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U.S. Army Installations In Maryland
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U.S. Army Installations In Maryland
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As America anticipated war in the late 1930's, and actually mobilized following the attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941, Maryland was the scene of manpower build up, training and indoctrination, and logistical and materiel preparation. U.S. Army installations in the state, originally established for the First World War, were revitalized and expanded to meet the demands of America's entry into World War II.
To provide some insight into the lives of those training and working in preparation for war in both Europe and the Pacific, this document packet focuses on three of those Maryland installations: Fort Meade, Aberdeen Proving Ground, and Edgewood Arsenal.
Materials compiled in this document can be used by educators to fulfill the following National History Standards for Grades 5-12:
Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
STANDARD 3: The causes and course of World War II, the character of the war at home and abroad, and the reshaping of the U.S. role in world affairs.
Standard 3C: The student understands the effects of World War II at home.
5-12: Explain how the United States mobilized its economic and military resources during World War II. [Utilize visual and quantitative data]
7-12: Explore how the war fostered cultural exchange and interaction while promoting nationalism and American identity. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]
TITLE: Quartermaster Reserve Trainees
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Fort Meade, MD, 1 June 1939
NOTES: "In this photograph of the first group of Quartermaster Reserve Trainees, newly commissioned officers check in at Control Station No. 3 on Vesie Hill, Fort Meade, MD (1 June 1939)"
SOURCE: Fort Meade Historical Timeline "Between The Wars"
REPOSITORY: Fort George G. Meade MuseumTITLE: 12,000 Loaves of Bread a Day!!!
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Fort Meade, MD, date unknown
NOTES: "The Fort Meade bakery supplied bread for the whole post (approximately 20,000 people including families of married men). A big electric oven like the one shown above turned out 700 one-pound loaves every hour. Each batch was cooked for 30 minutes."
SOURCE: Fort Meade Historical Timeline "World War II"
REPOSITORY: Fort George G. Meade MuseumTITLE: Actress Linda Darnell, visiting soldiers, takes a Jeep ride.
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Fort Meade, MD, 1942
NOTES: "In 1942, the Third Service Command opened the Special Services Unit Training Center where soldiers were trained in all phases of the entertainment field. Entertainers, musicians, and others involved in the entertainment industry, including swing-band leader, Glenn Miller, served in Special Services. Under arrangements by Special Services, the Treasury Department (War Bonds), and the USO, a number of celebrities including Jack Benny, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Joe E. Lewis, Don Knotts, Linda Darnell, and Marlene Dietrich appeared at Fort Meade during World War II."
SOURCE: Fort Meade Historical Timeline "World War II
REPOSITORY: Fort George G. Meade MuseumTITLE: Actress Marlene Dietrich with Major Richard O'Connell
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Fort Meade, MD, 1942
SOURCE: Fort Meade Historical Timeline "World War II"
REPOSITORY: Fort George Meade MuseumTITLE: Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
CREATED/PUBLISHED: Fort Meade, MD, 1942
SOURCE: Fort Meade Historical Timeline "World War II"
REPOSITORY: Fort George G. Meade MuseumTITLE: Prisoners of War
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Fort Meade, MD, date unknown
NOTES: During World War II, Fort Meade was home to a number of German and Italian prisoners of war. In September 1943, the first shipment of 1632 Italian and 58 German prisoners arrived at Fort Meade. Some of those prisoners, including a highly decorated German submarine commander named Werner Henke, died during their captivity and were buried at Fort Meade. Werner Henke was shot and killed while attempting to escape. Others died of natural causes.
SOURCE: Fort Meade Historical Timeline "World War II"
REPOSITORY: Fort George G. Meade MuseumTITLE: POW Burials at Fort Meade
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: Fort Meade, MD, date unknown
SOURCE: Anne Arundel County County History Notes, January 1995
REPOSITORY: Fort George G. Meade MuseumTITLE: Historic American Engineering Record: Aberdeen Proving Ground
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1985
SOURCE: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt in Aberdeen
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1942
NOTES: Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt looking on as men of the Ordnance Replacement Training Center take an examination in the principles of ammunition supply. Mrs. Roosevelt was particularly interested in observing the methods used by the Army in teaching men who have had little or no formal education. At left is Brigadier General Bethel W. Simpson, who escorted her around the post.
