A Red River City During World War II

There are many websites, books, and other forms of entertainment that talk about America during World War II. Many of these stories detail the tragic and magnificent events that happened in other countries. There are even resources that talk about the home front during World War II! A topic that is unfortunately less covered is the happenings on the home front in small cities and towns. One example of this is found in Shreveport, Louisiana, a city nestled upon the banks of the Red River. Soldiers, supporters, and supplies came not from America as a whole, but from places like Shreveport or Bossier City or Natchitoches who wanted to make contributions to war efforts. Soldiers did not necessarily fight for America as a whole, but for the small towns they left behind and for the family who anxiously awaited soldiers returns. Shreveport sent morale boosting letters, bought and sold war bonds, rationed, and kept factories going that created bullets, weapons, and other types of wartime products. Though but one example, Shreveport proves that World War II deeply impacted individual cities and that those cities impacted the war. 

While World War II raged in Europe and the Pacific, the home front saw action unique to every city in America. Shreveport and Bossier experienced the war in full force. From participation in the Louisiana Maneuvers to heavy metals manufacturing at the J.B. Beaird Company to victory gardening at Barksdale Field, Shreveport and Bossier found ways to support the troops overseas.

In May 1941, the Office of Civil Defense was created to prepare cities and towns ensure citizens were ready for a possible military invasion. Maps like the one above were color coded with important information that assigned leaders for each section, meet-up areas, and potential hot zones for damage. In Shreveport, Civil Defense took form like many other cities with the creation of Civil Defense boards, air raid drills, and Civil Defense training courses, and community planning for the possibility of attacks from Axis forces. [1] 

 [1]  “Large Quarters Provided in Standard Oil Building,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), March 14, 1942.

Below is an interactive map that shows 15 plot points. Each point reveals an important part of the story of Shreveport during World War II. Here you can explore Barksdale Field, The Shreveport Times, and make a pit stop at the foot of the Texas Street Bridge (to spot the enemy from across the Red River). There is no order to follow on the map, simply click on a point you find interesting and see what treasures of Shreveport you can dig up!

The national Red Cross of America provided aid to people overseas and on the home front. Almost every city in America opened a local chapter of the Red Cross and used the organization to provide for their communities and for soldiers abroad. In Shreveport, the local Red Cross chapter assembled care and food packages for soldiers held in POW camps in Europe. [1]  The Shreveport chapter held a massive War Bond Drive which included a parade, bands, and war fund leaflets dropping from the sky. [2]  Shreveport met the quota for the massive War Fund. By running several programs in the community, the local chapter trained and awarded 545 women in home nursing certificates in 1942 which provided work for the women. [3]  The Red Cross boosted morale while also providing for the community and the soldiers who waited to come home.

[1] “Red Cross Activities,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), July 26, 1942. [2] “All Services to March for the War Fund,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), February 21, 1943. [3] “Red Cross Home Nursing Offers Interesting Work,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), January 5, 1943. 

In the wartime mobilization effort, the U.S. government issued food and material rationing orders to divert essential products for support of the military and defense. In Shreveport, local rationing boards carried out the rationing demands of the government and submitted articles to the Shreveport Times to inform citizens of rationing duties. One article holds a question and answer forum to ease any concerns about meat rationing by addressing food shortages overseas and by presenting the notion of rationing to help win the war while also maintaining the home front. [1]  Many articles cover the topic of tire rationing in the Shreveport area with charts explaining which tires citizens are allowed to get based on how many miles each vehicle is allowed. [2]  Rationing allowed more goods for the troops to keep the war going while also maintaining the communities on the home front.

 [1]  “Wilson’s Weekly Bulletin: George Rector Discusses Meat Rationing,” The Times (Shreveport), March 25, 1943.

 [2]  “Car Owners Can Now Get Rubber to Keep Their Cars Running for Essential Transportation,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), November 16, 1942.

Though the war drained some life from the Shreveport community, Shreveportians found many ways to entertain the city. The Shreveport Municipal Auditorium became a hub for exciting activity, with War Bond Shows featuring famous actors such as Frances Dee and Edward Arnold. [1]  A Greek-American coalition called Ahepa War Fund quadrupled the goal of $120,000 with fun events encouraging citizens to contribute to war efforts. [2]  War Bond Drives and Shows not only raised money, but also became a fun activity for the community. The local YMCA even included local factories such as the J.B. Beaird Company and the Louisiana Ordnance Plant in on the fun, creating basketball teams for each company and pitting the teams against each other which formed a fun way to release war time stress. [3]  Though the war took a toll overseas and at home, the Shreveport community worked hard to maintain a level of normalcy at home.

