Black History in Detroit: Sojourner Truth Housing Project Riots

Picture Detroit in 1942. 700,000 people are working round the clock to keep factories churning out war machines. This workforce includes 500,000 itinerant southerners driven north in search of employment. The city is doing more than its share to equip and transport American troops in World War II, covering 30 percent of the nation's war demand. This earns Detroit the distinction "arsenal of democracy." But it comes at a painfully high cost as the Sojourner Truth Housing Project riots showed.  Black History in Detroit: Sojourner Truth Housing Project Riots

WWII Detroit: America's 'Arsenal of Democracy'

Prior to the United States' entrance into World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt challenged the nation to become the world's "arsenal of democracy," to arm itself and so protect other democratic nations against the onslaught of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. One city in particular picked up that thrown gauntlet: Detroit. Detroiters worked round the clock in defense plants to produce 30 percent of U.S. war machinery, equipment, and munitions. Jobs were plentiful. In fact, there were more jobs than workers to fill them. WWII Detroit Answered FDR's call for America's 'Arsenal of Democracy'