Maritime Child Development Center

Maritime Child Development Center

NPS Photo, Luther Bailey

Quick Facts

Location:

1014 Florida Ave, Richmond, CA.

Significance:

WWII Home Front History

Designation:

National Register of Historic Places

The Future of Childhood Education

In addition to health care, Henry J. Kaiser provided child care for families working in his four Richmond shipyards during WWII. The child care centers he built with funding provided by the United States Maritime Commission incorporated progressive educational programming, and innovative curriculum and services including art classes, well-balanced hot meals, health care, and family counseling.One of the largest facilities in Richmond was the Maritime Child Development Center, opened in 1943. Completely restored and reopened as a multi-use building in 2011, today it houses a small exhibit by the National Park Service of a wartime preschool classroom. On regularly scheduled guided tours, visitors have the opportunity to explore the vital role of federally funded childcare in bringing women into the WWII work force. Tours are available by appointment as well.

The Maritime Child Development Center was one of approximately 35 nursery school units of varying sizes established in the Richmond area during World War II in order to provide child care for women working in the Kaiser shipyards. In 2012, the Rosie the Riveter Trust, partnering with the National Park Service and many partners throughout the city and school district, completed a $9 million historic renovation of the building and won a LEED Gold for Schools award. The Trust now operates the building on behalf of the park. It houses a K-3 charter school, Richmond College Prep, and the Richmond Community Foundation, along with a National Park Service exhibit room which can be visited on scheduled tours.

Note: Occasionally, the park offers guided tours of an historic classroom inside the building. There are no NPS staff who are onsite, so please contact the park. However, visitors without tours are allowed to view the building from the outside, as part of their driving tour. Please be aware that this is a buidling that is currently in use. 

• Audio Stop: Maritime Child Development Center

  
  

  This audio program provides a look of the Maritime Child Development Center in Nystrom Village.

  Credit / Author:

  NPS/Luther Bailey

  Date created:

  08/01/2023

  Audio Transcript

  During World War II, some childcare centers were built, while others were housed in converted buildings or in existing schools. The most substantial facilities built for childcare were the Maritime Child Development Center and the similar Ruth C. Powers Center. Kaiser developed these centers and incorporated progressive educational programming developed by child welfare experts from the University of California at Berkeley.

  Today, the Maritime Child Development Center in Nystrom Village houses a re-created wartime classroom exhibit featuring objects and furnishings from the National Park Service museum collection. It is owned by the Rosie the Riveter Trust, which led the renovation of the building. The Trust raises funds to manage and maintain the building as an important park historic site.