World War II

Mobilizing for Defense

Selective Service System

Required men to registerfor military service. Will raisean additional 10 million menduring World War II.

War Production Board

The WPB decided which companieswould convert from peacetime to wartime production and allocated raw materials to key industries

War Production Video

Office of Price Administration

Fought inflation by freezingwages, prices, and rents.

RationingThe OPA rationed foods suchas meat, butter, cheese, sugar,vegetables, and coffee.

Victory Gardens

Propaganda Poster Video

War Bonds

The Department of Treasury issued war bonds to raise money for the wareffort and to fight inflation.

Celebrity War Bond Tour Newsreel

Office of Scientific Research and Development

The OSRD spurred improvements in radar and sonar, pesticides likeDDT, miracle drugs such as penicillin and the atomic bomb.

Women

“Rosie the Riveter”

During WWII, women were activelyrecruited into what had been non-traditional work for women, includingsuch jobs as welding, machinist,construction, and bus and truckdriving. The image of “Rosie the Riveter” was used to encourage women to join the workforce.

Women in the War Video

Entertainment Industry

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard

In addition to promoting war bonds,Hollywood churned out war-oriented propaganda films likeHitler, Beast of Berlin.

Internment of Japanese Americans

On Feb. 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed an executive orderRequiring removal of people of Japanese ancestry from CaliforniaAnd parts of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona to internment camps.In the following weeks, the army will round up some 110,000 JapaneseAmericans.