green just over halfway with “61.2% were drafted” and the top part of the soldier is an army green with “38.8% volunteered” both written in white. To the right of the figure are two bullet points in forest green font.
- He served for 33 months with a 73 percent chance of being sent overseas.
- He had a 60 percent chance of being assigned to combat, with a 97 percent chance of surviving the war unharmed.
At the bottom of the graphic it reads, “Statistics courtesy The National WWII Museum, New Orleans”
Consider This:
Below the infographic and to the right of the main section panel is the forest green “Consider This” panel for this section. Under “Consider This” there is text that reads “Paratroopers served in segregated units during World War II. How did the experiences of black and white soldiers differ during their training and their deployment?” Beneath the question are two black and white photos side-by-side.
The photo on the left shows a group of six white paratroopers, each holding an opened parachute as they run in the direction of the camera through a field.
The caption reads: “Responding to Germany’s effective use of parachute troops at the start of World War II, the United States Army established a centralized training facility at Fort Benning in May 1942. Soldiers like those pictured above were trained in this new form of combat and assigned to airborne units. Courtesy Atlanta History Center.”
The image on the right shows several black paratroopers sitting in a line against the interior wall of a plane with helmets on and packs in their laps.
The caption reads: “Paratroopers from Fort Benning ride in a C-47 transport plane, preparing to make one of the required five qualifying jumps to earn their wings. In December 1944, the all-black 555th parachute Infantry Company proved their skills at Fort Benning. The unit never saw combat overseas but instead was deployed to the Pacific Northwest of the United States, dropping in to fight forest fires caused by Japanese incendiary balloons. They became known as ‘smoke jumpers.’ Courtesy Atlanta History Center.”
Fort Gordon
Banner:
The banner for the Fort Gordon section is a denim blue with “Fort Gordon” written in large, yellow font at the top. Below the title is a map of Georgia with Camp Gordon indicated with a red star just southwest of Augusta.
Below the map is the “Meet History Face-to-Face” section with “Faye Edwards” written underneath it. The image of Faye Edwards below, is a black and white photo, where she is in a dress uniform, including a hat that sits on the side of her head with her short, styled hair around it. She is shown from the shoulders up and looks directly at the camera with a slight smile. There is a denim blue filter over the photo. The caption of the photo reads “Faye Edwards in her Women’s Army Corps Uniform, ca. 1940s. Courtesy Edwards family.” The text of the section reads, “Born in West Virginia in 1923, Faye Edwards joined the World War II workforce making piston rings for motors. In 1944, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). She trained at Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia, where she remembered seeing German POWs. After serving in Europe and Asia, Edwards settled in Columbus, Georgia.”
In an oral history interview with KSU, Faye Edwards said of seeing POWs while at Fort Oglethorpe: “Oh yeah —well at Fort Oglethorpe they had the place where they had prisoners. And they had a fence you know a metal fence up high — where they kept them. And uh I was never inside of one of the buildings but you could see them you know. And too I have took stuff out of the mess hall in my hand [laughs] and when I passed by I would give it to some prisoner pressed up against the wall. [laughs]” (1:02:46-1:03:28)
Before, During, After:
The main section panel to the right of the banner is titled “Foreign Prisoners of War” which is written in white font on top of a denim blue background on the left side of the panel. A black and white image on the right side of the panel shows prisoners of war all wearing the same shirts that have PW in large letters on the back. There are seven people sitting at a table focusing on another person wearing the same PW shirt as they write on a chalkboard during an English lesson. “I have,” “you have,” and “he has” are written on the board with the a and s in “has” underlined.
The caption reads: A German officer teaches English at a U.S. prisoner-of-war camp, April 1944. Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration and New Georgia Encyclopedia
The text of the section below reads:
Before:
- Cruel and disorganized treatment marred past programs for managing prisoners of war in the United States and around the world. Negotiations among combatants during World War I began a process to codify protections for war prisoners that led to the establishment of the first Geneva Convention in 1929. In the First World War, Georgia housed two of the nation's five prisoner-of-war camps, one at Fort Oglethorpe and one at Fort McPherson. These sites tested programs that compelled prisoners to work in agriculture and industry and provided them with intellectual and leisure activities to stave off the dangers of boredom.
