(H)our History Lesson: Home Front Civilian Contributions in Savannah and Chatham County, World War II Heritage City

Photo 1: Two African American women working at the Savannah Quartermaster Depot, 1943.

National Archives

About this Lesson

This lesson is part of a series teaching about the World War II home front, with Savannah and Chatham County, Georgia designated as an American World War II Heritage City. The lesson examines three examples of local civilian contributions on the home front: paid industry work at the Savannah Quartermaster Depot, volunteerism within civilian defense, and scrap and salvage drives. The lesson contains newspaper readings and photos. The extension is a case study to consider ethical implications of wartime development.

Objectives:

1. Identify examples of how civilians contributed to the war effort with both paid and volunteer work.
2. Describe the importance of the Savannah Quartermaster Depot in wartime distribution.
3. Compare local, historical perspectives on war work and volunteerism to synthesize and connect to larger wartime perspectives and themes.

Materials for Students:

1. Photos (can be displayed digitally)
2. Readings 1, 2, 3 (and optional extension)
3. Recommended: Map of Savannah, Georgia to examine the importance of its location for industries and defense

Getting Started: Essential Question

How did civilians, both as paid workers and volunteers, contribute to supporting the war efforts from the home front?

Photo 2: “Woman at Work – Women play an important part in the work at the Savannah Quartermaster Depot. They do many jobs formerly reserved for men. Here is one checking a new load of war material. It’s part of the job of keeping soldiers supplied.”

“Savannah Depot Keeps ‘Em Supplied for ‘Battle to Berlin,’” The Atlanta Constitution, April 16, 1943, p. 10

Quotation to consider:

“Army Engineers, laying out a new road for a military installation here, found their course cutting through the middle of an old cemetery, apparently forgotten for many years. Desirous of using the route planned, the engineers compromised with the 38 departed souls whose bodies were buried in the plot by providing them anew cemetery.”

- "Old Cemetery At Savannah Is Moved,” August 21, 1942, Hartwell Sun Newspaper (Hartwell, Georgia)

By the numbers:

• By the end of the war, the Savannah Quartermaster Depot was 400 acres and had 709 buildings.
• Approximately 16,000 railroad cars per month were processed there during the war.

[In 1948 the Depot was sold to the state of Georgia for a Georgia Ports Authority shipping terminal.]
-Savannah Evening Press, December 20, 1948, and Savannah Evening Press, April 10, 1947

Read to Connect

Reading 1: Savannah Depot Supplies Troops

Background: The Savannah Quartermaster Depot was also known as the Army Service Forces Depot. A road to the Savannah Quartermaster Depot was developed on the former cemetery of enslaved persons at a former plantation. The remains of 38 people and their markers were moved from the site to a new cemetery, “Rae’s Hall Cemetery” to build the depot. When discussing slavery, it is important to examine the terminology used, such as “enslaved person” rather than slave. This text does not detail the movement of the cemetery. The extension reading can be used to examine this issue more.

Savannah Depot Supplies U.S. Troops World Over

Vast Storage Built on Historic Site of Raes-Hall Cemetery for Slaves

By John Mebane, The Atlanta Journal, Friday, April 16, 1943, p.22

The slaves whose bones lie today in the little Raes-Hall Cemetery on the banks of the sleepy Savannah River wouldn’t recognize the old plantation now. 

For the Raes-Hall plantation, five and one-half miles north of this city, today is the site of the Savannah Quartermaster Depot, where row after row of warehouses are filled to overflowing with vital supplies for the nation’s ever-growing Army.

If all the cars of supplies handled by the depot’s shipping and receiving section during the period of a year where coupled together they would stretch from this city to Jacksonville. A billion pounds of equipment, supplies and subsistence are handled annually in this busy depot under the command of Colonel Henry Hockwald.

Supply All Troops

Quartermaster supplies shipped from here reach United States troops wherever in the world they are stationed today. In addition to the approximately 1,600 cars which are handled here monthly, about 10,000 L.C.L. and truck shipments are handled each month. 

The supplies range from tent pegs to 10-ton laundry trucks, each capable of washing the clothes of 200 solders a day. 

