(H)our History Lesson: Savannah and Chatham County, Georgia: Comparing and Connecting WWII Home Front Cities

Women in defense.

Harold J. Hart, 1943-1945, the Harold J. Hart Papers, 1942-1945, presented in the Digital Library of Georgia

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 contains photographs, two readings, optional media activity, and a culminating mastery project. The first reading shares a review of some of the important contributions of the area to the US and the Allies, and the second reading connects the region to the designation of a Heritage City. There are additional resources, a text and media clip. The culminating project contributes to learners’ understandings of the city as a WWII Heritage City, with the opportunity to combine lesson themes from the three other lessons in the Savannah and Chatham County lesson collection. This is to summarize the city’s contributions and encourage connections to the overall U.S. home front efforts.

Objectives:

In a culminating product:

1. Identify important World War II home front locations, businesses, and organizations in Savannah and Chatham County and describe their historical significance
2. Explain the significance of shipbuilding in Savannah and how this contributed to Allied Forces successes
3. Summarize the purpose and impact of Hunter Army Airfield in supporting armed forces war efforts from the home front
4. Describe civilian contributions to the home front war efforts, both in paid work and in volunteerism
5. Optional: Describe similarities and differences of Savannah and Chatham County and other Heritage city(s) / World War II home front(s)

Materials for Students:

1. Photos
2. Readings 1, 2 & media activity link
3. Maps, project materials (as needed)
4. Student graphic organizers (See photo 5 at end of lesson, for reference)

Student Graphic Organizers

1. Create Comparison Matrices for your students to use. To compare two cities, create a one-page sheet with three columns and four rows.  Label the left column Theme/Topic and the other columns City 1 and City 2.  For a Comparison Matrix for three cities simply add an additional column.
2. Create two Single-Point Rubrics to assist students’ self-assessment. One is for assessing proficiency in meeting teacher-selected standards. One is for assessing proficiency in meeting objectives.
3. For the rubric on standards, create a one-page sheet with three columns and four rows of content. Label the first column “Areas for Improvement,” the second column, “Proficient (Meeting Standard),” and the third column, “Areas of Exceeding Standard.”  Leave the first and third columns blank.  In each row of the second column identify a Standard and indicate a space for noting the evidence for meeting the standard.  Include a space at the bottom of the page for assigning points for each column.
4. For the rubric on objectives, create a one-page sheet with three columns and four rows of content. Label the first column “Areas for Improving toward Objective,” the second column, “Proficient (Meeting Objective),” and the third column, “Areas of Exceeding Objective.” Leave the first and third columns blank. In the four rows of the second column identify these four objectives: 

• Identify important World War II home front locations, businesses, and organizations in Savannah and Chatham County and describe their historical significance.
• Explain the significance of shipbuilding in Savannah and how this contributed to Allied Forces successes
• Summarize the purpose and impact of Hunter Army Airfield in supporting armed forces war efforts from the home front
• Describe civilian contributions to the home front war efforts, both in paid work and in volunteerism 
• Optional: Describe similarities and differences of Savannah and Chatham County and other Heritage city(s) / World War II home front(s).

 Include a space at the bottom of the page for assigning points for each column. See the last photo of this lesson for reference.
 

“W.A. Jarrell, shipfitter, and Winnie Sue Pritchard, welder, at work on the shell of the newest minesweeper in the yards.”

‘Ocean Broom Factory,’ The Atlanta Journal, September 10, 1944, p. 5

Getting Started: Essential Question

Why was Savannah and Chatham County chosen as an American World War II Heritage City, and what are its similarities and differences to other home front cities?

Quotation to Consider:

“Southern states were critical to the war effort during World War II (1941-1945), and none more so than Georgia. Over 300,000 Georgians served in the military, and thousands of civilians worked in rapidly expanding wartime industries. . . . Citizens on the Home Front actively supported the war by doing everything from buying war bonds to working in the two Liberty shipyards located in the state. Job opportunities opened up for women, African Americans and other groups as industries mobilized, requiring tens of thousands of workers.”

- Georgia World War II Heritage Trail

Read to Connect

Reading 1: Contributions of Savannah and Chatham County

Excerpt from: World War II on the Savannah Waterfront in the American Theater of Operations Wartime Production and Service in Savannah 

By the City of Savannah: Research Library and Municipal Archives (2008)

 . . The greater Savannah community was greatly involved in wartime production through the conversion of the Port of Savannah into a military cargo port for Lend-lease goods and the development of wartime industries manufacturing paper, asphalt, naval ships, and much more. Wartime service along the waterfront included citizen soldiers and sailors volunteering in civilian and military organizations, including the Savannah-Chatham County Defense Council and the United States Coast Guard Temporary Reserve’s Volunteer Port Security Force. . . .

Savannah was chosen by the Transportation Corps of the War Department, the War Shipping Administration, and the British Ministry of War Transport to help carry the load in supplying Great Britain and its allies with the weapons of war and the necessities of life.” Between spring 1943 and V-E Day in May 1945, shipments to Britain, France, the Mediterranean, and North Africa included tanks, guns, vehicles, ammunition, food, lumber, newsprint, steel, and fabricated bridges. An estimated 200,000 tons of bombs and munitions for British use, 300,000 tons of war equipment (tanks, jeeps, half-tracks, trucks, communication equipment, medical supplies, assault boats, etc.), and 900,000 tons of various Lend-lease goods for rebuilding countries decimated by war (steel, lumber, food, cotton, drugs, etc.) went through Savannah. Altogether over 1.25 million tons of vital supplies went through Savannah ‘in a constant stream of Victory and Liberty ships.’. . .

