by Sears Homes | Feb 11, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Last month, Steven Beauter was kind enough to share an incredible vintage photo album with me, which featured more than a dozen pictures from 1918-era Penniman, Virginia, a “ghost city” six miles from Williamsburg. There are several unidentified folks...
by Sears Homes | Feb 5, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Several months ago, I went looking for a GriefShare group to join, and chose one in Poquoson (Virginia). The primary reason was this: I didn’t know anyone in Poquoson, so if I had a panic attack or started crying or acted like a fool, I could surreptitiously...
by Sears Homes | Mar 13, 2015 | Uncategorized |
A delightful anecdote from 1921 tells us that, when the Penniman houses were shipped to Norfolk, some of the workers went into one of the houses – as it made the slow 36-mile trek across the water – and made a full breakfast, using the oil cook stove in...
by Sears Homes | Jul 13, 2014 | Uncategorized |
Based on our research, more than 50% of the workers in the Penniman Shell Loading Plant were women. The high explosives used in the plant turned the worker’s skin a bright yellow color. This was such a common problem that it became a frequent topic in early 20th...
by Sears Homes | Jun 24, 2014 | Uncategorized |
The truly patriotic women are willing to work in the booster plants. Do not come for the money only. The compensation is not commensurate with the hazards. So wrote Sadie Bowers, who left her home and family in Newberry, SC in 1918 to work at the WW1-era munitions...
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