Existing comment:
McQuay-Norris Identification Badge
As part of the Army's pre-World War II buildup, the Ordnance Corps opened three government-owned, contractor-operated ammunition plants in 1940. One of these plants was operated by the McQuay-Norris Manufacturing Company and the US Cartridge Company in St. Louis, Missouri. By 1943, there weer more than 43,000 men working at the plant. Between three and four thousand of those workers were African Americans, representing every major industrial skill in the unit. They held each position up to foreman, but all supervisors were white. |