Most People Have Never Seen These 11 Photos Taken During WWII In North Dakota

The second world war spanned from 1939 until 1945. North Dakota was just beginning to recover from the Dust Bowl and immediately began focusing its agriculture toward helping the country in its war efforts. While the home life here was fairly normal, the impact the war had on everyone and the decade of struggle prior caused North Dakotans to band together and help each other out. These 11 photographs taken in North Dakota are rarely seen but shared here today to remember how it was back then.

1. Meeting in a rural schoolhouse for the Food for Victory program. 1942

2. A cooperative gas station in Grenora, North Dakota. 1941

3. People waiting to vote in the Presidential election during the 1940 election.

4. Locked ballot box used during the election in Carson, North Dakota. 1940

5. Store owner shoveling snow outside of his business in Hettinger, North Dakota. 1942

6. Freight train carrying goods and supplies heading west out of Minot. 1941

7. This photograph taken in Epping was captioned, "High school girls singing 'Remember Pearl Harbor' at meeting of the women of the town to promote sale of defense bonds and stamps." 1942

8. Plant breeder chooses between strains of flax varieties in the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station in Fargo. 1945

9. Children at play in Michigan, North Dakota. 1940

10. Velva, North Dakota. 1940

11. Man feeding corn to his pigs. 1942

Even though North Dakota was not a prime hub for the wartime efforts, all North Dakotans still pitched in to help the country in any way they could from home. Many also went to serve their country on the front lines.

If you're interested in seeing more vintage and rare photographs of the state, check out these pictures from the following decade, the 1950s.