Detroit in W a r t i m e W I L L I A M M . CAHILL Wayne University College of Medicine, Detroit, Mich.
T
HE motor city has become a fabulous arsenal of democracy. At the time of the one hundredth meeting of the
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, in the fall of
1940, Detroit was serving a country at peace. Now it is serving the United Nations at war. The wide Detroit River—the peaceful strait or détroit of the early voyageurs—has been kept busy bearing on its bosom enormous quantities of coal and ore to feed the maws of the city's industrial giants. The little fort and trading post which was established almost 250 years ago by the French under Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac has become a great arms manufacturing center, whose contribution undoubtedly will be a major factor in shaping the destiny of the world.
A . C. S. members attending the spring meeting in Detroit will be startled at the transformation Tanks, in the " M o t o r City". planes, and guns are the principal items of production, but the area surrounding it is an important chemical center too.
Those chemists and engineers who attend the 1943 spring meeting of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY will see a changed
Detroit. The war has left a visible imprint on the city. The enormous produc-
Main Building, W a y n e University
tion of war materia! has provided employment for vast numbers of workers. Skilled men have been in great demand. There has been, consequently, a great increase in population since mid-1940. Fully a third of a million people have migrated to this area and the population of metropolitan Detroit is now over 2,600,000. The rate of increase is at present almost 20,000 persons a month. I t has been said that Detroit's population is bursting a t the seams. While it is often difficult tor a newcomer t o find a n acceptable apartment or single house for rent, there has been little complaining and, understanding the cause, people make the best of the situation. The Federal Government has taken cognizance of the housing shortage and action has already begun on a plan to lease private homes and buildings. These will be remodeled to provide additional living quarters for workers and their families. Over 20,000 new residents of Detroit live in trailers in 65 colonies within an hour's drive of t h e City Hall. Most of these families prefer the inconveniences of "condensed" environment to the headaches of finding apartments or houses which they can rent. With one, sometimes both, of the adults working six or seven days each week the trailerites eliminate most of their transportation problem, as well as increase their investment in War Bonds. During the months preceding and following the entry of our country into the war there was much building activity in Detroit. Most of the construction was related directly or indirectly to the war effort. Great factories mushroomed out of
the ground. In some sections of the city, defense housing projects have sprouted over hundreds of acres. Apart from the war plants, the Horace H. Rackham Educational Memorial, which was completed prior to Pearl Harbor, merits mention. This building, which houses the Engineering Society of Detroit and the University of Michigan Extension Service in Detroit, is an architectural classic. A visitor needs no second glance to see that it was constructed before the era of priorities. Numerous meetings and conferences of importance to the war effort are held within its walls. The Detroit Section
of
the
AMERICAN
CHEMICAL
SOCIETY also makes its "home" in the building and makes frequent use of the committee rooms and auditoriums. The ESD has extended an invitation to all registrants at the 105th meeting of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY to attend an
"Open House and Inspection" on Monday, April 12, the first day of the meeting, between 4:00 and 6:00 p. M. Many nationalities are represented in Detroit's population. The men and women working in the manufacturing plants often speak Polish, German, Italian, or some other foreign tongue, in addition to English. The heterogeneity of the populace is reflected by radio broadcasts in the city. Although most programs are in English, others may be heard in Polish, German, Italian, Greek, Ukrainian, Yiddish, Hungarian, Serbian, Lithuanian, Russian, Czech, Croatian, Rumanian, and Arabic. Native Americans and foreignborn, Negroes and whites, all are shouldering the industrial burden. They are Americans and their patriotism is evidenced by their generous purchasing of Victory Bonds. The area in which Detroit is located was reported last December to have oversubscribed its quota. Gasoline rationing and the influx of workers have had a great influence on transportation in Detroit. The number of automobiles on the streets has greatly diminished. Parking in downtown lots has decreased at least 40 per cent and the trend is continuing downward. Private automobiles are still used extensively and
City Hall Scene, Detroit
traffic complications have not decreased, owing t o enormous increases in trucking and in jeeps, peeps, beeps, etc. Detroiters are becoming accustomed to uniformed women wheeling trucks and command cars over the city streets. Tens of thousands travel a dozen or more miles t o work and the share-the-ride program is of practical importance. The municipally owned bus and street railway system of Detroit is busier than ever before in its history. The increase in patronage has been tremendous. During a week i n January a survey indicated that over 40 per cent more passengers were carried than during a corresponding period a year earlier. Elimination of duplicating routes and establishment of a system of skip-stops have helped to conserve rubber and promote efficiency. Uniformed conductorets have appeared on the street cars and women war workers are a familiar sight in Detroit. At certain hours of the day the buses and street cars are filled with women attired in slack suits, wearing
badges identifying them as war plant employees. The schools in Detroit, and particularly the institutions of higher education, headed by Wayne University and the University of Detroit, have been affected by the war. More feminine and fewer male faces are seen in the halls of the universities and colleges, and there is a sprinkling of men in uniform. The books under the arms of the students have changed from treatises on philosophy and literature to texts on chemistry, physics, and mathematics. Research work bearing on the war effort is being carried out. Accelerated programs of study are under way, the academic year has been extended to 12 months, and practically all vacations eliminated. In this way the medical students will be prepared to enter the medical services of the armed forces in the shortest possible time. Comparable conditions exist at the nearby University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. High school curriculums have been revised to afford a maximum of training in
Horace H. Rackham Educational Memorial courses which will be of value to the soldiers of the near future, in either t h e armed forces or the production army. Detroit in peacetime was well supplied w i t h business, technical, and trade schools which trained men and women for the a u tomotive industries. Today these facilities, integrated with those of the Board of Education and all expanded enormously, are training hundreds of "production soldiers" each month. In addition, thousands of men and women are being trained for specific industrial jobs in the schools established by the companies which still bear the names of automobiles. Occasionally the bright lights of Detroit a t night are dimmed by a blackout. Detroit's civilian defenses are well organized. Air-raid wardens alone comprise about 50,000 civilian defense volunteers. Other thousands belong to the auxiliary firemen and policemen, and to emergency medical, emergency food and housing, and other groups. Chemists in the Detroit area have been active in the civilian defense program and at a recent Gas Institute, sponsored by the Detroit Office of Civilian Defense, several hundred were trained in the elements of gas defense. G a s reconnaisance agents have already been appointed for the various areas and zones in the city. In spite of all the "growing pains" of the Arsenal for Democracy, Detroit is well prepared to serve as host to the members of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Above.
Tank factory model under study. Below. Chemistry Building, University of Detroit.
who
attend the 105th meeting, April 12 to 16. Hotel rooms will be available—but few for single occupancy—within short distances from the Masonic Temple and the downtown area. All of the scientific sessions will be "under one roof". Public transportation facilities are adequate. T h e subscription dinner is the only evening event scheduled but the Convention Committee of the Detroit Section has made ample provision for as many small discussion groups as may wish to meet and exchange ideas informally. Within the limits of a streamlined war meeting D e troit will be an obliging host. 310
C H E M I C A L
A N D
ENGINEERING
NEWS
