1940
Houston ranked twenty-first in the nation with population of 384,514. It was a 31.5 percent increase over 1930, and the black population was now 86,302. Houston also had registered 170,000 motor vehicles
Ship arrivals fell to 2,809, but freight tonnage remained near the 1939 level with 27,385,589 tons
Five steamship lines discontinued service to Houston, as the war disrupted shipping
Building permits worth $24,253,888 were issued
The city possessed a $22,000,000 public school system with 2,250 teachers, 74,000 students, and 115 buildings. All facilities were segregated
February 20
A board of army engineers and Federal representatives announced approval of a $32,000,000 Harris County's flood control plan
March
The first diesel locomotive of the Houston Belt and Terminal Railroad is placed in service
April
The bus system replaces a 60-year tradition of street cars. An agreement was reached between the city and the Houston Electric Company for abandoning streetcar lines and inaugurating an all-bus transit system
June 9
The last electric streetcar to operate in Houston completed its final run
July 21
With all appropriation of $585,000 from the U.S. Housing Authority, local authorities began a second low-rent project in Houston, San Felipe Courts. It was inspired by a survey which revealed 25,680 families living in substandard housing
October 16
The nation's first peacetime draft called 77,177 Harris County men to registration offices
1941
The Houston Zoological Gardens are established
Ship arrivals continued to drop slowly with 2,051 registered, along with barge and ship freight totaling 25,623,078 tons
Cotton and oil remained the city's primary industries. There were twelve high-density cotton compresses, five miles producing over fifty cotton by-products, and warehouse facilities for three million cotton bales. Houston also was host to the headquarters or branch offices of 1,205 oil companies. Oil and related industries employed 40,000, with an annual payroll of $50,000,000
In Houston and immediate vicinity the federal government spent over $250,000,000 for defense preparations
Construction began on a $17,000,000 Sheffield Steel plant on the ship channel near Irish Bend Island
The Houston Shipbuilding Corporation (Todd Shipbuilding) constructed a $7,000,000 shipyard on Irish Bend Island, part of the expansion of this industry which came to Houston with the war
There were 147 trade union groups, with a combined membership of over 40,000, including railroad men
The Houston Zoo's most flamboyant zoo keeper, Hans Nagel dies in a zoo shooting incident that was labeled a "jurisdictional dispute"
January 2
C.A. (Neal) Picket took office as mayor
April 1
A 4,700-acre U.S. Army Ordinance Depot was opened on the ship channel opposite the San Jacinto Battlefield
May
Headquarters were opened for the Defense Contract Service, Office of Production Management. It was an agency to coordinate defense efforts with Gulf Coast industrial plants
National defense programs speed the production of Houston factories; among additions are the erecting of tutol plants in Baytown and Deer Park, a plant near Pasadena to manufacture synthetic rubber from petroleum gasses, a $7,020,000 shipyard, a $17,000,000 steel mill, and a U.S. Army Ordinance Depot and Ship Terminal costing several million dollars, near the San Jacinto Battlefield
The first locally constructed defense program vessel was launched by the Seabrook Yacht Corporation. It was an aircraft rescue vessel
June
Andrew Jackson Houston, aged son of Gen. Sam Houston, is sworn into the U.S. Senate as the oldest man ever to serve in that body
July 18
The first keels for Liberty Ships were laid by the Houston
Shipbuilding Corporation. Within fifteen months, twenty-three ships would be
launched
1942
Ship arrivals were now down to 877, a decrease of over 2,200 from the 1939 level. Tonnage had decreased from 28,174,710 in 1939 to 17,661,447 in 1942
The Houston Art Museum received sixty-five paintings by Frederick Remington, among other new acquisitions
February
Gene Autry, riding his horse Champion, opened the 10th annual Houston Fat Stock Show and Rodeo
March
Houston voters authorize the sale of land adjacent to Hermann Park to the M.D. Anderson Foundation. The 134-acre site near Hermann Hospital, would become the massive Texas Medical Center
March-July
Working on war contracts, the Houston Shipbuilding Corporation expanded its payroll from 6,000 to 20,000. During the war, the company turned out 208 cargo vessels and 14 tankers
May
Mrs. W. P. Hobby of Houston is named head of the U. S. Womens Army
August
The city-manager form of government was instituted with eight council members, a part-time mayor, and the first city manager, John North Edy