Out of three depots that originated on the site, the Savannah Quartermaster Depot has emerged. The Savannah C.C.C. Quartermaster Depot and the subsection of the Atlanta Quartermaster Depot were activated June 1, 1941. Just a year later the subsection depot was made a separate depot called the Savannah Quartermaster Depot, and July 1, 1942, the Savannah C.C.C. Quartermaster Depot was inactivated and became a part of the Savannah Quartermaster Depot.

From the Medical Supply Section all types of medical supplies and even complete hospital units are shipped to Army posts, camps and stations in the Fourth Service Command and, when required, to other points as well. Shipments originated at the Quartermaster Supply Section are shipped to various points as well. Shipments originated at the Quartermaster Supply Section are shipped to various points in this country and overseas. All quartermaster supplies, however, are shipped only by direction of the quartermaster general. 

New Storing Plan

Because of the constantly growing need of more space, a new plan of storing stocks in the depot’s 41 warehouses is being inaugurated today. All of the stock which can be handled in this manner is being palletized—the cases are not set atop each other, bottom to top, but on wooden pallets so that they may be piled up to the tops of the high warehouse ceilings by the use of fork-lift trucks, thus conserving thousands of valuable feet of storage space. 
The depot is growing. More buildings are being erected rapidly. Just completed is a section of the new houses for officers here. Recently several new warehouses owned by the Government have been taken over.

Takes No Chances

The depot is taking no chances against possible sabotage. The newest addition to the personnel are eight vicious but trained dogs which are now being used to supplement the regular guards. The dogs obtained from Dogs for Defense, Inc., are housed in especially constructed kennels and to each has been assigned a special trained handler.

A first-rate training program is maintained at the depot for newly commissioned officers in the Quartermaster Corps who are graduated from the Quartermaster School at Camp Lee. In addition to the training, these officers also receive actual experience in the depot’s various sections.

Incidentally, the depot has found its recently established newspaper, The Colonel’s Journal, a real morale builder. The paper, published each month, concerns itself chiefly with depot activities of interest to the civilian employees. 

Reading 2: Georgia Likely Spot for Spies

Background: The excerpt of a message below was sent to all Civilian Defense workers and was shared to all citizens of Georgia in publications. There were increased concerns about enemies on the home front. It was written from Colonel Charles H. Patterson, director of the Georgia Citizens’ Defense Committee. 

Georgia Seen as Likely Spot for Spies to Land; Defense Director Warns Citizens to Be on Alert

The Atlanta Journal, August 2, 1942, p.2

. . .Axis subversive activities have been discovered in Georgia. Foreign agents have landed in our state. On the Florida coast, not far from the Georgia-Florida state line, German spies landed from German submarines, were apprehended and are now on trial for their lives before a military commission in Washington, D. C. J. Edgar Hoover, director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, asked the entire nation, within the week, to be on the lookout for three men, identified as expert German saboteurs who, he said, may come to the United States. It is the belief of the undersigned that they will undoubtedly land on the eastern coast and just as likely in Georgia as in any other one of our coastal states. . . .

Georgia is the gateway to the deep South. Thousands of new faces are seen arriving and passing through Georgia. At certain seasons of the year, strangers will be seen in our stores, at our filling stations, and at our resorts. Deciding who is an enemy and who is a genuine guest will require quick thinking and accurate judgment. Doubt should be cultivated instead of trust  however repugnant it may be to our finer senses. Self protection demands that we ferret out spies and enemy agents.

Georgia has an excelled defense organization. The State Guard and the Civilian Defense Committee have been created by the Governor. A coast defense warning system has been developed, and an aircraft warning system is in operation. There are over 290,000 volunteers in civilian defense in Georgia. Thousands have been trained in duties essential to defense. An appeal to be on your guard goes with this letter to each of our enrollees and to the public at large. Fisherman, hunters, guides and other sportsmen, who frequent the Georgia coast, are particularly asked to join in an effort to detect and report the presence of submarines, also evidence of refueling. Submarines have taken a heavy toll of our coastal shipping.  . . .

 

Reading 3: Savannah Scrap Drive

Teacher Tip: This text describes an example of a material drive. You may wish to discuss other types of materials collected and their purpose during wartime on the home front.

