Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
The World War II Military and Home Fronts
The outbreak of the Second World War ushered in a period of great prosperity and unity in Wisconsin. The depression years receded into the background as defense spending and military preparedness resulted in defense contracts for Wisconsin businesses. Rather than the dismal unemployment that had plagued the 1930s, labor was in high demand and wages and prices rose accordingly.
Both industry and agriculture shared in this prosperity. Wisconsin citizens quickly shifted to wartime production, becoming more dependent on orders from the military than ever before. Manitowoc, Sturgeon Bay, and Superior turned out submarines and other ships, once again becoming centers... more...
Original Documents and Other Primary Sources
 | Wisconsin develops solutions to wartime shortages |
| Citizens learn how to support the war through rationing, 1942 |
| Suggestions for neighborhood block leaders, 1943 |
| War changes education for women, 1943 |
| Women workers at Allis-Chalmers during World War Two |
| A Milwaukee officer describes the attack on Pearl Harbor |
 | Auschwitz Concentration Camp Sweater |
 | The dead and missing from Wisconsin in June of 1946 |
| Supporting the war by conserving office supplies, 1942 |
| Allis-Chalmers advises women workers on health and safety, 1942 |
| A manual for air raid wardens, 1942 |
| Citizens are reminded to write letters to soldiers, 1944 |
| World War II veterans recall their experiences at home and abroad |
| Wisconsin Holocaust survivors recall their experiences |
| A Navy sailor recalls Pearl Harbor |
| A 1944 cookbook featuring dairy products |
 | Interviews with Holocaust survivors who came to Wisconsin |
 | Photographs from World War Two by Dickey Chapelle |
| Women metal fabricators in Fort Atkinson |
| The Attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941 |
 | How a tablespoon of fat can save soldiers' lives |
| An Ashland soldier writes home at the end of World War Two |
| A Middleton nurse writes home from her hospital in India during World War Two. |
| An airman from northern Wisconsin describes his experiences during World War Two. |
| An Oshkosh aviator describes being shot down over Italy and life in a German prisoner of war camp. |
| A military police officer from Polk Co. writes home about the war in the Pacific. |
| A sailor describes life aboard ship during World War Two. |
| An Oshkosh woman's diary of living in occupied Florence, Italy, in 1943-1944. |
| A Wisconsin paratrooper describes his service in Europe during World War Two. |
| A Wisconsin infantryman describes his service in Europe during World War Two. |
| A Wisconsin army lieutenant describes being wounded by German shrapnel during World War Two. |
| A Wisconsin infantry soldier describes life in German prison camps during World War Two. |
| A Milwaukee colonel writes home from Europe, 1943-45 |
| A Wisconsin soldier sends home a valentine. |
| A Wisconsin aviator describes missions in Asia. |
| A Janesville nurse in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, 1942-1945 |
| A Beloit sailor describes the attack on Pearl Harbor |
| A Wisconsin sailor recounts the attack on his ship at Pearl Harbor |
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