Middle School Student Earns Award From National WWII Museum

A Whitefish Bay Middle School student's essay about World War II earned her national recognition.

Seventh grader Susannah Karron was named one of The National WWII Museum’s “Salute to Freedom” award winners. She will be one of 51 students nationwide to travel to New Orleans to participate in the grand opening of the Museum’s new US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, in January 2013.

Susannah advanced to the National History Day Contest with a web site on Frank Lloyd Wright, but it was a separate essay on World War II in Wisconsin that earned her a trip to New Orleans.

Susannah was asked to explain how Wisconsin was impacted by WWII, and make a suggestion to how Wisconsin should remember, honor or recognize our state's contributions to WWII. Here is her essay:

World War II had a significant impact on Wisconsin’s agriculture and industry. However, the war also affected the lives of individuals. The changes in agriculture and industry had a lasting impact on the soldiers it fed, and on the women who worked in factories.

World War II greatly impacted agriculture in Wisconsin. During the Great Depression, farmers intentionally slowed production. However, the outbreak of World War II in Europe began the greatest boom ever enjoyed by Wisconsin farmers.

Farmers supplied vegetables, meat, and dairy products to the military. Milk production increased by 20% between 1939 and 1943. Cheese and dried milk products also increased; the federal government purchased a significant proportion of the production. These Wisconsin products left a lasting impression on soldiers.

World War II veteran, Sergeant Carl Gugel, remembers, “There were powdered eggs and powdered milk, and there was also this product known as K-rations. It had a little bit of cheese inside, and that was very special and wonderful.”

Wisconsin did not just supply food to the military. Wisconsin factories produced machine tools, heavy machinery, and automotive components, as those factories quickly retooled for the war in Europe even before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Wisconsin shipyards also expanded to meet new demand. Companies in Manitowoc, Sturgeon Bay, Superior, Milwaukee, Kewaunee, and Green Bay built many different types of vessels. However, the greatest change in Wisconsin occurred on the prairie near Sauk City.

Here, the government condemned more than 10,000 acres of farmland to create Badger Ordnance Works. The munitions plant became one of the world’s largest providers of ammunition, and it continued producing ammunition through the Korean and Vietnam wars.

The industrial expansion in Wisconsin during World War II would not have been possible without women. Women were needed to continue to produce goods while men were overseas. Before the war, Wisconsin company Allis-Chalmers employed 144 women, only three percent of the total workforce. By December of 1941, nearly 750 women worked at Allis-Chalmers. Women enjoyed the opportunity.

According to one article, “Jane, Dorothy, and Mary are now donning coveralls. They are pinning up their hair, and getting dirt on their hands. And they like it.”  The number of total women workers tripled from 20,000 to 60,000 during the war. Although thousands were laid off beginning in 1944, women continued to be a significant factor in the labor market.

There are very few oral histories of veterans and female factory workers being collected today. We can honor Wisconsin’s contribution to World War II by creating a special exhibit at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum that contains interviews with veterans, and the women who worked at home to support them.

The exhibit could share how Wisconsin food products affected soldiers’ lives, and how working in factories for the war effort changed women. National History Day finalists from Wisconsin could obtain the interviews from veterans and women in their communities. This would honor both Wisconsin industry and the individuals it served in World War II.