Press Release: September 13, 2007
Central Plains Region
National Archives - Central Plains Region Exhibit on view at the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Building
More Information
Content of Exhibit:
Kimberlee Ried, NARA (816) 268-8072- Exhibit Hours and Display:
Tammy Cavender, DOLIR
(573) 751-7500 
DOLIR Hours: Monday –Friday: 8:00am - 5:00pm- Central Plains Region
Thursday September 13th, 2007, 3:30pm Reception Opening – The public is invited to attend a special opening reception with Missouri Supreme Court Chief Judge Laura Denvir Stith at the MO Department of Labor building, 1410 Genessee, Kansas City, MO.
The National Archives - Central Plains Region has created a temporary photo exhibition which will be on view in the lobby of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations building in Kansas City, MO from September 13th – November 13th, 2007. WOWs!: Women Ordnance Workers of the Cornhusker Ordnance Plant features 45 photographs from World War II.
During World War II, some three million women worked in war plants across the United States. Working women were vital to the war effort, as the loss of men to military service left a workforce shortage in many areas. The U.S. Government undertook a major public relations campaign to encourage women to work. The use of an invented character—“Rosie the Riveter”—on a brightly colored poster was a powerful propaganda piece.
The Cornhusker Ordnance Plant (COP) was one of 60 ammunition plants built across the United States during World War II by the U.S. Army. The plant was responsible for building bombs and artillery shells. Construction of the COP began in March 1942. It was completed only six months later. On November 11, 1942, workers on Bomb Line Three of the COP operated by the Quaker Oats (Q.O.) Ordnance Corporation celebrated Armistice Day by completing the first bomb to come from a production line at the plant. While employment figures vary over time, generally over fifty percent of production employees were women. On September 26, 1944, the Q.O. Ordnance Corporation, operators of the COP received notification that the plant has been awarded the Army Navy “E” Award for excellence in the production of war materiel. Production at the plant ceased on August 14, 1945.
This photo exhibition depicts the type of work women did at the COP. The images presented represent a handful of the actual number taken and preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration-Central Plains Region. While many of the photographs were taken by the COP as "staged" publicity shots, there are numerous views which capture the women simply doing their jobs. It is in these photographs one can truly sense the mixture of monotony, danger, and pride experienced by the women on a daily basis.
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The Central Plains Region is one of 14 facilities nationwide where the public has access to Federal archival records. It is home to more than 43,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by nearly 100 federal agencies. The Central Plains Region houses records from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The facility is located at 2312 E. Bannister Rd., Kansas City, MO 64131. It is open to the public Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call (816) 268-8000 or visit the Central Plains Region web page.
