From manufacturing to manpower and civil defense to civilian support, Paterson, NJ, threw its full energy into the effort to win World War II. This 1943 bond drive near the intersection of Market and Main Street captures a moment in this monumental mobilization.
Paterson Museum
American World War II Heritage City
The American WWII Heritage City program was established in 2019 to highlight communities with significant home-front contributions & continued commemoration.
NPS
As a major population center and manufacturing city, Paterson, New Jersey played an important role in the Second World War. Through defense manufacturing, civil defense preparedness, personnel serving in the armed forces, and adaptation to wartime disruption, Paterson made significant contributions to the war effort through manufacturing, civil defense, and war financing efforts.
Large numbers of personnel serving in the Armed Forces called the city home, and industries which had previously supplied critical materiel during World War I quickly retooled and once again provided a wide range of products – Paterson had over 300 allied defense industries during World War II. Two industries which particularly made Paterson a key contributor to the war effort were the silk and aircraft manufacturers – industries critical enough to warrant increased civil defense preparations and the establishment of military observation and defense posts.
Manufacturing for the Military – Defense Contracting
Paterson's established industry, transportation links, & skilled workforce enabled dramatic WWII expansion. Curtiss-Wright's Plant 1 growth & wartime Plant 2 expansion into former American Locomotive Company works dwarf surrounding neighborhoods in this aerial view
Paterson Museum
The entry of the United States into the Second World War had a profound impact on Paterson. Like many Northeastern industrial centers, Paterson suffered in the post-World War I period. As with other centers of textile manufacturing, economic downturns had already begun in the late 1910s and 1920s as the industry collapsed and disinvestment favored smaller, non-unionized factories with newer, more advanced equipment throughout the southern United States. With the onset of the Great Depression unemployment skyrocketed and “Hoovervilles” proliferated as thousands struggled to find work or retain a home. As in World War I, the vast scale and scope of manufactured products and materiel required by the Federal government injected life into stagnating cities. Thanks to a diversified industrial economy, infrastructure, and large population, Paterson benefitted tremendously from the war effort and was a key city in the “arsenal of democracy.”
The Madison Silk Company was one of several textile firms in Paterson which switched operations during WWII, seen here c. 1941-1942. Despite older equipment & material rationing, adoption of new synthetic materials allowed manufacturing of both military & civilian products to continue
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NAID: 518608)
Prior to WWI, Paterson earned the nickname “Silk City” as the center of silk dying and weaving in the United States – at its height producing 50% of the nation’s finished silk. While wartime rationing and isolation from raw silk supplies in Asia hit textile mills hard, the Allied Textile Printers (ATP), a conglomeration of smaller firms, began working with nylon. Developed in 1938, (the same year ATP formed) this synthetic material was an excellent substitute for the silk used in parachutes and straps – items which had to be both strong, flexible, and lightweight. ATP retooled its dyeing facilities on Van Houten St. and an on-site government inspection laboratory was set up to monitor production quality. It maintained steady output despite rationing and shortages of raw materials and fuel oil thanks to government contracts and recognition of its vital role in the defense sector. This shift supported the war effort (often despite government contracts being a known financial loss) and allowed the company to continue limited production of civilian goods. It also ensured the firm’s future – ATP survived the silk industry’s decline post-war thanks to its transition to synthetic materials, operating in Paterson until 1983.
Silk manufacturers like the Allied Textile Printers, seen at center in this 1983 aerial survey, were part of the diversity of industry in Paterson which supplied a variety of goods to fulfill wartime demands
Library of Congress
Other Paterson industries would transition from consumer goods to military manufacturing, also thriving post-war as a result. The diversity of manufacturing which enabled Paterson to survive when other single-industry cities faltered meant that the wartime demands for a variety of products could be met despite entirely different manufacturing requirements. Two examples of this include Paterson's power cable and toy firms.
The Okonite Company, manufacturers of high-voltage paper insulated power lines and undersea cables, produced not just wiring for the military – their plants, including one in Paterson, produced portions of the 140 miles of American manufactured pipeline for the 710-mile Pipeline Under the Ocean (PLUTO). This critical logistical lifeline, running from Sandown to Cherbourg and Dungeness to Boulogne respectively, helped supply petroleum products to the Allied Expeditionary Force in Northwest Europe. Okonite continues to supply military bases with cabling in addition to industrial customers and utilities, and in the 1980s supplied the underwater cable which provides power to the Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island.
