(H)our History Lesson: N. C. Shipbuilding Co: Impacts on the WWII Home Front in Wilmington, NC

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• WWII Wilmington Lesson Series: Introduction

About this Lesson

This lesson is part of a series teaching about the WWII home front, highlighting Wilmington, North Carolina, as a designated WWII Heritage City. The lesson contains photographs, reading, and a primary source, with an optional extension activity, to contribute to learners’ understandings of defense manufacturing, using N.C. Shipbuilding Co. in Wilmington, N.C. It was written by Sarah Nestor Lane, educator. 

Objectives:

1) Describe the N.C. Shipbuilding Co.’s importance to the city of Wilmington, N.C. and its contributions to defense manufacturing in WWII
2) Describe shipyard employee roles and their working and living conditions

Materials for Students:

1) Photos 1 - 7 (can be displayed digitally)
2) Readings 1 & 2
3) Map: It is recommended that lessons are taught with a map of the Wilmington area, or North Carolina to plot historical locations.

Getting Started: Essential Question

How did the North Carolina (NC) Shipbuilding Co. impact the economy and contribute to defense manufacturing in WWII?

Photo 1: Liberty Ship built by the N.C. Shipbuilding Co.

The SS Zebulon Baird Vance launched into Cape Fear, December 6, 1941.

State Archives, North Carolina Office of Archives and History

Photo 2: Construction at the Shipyard

Aerial of the shipyard, December 29, 1941; 23 days following the launch of the first vessel

Courtesy of New Hanover County Public Library

Read to Connect

Reading 1: Background of NC Shipbuilding Co.

The North Carolina Shipbuilding Co. was founded in 1941 in Wilmington, North Carolina (under the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co). It was part of the US Government’s World War II Emergency Shipbuilding Program. The yard, located on the east bank of the Cape Fear River, began to be constructed in February 1941. The first Liberty ship launched just before the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 6, 1941. The Liberty ship was built via a U.S. Maritime Commission contract. Liberty cargo vessels transported vehicles, tanks, ammunition, and other supplies. As demand increased, so did the number of ships and acreage of the shipyard.

The opening of the Shipbuilding Co. revived the region’s economy, and led to Wilmington’s title of “The Defense Capital of the State.” The population of Wilmington increased from about 33,000 to 50,000 due to internal migration. Migrants came for jobs at the shipyard and other defense industries in the area. The shipyard became the state’s largest employer. (Other industries included Block’s Shirt factory, an Ethyl-Dow Chemical plant for aviation gasoline, pulpwood, fertilizer plants, and dairies.)

Population increases caused housing and food shortages. An empty lot next to the shipyard became a trailer camp for employees. Workers who were unable to secure housing often used tents or old railroad cars for shelter. Private homeowners would rent rooms to workers as well. The Wilmington Housing Authority built housing in Maffitt Village for shipyard workers. Due to segregation laws, the Housing Authority also built separate housing for African American shipyard workers. This neighborhood was called Hillcrest Extension.

Wilmington's infrastructure was stretched to its limits. Transportation and lines to participate in local activities, like dining and entertainment, were long, and schools were crowded.

The NC Shipbuilding Co. employed female and African American workers. Women started as entry-level tool checkers, but eventually filled roles in more skilled jobs (welding, woodworking, and drill pressing efforts). Employees worked in integrated crews, but the plant enforced segregation in facilities such as cafeterias. The hiring of so many African Americans for skilled positions at the shipyard was unheard of at the time in the South. They worked in various jobs such as shipwrights, drillers, and riveters. Shipyard employees contributed to wartime campaigns. These included war bond drives, March of Dimes, clothing collections, and Community War Chest efforts.

The shipyard and its employees were recognized with multiple awards by the United States Maritime Commission for contributions in advanced techniques and number of ships produced. The yard was first held in reserve on stand-by, in case of need in future conflicts, but today is part of a North Carolina state port.

By the numbers:

• 243 ships built from 1941-1946
• 1 of 10 U.S. shipyards specializing in constructing Liberty cargo vessels
• 160 acres covered by the shipyard
• Shipyard employment was over 20,000 in 1943; 1,628 were African Americans
• 7 housing projects completed: By end of 1943, 3,800 war housing units had been added to 1,800 in 1942.

