The Second Gold Rush

More than any event in the 20th century, World War II marked the coming of age of America's West Coast cities. Almost overnight, new war industries prompted the mass urban migration and development that would trigger lasting social, cultural and political changes. For the San Francisco Bay area, this study argues, the changes brought by World War II were as dramatic as those brought by the Gold Rush a century earlier. Focusing on Oakland, Richmond, and other East Bay shipyard boomtowns, the text chronicles the defence build-up, labour migration from the US south and midwest, housing issues, and social and racial conflicts that pitted newcomers against longtime Bay Area residents. It follows this story into the postwar era, when struggles over employment, housing and civil rights shaped the urban political landscape for the 1950s and beyond. It also traces the cultural legacy of war migration and shows how southern religion and music became an integral part of Bay Area culture. The author's sources are wide-ranging and include shipyard records, labour histories, police reports and interviews.
Her findings place the war's human drama at centre stage and effectively recreate the texture of daily life in workplace, home, and community.