During:
- The United States embraced a policy of shipping prisoners of war stateside during World War II. Leaders recognized the economic potential of POWs to replace labor lost during the draft. They also understood that far from their homelands, prisoners would be less likely to escape. German, Austrian, and Italian POWs were held at military bases in Georgia as well as numerous satellite camps. Life for POWs was strictly regimented and included compulsory paid work in non-war-related industry for enlisted men. Officers were exempt. Prisoners in Georgia harvested cotton, tomatoes, and peanuts. Camp Gordon, now called Fort Gordon, was known for the quality of its educational programming. POWs could even pursue bachelor's degrees that were recognized by their home countries.
After:
- POWs were treated so well in the U.S. that some civilians and soldiers resented what they saw as "coddling." This was especially true for African American soldiers contending with Jim Crow laws, which did not apply to the white prisoners. Still, in 1945 when German atrocities in concentration camps were reported widely in the news, some U.S. guards cut rations and threatened to punish POWs, especially those they suspected of being Nazis. Yet, after the war, many POWs wrote fond letters to farmers and others who had given them work. German POW Radbert Kohlhaas, who had been interned at Camp Gordon, described "a life that was incomparably better than we had known as German soldiers."
Timeline:
The timeline has a denim blue background and white vertical dashes that form a horizontal line across the middle. Above the line are slightly longer dashes with years written above them. 1942 is the first year, then 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. There are yellow dots on dashes throughout the timeline that correspond to events that occurred within the years above and text written below the timeline. The first one marked is between 1942 and 1943. It reads “October 1942: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers builds POW facilities at Camp Gordon.” The next reads, written directly below 1943 reads “1943: First POW is buried at Camp Gordon cemetery, located near Gate 2.” Then, “January 8, 1943: Camp Gordon POW Camp opens.” Then, “May 11, 1943: German soldier Radbert Kohlhass is captured in Cape Bon, Tunisia.” Then, “August 1943: Three POW camps are located in Georgia.” Then, “September 25, 1943: Robert Kohlhass boards a liberty ship bound for the U.S.” Then, “November 1943: First English classes begin at Camp Gordon POW Camp.” Between 1944 and 1945 there are two events marked. The first reads “Spring 1944: Nazi POWs murder fellow prisoner at Camp Gordon branch camp.” The next one reads “June 1944: Ten POW camps are located in Georgia.” The final events marked are between 1945 and 1946. The first reads “May 1945: Population of POWs in the U.S. reaches peak of 425,871.” Finally “August 1945: 40 POW camps are located in Georgia.”
Infographic:
The infographic to the right of the main section panel is titled “Military Sites & POW Camps.” Below the title is a gray image of Georgia with locations labeled with different shapes. A key at the bottom of the graphic shows the symbols of a red circle, a green triangle, and the black stick figure out-line of a person. The red square indicates “Army Camps, Forts & Posts.” The green triangle indicates “Air Fields, Bases & Stations.” The black stick figure indicates “Prisoner-of-War Camps” with additional text below it that reads “These main camps also administered satellite camps where POWs stayed while on work details, sometimes as far afield as North Carolina and Florida. At its peak in May 1945, a total of 425, 871 POWs were held in the US at 700 camps across the country. This includes 371, 683 Germans, 50,273 Italians, and 3,915 Japanese.” Near the northwest corner of Georgia there is a black figure and red circle with “Fort Oglethorpe” written beside it. In the center, near the north border of the map of Georgia, is a green triangle with “2rd WAC TRNG Center” written below it. There is a red circle labeled “Camp Toccoa” slightly southeast of the previous triangle labeled. Somewhat southwest of Camp Toccoa, but still well within the interior of the map, is a red circle indicating “Fort McPhearson” with four green triangles around it. The first is north of where Fort McPherson is located and is labeled “Marietta Aircraft Assembly Plant.” The next is to just to the east of the Fort and is labeled “Atlanta Army Service Forces (ASF) Depot.” The next is to the southeast of Fort McPherson and is labeled “Atlanta Ord Depot.” The last one is directly below the Fort and is labeled “Atlanta Army Airfield (AAF–now Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport).” Further to the east of Fort McPherson is a green triangle labeled “Bush Field (now Augusta Regional Airport).” To the east and close to the border of the map is another green triangle, labeled “Daniel Army Airfield.” Between the previous two green triangles and slightly lower is a black figure and red circle labeled “Camp Gordon.” Closer to the center of the map is a black figure and red circle labeled “Camp Wheeler” with three green triangles surrounding it. The first is north of the camp and is labeled “Herbert Smart Airport.” The next is to the southwest and is labeled “Cochran Field BFS (Now Middle Georgia Regional Airport).” The last is to the south of the camp and is labeled “Warner Robins Field AAF Depot.” Below and to the west of Camp Wheeler, near the western border of the state, is a black figure and red circle indicating “Fort Benning.” Roughly parallel and to the east of Fort Benning and vertically below Fort Gordon is a black figure and red circle labeled “Fort Stewart.” To the east and very near the coast and edge of the map is a red circle labeled “Fort Screven.” There are ten green triangles that start near Fort Screven, go down the coast, and line the bottom of the state, curving back upwards slightly before reaching the west edge of the state. The first, slightly north of Fort Screven is labeled “Savannah Field AFB.” The next is located to the south of the previous and is labeled “Hunter Field AFB.” Further south, still along the coast, is one labeled “Harris Neck AFB.” The next, further south, is labeled “Brunswick Airfield.” To the west, close to the southern border of the map is one labeled “Waycross AFB.” Further to the west another is labeled “Moody Field AFB.” Further to the west again is one labeled “Spence Field AFS.” Slightly to the northwest is another labeled “Moultrie Mun. Airfield.” Farther north and slightly to the west is another labeled “Albany Mun Airfield.” The last one is slightly to the southeast of the previous and is labeled “Turner Field AFS.”
Consider This:
“Consider This” is written at the top of the panel beneath the infographic which is the same denim blue that is featured in this section. Text written below the title reads “During World War II, the German government treated American, British, and French soldiers well in comparison to Polish and Soviet soldiers, whom the Nazis considered subhuman. Why do you think the Germans followed the Geneva Convention in some circumstances and not in others?”
Following the question are two black and white images side-by-side. The one on the left shows a group of German officers in uniform as they walk along the outside of a barbed wire fence where many prisoners look from behind the fence as they pass in the background. The officer in the foreground looks directly at a shirtless prisoner who is near the fence.
The caption reads: “Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler, accompanied by an entourage of SS personnel, inspects a prison camp for Soviet prisoners of war in the fall of 1941. Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration”
The image on the right shows two long rows of soldiers lined up with helmets on and their hands raised in a surrender on the side of a dirt road.
The caption reads: “American prisoners captured in Ardennes, December 1944. Courtesy German Federal Archives, Bild183-J28589/ photo: Austellung”
Athens
Banner:
“Athens” is written at the top of an army green section banner, and underneath the title is a map of Georgia with Agriculture indicated with a red star overlapping where Athens is marked.
Below the map is the “Meet History Face-to-Face” section with “Jimmy Doi” written underneath it. The image of Jimmy Doi below, is a black and white photo, where he is wearing an Army uniform including a hat which sits at an angle on his head. He is smiling and looking slightly past the camera. There is an army green filter over the photo. The caption of the photo reads “Jimmy Doi in his U.S. Army Uniform, 1946. Courtesy Doi family.” The text of the section reads, “The American son of Japanese farmers in California, Jimmy Doi was sixteen when the bombing of Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. into World War II. He and his siblings were incarcerated at Gila River War Relocation Camp in Arizona. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944, Doi served in Europe. He came to Georgia after the war to work in the poultry industry.”
In an oral history interview with KSU, Jimmy Doi said of reuniting with his parents after the war or getting drafted: “When I got there, I looked and my dad was raking the ground, dirt you know. He was facing the other way, so I went up to him and I said, ‘hi, pop.’ And he about died! Hugged me for the first time, and he called my mother and my mother was sick in bed but she came running out...and that’s how I met my mom and dad.” (1:05:06-1:05:35)
Before, During, After:
The main section panel has an army green background on the left side with the title “The Farm Front in Georgia” in white font. The left side of the panel has a black and white image of a display of canned vegetables where the central cans are stacked in a pyramid display overtop one another with boxes stacked on either side. The sign on the wall above reads: “Marketing” in big letters, then “corn, okra, tomato vegetable mixture” below and again followed by “a source of supplementary income for the Georgia farm family developed by agricultural extension service.” There are cans on scales in front of the stacked boxes with a sign in the center reading, “A standard carton contains 24 no.2 cans.”