Quotation to consider:

"We have accomplished our tasks and may forget the hardships and headaches in connection with it and enjoy the feeling that it has been a job well done. The combination of a few Newport News shipbuilders and a good supply of intelligent, willing North Carolina men and women has accomplished the task. We shall never have to apologize for the way it was done." -President of NC Shipbuilding Co., May 1, 1946

Questions for Reading 1

1. What were the impacts of the Shipbuilding Co. on Wilmington’s local economy? Consider both pros and cons.
2. What was the significance of shipyard employment for African Americans and women?
3. What unfair practices did African American shipyard workers encounter?
4. How did the shipyard contribute to the WWII home front efforts?

Photo 4 – 6: Shipyard Employees

“Campaigns,” with captions including War bonds, March of Dimes, Clothing Collection, and Community War Chest

Courtesy of New Hanover County Public Library

Page 6 of the booklet titled "Five Years of North Carolina Shipbuilding" features a button photograph of the employees.  The photograph has a caption reading, "They came to do a good job."

Courtesy of New Hanover County Public Library

Reading 2: Excerpts from: “Five Years of North Carolina Shipbuilding”

Published May 1, 1946, by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.

“This is the story of one of North Carolina’s largest industrial enterprises and its contribution in ships to victory in war and a greater American Merchant Marine in peace.

It is the story of these ships – 243 in all from the sturdy Liberty freighter, S.S. Zebulon B. Vance, to the fast passenger-cargo C-2-type, S.S. Santa Isabel.

But more than anything else, it is the story of men and women—about 400 from Newport News, Virginia, and the thousands and thousands from throughout North Carolina and the south—who came here to do a job and did it well. The fact that they have collectively won every United States Maritime Commission award attests to the accomplishment of their purpose. . . .

More important, however, are the people who did the work and made the Company’s outstanding record possible. As has been noted, Wilmington was chosen with the good labor supply in mind. Experience has demonstrated that the class of men and women living in a community of this type constitutes splendid material, especially for training in the special skills of an industry. The great majority of employees came from a radius of 200 miles of the yard and a surprisingly large number continued to live at home and commuted, thus easing the housing situation.

In converging on Wilmington, they, together with military personnel of the several Army and Marine installations in southeastern North Carolina, gave the city the name of “Defense Capital” of the state during the height of the war. As employment figures climbed – the roll reached a peak of 21,000 on March 11, 1943—many new problems developed in the operations of the Company. Included among them were housing, access roads, transportation, Selective Service demands, rationing and anti-sabotage measures. The fine manner in which employees, both singularly and collectively, met these problems and solved them, through the assistance of the Company, community and state and federal governments, was an important factor in the success of the shipyard.”

Questions for Reading 2, Photos 4-6

1. What details do you notice in the photos (both image and text)? How could you describe the shipyard workforce?

2. Why is the tone of the text positive toward the employees’ contributions?

3. Consider the information from both Readings 1 and 2. Describe North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.’s importance to the city of Wilmington, N.C. and its contributions to defense manufacturing in WWII.

Optional Extension: Comparing Shipyards

Map from booklet titled "Five Years of North Carolina Shipbuilding"

New Hanover County Public Library

In Wilmington, N.C. a famous National Historic Landmark is the USS North Carolina, Battleship North Carolina (1941). This Battleship earned the most Pacific Battle campaign stars in the war, and now serves as the state’s memorial museum. Although a key landmark and memorial in N.C, the battleship was built in New York.

The NC Shipbuilding Co. built Liberty cargo vessels and ships for the US Navy. As mentioned in Reading 1, the shipyard was 1 of 10 that built Liberty cargo vessels. Shipyards had different focuses and contributions to defense manufacturing. The Battleship North Carolina was produced in the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York.

1. Read more about the history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard where Battleship North Carolina was constructed. How/why do you think that particular shipyard built this battleship?
2. How does NC Shipbuilding Co. shipyard compare to the Brooklyn Navy Yard? (Consider home front employment, employees, defense manufacturing impacts, resources at locations)
3. What can you conclude about the impact of shipyards, both at the home front, and abroad, during WWII? (You may choose to research more of the U.S. Maritime Commission’s work and long-term impacts from the war.)

Resources

Battleship North Carolina.
Brooklyn Navy YardContributions to the War Effort (Wilmington, North Carolina)
North Carolina Shipbuilding Co. (New Hanover County Public Library Collection)
Wilmington, NC, Heritage City (NPS)
World War II Heritage Guide Map of Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina