Part of a series of articles titled Paterson, NJ, WWII Heritage City Lessons.
Article
(H)our History Lesson: Paterson, New Jersey: Comparing and Connecting WWII Home Front cities
Credit: The Paterson Museum
About this Lesson
This lesson is part of a series teaching about the World War II home front, with Paterson, New Jersey designated as an American World War II Heritage City. The lesson contains photographs, readings, an optional review text and media activity, and a culminating project. The first reading shares a review of some of the important contributions to aviation for of the US and the Allies, and the second reading connects the region to the designation of a Heritage City. The culminating project contributes to learners’ understandings of the city as a WWII Heritage City, with the opportunity to combine lesson themes from the three other lessons in the Paterson, New Jersey lesson collection. This is to summarize the city’s contributions and encourage connections to the overall U.S. home front efforts.
Objectives
In a culminating product:
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Identify important World War II home front locations and industries in Paterson and describe their historical significance
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Summarize the contributions of diverse Paterson civilians and service members to home front wartime efforts, including women and African Americans
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Describe youth contributions to the home front war efforts
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Optional: Describe similarities and differences of Paterson and other Heritage city(s) / World War II home front(s).
Materials for Students:
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Images--All images from this and other Paterson lessons are available in the Paterson, NJ Gallery:
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Readings 1, 2 & media activity link
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Maps, project materials (as needed)
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Student graphic organizers (See photo 5 at end of lesson, for reference)
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Create Comparison Matrices for your students to use. To compare two cities, create a one-page sheet with three columns and four rows. Label the left column Theme/Topic and the other columns City 1 and City 2. For a Comparison Matrix for three cities simply add an additional column.
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Create two Single-Point Rubrics to assist students’ self-assessment. One is for assessing proficiency in meeting teacher-selected standards. One is for assessing proficiency in meeting objectives.
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For the rubric on standards, create a one-page sheet with three columns and four rows of content. Label the first column “Areas for Improvement,” the second column, “Proficient (Meeting Standard),” and the third column, “Areas of Exceeding Standard.” Leave the first and third columns blank. In each row of the second column identify a Standard and indicate a space for noting the evidence for meeting the standard. Include a space at the bottom of the page for assigning points for each column.
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For the rubric on objectives, create a one-page sheet with three columns and four rows of content. Label the first column “Areas for Improving toward Objective,” the second column, “Proficient (Meeting Objective),” and the third column, “Areas of Exceeding Objective.” Leave the first and third columns blank. In the four rows of the second column identify these four objectives:
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Identify important World War II home front locations and industries in Paterson and describe their historical significance
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Summarize the contributions of diverse Paterson civilians and service members to home front wartime efforts, including women and African Americans
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Describe youth contributions to the home front war efforts
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Optional: Describe similarities and differences of Paterson and other Heritage city(s) / World War II home front(s).
Include a space at the bottom of the page for assigning points for each column. See the last photo of this lesson for reference.
Getting Started: Essential Question
Why was Paterson chosen as an American World War II Heritage City, and what are its similarities and differences to other home front cities?
Quotations to consider
“Idle silk mills were acquired; and since steel was unavailable for plant construction, one factory was built of wood with a resultant saving of 45 days in getting it into production; another was built by the 'war speed' method of concrete construction and already is in operation.”
- Aviation Industry To Attain ‘Impossible’ Warplane Output in 1943, Says Air Expert. The Morning Call, January 1, 1943
“Paterson contributed significantly to the Allied war effort during WWII, providing critical defense manufacturing, engaging in civil defense, and supporting government financing and morale. Today, memorials, exhibits, and public spaces are used to preserve the legacy of Paterson’s sacrifices and contributions while educational programs expose the public to these stories. Paterson’s status as an American World War II Heritage City honors the sacrifices and significant efforts taken by the city’s citizens, who rose to the challenge in time of conflict.”
- “American World War II Heritage City” by Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park
Read to Connect
Excerpt from “Aviation City,” by Robert L. Cohen
An article in The Historic County, Newsletter of the Passaic County Historical Society
. . . With war coming by the late 30s in Europe and the Pacific, an enormous expansion of Wright took place. The plant in Paterson became the engine manufacturing division of Curtiss-Wright. In 1937 a new addition brought the floor space up to 800,000 square feet.
By the start of World War II with construction continuing throughout the late 30s, floor space area was increased to 2 million square feet. Plants included buildings in Fair Lawn, Clifton, and East Paterson as well as new buildings in Paterson on Getty Avenue and a service center in Caldwell.
Gearing up for World War II led to development of an eighteen-cylinder 2000 horsepower engine doubling an earlier Cyclone’s horsepower. As the war progressed the Wright plants produced more than 120,000 aircraft engines of all types and even licensed other companies to build engines for them. The assembly lines could produce one engine every twenty minutes, with the Paterson factory capable of turning out 1000 high quality engines per month. No wonder the home front was called the Arsenal of Democracy!
The list of planes powered by Wright engines is a lengthy one. They included the B-17, Flying Fortress Bomber, the B-25 Mitchell Bomber, the Helldiver, Avenger, Wildcat, and Mariner, among others. While the Paterson plants produced engines, the Clifton and Caldwell plants produced propellers for numerous aircraft during the war.
The Wright plant had a workforce of 24,000 working three shifts. Of the many thousands of engines, some went into aircraft such as the Enola Gay B-29, the plane that dropped the first A-bomb (atomic bomb); and the famous Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Doolitle’s B-25 raiders who accomplished their feat during the early part of the war.
