WW2, ShorpyArt

March 1943. "Negro Marines prepare for action. Breaking a tradition of 167 years, the U.S. Marine Corps started enlisting Negroes on June 1, 1942. The first class of 1,200 Negro volunteers began their training three months later as members of the 51st Composite Defense Battalion at Montford Point, a section of the 200-square-mile Marine Base, Camp Lejeune, at New River, North Carolina. Evidence of the lack of racial friction may be seen in the sports program at the camp. On the baseball team Negro enlistees and white non-com officers are teammates. Camp Lejeune has its own baseball league, with the Montford Point team a strong contender for championship honors." Medium-format safety negative by Roger Smith for the Office of War Information. View full size.

October 1942. "Women are trained as engine mechanics in thorough Douglas training methods. Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California." Skipping ahead to 2009, and the end of an era: Today Kodak announced that, after 74 colorful years, it will stop making Kodachrome film. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.

New York, June 6, 1944. "D-Day. Crowd watching the news line on the Times building at Times Square." Large format nitrate negative by Howard Hollem or Edward Meyer for the Office of War Information. View full size.

New York. June 6, 1944. ALLIED ARMIES LAND ON COAST OF FRANCE. GREAT INVASION OF CONTINENT BEGINS. "D-Day. Crowd watching the news line on the Times building at Times Square." Large-format nitrate negative by Howard Hollem or Edward Meyer, Office of War Information. View full size.

December 1943. Washington, D.C. "In the canteen for enlisted men at the United Nations Service Center on a Saturday night." Medium-format safety negative by Esther Bubley for the Office of War Information. View full size.

"December 1941. Enlisting in the Marines. Recruiting office, San Francisco." Nitrate negative by John Collier, Office of War Information. View full size.

July 1943. "Greenville, South Carolina. Air Service Command. A scene in one of the barracks. Enlisted man playing the flute after he has taken a shower." Photograph by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.