Ferry Village in South Portland was a quiet fishing village before WWII -- many families made their living on the water or worked in their neighborhood... expand

Ferry Village in South Portland was a quiet fishing village before WWII. There were local shops, a church, a movie theater and a cannery. Many families made their living on the water or worked directly in their neighborhood. When the war broke out in Europe, a shipyard was constructed in Ferry Village to build 30 Ocean Class merchant vessels for the British. This shipyard displaced homes that had housed families for generations, but many felt that world security was at stake and very few people protested this issue. Plus, the good paying industrial jobs were welcome after the Great Depression. Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941 and the U.S. entered the war. Once the thirty British ships were completed, the shipyard was turned over the American Maritime Commission and a second yard was built to build merchant ships to transport goods and supplies to Europe. Nearly 30,000 people worked at the South Portland shipyards and 3,700 of those workers were women. People came from all over the state and New England to work in the yards. The result was housing shortages and a sudden spike in population for Portland, South Portland and the surrounding towns.

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An introduction to the New England Shipbuilding Corporation Former workers talk about the first months building Liberty ships during WWII and former residents of Ferry Village remember what the neighborhood was like before the shipyards.
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Episode 2 We look back at WWII as a very patriotic time and it was. But, the big incentive to work at the shipyards was the good paying jobs. Workers talk about the good wages and how having money affected their lives after the Great Depression.
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Episode 3 3700 women worked at the South Portland shipyards during WWII. This episode looks at what it was like for women to take on jobs as welders, riveters and crane operators.
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Episode 4 There were two yards in South Portland. Known as the East Yard and theWest Yard, the two shipyards employed nearly 30,000 people between 1941 and 1945. Former workers talk about the differences in the two yards and about the types of work it took to build the Liberty ships.
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Episode 5 The jobs at the Liberty shipyards were heavy industrial jobs. The working conditions could be extreme working outside in all kinds of weather and facing the real dangers that come from working in industrial situations. Former workers talk about the conditions at the South Portland Shipbuilding Corporation.
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