Effective air power was an essential part of the US war effort during World War II. And building and maintaining that air power required massive bases and a huge work force, especially with many soldiers over seas in combat.
In 1941 to help meet these needs, a Naval Air Base was created in Corpus Christi, Texas. The base covered 20,000 acres and had 800 instructors taking in classes of 300 new cadets every month. Completed only three months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the base became a crucial source for planes and aviators. During the course of World War II more than 35,000 aviators earned their wings there. In fact, George Bush graduated from the base in 1943 at the age of 19, the youngest-ever naval aviator at the time.
During World War II, the government actively recruited women for work in factories and bases to help build the weapons and vehicles needed for victory. The base at Corpus Christi was no exception and many women worked side by side with men to help build and maintain the planes.
The Library of Congress has a collection of photos by Howard R. Hollem, an American photographer with the Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information. He spent much of August 1942 on the Naval Air Base in Corpus Christi, Texas. The images he captured depict the daily working life of women and men on the base and provide insight into what it was like.
The following pictures are all from Howard R. Hollem and we have used his original captions to provide the context from when they were taken.