Molded Latex Products Inc. (later renamed the Kaysam Corporation of America) produced toys prior to the war – during WWII production shifted to latex balloons for meteorologic data collection and the signal corps. Branches of the company also produced M 278-A “Gibson Girl” canned emergency rescue radio transmitters, which used a contained balloon to raise a wire aerial. These emergency rescue devices were distributed to many Allied air services, such as the United States Army Air Corps/United States Air Forces and the Royal Air Force. For this work they received an Army-Navy "E" Award for excellence in production on May 17th, 1944. Post-war, the company continued producing weather balloons, often to fulfill defense contracts.
Curtiss-Wright's Paterson assembly lines churned out engines for military aircraft, such as the Continental R-975 Whirlwind (left) & late-war turbocharged R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone (right) displayed in the Paterson Museum
Paterson Museum
Besides balloons, Paterson factories produced another aviation resource. The Curtiss-Wright Corporation was a critical industry for the Allied war effort, producing thousands of military aircraft engines. Wright’s R-1820 Cyclone powered every B-17 Flying Fortress and Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber, as well as numerous other military aircraft – it was also utilized in armored vehicles such as the M4A6 Sherman and M6 Heavy Tanks. Wright R-975 Whirlwinds powered Canadian Ram tanks, the M3 Lee/Grant and M4 Sherman tanks, and M7 Priest self-propelled guns. The B-25 Mitchell bombers used in the Doolittle Raids used Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone engines (as did the Douglas A-20 Havoc, Grumman TBF Avenger, SB2C Helldiver, and Martin PBM Mariner), while the Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone was used in numerous aircraft including B-29 Superfortresses such as the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. By war's end, Curtiss-Wright had produced 142,840 aircraft engines, 146,468 electric propellers, and 29,269 aircraft; of these, 77,554 engines - over half of their total wartime production - were produced in Paterson alone.
This public relations clipping highlights one of countless women who played key roles in Paterson's defense industries, filling factories as men were mobilized.
Paterson Museum
To support these industries, Paterson dramatically expanded its manufacturing capacity. To meet production demands, Curtiss-Wright built 2.3 million square feet of new manufacturing floor space with the construction of a single massive new building, while also redeveloping or replacing older structures with space for manufacturing, warehousing, and testing facilities. Thanks to the city's established industrial infrastructure, transportation networks, and skilled workforce, this growth was accomplished quickly and effectively.
Paterson's workforce grew as well, often dramatically changing from pre-war demographics. Women took over critical factory jobs as men volunteered or were drafted to serve in the armed forces, and the city’s Black population swelled as employment opportunities and Federal hiring standards drew thousands of people. They were needed - wartime production demands far exceeded peacetime; Curtiss-Wright alone employed over 50,000 Patersonians. Their contributions enabled critical wartime industries to not only meet the demands of war, but frequently surpass them in production and quality.
Paterson Prepared: Civil Defense & Contributions on the Homefront
Given the city’s critical role in defense manufacturing, great emphasis was placed upon civil defense preparedness. This urgency increased after it was identified as a likely “target area,” a designation confirmed by post-war analysis of Axis military planning documents. The Paterson Fire Department, for example, sent men to receive training at the Federal Chemical Warfare School at Maryland’s Edgewood Arsenal, and sent representatives to train air wardens and teach at schools for Instructors of Voluntary Fire Brigades. Sixteen Auxiliary Fire Companies with over three hundred additional firemen were established, with weekly training and instruction (Paterson firefighters also directly served in the armed forces – at least thirteen received the Purple Heart).
This Sunday, October 12th, 1941, Paterson Sunday Chronicle newspaper details one of several mock bomb raids made on the city to test civil defense preparations & training
William Paterson University
The observation tower built by Paterson silk magnate Catholina Lambert at Garret Mountain was established as Aircraft Observation Post #77A; a direct phone line linked the tower to the Air Defense Command at Mitchel Air Force Base, and the 16th Detachment 67th Air Defense Artillery was stationed at the site. Five batteries (including a Headquarters Battery) containing three- inch, 40 mm, and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, .30 and .50 caliber machine guns, and SCR-268 radar units ringed the city. Barracks and recreation quarters (the latter funded through civic drives) were constructed for the hundreds of soldiers assigned to protect the city.
