DRAFT 2004 WORLD WAR II AND THE AMERICAN HOME FRONT National Historic Landmark Theme Study National Historic Landmarks Survey National Register, History, and Education National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior NPS Form 10-900-b OMB No. 1024-0018 (March 1992) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form This form is used for documenting multiple property groups relating to one or several historic contexts. See instructions in How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Complete each item by entering the requested information. For additional space, use continuation sheets (Form 10-900-a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer to complete all items. X New Submission ____ Amended Submission =================================================================================== A. Name of Multiple Property Listing =================================================================================== WORLD WAR II AND THE AMERICAN HOME FRONT THEME STUDY =================================================================================== B. Associated Historic Contexts =================================================================================== (Name each associated historic context, identifying theme, geographical area, and chronological period for each.) =================================================================================== C. Form Prepared by =================================================================================== name/title Marilyn M. Harper/Project Historian; John W. Jeffries, William M. Tuttle, Jr., Nelson Lichtenstein, Harvard Sitkoff /Historians organization National Park Service, National Register, History and Education, National Historic Landmarks Survey; Organization of American Historians Date August 30, 2004 street & number 1849 C Street, NW (2280) Telephone 202-354-2228 city or town Washington state DC zip code 20240 ================================================================================== D. Certification ================================================================================== As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this documentation form meets the National Register documentation standards and sets forth requirements for the listing of related properties consistent with the National Register criteria. This submission meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60 and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. (See continuation sheet for additional comments.) _________________________________________________ ________________________________________ Signature and title of certifying official Date _________________________________________________ State or Federal agency and bureau ================================================================================== I hereby certify that this multiple property documentation form has been approved by the National Register as a basis for evaluating related properties for listing in the National Register. __________________________________________________ ________________________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date WORLD WAR II AND THE AMERICAN HOME FRONT THEME STUDY Name of Multiple Property Listing ================================================================================= Table of Contents for Written Narrative ================================================================================= Provide the following information on continuation sheets. Cite the letter and the title before each section of the narrative. Assign page numbers according to the instructions for continuation sheets in How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Fill in page numbers for each section in the space below. Page Numbers E. Statement of Historic Contexts 1 (If more than one historic context is documented, present them in sequential order.) F. Associated Property Types 125 (Provide description, significance, and registration requirements.) G. Geographical Data 148 H. Summary of Identification and Evaluation Methods 149 (Discuss the methods used in developing the multiple property listing.) I. Major Bibliographical References 174 (List major written works and primary location of additional documentation: State Historic Preservation Office, other State agency, Federal agency, local government, university, or other, specifying repository.) Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 120 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503. NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 WORLD WAR II AND THE AMERICAN HOME FRONT Page 1 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form E. STATEMENT OF HISTORIC CONTEXTS In 2000 Congress directed the National Park Service to prepare a theme study on the World War II home front. The purpose of the study is to identify historic places that best represent the wartime mobilization that occurred in the United States and its territories and possessions between 1939 and 1945 and that should be considered for National Historic Landmark designation or for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The task of identifying places that can tell the home front story is a challenging one. Thousands of factories, government office buildings, research laboratories, housing projects, military bases, United Service Organization (USO) canteens, day care centers, and schools were built or expanded during the war. Theaters in hundreds of communities across the nation sponsored War Bond drives and showed both terrifying news reels and uplifting and entertaining movies. Railroad and bus stations in large cities and small towns could barely contain the millions of men and women passing through them on their way to military service or new defense jobs. Other places represented less positive wartime stories: segregated housing and military bases, war relocation centers for persons of Japanese descent, prisons where conscientious objectors were held, and sites of racial conflict or labor/management confrontation. Some home front properties have already been recognized. A number are included in the National Park System. The Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, in Richmond, California, was established in 2000 specifically to recognize the important wartime contributions of workers, including women and minorities, and ordinary citizens, who collected and saved and sacrificed on the home front. Others have been designated as National Historic Landmarks or listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Because World War II is still so recent, most home front properties have not yet been comprehensively surveyed or evaluated. In addition, many sites have been lost to demolition or destructive change, in part because no one knew they were important. While these facts have made the completion of this theme study more difficult, they have also underlined the urgent necessity of providing the historic contexts needed to identify and recognize these properties as quickly as possible. This context section is divided into four parts. The first, written by John W. Jeffries, Professor of History at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, gives a general overview of the wartime home front, concentrating on the critical role of the federal government in mobilizing industry, science and technology, agriculture, manpower, money, morale, and security. It also discusses the impact of the mobilization on the nature of the American political economy, on prosperity and living standards, on opportunities and expectations, on demographic and geographic change, and on national politics. The second part was written by William M. Tuttle, Jr., Professor of American Studies at the University of Kansas. It provides more detail about how ordinary men, women, and children reacted to sometimes overwhelming population movements, to the absence of fathers and brothers in the military, to massive, if temporary, changes in women’s roles, and to the all-pervasive presence of the war in popular culture. The third part, written by Nelson Lichtenstein, Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, discusses the effects of the massive industrial mobilization on working people, particularly women and African Americans, and the central role of organized labor. This part also includes the battles for union recognition