In 1942, during WWII, Childersburg in Talladega, Alabama was overrun with workers at the new defense plant which manufactured high explosives. The large influx of 8000 workers in the small town of Childersburg, Alabama put a premium on housing for the workers.
John Collier, Jr., “an American anthropologist and an early leader in the fields of visual anthropology and applied anthropology was
a member of the renowned documentary photographic project of the Farm Security Administration of the Depression-era. Below are some pictures he took of the housing available for workers in the defense plant at Childersburg in May 1942.
Childersburg Coosa Court defense housing project
Childersburg Coosa Court housing May 1942
Childersburg, Alabama – Bunkhouse and cafeteria to accommodate a hundred defense worker May 1942
Childersburg African American bunkhouses May 1942
Childersburg African American bunkhouses May 1942
Coosa Court defense housing project a pleasant home for Dupont powder plant workers 1942
Childersburg, Alabama. Privately built apartment to accommodate defense workers May 1942
Childersburg, Alabama – Privately built apartment to accommodate defense workers on hill May 1942
Childersburg, Alabama, Privately built apartment to accommodate defense workers May 1942
Childersburg, Alabama, Privately built apartment to accommodate defense workers May 1942
Childersburg, Alabama. Rooming house in the heart of town May 1942
Childersburg, Defense Bunkhouse that housed 100 workers
Defense workers who could not get in a housing project or buy trailers live in tents or one-room shacks
Defense workers who could not get in a housing project or buy trailers live in tents or one-room shacks
Defense workers who could not get in a housing project often bought trailers for their families.
Childersburg, Alabama where the rent was three dollars a month in the trailer parks in May 1942
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Worked at a water plant in Alpine Alabama that was once a part of the munitions plant.