The caption reads: Agriculture extension service soup can display, Athens, Clarke County, Georgia, 1940. Courtesy Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia Collections, Image #clr007
The main text of the section reads:
Before:
- After the Civil War, Georgia relied on a system of sharecropping, and "King Cotton" reigned supreme. Caught in a vicious cycle of falling prices and rising production, farmers overworked the land, leading to soil erosion and decreased crop quality. Hoping to reverse the trend, Congress authorized money for university extension services beginning in 1914. The University of Georgia became the center for a network of county agents who worked with farmers to teach scientific practices and share new crop varieties. During the Great Depression, these agents worked with federal agencies to explain New Deal policies and programs to farmers. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) of 1933 attempted to curtail overproduction by paying farmers not to grow cotton and other commodities, but it met with limited success.
During:
- World War II created new markets for American agricultural goods. To engage the "farm front" in the war effort, county extension agents recommended specific crops, such as peanuts. Despite labor shortages, farmers found themselves with cash for state-of-the-art machinery, and production increased along with demand. Sharecroppers, who had mostly missed the benefits of the New Deal, found military and industrial jobs in Georgia and elsewhere.
After:
- World War II modernized agriculture in the South and diversified the economy, ending the dominance of sharecropping forever. Many returning soldiers who made use of the GI Bill leveraged their education to move into new, more lucrative fields. The rise of new industries across the state attracted people to cities and suburbs and reduced the rural population. Those who remained in agriculture followed national trends. many invested in poultry during the 1950s and 1960s. The latter half of the 20th century saw a sharp decrease in the number of family farms but a steady increase in agricultural production. Today, agribusiness continues to thrive in Georgia, making up about 10 percent of the state's economy.
A highlighted portion underneath the during section reads:
Family Matters:
- The image at the start of this section, featuring soup cans, is an example of a successful marketing campaign aimed at families. Extension agents worked directly with Georgia families to conserve food during the Great Depression, and to teach women and young children how to plant Victory Gardens. Fresh vegetables and canned goods produced at home would help families stay healthy during the war.
Timeline:
The timeline is the same army green that marks the section. It has white vertical dashes that form a horizontal line across the middle. Above the line are slightly longer dashes, evenly spaced, with years written above them. The years above the timeline are mostly written in 20 year intervals. The space above the first two longer lines, where 1800 and 1810 would be marked, are blank and the first date marked above the line is 1820. Then 1840 is written. The space where 1860 would be is blank, then 1880, 1900, 1920, 1940, and 1960 are marked. The next years are left blank until 2000. There are yellow dots on dashes throughout the timeline that correspond to events that occurred within the years above and text written below the timeline. The first date marked reads “1812: War with Britain cuts off access to British cotton and spurs the domestic cotton industry.” The next one reads “1840s-1850s: Slavery-fueled cotton farming spreads across the state.” Then “1865: Sharecropping replaces slavery as the dominant agriculture system in the South.” Then, “1900s: ‘New South’ boosters implore Georgia farmers to diversify crops, but many farmers resist.” Then, “1915: The boll weevil appears in Georgia; the cotton economy peaks two years later.” Then “1933: The Agricultural Adjustment Act passes reducing cotton acreage and labor needs.” Then, “1941-1945: World War II increases demand for agricultural products, especially peanuts.” The next reads “1950s: Farmers in Georgia diversify crops and rely more on mechanization.” The final date reads “1987: The boll weevil eradication program returns cotton production to Georgia.”
Infographic:
The infographic to the right of the main panel is titled “Georgia’s Agricultural Landscape 1930-1950”. The graphic has five pie charts: two on the top, one in the center, and two on the bottom. They each have the year labeled, a “corn acres planted” section in yellow with an image of corn, a brown section with a peanut image labeled “peanut acres planted,” a gray section with an image of cotton labeled “cotton acres planted”, and the total acreage listed below the circle.
