1942 photos from OWI

Here are some more photos taken in 1942 by photographers in the US Office of War Information. They're part of the large collection being uploaded to Flickr by the Library of Congress. They're clearly works of propaganda, not journalism or personal reminiscence. They're also from a time when color photography was still relatively new. Color emulsions gave high quality images, but the film was very slow. With long shutter speeds, subjects had to remain motionless for a second or so and lighting had to be fairly intense.

Click images to view them full size. Do this; they're much better that way.

Caption: Palmer, Alfred T.,, photographer. Learning how to determine latitude by using a sextant is Senta Osoling, student at Polytechnic High School, Los Angeles, Calif. Navigation classes are part of the school's program for training its students for specific contributions to the war effort. 1942 Sept.

Caption: Palmer, Alfred T.,, photographer. M-4 tank crews of the United States, Ft. Knox, Ky. 1942 June

Caption: Hollem, Howard R.,, photographer. Sailor mechanic inspecting a PBY plane at the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas. 1942 August

Caption: Hollem, Howard R.,, photographer. Mary Louise Stepan, 21, used to be a waitress. She has a brother in the air corps. She is working on transport parts in the hand mill, Consolidated Aircraft Corp., Fort Worth, Texas. 1942 Oct.

Caption: Hollem, Howard R.,, photographer. Painting the American insignia on airplane wings is a job that Mrs. Irma Lee McElroy, a former office worker, does with precision and patriotic zeal. Mrs. McElroy is a civil service employee at the naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas. Her husband is a flight instructor. 1942

Caption: Hollem, Howard R.,, photographer. Lathe operator machining parts for transport planes at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant, Fort Worth, Texas. 1942 Oct.

Caption: Hollem, Howard R.,, photographer. This sailor mechanic is inspecting a PBY plane at the Naval Air Base in Corpus Christi, Texas. The ship had been reconditioned by the Civil Service employees at the Assembly and Repair Department in the base. 1942 August

Caption: Hollem, Howard R.,, photographer. Mrs. Eloise J. Ellis, senior supervisor in the Assembly and Repairs Dept. of the Naval Air Base, talking with one of the men, Corpus Christi, Texas. 1942 August

Caption: Hollem, Howard R.,, photographer. Lorena Craig is a cowler under civil service at the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas. 1942 August

Caption: Delano, Jack,, 1914-, photographer. C & NW RR; locomotives in the roundhouse at Proviso yard, Chicago, Ill. 1942 Dec.

Caption: Delano, Jack,, 1914-, photographer. Melrose Park (near Chicago), Ill; C & NW RR; L. Logan, of West Chicago, boilermaker at the roundhouse at the Proviso yard. 1942 Dec.