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First African American Air Force unit
The pilots in this unit became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The squadron helped win the Battle of Anzio in Italy, and three other Tuskegee squadrons protected American bombers as they flew to their targets. Also, the African American 761st Tank Battalion was commended for service during the Battle of the Bulge. -
Executive Order 8802
Roosevelt issued this order to enforce equal opportunities for employment in defense industries and government. To enforce the order, he also created the Fair Employment Practices Commission, the first federal civil rights agency since Reconstruction. -
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was founded
Congress allowed women in the military with the creation of this organization, but many women were unhappy that they were not part of the regular army. About a year later, the army replaced the WAAC with the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). The coast guard, navy, and marines also set up women's units. About 300 women serving as Women Airforce Service Pilots made more than 12,000 flights to deliver planes to the war effort. -
The War Production Board was created to manage production goals.
Because so many supplies were needed to stay in the war, almost all factories were converted to producing solely war products. Products like rifles, helmets, and ships were all made in factories at this time. President Roosevelt created the WPB to direct priorities and production goals. -
Bracero Program
The federal government arranged for Mexican farmworkers to help harvest crops in the Southwest as part of the Bracero Program, which continued until 1964. More than 200,000 Mexicans came to work during the war and helped build and maintain railroads. Migrant workers became very important to the Southwest's economic system. -
Executive Order 9066
This allowed the War Department to declare any part of the United States a military zone and to remove people from that zone as needed. He must have felt justified four days later when a Japanese submarine surfaced north of Santa Barbara, California, and shelled an oil refinery. Most of the West Coast was then declared a military zone, and people of Japanese ancestry were evacuated to 10 internment camps farther inland. In 1988, Reagan apologized to Japanese Americans. -
Creation of the Office of War Information
The OWI’s role was to improve the public’s understanding of the war and to act as a liaison office with the various media. The OWI established detailed guidelines for filmmakers, including a set of questions to be considered before making a movie. -
National Housing Agency
The wartime economy created millions of new jobs, leading 15 million Americans to move to find work. The growth of southern California and cities in the Deep South created a new industrial region called the Sunbelt. Cities with war industries had to find room for the thousands of new workers. Tent cities and parks filled with tiny trailers sprang up. Congress authorized $150 million for housing in 1940. And then Roosevelt created the NHA to coordinate government housing programs. -
Los Angeles riot
In Los Angeles, the fear of juvenile crime and racism against Mexican Americans became linked in the “zoot suit” riots. In June 1943, after hearing rumors that zoot-suiters had attacked several sailors, some 2,500 soldiers and sailors attacked Mexican American neighborhoods in Los Angeles. -
Detroit riot
Many African Americans left the South for jobs in war factories in the North and West. However, African Americans often faced suspicion and prejudice. Racial violence erupted in Detroit on Sunday, June 20, 1943. Fighting between white and African American teens triggered a citywide riot that left 25 African Americans and 9 whites dead.