The first one is labeled 1930. The yellow and gray section take up nearly the same amount with the amount of corn acres planted 3,620,000 and the amount of cotton acres planted 3,464,000. The peanut section is the smallest with 600,000 acres planted. The total acreage planted was 7,684,000.
The next chart is labeled 1935. The corn section takes up two thirds of the chart with 4,710,000 corn acres planted. Cotton is the next largest section with 2,172,000 acres planted. The peanut section is the smallest with 843,000 peanut acres planted. The total acreage planted was 7,725,000.
The center chart is based on the year 1940. The corn section takes up nearly two thirds of the chart with 4,246,000 corn acres planted. Cotton is still the next largest section with 1,981,000 acres planted. The peanut section is the smallest, but growing with 1,135,000 peanut acres planted. The total acreage planted was 7,362,000.
The next chart on the bottom is labeled 1945. The corn section takes up slightly over half the chart with 3,378,000 corn acres planted. The peanut section is now the next largest section with 1,455,000 acres planted. The cotton section is the smallest with 1,265,000 cotton acres planted. The total acreage planted was 6,098,000.
The last chart is labeled with the year 1950. The corn section takes up nearly two thirds of the chart with 3,295,000 corn acres planted. Cotton, again, is the next largest section with 1,060,000 acres planted. The peanut section is the smallest with 909,000 peanut acres planted. The total acreage planted was 5,264,000.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Consider This:
Below the infographic is an army green panel titled “Consider This.” Beneath the title is text that reads “Georgia’s system of tenant farming, in place since the end of the Civil War, encouraged the cultivation of cash crops, especially cotton. How did the New Deal and World War II disrupt this system? What do you think this meant for sharecroppers?”
Beneath the text are two black and white images side-by-side.
The image on the left shows the front of a small wooden house with a small porch at the front. The porch is supported by stacked rocks and cinder blocks beneath the floor. The house has a tin roof that is coming up at the edges.
The image caption reads: “Tenant house located on Rodgers-Buchanan Farm in Sumter County, Georgia, ca. 1933. Courtesy Library of Congress.”
The image on the right shows a person driving a tractor through a field. The face of the driver is blocked partially by the attachment on the back of the tractor carrying a pile of plants.
The image caption reads “Peanut farming in Early County, Georgia, 1947. Courtesy Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia Collection, Image # ear033-82.”
Atlanta
Banner:
The Atlanta section features a cool gray banner with “Atlanta” written in large, yellow font at the top. Below the title is a yellow image of the state of Georgia within a circle. Atlanta is indicated on the map with a red star. It is located just southwest of Marietta and the Bell Bomber plant.
Below the map is the “Meet History Face-to-Face” section with “Lorenzo Wallace” written underneath it. The image below shows a black and white photo of Lorenzo Wallace looking into the camera, smiling, dressed in a suit and tie and standing in front of a wall beside an American flag. The caption of the photo reads “Lorenzo Wallace as Sergeant-at-Arms for the Georgia State Senate, ca. 2010. Courtesy Lorenzo Wallace.” The text of the section reads, “Born in 1919, Lorenzo Wallace grew up in Southwest Atlanta, and attended Morehouse College. During World War II, he joined the Montford Point Marines, the division’s first African American unit. After the war, he worked for the United States Postal Service. In retirement, he served as the Sergeant-at-Arms for the Georgia State Senate.”
In an oral history interview with KSU, Lorenzo Wallace said of his decision to join the Marine Corps: “And that time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had just signed a proclamation that the Marines – that the U.S. Marine Corps had to desegregate. It was the last military facility to desegregate. So, I said ‘Well, I'll try the Marines.’ So when they drafted me and asked me where did I want to go, I said, ‘I want to go to the Marines.’ Well, that was in October of 1941. Well, they left me along until July of 1942, and then they called me in. But they were building a special camp for blacks to be trained in the Marines. We didn't go to Camp Lejeune, we went to Montford Point, which was a camp where they had just been built for blacks to train. And that's how I got into the Marine Corps.”
