Chicagoans united in their World War II effort against the Axis powers.
They signed up for military service, rallied to the call for increased
wartime production, and aided the war effort through the rationing of
food and gasoline. From fast growing victory gardens to mini-monuments
to local servicemen-Chicago, the City of Neighborhoods, saw all of its
geographic parts vie for recognition and honor in a ethnic mosaic of
patriotism.
The war years ushered in changing times for Chicago. The city became an
important military center as thousands of troops trained or passed
through en route to the war fronts, while Chicago's civilian population
engaged in manufacturing war materials. As defense plants sprang up all
over Chicago, African-American tenant farmers, who migrated from the
South, and women replaced the male labor force.