Morris Code
Cameras were not as common during World War II as they would become later. This fact makes these photos and images even more precious.
The Carolina Room has, to date, collected twenty four photographs of people from Charlotte and Mecklenburg County from the World War II era. Six of them are highlighted in the Image Gallery below. View the whole album.
These two women are working on an airplane wing at Morris Field.
(Photo courtesy of the Carolinas Historic Aviation Commission and Museum.)
Below are stories of military personnel and civilians and their experiences in Mecklenburg County during the years 1941-1946.
The Charlotte Quartermaster Depot was activated on May 16, 1941, when three Army officers and 32 civilians, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Clare W. Woodward, set up an office in the south wing of the old Ford Motor Company assembly plant on Statesville Avenue just outside of what was then the city limits. Lt. Colonel Woodward had received orders to quickly move from Atlanta to Charlotte. He picked several of his staff and some enlisted men to move with him.
Marion Lawton Hargrove, Jr.
Although not a native Charlottean, Marion Hargrove got his start in journalism at The Charlotte News. He was born in Mt. Olive, NC and moved to several cities before finally coming to Charlotte.
While a student at Central High School, he spent his free time at the newspaper office and offered to write stories for the paper about his school. He graduated in the Central High School Class of 1938 and was the editor of the Central High Rambler. He later went to work as a paid employee for the News.