Alfred T. Palmer - Wikimedia Commons

English: Alfred T. Palmer was an Office of War Information photographer from 1941 until 1943.

The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a U.S. government agency created during World War II to consolidate government information services. It operated from June 1942 until September 1945. It coordinated the release of war news for domestic use, and, using posters and radio broadcasts, worked to promote patriotism, warned about foreign spies, and attempted to recruit women into war work. The office also established an overseas branch which launched a large scale information and propaganda campaign abroad.

Photographers working for the U.S. government's Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI) between 1939 and 1944 made approximately 1,600 color photographs that depict life in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The pictures focus on rural areas and farm labor, as well as aspects of World War II mobilization, including factories, railroads, aviation training, and women working.

The original images are color transparencies ranging in size from 35 mm. to 4x5 inches. They complement the better-known black-and-white FSA/OWI photographs, made during the same period.

Alfred T. Palmer was notable for his portraits of men and women at work in the industry. He used a crude lighting system which focused on the person rather than his environment, sometimes creating an extreme contrast in his images.

Republic Steel Corporation, Youngstown, Ohio

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Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corp., Etna, Pa.

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Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp., Brackenridge, Pa.

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Coastal defense, Fort Story, VA

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Langley Field, Hampton, VA

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Marine Corps, Page Field, Parris Island, SC

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Marine Corps motor detachment, New River, N.C.

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Tanks and infantry, Fort Knox, Ky.

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Ship boiler construction, Combustion Engineering Co., Chattanooga, TN

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Tennessee Valley Authority dam construction, TN and Ala.

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Tennessee Valley Authority phosphate chemical plant, Muscle Shoals, Ala.

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North American Aviation Corp., Inglewood, CA and Kansas City, Kan.

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Douglas Aircraft Co., Long Beach, CA

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Victory Corps high school training programs, Los Angeles, CA

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Airplane assembly, Vultee Aircraft Inc., Nashville, TN

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