(16:52-18:19)
Before, During, After:
To the right of the section banner is the main section panel. The title “Capital of a Changing South” is written in white over a cool gray background on the right of the panel. The left of the panel features a black and white photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt in profile standing at a podium with microphones beside an American flag addressing a large crowd who blurred in the background.
The caption reads: FDR at the dedication of Techwood Homes, November 29, 1935. Courtesy Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, National Archives and Records Administration
The main section text below reads:
Before:
- As the capital of Georgia and a railroad hub for the Southeast, Atlanta grew rapidly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Considered a leading "New South" city, Atlanta turned its eyes to the future with city boosters and business people advocating a pragmatic approach to race relations. Although Atlanta would come to be called "the city too busy to hate," it still grew along strict racial boundaries. By the 1930s, two distinct business districts, Peachtree Street and Auburn Avenue, formed as a result of segregation. Even federally-funded projects, including the schools, hospitals, and public housing of the New Deal, were segregated by race. White-only Techwood Homes, built in 1935, was followed by University Homes for Black residents three years later.
During:
- Building on a relationship with the federal government formed in prewar years, Atlanta became a leader in coordinating the construction of defense plants and military installations in Georgia during World War II. Businesses such as Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines made strategic investments, both at home and abroad, that increased Atlanta's prosperity and appeal during the war and after. White and black soldiers on leave were drawn to the bustling city and its diverse entertainments. Yet, some black soldiers, especially those who served in Europe, were unnerved by Atlanta's segregated restaurants, dance halls, and USO clubs. Even at Terminal station, Travelers' Aid workers welcomed black and white soldiers through separate entrances.
After:
- African American servicemen returning from war in the late 1940s rejected the city's racial status quo. They helped to energize the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta, where leaders in the white and black communities had toed a conservative line for decades. In 1948, the first black officers joined the city police force. A decade later, organized protests led to the desegregation of the transit system and public schools. One of the toughest battles centered on the integration of residential areas as African Americans bought homes in white neighborhoods. Refusing to live on the same street as blacks, many whites moved to suburbs, reshaping the map of metropolitan Atlanta for decades to come.
Timeline:
The timeline shown is the same gray as the main section banner. It has white vertical dashes that form a horizontal line across the middle. Above the line are slightly longer dashes, evenly spaced, with years written above them. 1920 is the first year, then 1930, 1940, 1950, in the space of 1960 there is no writing, then 1970, and 1980. There are yellow dots on dashes throughout the timeline that correspond to years and text written below the timeline. The first one marked is 1925 “city alderman William Hartsfield helps establish Atlanta’s first airport.” The next is 1936 “Activist John Wesley Dobbs co-founds the Atlanta Negro Voters League.” Then 1943 “Governor Ellis Arnall signs legislation to extend the vote to 18-year-olds after advocacy from veterans.” Then 1946 “Helen Douglas Mankin is elected U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 5th district, after seeking the black vote.” 1952 follows with the text “Mayor William Hartsfield initiates Plan of Improvement tripling the size of Atlanta. The next date is 1970 with “Sam Massell becomes the first Jewish mayor of Atlanta.” The last date marked is 1973 with the caption, “Maynard Jackson became the first African American mayor of Atlanta.”
Infographic:
The graphic to the right of the main section panel is titled “Atlanta’s Growth.” A key at the bottom has a section labeled “city boundaries” with dark blue corresponding with 1900, dark orange corresponding with 1918, light blue corresponding with 1945, and light orange corresponding with 1963. To the right is a section titled “Transportation” with a plane corresponding to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (based on original 1925 Candler Airfield), a solidify gray line corresponding with interstate highways in the 1960s and hashed light gray line corresponding to MARTA in the 1970s, and a green line corresponding to the Beltline in 2005 (based on original 1850s rail corridor). The map in the center of the graphic is labeled Atlanta. There is a dark blue circle in the middle with a few parts that jut out. Around it is a jagged geometric shape in dark orange that extends the boundaries of 1900 Atlanta. Light blue comes out of parts of the orange shape in various places indicating further growth in 1945, but not completely surrounding the orange area. A much larger light orange shape surrounds the entirety of the original boundaries of the city, mostly extending to the north, south, and west. There is a green line that completely surrounds the dark blue area extending a bit farther in places and much farther in the north entering areas of the light orange. There are four dark gray lines that branch out from the center of the blue area of the map. The one extending to the north branch at the edge of the dark blue section into two lines that are labeled 75, to the left, and 85, to the right. The lone extending to the south also branches into two lines in the light orange section. One label 85 on the left and the other on the right labeled 75. The lines to the west and east are both labeled 20. A gray line circle most of the colored areas on the map and extending farther on the right side makes a circle intersecting each on the other branches of gray lines and is labeled 285. There are gray dashed lines that converge in the center of the dark blue area and extend out in various directions, some extending past the loop marked 285 and some stopped before then. At the bottom of the map is an airplane symbol within the 285 loop and between where the branches 85 and 75 split.
