Scrapbooks tell home front WWII tales from Cedar Rapids
Read readers memories cover scrapbook keepsakes from Pearl Harbor to postwar memorials. Letters from service members like Laurence Dale and stories from Feddersen and local families illustrate letters, POWs, enlistments, invasions, and the toll of war across Iowa.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
The
Gazette
Iowa
Pearl Harbor
Laurence Dale
Cedar Rapids
Jessie Dale
Chicago
Evelyn Wells
Guadalcanal
Memories of a Monticello teen in wartime days
Nedra Hanken recollects her fifteenth birthday on December 7 1941 and reflects on World War II years in Monticello. She recalls how life changed for all, with shortages and substitutions, some of which brought humor while shaping daily life.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mount Pleasant
Dad
Nedra Hanken
Monticello
Growth at Iowa Ordnance Plant Sparks Local Boom
In November 1941 Burlington notes the Iowa Ordnance Plant expanded to three loading lines producing fuses shells and bombs with an aerial line over a mile long. Labor shortages boost wages and local businesses report booming sales as miles of streets curbs and sewers are added.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Burlington
Iowa Ordnance Plant
IOP
Also Mentioned on This Page
Feddersen
Gigi Wood
North Liberty
Army
Camp Roberts
California
Fedderson
Bedlam
France
Helen S. Kurth
Coggan
United States
Fort Riley
Fort Polk
Fort Benning
England
Utah Beach
Charles W. Gater
Harold Hill
St. James
Brittany
U.S. Military Cemetery
Coe
Cone
Red Bull
Marvin Cone
National Guard
U.S. Army
Camp Cody
Deming
N.M
Tunisia
Naples
Foggia
Anzio
Rome-Arno
North Apennines
Po Valley
C.R
SPARS
Lucille Roman Williams
Leona Benish
Coast Guard
Iowa Mutual Insurance Co
Williams
New York
Oklahoma
9Th Naval District Coast Guard Auxiliary
Cleveland
North Africa
Art Wall
Charles D. Wall
Ninth Ave
Carl Hollis Wall
Zentsuji
Shikoku Island
Japan
JZI
Tokyo
Corregidor
Wall
Connecticut
Cecil Farnah
Washington
R.S. Wray
Navy
Pat Mason Ortmayer
Roy Mason
Winfield
Des Moines
Farragut
Idaho
Washington, D.C
Congress
Empire of
Guy M. Gillette
Cherokee
Clyde L. Herring
Senate
House
Jeanette Rankin
Montana
Thomas Martin
Iowa City
William Jacobsen
Clinton
John Gwynne
Waterloo
Henry Talle
Decorah
K.M. LeCompte
Corydon
Paul Cunningham
Ben Jensen
Extra
Fred Gilchrist
Laurens
Vincent Harrington
Sioux City
Sioux Falls
Germany
Eddie
Florence Fisk Shriver
Fairfield
Northwest Bell Telephone Co
Spencer
Chicago Board of Trade
New York City
Hunter College
Dick Fedderson
San Francisco
Louisiana
Africa
Sicily
Italy
Robert J. Abodeely
Charles Gater
Reichmarshal
Hermann Goring
U.S. 7Th Army
China
Reichsfuhrer
Heinrich Himmler
German High Command
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
Berlin
Suzuki
Ordnance Plant
State Historical Society
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!