The Bell Bomber Plant

Images of America: Georgia

by Joe Kirby

Few would have believed in the late 1930s that Depression-wracked Marietta and Cobb County, where cotton was still king, would later be the site of the largest industrial complex south of the Mason-Dixon line, or that it would be churning out hundreds of the largest and most technically advanced airplanes ever built to that point. Images of America: The Bell Bomber Plant uses more than 200 photographs to recount how opportunistic local leaders persuaded the federal government to build an airfield in Marietta and then parlayed it into the plant. It tells the story of how a workforce of undereducated farmers and thousands of "Rosie the Riveters" proved surprisingly adept at mastering the technical challenges of building bombers, and of how the plant jump-started the transformation of Cobb County from a semi-rural backwater to a suburban Southern powerhouse.

Genres: History, War, Photography

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 2008

Reviews

[Michael Cash · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a longtime resident of the area, I really did not understand the impact the Bell Bomber Plant had on the entire Smyrna/Marietta area, or even all of north Georgia, for that matter, until I read this book. I had 2 grandparents from different sides of the family that worked at the plant during World War II, and the area where I grew up would have been very different without the effects of the plant.

The facts that the biggest industrial complex in the south was built in 18 months and then produced almost 700 copies of the most technologically advanced weapon in the world with supposedly dumb uneducated farmers as the majority of the workforce shows that many stereotypes are quite mistaken.

The plant also employed many handicapped people, young and old (even an octogenarian or two), black and white, men and women. All this was at a time when it was not the fashion to do so, but a necessity because the supply of healthy young white men were away at the war. Once the other workers were given the chance, they proved their value and I'm sure it helped open the door for the future prospects of nontraditional workers.

[Adina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only are the images in this book beautiful, but the captions are thoughtful and perceptive. I appreciate the focus on the experiences of women, men, families, African Americans, former farmers, and people from all over the south who flocked to the post-depression work provided at Bell Bomber. This will be very helpful as we develop our new exhibition on Georgia during World War II.