About 4,000 Minnesotans worked in Northwest Aeronautical Corporation (NAC) glider factories day and night during World War II. The first gliders were delivered to the Army in 1942 and, by the end of production in 1945, a total of 1,509 gliders had rolled off the production lines in Minnesota.
Because of the shortage of men, many women were hired and trained in the assembly process. Each worker had a specific responsbility, such as drilling a particular part, sewing fabric for wing coverings, or riveting pieces together. The unidentified woman in this 1942 photograph is at her post at one of NAC's glider factories.
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society
Date: 1942
Identifer: location HE1.7 r43