Chatham ‘Scrappers’ Give Fulton, DeKalb Figure to Shoot At

The Atlanta Constitution, October 17, 1942, p. 4

Savannah and Chatham county threw a teeth-rattling challenge at Atlanta yesterday with the announcement that its scrap drive had netted 18,000,000 – yes, eighteen million—pounds of old metal, rubber and rags in the scrap drive.
The two-week total for the coast city and county made the figured in the Fulton and DeKalb county look like a pinpoint in an aluminum dishpan. 

Savannah didn’t yell at top voice about its grand collection of scrap, but it should be enough to awaken the people of Atlanta, Fulton and Dekalb counties to the fact they can and should do better than the smaller city.

Hard Work Story.

The story of how Savannah gathered that much scrap is one of hard work. That’s what it takes. . . . With a week to go, officials in the newspapers’ drive here were eager to show Savannah and the rest of Georgia just what can be done.

Young, Old Help.

A special story from Savannah on its drive follows: 

Savannah, Ga., Oct. 16 – Young and old, from every walk of life, have pitched into the battle for scrap in Savannah and Chatham County and the effectiveness of this all-out cooperation is shown in the announcement of Martin T. Price, chairman of the Savannah-Chatham defense council. That more than 18,000,000 pounds of scrap have been collected in Chatham County since the inauguration of the nationwide newspaper scrap collection about two weeks ago. 

The sum measures out about 150 pounds of scrap per capita and, speaking from any viewpoint, that is a real pile of metal. The entire amount of the collection was 18,217,874 pounds as of figures submitted last night from the salvage committee head. 

Combined Efforts.

The overwhelming success of this campaign may be attributed largely to the combined efforts of the newspapers and schools of  Savannah and Chatham county. Secondly, the civic clubs, theaters, the county agent and many other organizations started individual drives of their own.

Old safes, antique shotguns, German and American helmets of World War 1, statues, X-ray machines, which had been obsolete for some years, and many other items were among the articles contributed for the drive.

At one theater here, a ‘scrap preview’ was held with admission by scrap only, a pound of scrap being required for admission. This plan proved to be a great success when a 4-H Club girl, Miss Mercy Hinley, of White Bluff, brought in almost three tons of the salvaged material to win a season pass to the theater, which had been offered to the largest single contributor. Ten tons were collected in six hours.

County Agent Praised. 

The work of the county agent, A. J. Nitzschke, who also is a member of the salvage committee in charge of rural collections, was an important factor in the attaining of this high per capita rating. The work of the 4-H clubs under his direction was one of the biggest aids to the scrap collection, as they scoured farmhouses, fields and their own immediate surroundings for the long forsaken materials. 

A Savannah bank donated an old safe, which had not been used for over 20 years, but which had been the only vault of the bank at its beginning. Obsolete heating system and a water system, in addition to miscellaneous other fixtures and odds and ends also were gathered from the building. This building was the source of about 25 tons of metal for the scrap drive.

Savannah’s ranking as one of the top 30 cities in the scrap collection, classed on the pound-per-person basis, is due to the cooperation of almost every citizen in the county. The citizens are scrap conscious because they have been told over and over the cause of the scrap shortage and the necessity of alleviating this situation at once.
 

Photo 3: “Gasoline for the War Front—Five-gallon cans for gasoline are sent out from the Savannah Quartermaster Depot for shipment overseas. The precious fluid is shipped in square cans to save space aboard. Round cans waste space. Official U.S. Army Signal Corps Photos.”

“Savannah Depot Keeps ‘Em Supplied for ‘Battle to Berlin,’” The Atlanta Constitution, April 16, 1943, p. 10

Student Activities

Questions for Reading 1 and Photos

1. Consider the background and quotation to consider. What are some reasons people might support or oppose the decision to move the cemetery to build the new road? Consider practical concerns, ethics, and moral principles.
2. Examine the photos. How do they show the employment of African American men and women at the Quartermaster Depot, and women taking on roles traditionally done by men?
3. What was the purpose of the Savannah Quartermaster Depot? How did the work there contribute to the war efforts?

