Last updated: January 22, 2024
Place
"Working in the Yard" Sign
NPS Photo/MWoods
Quick Facts
Location:
Northwest side of 1st Avenue along the grassy lawn, southeast of tennis courts.
Significance:
Wayside
Description
Low-profile wayside that is 36.5 x 24.5 inches. It has a semi-cylindrical base with two rectangular pillars supporting the panel. The panel is framed in black metal. The sign is located on the sidewalk on the northwest side of 1st Avenue, facing the large anchors and tennis courts. The Marine Barracks are visible beyond the tennis courts.
Layout
At the top of the sign is a black banner with white text. The text includes the title, "Working in the Yard," aligned to the left. Aligned to the right in the banner are two columns of two lines of text. The first column of text is "Boston National Historical Park," followed by "Charlestown Navy Yard." The second column states "National Park Service," followed by "U.S. Department of the Interior." The rest of the panel has a gray background with black text and black and white images. Titles of captions are bolded, while additional information is in italics. The panel is divided into three columns. The left column has a long portrait-oriented image that fills approximately the top 4/5 of the column. The image has a credit line beneath the bottom right corner. Below this image are two columns, each with a caption. The top third of the middle column is text. Below the text is a thick black bar separating it from the images below. A two x two grid is below this black bar, with the top two grid squares consisting of images, and the bottom left section also having an image with an image credit beneath it. The final grid section in the bottom right has captions. The right column has the same format as the left column. It has a long portrait-oriented image that fills approximately the top 4/5 of the column. Below this image are two columns, the left has a caption and the right has a quote. The quote is not-italicized while the name of the speaker is italicized.
Image (Left column)
Black and white photograph of workers leaving the Navy Yard. The photographer took the picture from several feet up in the air, possibly the roof of a nearby one or two-story building. A large mass of workers exit the Navy Yard through a large arch gateway. The right side of the arch is visible, however, the left side is not visible. Just the bottom portion of the arch’s pediment is visible in the top of the photograph. At the very top center is the bottom half of an engraved sign that states "Navy Yard." Below this sign in the middle is a decorative eagle atop a shield. Most of the arch is dark brick, but the interior of the arch gateway has light brick or granite. Two light posts with large round lights are on either side of the interior entrance of the arch. The arched gateway is several feet deep with additional lighting on the walls. A stream of men walk through the archway. All are wearing a variety of hats as well as dark and light-colored coats. The stream of people is visible through the archway to the other side, with the shapes of people barely visible. A building is also visible through the archway to the right, with an escape ladder along its side.
Image Credit
Boston Globe
Image Caption Title (Left column, Bottom left)
(Above) Shift change during World War II.
Image Caption (Left column, Bottom left)
The portal over Gate 1 was demolished after the war.
Main Text (Middle column)
When the Charlestown Navy Yard opened in 1800, Boston's skilled maritime workers provided a ready source of labor. As sail gave way to steam, and wooden hulls gave way to iron and steel, the work of building, repairing, and maintaining a fleet changed with modern technology. The size of the work force also changed, varying with war, peace, and the size of the fleet. During World War II, more than 50,000 full-time employees worked round-the-clock in such specialized jobs as ship fitter, boilermaker, and foundry worker.
Image (Middle column, Top-left image in grid)
Black and white photograph of a very long room, with the end of the room barely visible in the background. A machine spans the entire length of this room. The machine is several feet high, approximately only half the height of the room. It is light in color, whereas the floor next to the machine is dark. In the foreground, a man sits facing forward next to the machine. He has short-cropped dark hair and wears a light-colored shirt and slightly dark pants. His right hand is on the machine while his left-hand rests on his leg. To the right, a small sign hangs from the ceiling stating "No Passing Through."
Image (Middle column, Top-right image in grid)
Black and white photograph of foundry workers. Featured in the foreground are a few links of die-lock chain hanging from above the top border of the photograph. They hang and drape down to the mid-ground of the photograph where half a link rests on a machine. A worker uses two hands to hold a metal tool that is clasping half a link. He is placing it on the resting half of a link. The worker is wearing gloves, a protective suit, and goggles. He has dark short-cropped hair. Behind him in the background is another worker watching the process. He also wears glasses but is not wearing a protective suit. Instead, he has a hat, light-colored shirt, and dark pants.
Image (Middle column, Bottom-left image in grid)
Black and white photograph of an octagonal building. In the foreground in front of the building is a short grassy hill that engulfs the bottom quarter of the image. On top of the short hill is a tree that aligns with the left border of the photograph. Two cannons are visible on the hill. The very tip of one is visible on the left edge of the photograph, and the other is on the right side of the hill, in the mid-ground of the picture. The building juts up behind this little hill in the background. The second and third story are visible. These floors have two windows on each side of the building. A slanted roof is above the third story. A cupola tops the roof. It has a clock and arched windows. Its roof has a steep slant that is slightly curved inward. Behind it, in the background, is another building.
Image Credit (Bottom right)
Boston Public Library
Caption Title (Left column, Bottom right)
(Right) The Muster House.
Caption (Left column, Bottom right)
Until the 1890s, employees gathered three times daily at the octagonal Muster House for work assignments and attendance. As the labor force grew, workers reported directly to their shops.
Caption Title (Middle column, Bottom-left section of grid)
Supplying the ships.
Caption (Middle column, Bottom-left section of grid)
(Above, left) Workers produced rope in the quarter-mile-long Ropewalk, built in the 1830s. (Above, right) In 1926, navy yard workers invented die-lock anchor chain in the Chain Forge.
Image (Right column)
Black and white photograph of nine women welders working on the hull of a ship. Two columns of metal span the hull of the ship from the top left of the photograph to the bottom right side of the photograph. Horizontal bars of metal are laid across the hull evenly spaced from the top of the photograph to the bottom of the photograph. The women are spread out across the hull of the ship, with cords weaving to where each of them works and use their power tools. Each woman wears a light-colored long sleeve shirt with dark pants, as well as gloves and welder's masks. Bright light is visible where some of the women have their welder’s tools on the hull of the ship.
Caption Title (Right column, Bottom left)
Women welders in 1943.
Image Caption (Right column, Bottom left)
During World War II, as more and more men left for combat, women took over positions traditionally held by men, including welders, riveters, and machinists.
Quote (Right column, Bottom right)
We all felt that we were doing our job, and the harder we worked, the faster we would get the ships out, and the faster (the war) would get over. Gloria Brandenberg Shipyard Painter, World War II