Paterson also took part in complex active civil defense training events such as in June of 1943, when B24 Liberator bombers were flown over the city in a simulated attack. Other trainings such as in February 1941 involved towing night aircraft and tank targets, with filming for Pathé News. A few months later, an October "raid" simulating an attack on the Eastern Seaboard lasted nearly a week, with "enemy" fleets sending waves of aircraft at high altitude to "bomb" Paterson and surrounding industrial centers. The Garret Mountain post and local American Legion members played a key role in the success of the drill.
Such training exercises were held throughout the war and were carefully evaluated. For the people of Paterson, such drills blurred the line between home-front and front-line, acting as another reminder of the city's strategic importance in a global conflict.
Paterson’s civic institutions also contributed to the war effort. Hinchliffe Stadium, built in 1931-32, held numerous Victory Bond drives. The 10,000-seat stadium was frequently filled to capacity as high-profile entertainers like Dick Jurgens, Henny Youngman, Lou Costello, Bud Abbott (Costello a Paterson native), and sports stars like boxers Benny Leonard and Abe Greene performed. The drives were highly successful – Abbott and Costello were awarded a trophy for their efforts by the mayor of the city in recognition of their fundraising, having raised approximately eighty-five million dollars in thirty-five days on their national tour. These events not only provided welcome entertainment and relief from wartime stress for Paterson’s citizens – they raised significant funds which helped the Federal government finance the war and combat inflation.
Civic institutions including local high schools, Y.M.C.A/Y.H.C.A. branches, the “Zonta Club,” and religious centers held fundraisers, banquets, and concerts for both the war effort and the uniformed personnel stationed in Paterson (the Y.M.C.A.’s “Special Membership” for enlisted, created during the war, continues to this day). Paterson also held special Loan Drives, including towing a captured two-man Japanese submarine from the Pearl Harbor attack through the city and a public radio address by civic leaders. Large, often dramatic recruitment drives were conducted as well, including the leaflet “bombing” of Paterson by Women’s Army Air Corps (WAAC) pilots. Paterson post offices were established as recruitment centers, women ages 20 – 50 were offered free plane rides, and military officials gave speeches noting the need for up to 1,000,000 women.
Commemoration: Preservation of Paterson’s Wartime Legacy
Today, Paterson preserves the heritage and legacy of the city’s contributions to the war effort and World War II history in several ways, including commemoration, education, and preservation. Annual Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day events highlight the sacrifices made by those who served in the conflict.
Commemoration & education preserves WWII history - the Paterson Museum is one of many organizations honoring & interpreting Paterson's military heritage
Paterson Museum
Paterson also invests in making public memorials and commemorations more accessible – something particularly important for aging WWII veterans. In 2019 the city invested over $150,000 to construct an ADA-accessible road, parking lot, and walkway at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Hayden Heights, increasing access to the monuments at the Hill of Heroes memorial. Organizations like the Paterson Veterans Council support those who served and their stories, while institutions like the Paterson Museum use exhibits to educate and preserve them.
Commemoration also includes interpretive programming and performances, such as the Paterson Museum's “birthday celebration” for Lou Costello’s featuring a reenactment of his Paterson Victory Bond awarding. Collaborations with performers such as the US Army Jazz Ambassadors have highlighted WWII – at their 2021 performance at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park the band’s set list included patriotic and period selections as well as a salute to veterans.
The City and other organizations also partner with the National Park Service, which established Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in 2011. The Park’s mission to preserve and protect includes Paterson’s WWII history, and projects and resource preservation such as at the ATP manufacturing site (now Quarry Lawn Park) create new spaces where the legacy of the city’s contributions to the war effort can be taught. Tours and programming touch on the city’s wartime history.
Preservation of historic structures and inclusion into protected status is another focus across the city. Since the 1960s several dozen structures have been surveyed and added to the registers of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS). Restoration, stabilization, and reuse have been undertaken in many instances. Historic resource studies identify important resources and sites - comprehensive study in 2017 surveyed 189 structures in the city, identifying 57 as “contributing” to the Historic District and another third of those studied as subjects of possible inclusion (not counting ATP site ruins). Most of these structures were utilized (often for unique or different purposes than originally intended) during the war.
History & Heritage, Honored & Preserved
Paterson contributed significantly to the Allied war effort during WWII, providing critical defense manufacturing, engaging in civil defense, and supporting government financing and morale. Today, memorials, exhibits, and public spaces are used to preserve the legacy of Paterson’s sacrifices and contributions while educational programs expose the public to these stories. Paterson’s status as an American World War II Heritage City honors the sacrifices and significant efforts taken by the city’s citizens, who rose to the challenge in time of conflict.