 [1]  “Big Sale Listed for War Bond Events Here Today,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), September 2, 1942.

 [2]  ‘Greek-American War Bond Drive in Shreveport is Continuing with Astounding Success,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), March 1, 1943.

 [3]  “Y.M.C.A. Basketball,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), February 23, 1944.

This website is an expansion to a physical exhibit housed at the Spring Street Museum in Shreveport, Louisiana. Below you will find artifacts with descriptions that are currently on display at the museum.

Social life seemed to thrive in Shreveport during the war with all the many social and war clubs available to the community. The USO held two chapters in Shreveport, segregated by race. Both clubs offered fun events such as bingo nights which won members prizes such as a long-distance phone calls and women on staff ready to fix buttons and hand the men razors to clean up with. [1]  Though conservative and located amidst many dry parishes in North Louisiana, Shreveport still allowed alcohol, often advertising the sale of alcohol in newspapers. This alcohol consumption meant that many events such as dances and shows thrived in the area.

 [1]  “Where Else Can a Soldier, Far From Home, Find All This?,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), May 17, 1942.

While Shreveport men packed up and headed across the ocean, women picked up where the men left off and kept the community running. Whether they needed to deliver milk, assemble munitions, or garden to sustain the community, women found a way to keep the home front stable. Women trained in programs such as ordnance inspection and civil defense ensuring the home front contributed to war. Many women joined local Women’s Army Corps (WAC) ranks training as switchboard operators and mechanics among other war time jobs. One Shreveport native, Helen Ingersoll, even achieved the rank of second lieutenant! The home front succeeded because women stepped up to complete the vacant positions.

The extraordinary social disruptions that came with mobilization had an impact on race relations in Shreveport, during this period of racial segregation. In nearby cities such as Alexandria race relations boiled over into events like the Lee Street Riot where Army officers wrongly arrested an African American soldier and a riot ensued because of angry, racist citizens. [1]  While an event such as this did not happen in Shreveport, evidence of inflammatory, racist language presents itself throughout newspaper articles of the time. Upholding the segregated labor market of the times, Mayor Sam Caldwell of Shreveport affirmed that all skilled labor on a public health construction site must only be white and “negro” skilled laborers need not apply, despite the Federal Works Administration’s Depression-era order for African American workers to comprise twelve percent of skilled labor. [2]  This statement came from the mayor, a man who supposedly stood for all Shreveport citizens, but upheld the existing segregation of the labor market in the American South where black workers did not have access to skilled training or jobs. Just across the river at Barksdale Field, African American men found better opportunities as the base held positions for the soldiers at the Chemical Warfare Training Center. Despite the existence of legal racial segregation, African American military personnel such as those at Barksdale fought for the Allied cause of democracy and self-determination, and returned home after the war to advocate for an eventual end to segregation.

 [1]  William M. Simpson, “A Tale Untold? The Alexandria, Louisiana, Lee Street Riot: January 10, 1942,” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Society 35, no. 2 (April 1992): 133–149.

 [2]  “Negro Skill Not Needed on Project,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), April 3, 1942.

When the war ended, surviving soldiers returned home to resume their post-war civilian lives. Shreveport needed to move forward. In the years following the war the city saw a large expansion both in population growth and community infrastructure. The city economy boomed because of agriculture, forestry, oil, and gas and in the first 10 years after the war the population of Shreveport doubled. [1]  More hospitals appeared, the Shreveport downtown skyline began to form, and a Shreveport-Bossier bridge began construction while the city expanded outwards towards the agricultural lands surrounding Shreveport. [2]  The famous “Louisiana Hayride" radio show gained notoriety in 1950 just a few short years after the war, welcoming legendary artists such as Johnny Horton, Elvis Presley, and Hank Williams. While the Shreveport today is much different than the Shreveport of the 1940’s, the memory of war, expansion, and the strength of a community still remains.

 [1]  “Growth Soars After World War II,” The Times (Shreveport, LA), September 17, 1985.

 [2]  Ibid.

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We would love your feedback! Any suggestions, questions, corrections, or donation of artifacts/materials should be directed to the email below.

Email: shreveportgoestowar@gmail.com

Phone: (318)-602-8306 or (318) 424-0964

Spring Street Museum Hours: Tuesday- Saturday 10 a.m.-4:00 p.m.