On average each Chicago block had seven members of the military. Neighborhoods mobilized in support of the war effort by buying war bonds, growing victory gardens, and participating in drives to collect scrap metal, paper, rubber, and even grease that could be used for nitroglycerine. The city also had block captains who organized ceremonies for departing military personnel and erected small shrines for those killed in combat. Houses and apartments featured blue stars for families with men in the military and a gold star for the men who did not return.

Chicagoans also experienced rationing like so many other Americans, giving up certain foods and materials to send abroad for the war effort. Marion Dunlevy of Chicago’s south side wrote her brother a letter about rationing: “Dear Al, Welcome home … to the land of red stamps and blue stamps, sugar stamps and shoe stamps. The land of cigarette lines, meat lines and soap flakes lines. Where all females go stockingless. Where every other day is meatless.” There were also blackout drills to prepare for possible air raids by the Axis Powers. Those that failed to support the war effort faced severe consequences. For instance, four Chicago men were convicted of creating fake ration coupons for 2.9 million gallons of gasoline.

Chicago’s industrial manufacturing also made it prominent for the U.S. war effort. The city produced 24 billion dollars worth of war goods, including field rations, torpedoes, parachutes, and airplane parts to aid the war effort overseas. Half of all the military’s electronic components, including radar equipment and two-way radios, or walkie-talkies, were manufactured in Chicago. The Manhattan Project, under the University of Chicago’s football field, produced the first sustained nuclear reaction on December 2, 1942, leading to the creation of the atomic bombs, which played an important role in ending World War II just three years later.

Chicago also served as an important place where military personnel came to train. The Great Lakes Naval Training Station provided boot camp for one-third of all navy personnel during the war. Glenview Naval Air Station trained 20,000 aircraft carrier pilots on Lake Michigan, using two old cargo ships to practice taking off and landing. The U.S. Navy also expanded sailors’ skills in electronics, meteorology, naval machinery, foreign language, and espionage in Chicago. The Women’s Army Corps also drilled along the lakefront and Grant Park.

Being centrally located along rail lines in the U.S., many military personnel passed through the city during the war. The United Service Organizations and Chicago Servicemen’s Centers served 24 million meals to military men and women by the end of 1945.

With the high demand for labor in military industries, Chicago faced a labor shortage. As a result many jobs opened up for women, the physically disabled, and the elderly. The war continued to draw African-Americans, as part of the Great Migration, to the city as 60,000 came from the southern states for work. Lastly, former Japanese Americans internees migrated from the West Coast, relocating to Chicago. It is estimated that 20,000 came to the city, and the Chicago Resettler’s Committee (CRC), later known as the Japanese American Service Committee, helped their transition. For all these groups, though, they sometimes faced discrimination and unequal pay.