Prairie Forge: The Extraordinary Story of the Nebraska Scrap Metal Drive of World War II (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780803248786)

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt called for the largest arms buildup in our nation's history. A shortage of steel, however, quickly slowed the program's momentum, and arms production fell dangerously behind schedule. The country needed scrap metal. Henry Doorly, publisher of the Omaha World-Herald, had the solution. Prairie Forge tells the story of the great Nebraska scrap drive of 1942--a campaign that swept the nation and yielded five million tons of scrap metal, literally salvaging the war effort itself.
James J. Kimble chronicles Doorly's conception of a fierce competition pitting county against county, business against business, and, in schools across the state, class against class--inspiring Nebraskans to gather 67,000 tons of scrap metal in only three weeks. This astounding feat provided the template for a national drive. A tale of plowshares turned into arms, Prairie Forge gives the first full account of how home became home front for so many civilians.


Author: James J. Kimble
ISBN-10: 0803248784
ISBN-13: 9780803248786
Publisher: Bison Books
Language: English
Published: 05/01/2014
Pages: 236
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.73lbs
Size: 8.98h x 6.17w x 0.58d