Overview

During World War II the United States mobilized its industrial assets to become the great “Arsenal of Democracy” through the cooperation of the government and private firms. The Dallas Story examines a specific aviation factory, operated by the North American Aviation (NAA) company in Dallas, Texas. Terrance Furgerson explores the construction and opening of the factory, its operation, its relations with the local community, and the closure of the facility at the end of the war. Prior to the opening of the factory in 1941, the city of Dallas had practically no existing industrial base. Despite this deficiency, the residents quickly learned the craft of manufacturing airplanes, and by the time of the Pearl Harbor attack the NAA factory was mass-producing the AT-6 trainer aircraft. The entry of the United States into the war brought about an enlargement of the NAA factory, and the facility began production of the B-24 Liberator bomber and the famed P-51 Mustang fighter. By the end of the war the Texas division of NAA had manufactured nearly 19,000 airplanes, making it one of the most prolific U.S. factories.

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9781574418934

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Reviews

"""Furgerson has illuminated various moving parts of a vast undertaking while providing avenues to explore further. His telling of the Dallas story is accessible to general audiences and of particular interest to those wanting to learn more about industrial organization and the massive, collaborative efforts to produce weapons and workers for World War II and beyond.""--H-Net Sci-Med-Tech ""The Dallas Story makes a novel contribution to a much-needed literature, specific studies of industrial mobilization in practice. It bolsters an important aspect of wider World War II literature, namely works that demonstrate the crucial contribution that industrial mobilization made to Allied victory. Furgerson has done a masterful job at analyzing an untold local history, conducting intensive research over the course of many years, and producing an intriguing story contextualized within the broader contours of industrial mobilization during World War II.""--William A. Taylor, author of Military Service and American Democracy and editor of George C. Marshall and the Early Cold War ""The Dallas Story contains a richness of sources that offers previously unseen or inaccessible perspectives on a series of critical events that shaped the nation's readiness for WWII and helped establish Dallas as a modern, urban metropolis in the postwar years. Furgerson has righted a historic wrong to an amazing extent. There was a generation of north Texas people who fought the war, and won it from Dallas, on a factory floor. These people were then forgotten.""--Keegan Chetwynd, director of the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia ""There are volumes written about the P-51 Mustang and T-6 Texan, but little attention has been given to the incredible people who built those legendary planes and the historic place where they worked in Dallas, Texas. Fortunately, Furgerson has filled that void with an impressive, well-researched and detailed history of North American Aviation's Dallas plant--a very welcome and valuable addition to aviation history.""--Michael Lombardi, Senior Corporate Historian for The Boeing Company and North American Aviation ""Terrance Furgerson's well-researched work fills a serious void in the aviation lore of North Texas and the overall story of American wartime production during World War II. From conception to closure, Furgerson eloquently details the sparsely documented story of North American Aviation's Dallas manufacturing plant, which became the nation's most prolific aviation factory and produced its most iconic wartime aircraft.""--Bruce A. Bleakley, author of Dallas Aviation and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport"

"""The Dallas Story makes a novel contribution to a much-needed literature, specific studies of industrial mobilization in practice. It bolsters an important aspect of wider World War II literature, namely works that demonstrate the crucial contribution that industrial mobilization made to Allied victory. Furgerson has done a masterful job at analyzing an untold local history, conducting intensive research over the course of many years, and producing an intriguing story contextualized within the broader contours of industrial mobilization during World War II.""--William A. Taylor, author of Military Service and American Democracy and editor of George C. Marshall and the Early Cold War ""The Dallas Story contains a richness of sources that offers previously unseen or inaccessible perspectives on a series of critical events that shaped the nation's readiness for WWII and helped establish Dallas as a modern, urban metropolis in the postwar years. Furgerson has righted a historic wrong to an amazing extent. There was a generation of north Texas people who fought the war, and won it from Dallas, on a factory floor. These people were then forgotten.""--Keegan Chetwynd, director of the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia ""There are volumes written about the P-51 Mustang and T-6 Texan, but little attention has been given to the incredible people who built those legendary planes and the historic place where they worked in Dallas, Texas. Fortunately, Furgerson has filled that void with an impressive, well-researched and detailed history of North American Aviation's Dallas plant--a very welcome and valuable addition to aviation history.""--Michael Lombardi, Senior Corporate Historian for The Boeing Company and North American Aviation ""Terrance Furgerson's well-researched work fills a serious void in the aviation lore of North Texas and the overall story of American wartime production during World War II. From conception to closure, Furgerson eloquently details the sparsely documented story of North American Aviation's Dallas manufacturing plant, which became the nation's most prolific aviation factory and produced its most iconic wartime aircraft.""--Bruce A. Bleakley, author of Dallas Aviation and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport"

Author Information

TERRANCE FURGERSON is a professor of history at Collin College, near Dallas, Texas. He holds a doctorate from the University of North Texas, with a concentration in American military history.

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