The Cruiser Houston engages in violent combat and is sunk off the Java Coast
September
Janet Gaynor, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, and Robert Stack participate in "American Night" at the Coliseum
1943
Ship arrivals in Houston's Port reached a wartime low of 630, with tonnage of 15,047,871
January
Houston said goodbye to the commission form of government and ushered in the city manager form with the inauguration of Otis Massey and the eight city councilmen
April
Forty-five Houston companies held prime government war contracts which stimulated such industries as chemicals, natural gas, shipbuilding, and parts manufacturing
The M. D. Anderson Foundation successfully woos the Baylor College of Medicine to the city of Houston from Dallas
June
The original Weingartens Grocery at 1502 Main is destroyed in a spectacular fire which was fought by most of Houston's fie fighting equipment
September
45 people are killed and 30 injured in a fire at the Gulf Hotel at Preston and Louisiana in Houston's worst disaster
November
Wendel Wilkie speaks in Houston
1944
In terms of tonnage handled, the city's port had slipped from third to sixth during the war. Ship arrivals numbered 759, while tonnage stood at 16,956,538
The Tennessee Gas Transmission Company (Tenneco after 1966) was founded, symbolizing the city's growth as a natural gas center
July
The Houston Civic Theatre Players resent their first play "The First Mrs. Fraser"
August
City Hall is sponsoring a contest to find 16 to 20 girls, 16 years old and up, to be pin-up girls
September
Col. Maurice Hirsh is appointed chairman of the Price Adjustments Board of the War Department
December
The M.D. Anderson Foundation starts the construction of the Texas Medical Center on the triangular site bounded by Fannin, Bellaire and the Herman Hospital and park
December 19
Voters approved monies for purchasing the city-owned port facilities for the Navigation District, for constructing tunnels under the channel, and for port improvements
1945
The M. D. Anderson Foundation forms the Texas Medical Center Corporation to oversee the Medical Centers development
Houston's Port moved from sixth to fourth in national rankings as the post-war recovery commenced. Ship arrivals numbered 1,346, and combined barge and ship freight was 23,869,878 tons
Flood protection was being provided by army engineers, who were constructing two earth-filled dams west of the city
The war left the local chemical industry with installations worth $600,000,000 , and in a brief time another 300,000,000 would be invested
February
A house to house bond drive is held
March
Hugh Roy Cullen, the wealthy conservative oilman, donated $1,000,000 each to four hospitals, Hermann, Memorial, Methodist, and St. Luke's
March 2
Congress approved a project for widening the ship channel
June
13 gorgeous girls compete for the title of Miss Houston at the midnight " E " Bond Jamboree
July 1
City owned port facilities were transferred to the Navigation District for $1,500,000, permitting the latter body to spend the money for reconditioning which the city had refused to do
November
Arabia Temple Shrine Circus opens in Houston
THE END AND THE BEGINNING
By Marvin Hurley
ORLD
War II dominated the period from
1940 to 1945. In 1940, the United States recorded a population of 131,669,275, life
expectancy was up to 64 years from 49 years in 1900, illiteracy was down to 4.2 percent,
and the country had 30,000,000 home radios. The population of Texas was 6,414,824, up only
10.1 percent over 1930, and the rural dominance in the state was down to 54.6 percent. The
census showed 384,514 in the 73 square miles of Houston, with 528,961 in Harris County,
well out ahead of Dallas County’s 398,564 and Bexar County’s 338,179. In 1939,
Texas had recorded 5,085 manufacturing plants with 163,978 employees, and Harris County
had 620 plants with 27,116 employees.
As the Houston Chamber of Commerce observed its 100th anniversary in 1940, the flames of war were already threatening the nations of the world. The emergency had already sparked the country to a gigantic program of preparation.
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West Dallas Avenue, 1940s. |
The immediate response of the Houston Chamber of Commerce to this call to duty was prompt and generous and inspiring. It volunteered for the duration. It spearheaded the reactivation of Ellington Field, conducted surveys of plant facilities and sites, created and maintained contacts with all the procurement agencies, showed the way in civilian defense, and did a thousand-and-one other chores to help the nation gird for war.
