Wednesday, August 10, 2011

World War 2 Photos in Color

Found an amazing batch of photos during the period of World War 2 as America was in full war effort to help our folks going to battle in the Pacific and Europe. These are held in the Library of Congress and luckily the Atlantic posted them as part eight of a twenty part retrospective on the war to end all wars. If yall happen to ever roll through New Orleans, do yourself a favor and go down to the World War 2 museum, very enlightening and they still have a few ww2 vets who come in to volunteer.

"In 1942, soon after the United States entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order creating the Office of War Information (OWI). The new agency was tasked with releasing war news, promoting patriotic activities, and providing news outlets with audio, film, and photos of the government's war efforts. Between 1939 and 1944, the OWI and the Farm Security Administration made thousands of photographs, approximately 1,600 of them in color. OWI photographers Alfred Palmer and Howard Hollem produced some exceptional Kodachrome transparencies in the early war years depicting military preparedness, factory operations, and women in the work force. While most of the scenes were posed, the subjects were the real thing -- soldiers and workers preparing for a long fight. Gathered here are some of these color images from Palmer and Hollem, complete with original captions from 1942. Also, be sure to see archival movies in our new Video Channel. All of the FSA/OWI photos are available from the Library of Congress."