Source: Atlanta Department of City Planning GIS
Consider This:
To the right of the main section panel and below the infographic, is the “Consider This” panel with the title written over a gray background. Below the title the text reads “Interstate highways cut through the heart of many American cities in the middle of the 20th century. How do you think communities and institutions were affected?” Below the text are two black and white photos side-by-side.
The image on the left shows a road sign in the top left corner of the foreground reading “Right of Way, Atlanta Expressway” with arrows pointing left and right on the respective sides of “right of way.” Behind the sign is rubble with large rocks, dirt, and debris with a multistoried building in the background.
The caption of the image reads: “Work begins on the Interstate expressway connector through downtown Atlanta, December 8, 1956. Copyright Atlanta Journal-Constitution, courtesy Georgia State University.”
The image on the right features the facade of a two-story brick building along a car-lined street. The building has a tall tower that has “Jesus Saves” on the steepled top. Other, taller, multistoried buildings can be seen over the brick building in the background of the image.
The caption of the image reads “Auburn Avenue, center of the African American business and culture in Atlanta, 1975. Courtesy Archives Division, Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System.”
Savannah
Banner:
The Savannah section features a royal blue banner with “Savannah” written in large, yellow font at the top. Below the title is a yellow image of the state of Georgia within a circle. Savannah is indicated on the map with a red star.
Below the map is the “Meet History Face-to-Face” section with “Jane Tucker” written underneath it. The image below shows a black and white photo of Jane Tucker facing the camera with a wide smile while gesturing with her right hand slightly out of frame. She is wearing a white shirt, oval shaped, thin framed glasses, and has a dark scarf with white polka dots tied around her hair with a knot at the front. The caption of the photo reads “Jane Tucker as “Rosie the Riveter” in a Rome News TribuneI article, 2010. Courtesy Jane Tucker.” The text of the section reads, “Born and raised in Alabama, Jane Tucker was fourteen when the United States entered World War II. She traveled to Savannah with her mother and sister to take a job with Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation. She helped build liberty ships as a rod welder. In 2010, Jane started the Rome, Georgia, chapter of the American Rosie the Riveter Association.”
In an oral history interview with KSU, Jane Tucker said of her recollection of learning the war was over: “I was in the inner bottoms of that ship. And I don’t remember any celebration except the whistles started blowing and it wasn’t time for the shift to end. And we all came out, but we were scattered. There were not much of a-. It was a skeleton crew there. But people who were in cities, you know, wherever there was a group, it was a tremendous celebration.” (56:27-56:55)
Before, During, After:
The title “Preserving Georgia’s Coastal City” is written atop a royal blue background on the right side of the main section panel to the right of the banner. The image on the left side of the panel is a black and white photo of a worker in uniform smiling at the camera with a welders hood pulled up with one gloved hand, as they lean against the large exterior of a ship with a welding wand in the other gloved hand.
The caption reads: Emma McKinnen of Waycross, Georgia, working on a Liberty Ship, ca. 1942-1945. Courtesy Atlanta History Center
The text below reads:
Before:
- Situated twenty miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean, Savannah has always played an important role in Georgia's fortunes. In the early 1800s, merchants built mansions along the city's squares using money from cotton exports and the slave trade. With the Civil War came a Union blockade that laid waste to the economy and starved inland parts of the state of food and supplies. After the boll weevil decimated the cotton crop, Savannah shifted to food and paper-processing industries. The city also became the world's main supplier of naval stores, the pine tar used to waterproof sailing vessels. At the start of World War II, Savannah was chosen as one of many sites for ship construction along the East Coast, after Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act making weaponry available to the Allies.
