Title: The war comes to Plum St. /
Authors: Smith, Bruce C., 1952-
Publisher: Indiana University Press,
Year: 2005
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945 Indiana New Castle.; New Castle (Ind.) Biography.
Abstract: Here is the story of the war at home as it unfolded in one small town, New Castle, Indiana. We see through the eyes of the residents of Plum Street as families search for information about the progress of the war and the fate of loved ones in the censored accounts in local newspapers. We overhear everyday conversation up and down the street, in which the dominant subject is the news from overseas. The war finds its way into letters and diaries, which also record private fears and hopes, rumors and town gossip, and the wonderfully mundane events of everyday life. --from publisher description.
Contents: Migration and a new start in the 1920s -- Coping with hard times in the 1930s -- The slow pull upward, late 1930s -- Into the storm, 1939-1941 -- Duty calls every citizen, 1942 -- Bearer of bad news, 1942 -- Urgent preparation, 1943 -- Together, and alone, 1943 -- Despair and bitter hope, 1944 -- Invasion, 1944 -- Will it never end? 1945 -- We'll meet again, 1945.