With the build-up of the war, the Chamber of Commerce marshaled manpower and resources and facilities and led the home front into full support of the fighting front. Representation was maintained in Washington to assure constant liaison for Houston industry and commerce with war agencies. Cooperation was given to the all-out effort to recruit, to train and to equip the armed forces. A Soldiers’ Service Bureau was established for the benefit of troops in Houston.Officials of government, the army, the navy and the maritime service looked to the Chamber of Commerce for local assistance. No one who lived through those times can forget the stirring campaign to recruit a thousand men to man the new Cruiser Houston; the hundreds of meetings and clinics to interpret wartime controls; surveys of storage, office and warehouse facilities; interviews with more than 1,500 candidates for the Army Specialists Corps;
training programs in cooperation with institutions of education; and all activities, vital and essential, to give Houston a key role in the waging of the war.|
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Inspired rates of production, respect for wartime regulations, full cooperation with war agencies and war campaigns were generated in a great measure by the Chamber of Commerce. This organization handled gasoline rationing, the victory garden program, and other war efforts involving public performance and public conscience.
The United States in 1940 had realized it was in the position a football coach would be in at the beginning of the season if he found he had only a mass of men, the bulk of whom had not played football, and those who had played, had played only touch football. We had no equipment in bulk, except that left over from the last war, and those stores which we had were of types of weapons which were being left rapidly behind in the progress of the new war. We had almost no weapons in existence which we could use, either in the shape of planes, tanks or artillery.
Probably the most fundamental weapon of warfare is powder, and our nation had practically no powder, nor did we have any powder plants to make it. Our military leaders were going around like Israel Putnam, saying, "Powder, powder, for God’s sake give me powder!" Our citizenship generally was still not alert to the situation, due both to lack of understanding of the needs and to the unwillingness of those who
recognized those needs to let the people realize just how bad the situation was.Slowly we began to realize that under a program of national emergency there could be no "business as usual". Modern war had become total war. It was not merely a war of guns and men, but it was a civilian war as well. All-out effort became a necessity. We found ourselves in a titanic production job, for which we soon realized that the plant was unsuited, the materials short, and the organization inadequate. We had been a peace-loving nation, and for the cause of peace, we had allowed the machinery for wartime production to become obsolete.
he situation
brought new problems of increasing intensity to business. Industry had to provide the
tools for defense. Labor had the obligation, under our system of freedom, to keep the
wheels of production turning. Agriculture had the responsibility to raise the food for the
millions of workers in industry, on the training fields, and among the fighting forces.
Capital had to provide the motor power to keep industry going at full speed, forgetting
the profit and remembering only the cause. Business hoped to expand production to meet
defense requirements as well as the normal needs of our people—both guns and butter.
Production for defense challenged the resourcefulness and capacities of
American enterprise. Defense production increasingly was given the
"right-of-way" all down the line. Our fleet and merchant marine had to be
enlarged with all possible speed. The equipping and training of an adequate armed force
had to proceed without delay. The air arm of the army and the navy had to be expanded to
protect us against any contingency, and our outlying naval and air bases had to be
equipped and manned with all possible dispatch.
The nation’s businessmen dedicated themselves to meeting the challenge. They realized, too, that in the final analysis, it took more than soldiers to defend a nation. It took more than warships and flying fortresses—more than factories equipped to make planes, tanks and guns. Behind all these must stand the spirit of defense, the determination of resolute people, united in a common purpose. Without this spirit, soldiers and warships and dive bombers and factories would be of no avail.
France had factories and warships, millions of soldiers and the Maginot line. But behind that line was a people divided against itself. Arguments and dissensions slowed preparedness and sowed the seeds of hopelessness and futility. The spirit of defense was not there.
When we were first hurled into the war at Pearl Harbor, the
Axis aggressors thought we were unprepared. They had misjudged our love of peace as a
weakness in war. Their minds poisoned with the belief that might makes right, they did not
realize that the things making America great in peace would also make us strong in war.
They had no conception of the wealth of leadership developed through our system of
individual enterprise. They refused to believe that our free labor and the genius of our
industrial management could double in two years the productive capacity which the Axis
powers had been building with forced labor for many years. In our hopes for peace, we were
largely unequipped and untrained for war, but this did not mean that we were totally
unprepared. We had the basic capacity and abilities that could be mobilized quickly for
war. These are qualities that must be preserved by our people if we are to preserve our
freedom.
Our armed forces were small in number and sparsely equipped, but we had vast reservoirs of manpower and productive capacity on which we could draw in such an emergency. Our people knew how to work together—work diligently and with understanding. The threat of the aggressor nations united us in a war program that soon overcame their time advantage.