During:
- Weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation secured a federal contract to build Liberty ships on the Savannah River two miles south of the city. Because of its lighting-fast construction from prefabricated materials, the Liberty Ship was considered only a "five-year vessel." It nonetheless played an essential part in the war effort, carrying much-needed ammunition and supplies to the troops fighting in Europe. With shipyards already in place, Southeastern became a powerhouse of production over the next four years. A torpedo fired by a German U-boat sank the first ship, the SS James Oglethorpe, christened in honor of Georgia's founder, but Southeastern launched 87 more Liberty ships before the end of the war.
After:
- Savannah said a hasty goodbye to its largest-ever manufacturing plant, as the war's end brought an abrupt closure to the Southeastern shipyard. The age of the automobile was in full swing after the war, and some of the city's oldest structures fell to the wrecking ball to make way for parking facilities. When the City Market was destroyed in 1954, a group of preservation-minded women began to fight. They created inventories of historic districts, raised money to purchase endangered properties, and established the historic Savannah Foundation which continues to attract international attention. Their preservation model influenced other cities and municipalities across America in the decades that followed the war.
Timeline:
Along the bottom of the panel is timeline on the same royal blue as the section header. It has white vertical dashes that form a horizontal line across the middle. Above the line are slightly longer dashes with years written above them. The years listed are 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, and 1947. There are yellow dots on dashes throughout the timeline that correspond to events that occurred within the years above and text written below the timeline. The first events marked reads “September 1941: Maritime Commission charters Savannah’s first shipyard with Savannah Shipyards, Inc.” The next reads, “December 1941: Savannah Shipyards, Inc. loses its contract after failing to begin construction.” Then “February 1942: Maritime Commission awards a contract to Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation.” Then “September 1942: More than 5,000 employees work at Southeastern.” Then “November 1942: The first ship, the SS James Oglethorpe, is launched.” Then “December 1943: More than 15,000 employees work at Southeastern.” Then, “April 1946: Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation closes.” The last event marked reads “September 1946: Southeastern site is converted into scrap.”
Infographic:
The graphic is to the right of the main section panel and is titled “People Employed in Shipbuilding in the United States. It features a large gray rectangle with the top edge in the outline of a large ship. Inside the rectangle is a chart with the y-axis labeled with years starting with 1939 at the top and counting by each year until ending with 1950. The x-axis at the top of the chart corresponds with the amount of people employed. There is a bright green line that grows steadily from 1939 to 1941 before making a slight leap in 1942 and a large leap in 1943 then peaks in 1944. Then begins to fall dramatically by 1946 and falls steadily until 1950. The years and corresponding number of people employed are: 1939: 60,800, 1940: 81,000, 1941: 143,300, 1942: 420,000, 1943: 1,182,700, 1944: 1,299,100, 1945: 1,061,300, 1946: 1,061,300, 1947: 258,800, 1948: 168,600, 1949: 149,500, 1950: 73,400.
Source: Workforce Statistics and Economic Research, Georgia Department of Labor
Consider This:
Below the infographic is the “Consider This” panel atop a royal blue background. The text below the title reads “Why do you think the city of Savannah allowed the shipyard site to decay after World War II?” Beneath the question are two black and white images side-by-side.
The image on the left is an aerial photo of a ship building yard consisting of large buildings, parking lots, and cranes. The building yard is bordered to one side at the top of the photo by a river with two large ships docked there.
The caption of the photo reads: Aerial of Southern Shipbuilding Corporation on the Savannah River, December 9, 1944. Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration.
The image on the right shows a broken piece of concrete support extending over a river near a row of several broken wooden posts sticking out of the water. The river extends into the tree line at the horizon and is lined with foliage, houses, and telephone poles.
The caption reads: Remnants of Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation on the Savannah River, August 1992. Photo by Tone Cope. Courtesy City of Savannah Research Library Municipal Archives
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