The B-17 was used in all theaters of the War and was the main bomber used. Engines allowing for even longer flights like the B-29 were developed and used later in the war. After the war ended in 1945, Wright continued production for 44 commercial airlines, produced jet engines and worked on rocket engines for space travel . . .
Excerpt from: “House Report 115-998, “To Direct the Secretary of the Interior to Annually Designate at Least One City in The United States as An ‘American World War II Heritage City,’ and for other purposes” (October 30, 2018)
“. . .PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 6118 is to direct the Secretary of the Interior to annually designate at least one city in the United States as an ``American World War II Heritage City''.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
On December 7, 1941, military forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the U.S. Naval Fleet and ground bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On December 8, 1941, one day after what President Roosevelt referred to as, ``a date which will live in infamy,'' the United States declared war against the Empire of Japan. Three days later, on December 11, 1941, Japan's ally, Germany, declared war on the United States. Sixteen million Americans, mostly young working-age men, served in the military during World War II, out of an overall United States population of 113 million.
While an unprecedented number of Americans served in World War II, the country drastically increased its war production on the home front, serving not only the needs of the armed forces of the United States but her allies as well--in what President Franklin Roosevelt called ``The Arsenal of Democracy.'' The combination of millions serving in the military, during a period of necessary and drastic increases in production, led to significant social changes on the American home front.
The World War II period resulted in the largest number of people migrating within the United States in the history of the country. Individuals and families relocated to industrial centers for good paying jobs out of a sense of patriotic duty. Many industrial centers became ``boomtowns,'' growing at phenomenal rates. One example, the City of Richmond, California, grew from a population of under 24,000 to over 100,000 during the war. . . .”
Reading Questions
Questions for Reading 1
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In what ways did the wartime activities in Paterson demonstrate cooperation between local industries and military demands?
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What impact do you think Paterson's involvement in wartime production had on the local community and economy during World War II?
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How did wartime production impact opportunities for women and African Americans?
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How did home front contributions in Paterson support the US and the Allies? Consider both information from this text and from past lessons.
Questions for Reading 1 and 2, Photos
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What was the purpose of the bill (H.R. 6118) according to the report?
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Why do you think Paterson was designated as a World War II Heritage City? Connect details from the bill and the first reading.
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Are there other cities you think of when considering home front contributions during wartime? Which, and why?
The Morning Call, January 24, 1945, p.2.
Review Activities
Paterson, New Jersey: American World War II Heritage City
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park has a comprehensive summary of the contributions of Paterson as an American World War II Heritage City. The text can be used to review defense manufacturing, civil defense and contributions, and learn about today’s efforts to preserve the wartime legacy of the city.
Media Activity: “Wright Builds for Supremacy”
The 1942 Curtiss Wright Aircraft promotional film (14:06) shows behind the scenes footage of the manufacturing at Curtiss Wright, including work done at the Paterson plant. Clips can be used to help visualize and understand the industry work and war contributions.
Courtesy of Sarah Nestor Lane.
Culminating Activity/Mastery Product
To demonstrate student understanding, support students in creating a final product that meets the following objectives:
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Identify important World War II home front locations and industries in Paterson and describe their historical significance
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Summarize the contributions of diverse Paterson civilians and service members to home front wartime efforts, including women and African Americans
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Describe youth contributions to the home front war efforts
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Optional: Describe similarities and differences of Paterson and other Heritage city(s) / World War II home front(s).
Mastery products should be:
. . . student-led; Students work as individuals or in collaborative groups.
. . . student-directed; Students are offered a variety of choices for product type.
. . . student-organized; Teacher facilitates by providing students with the comparison matrices and/or resource links from throughout the series of lessons.
. . . student-assessed; Teacher supports student self-assessment and reflection by providing students single-point rubrics to assess for meeting standards and/or lesson objectives.
Note: Depending on time and scope, the comparison of Paterson, New Jersey to another WWII Heritage or home front city(s) within the mastery product (objectives) may be omitted. However, comparing cities is recommended, as it connects students to a deeper understanding of the WWII home front.
Examples of mastery product choices include, but are not limited to:
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Written: Letter (opinion or informative), essay, poem, narratives, biography, articles, class book or children’s book, speech or debate (then presented orally), blog / website, plaque or historical displays, pamphlets or rack cards
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Graphic Organizers: timeline, flowcharts, mind or concept content maps, Venn diagrams, comparison matrices, posters
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Artistic Expression: song, dance, theater (ex. skits), 3-D models, dioramas, photo journal, stamp and coin designs, visual art, architecture/building or monument, museum design
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Media design and creation: podcast, historical markers, social media content, interactive virtual maps or tours, infographics, video, comic strips or graphics, game design, slideshows, digital scrapbook
Please view the WWII Heritage City Lessons Page for information and resources on other cities.
This lesson was written by Sarah Nestor Lane, an educator and consultant with the Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education, funded by the National Council on Public History's cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.
Tags
- american world war ii heritage city program
- awwiihc
- world war ii
- wwii
- world war ii home front
- world war ii home front mobilization
- paterson
- new jersey
- industrial history
- military and wartime history
- women in world war ii
- african american world war 2
- hour history lessons
- teaching with historic places
- twhp
- twhplp
- volunteerism
Last updated: March 4, 2025