Photo 4: An example of a World War II poster encouraging scrap donations, produced by the United States Department of Agriculture / War Boards.

National Archives

Questions for Reading 2

1. What event prompted this message to the civilian defense workers and Georgians?
2. What did this printed message encourage civilians to do, and how to act?
3. Savannah and Chatham County, located on the Georgia coast, included important shipyards, Armed Forces assets, and the Depot with war material distribution. Why would civilian defense volunteers be important in this area?

Questions for Reading 3

1. How much scrap did Savannah and Chatham county collect during their scrap drive? Why was this significant compared to other counties?
2. How were youth and youth organizations involved in the scrap drive?
3. What were some creative ways that organizations encouraged people to participate in the scrap drive?
4. Why do you think the citizens of Savannah and Chatham County were motivated to voluntarily contribute to the scrap drive?

Lesson Closing

Using details from across the readings and lesson:

How did civilians, both as paid workers and volunteers, contribute to supporting the war efforts from the home front?

What other types of home front contributions may have been occurring in Savannah and Chatham County?

Extension

Rae's Hall Cemetery

Additional Reading: Rae’s Hall Cemetery and the Development of the Savannah Quartermaster Depot

Background: This reading provides more information on the movement of the cemetery to develop roadways to the Savannah Quartermaster Depot, as first addressed with Reading 1. It allows students to use this example as a case study to consider the changing history and purposes of land due to wartime conflicts, and the impact of ongoing discrimination. As in Reading 1, it is important to critically examine the language of slavery used in the text.

Journal Article Excerpt from “Rae’s Hall Plantation. Part II”

Savannah Unit, Georgia Writers’ Project, Work Projects Administration in Georgia. “RAE’S HALL PLANTATION. Part II.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 27, no. 1 (1943): 1–27.
 
The site of Irene Mound is now almost level with the bank of the Savannah River. Like the rice fields and cotton lands which the one grass grown and the other covered by railway spurs and industrial activities, now show little of their lost prosperity, the area seems as though no mound had ever risen, mysterious and impressive, above the surrounding low country. In a short time on Rae’s Hall there will be left little physical evidence of the history of the land, either of its occupation by Indians in the distant years of antiquity or of its settlement by white planters in the colonial and antebellum period.

The demands of war have brought the storage facilities of the Savannah Warehouse and Compress Company into increased activity. In 1929 the Southeastern Compress and Warehouse Company of Atlanta leased the entire plant under an operating agreement. In 1941, as lessee, the latter company sub-leased approximately two-thirds of the entire warehouse space to various departments of the War Department, principally the Savannah Quartermaster Depot and the Savannah Medical Depot which services all military units in the southeastern division. The rapid expansion of these depots resulted in the purchase of the entire warehousing unit by the United States Government June 24, 1942.

The warehouses, still referred to as "one of the world's largest," are located five miles up the river between the old Brampton Road and Pipemaker's Creek, about one-eighth of a mile east of the Augusta Road known as U.S. Highway No. 17. A number of improvements and expansions have already been made on the property since it was leased by the Government over a year ago and plans are now under way for further expansion.

Among the changes was the moving of an Old Negro burial ground that stood on the route of a proposed road from the Army Quartermaster’s Depot to highway 17. Thirty-eight skeletons and aging markers of marble, concrete, and wood were removed to a new site on the river bank, which was enclosed in a rustic fence and given the name Rae’s Hall Cemetery. The oldest marked grave was that of a young Negro slave Emily who served the Rae’s Hall family during the lavish years of the South’s greatest prosperity. Her marble stone reads: 

“This Stone is erected by her Master in memory of his faithful servant EMILY who was born in the year 1822 and died 17 Nov. 1844 aged 19 years.”

Reflection Questions

1. How does this case show discrimination and wrongful treatment of enslaved persons? Consider Emily’s gravestone description and the naming of the “new” cemetery. 
2. In what ways might discrimination have affected the planning of the area's development for the Depot?
3. In your opinion, how do you think wartime development should, or should not, be balanced with the ethics of leaving cemeteries undisturbed? 

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This lesson was written by Sarah Nestor Lane, an educator and consultant with the Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education, funded by the National Council on Public History's cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.