Reading 2: Heritage City Designation

Excerpt from: “House Report 115-998, “To Direct the Secretary of the Interior to Annually Designate at Least One City in The United States as An ‘American World War II Heritage City,’ and for other purposes” (October 30, 2018)

“. . .PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 6118 is to direct the Secretary of the Interior to annually designate at least one city in the United States as an ``American World War II Heritage City''.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

On December 7, 1941, military forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the U.S. Naval Fleet and ground bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On December 8, 1941, one day after what President Roosevelt referred to as, ``a date which will live in infamy,'' the United States declared war against the Empire of Japan. Three days later, on December 11, 1941, Japan's ally, Germany, declared war on the United States. Sixteen million Americans, mostly young working-age men, served in the military during World War II, out of an overall United States population of 113 million.

While an unprecedented number of Americans served in World War II, the country drastically increased its war production on the home front, serving not only the needs of the armed forces of the United States but her allies as well--in what President Franklin Roosevelt called “The Arsenal of Democracy.'' The combination of millions serving in the military, during a period of necessary and drastic increases in production, led to significant social changes on the American home front.

The World War II period resulted in the largest number of people migrating within the United States in the history of the country. Individuals and families relocated to industrial centers for good paying jobs out of a sense of patriotic duty. Many industrial centers became ``boomtowns,'' growing at phenomenal rates. One example, the City of Richmond, California, grew from a population of under 24,000 to over 100,000 during the war. . . .”
 

Parade in Savannah.

Harold J. Hart, 1943-1945, the Harold J. Hart Papers, 1942-1945, presented in the Digital Library of Georgia

Questions for Reading 1

1. How did the wartime efforts in Savannah show collaboration between civilian and military organizations?
2. What impact do you think Savannah's involvement in wartime production had on the local community and economy during World War II?
3. How did home front contributions in Savannah support the US and the Allies? Consider both information from this text and from past lessons.

Questions for Reading 1 and 2, Photos

1. What was the purpose of the bill (H.R. 6118) according to the report?
2. Why do you think Savannah and Chatham County was designated as a World War II Heritage City? Connect details from the bill and the first reading.
3. Are there other cities you think of when considering home front contributions during wartime? Which, and why?

Review Activities

Text: Contributions of Savannah to World War II

Not all industries and contributions of civilians and service members could be outlined in the series of lessons. Additional reading with photographs can be used within the City of Savannah Research Library and Municipal Archives’ “World War II on the Savannah Waterfront in the American Theater of Operations; Wartime Production and Service in Savannah.”

Media: “World War II and Savannah Shipyards”

C-SPAN's video (5:32) Savannah Shipyards shares images and the history of the shipyards, along today’s perspectives. One story is how men were making $1.20 an hour at the shipyard, and women only 56 cents an hour. A local woman working there fought for income equality.

Single-Point Rubric (Standards; Blank) [Teacher selects priority standards for assessment.]

Courtesy of Sarah Nestor Lane

Culminating Activity/Mastery Product

To demonstrate student understanding, support students in creating a final product that meets the following objectives:

1. Identify important World War II home front locations, businesses, and organizations in Savannah and Chatham County and describe their historical significance
2. Explain the significance of shipbuilding in Savannah and how this contributed to Allied Forces successes
3. Summarize the purpose and impact of Hunter Army Airfield in supporting armed forces war efforts from the home front
4. Describe civilian contributions to the home front war efforts, both in paid work and in volunteerism
5. Optional: Describe similarities and differences of Savannah and Chatham County and other Heritage city(s) / World War II home front(s).

Mastery products should be:

. . . student-led; Students work as individuals or in collaborative groups.
. . . student-directed: Students are offered a variety of choices for product type.
. . . student-organized; Teacher facilitates by providing students with the comparison matrices and/or resource links from throughout the series of lessons.
. . . student-assessed; Teacher supports student self-assessment and reflection by providing students single-point rubrics to assess for meeting standards and/or lesson objectives.

Note: Depending on time and scope, the comparison of Savannah and Chatham County to another WWII Heritage or home front city(s) within the mastery product (objectives) may be omitted. However, comparing cities is recommended, as it connects students to a deeper understanding of the WWII home front.

Examples of mastery product choices include, but are not limited to:

• Written: Letter (opinion or informative), essay, poem, narratives, biography, articles, class book or children’s book, speech or debate (then presented orally), blog / website, plaque or historical displays, pamphlets or rack cards
• Graphic Organizers: timeline, flowcharts, mind or concept content maps, Venn diagrams, comparison matrices, posters
• Artistic Expression: song, dance, theater (ex. skits), 3-D models, dioramas, photo journal, stamp and coin designs, visual art, architecture/building or monument, museum design
• Media Design and Creation: podcast, historical markers, social media content, interactive virtual maps or tours, infographics, video, comic strips or graphics, game design, slideshows, digital scrapbook

Want More World War II Resources?

Connect with lessons from other World War II Heritage Cities or more general place-based World War II Lessons.
These lessons and resources from across US History are part of Teaching with Historic Places.

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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.