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: Sergeant Glen Church and Son
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1942?
NOTES: Aberdeen, Maryland. This father and son team work together in the Ordnance School at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. Sergeant Glen Church, forty, looking up at his son Edward Church, twenty-nine, who is a corporal. They enlisted in the U.S. Army together and hope to work together for the duration.
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: Telephone Operators at Aberdeen Proving Grounds
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: December 1941
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: Defense Workers at Aberdeen Proving Grounds
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: December 1941
NOTES: Girls who work at Aberdeen proving grounds paying rent for room in dormitory for defense workers. Aberdeen, Maryland.
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: FSA Dormitory Room
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: December 1941
NOTES: Girls who work at Aberdeen proving grounds and share a room in FSA (Farm Security Administration) dormitory for defense workers. Aberdeen, Maryland.
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: Defense Worker Reading a Letter
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: December 1941
NOTES: Defense worker reading a letter from home. He works at the proving grounds in Aberdeen, Maryland and lives in one of the FSA (Farm Security Administration) dormitories for defense workers.
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: Gas Demonstration
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: June 1942
NOTES: Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. Gas demonstration. Soldiers in gas chamber filled with tear gas.
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: Attaching Wiring to a Glass Tube Containing Liquid Gas
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: June 1942
NOTES: Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. Gas demonstration. Attaching wiring to a glass tube containing liquid gas. This is later exploded and a group of soldiers are run through the gas to learn its identity by the odor.
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: Exiting the Gas Chamber
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: June 1942
NOTES: Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. Gas demonstration. Soldier who has just come out of the gas chamber filled with tear gas after having been in there several seconds without a gas mask.
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of CongressTITLE: Testing Gas Masks
DATE CREATED/PUBLISHED: June 1942
NOTES: Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. Gas demonstration. Soldiers in the gas chamber filled with tear gas which emanates from cans on the floor in the corner. This training enabled new soldiers to test the effectiveness of their gas masks and build up their confidence in the equipment.
SOURCE: America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress
History Department, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY
United States Army Center of Military History
U.S. Army Military History Institute
WWII Links - University of Michigan
Resources on Incorporating Primary Sources and Historic Sites in Classroom Instruction
Allen, Mary Moore. Origins of Names of Army and Air Corps Posts, Camps, and Stations in WWII in Maryland. Black Mountain, NC, 1943
Beard, Charles President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War 1941 Yale (New Haven) 1948, 3rd edit.
Bradley, Sylvia. We Live Among Heroes: A Commemorative of Wicomico County's World War II Veterans Westside Historical Society of Wicomico County, 1996
Buchanan, A Russell Black Americans in World War II Clio (Santa Barbara) 1977
Rogers, Michael A. Answering Their Country's Call: Marylanders in World War II. Baltimore, JHU Press, 2003
Sheads, Scott S. (with Dieter Ralston). "The Home Front at War," 2003
United States Army Ordnance Museum
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
410-278-3602Fort George G. Meade Museum
4674 Griffin Ave., Ft. Meade, MD
301-677-6966
Maryland State Archives
350 Rowe Blvd.
Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 260-6400
Teaching American History in Maryland is a collaborative partnership of the Maryland State Archives and the Center for History Education (CHE), University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), and the following sponsoring school systems: Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Baltimore City Public School System, Baltimore County Public Schools, and Howard County Public Schools.
Other program partners include the Martha Ross Center for Oral History, Maryland Historical Society, State Library Resource Center/Enoch Pratt Free Library, with assistance from the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress. The program is funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Education.
This document packet was researched and developed by Derrick E. Lapp.
An Archives of Maryland Online Publication
© Copyright, Maryland State Archives,
June 23, 2004