Abstract
This thesis examines the San Francisco Bay Area shipbuilding industry’s pivotal role in the United States Maritime Commission's efforts to produce shipping for the global Allied war effort during World War II. It argues that, contrary to images portrayed in American wartime media, social fissures existed inside the shipyards just as they did outside. The wartime shipbuilding industry and other war industries reshaped the demographic landscape of the Bay Area region, bringing new streams of workers from across the country. Although minorities were employed in higher numbers than ever before in the shipbuilding industry during the wartime years, much of these gains receded after the war because of demobilization and racialized employment protectionism in the post-war years. Finally, the work also highlights the radical strains in the area’s labor politics during the war.