Editor’s note: We’re celebrating ten years of Our Rich History. You can browse and read any of the past columns, from the present all the way back to our start on May 6, 2015, at our newly updated database. Enjoy!
By Paul A. Tenkotte, PhD
Special to NKyTribune
Eighty years ago, on May 8, 1945 (called VE-Day, for “Victory in Europe”), World War II came to an official end in the European theater. The Nazis were defeated. Businesses in Northern Kentucky closed in observation of the occasion, but celebrations were rather subdued. After all, World War II continued to rage on in the Pacific theater. Americans everywhere maintained their vigilance and turned their attention to defeating the Japanese.
Nevertheless, VE-Day marked a significant achievement. American and Allied victory in World War II was clearly within reach. The defeat of Hitler was an important step to nearing the end of this deadly and destructive global war. Success was made possible by a heroic effort of valiant soldiers, the work and sacrifices of ordinary Americans on the Home Front, and the coordination of industry by the federal government. View a previous article on the Home Front.
Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati played a major role in manufacturing armaments and supplies for World War II. The War Production Board (WPB), established by executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1942, literally coordinated the entire American economy for the duration of the war.
Scarce materials, such as rubber, gasoline, and other products, were rationed to the general public in order to supply the troops abroad. Nonessential production, for example of new automobiles, was curtailed so that manufacturing plants could retool to make tanks, airplanes, ships, and armaments. The entire supply chain, from raw materials to production to distribution, was orchestrated for more than $185 billion worth of supplies ($4.2 trillion in 2025 dollars).
Newport and Campbell County, Kentucky were home to many manufacturing plants that were retooled for wartime production. For instance, the Higgin Products Company of Newport, a manufacturer of window shades and venetian blinds, made supplies for the US Navy. Meanwhile, the Andrews’ family’s giant steel facilities, including the Newport Rolling Mill in the city’s West End, and the Andrews Steel Mill in Wilder, Kentucky, employed thousands.
In 1942-43, the federal government built a new $5 million ($92.4 million in 2025 dollars), ten-acre alloy steel plant for Andrews in Wilder. In June 1944, when Andrews temporarily curtailed operations at his Wilder plant pending negotiations with authorities, the federal government literally stepped in, rented the plant from him, and began manufacturing artillery shells there (“Steel Plants Will Reopen with Capacity Production,” Kentucky Post, June 24, 1944, p. 1).
In nearby Dayton, Kentucky, the Wadsworth Manufacturing Company employed 1,350 in wartime production at its plant at Fifth and Clay Streets. Wadsworth made shell casings, machine guns, and radio parts for the military.
All throughout Northern Kentucky, citizens enrolled in American Red Cross first aid classes, volunteered for the Civilian Defense Council, practiced blackouts (turning off all lights during air raid drills), planted Victory gardens, purchased war bonds, and cooperated with rationing from the federal Office of Price Administration (OPA). Ration books limited supplies of gasoline, meat, cheese, butter, sugar, and other household products. Women gave up their old stockings to make parachutes. Adults and schoolchildren alike collected scrap metal, newspapers, and old tires for recycling.
Hundreds of men and women from Northern Kentucky joined the armed forces, some at the enlisting center at the Fort Thomas Army Post south of Newport. Heroes and heroines abounded, including Dr. Alvin C. Poweleit of Newport (1908–1997), Brig. Gen. Jesse Auton (1904–1952), Lt. Gen. Gerald Johnson (1919–2002), and Rev. Henry Bernard Stober (1901–1945).
By the end of the war’s phase in Europe, the Kentucky Post checked its files and determined that “292 local men” (from Boone, Campbell, and Kenton Counties) had died in the war in Europe. In an editorial on V-E day, the Post editors rightly expressed the bittersweet moment that had been reached: “It is human nature to feel exuberant over completion of the European phase of the war, but we must remember that that is actually what it is—another phase of the fight to vanquish all our enemies. It is far from being the end of the war” (“292 Local Men Die in Europe Fighting Area,” Kentucky Post, pp. 1, 7; “Day for Dedication to Victory,” Kentucky Post, May 8, 1945, p. 6).
Paul A. Tenkotte, PhD is Editor of the “Our Rich History” weekly series and Professor of History at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). To browse ten years of past columns, visit nkytribune.com/our-rich-history. Tenkotte also serves as Director of the ORVILLE Project (Ohio River Valley Innovation Library and Learning Engagement). For more information see orvillelearning.org. He can be contacted at tenkottep@nku.edu.