Three signs your company needs an intervention

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QUESTION: My business has been struggling a bit. How can I tell when it’s time to get some outside help?

ANSWER: We often say that companies that seek out consulting services fit into two categories. They are either desperate or inspired. Desperate companies have an issue or issues that are holding them back, or in some cases are crippling or destroying the organization. In contrast, inspired companies have a vision that they need help to achieve. Most companies fall into neither category. They are reasonably happy with their circumstances, growth and profits. Therefore, they believe that they need no help from consultants.

From a consultant’s perspective, inspired companies are fun and exciting to work with. On the other hand, helping desperate companies to become successful holds a special reward. However, there is often a small window between desperate and too far gone to help. These companies face two challenges. The first is realizing when they are in that window. The second is being willing to reach out for help before it is too late.

While there are several signs that your business is trending toward desperate, if you find yourself in any of the following three situations, don’t wait. You need an intervention. Take immediate action to get help from a competent consultant that can work with you to right your organization.

1. You are using your own cash to sustain (not grow) your organization. We know several companies that have sought help after the owners have used up personal savings, taken second mortgages on their homes and sold assets to sustain their business. Worse yet, some of these companies have taken loans with interest rates that are beyond usury. If you find yourself in this position, you have a broken business model. You can keep pouring cash into the business until you have exhausted all resources, but it is very unlikely to have a positive ending. Until you change the model, you won’t crawl out of the hole. When you find yourself in such a hole, stop digging and ask for help.

2. You are losing revenue year over year. If your revenue is dropping, ask yourself if the entire market for your product or service is shrinking or are you losing market share?

If your market is shrinking, you may need help in structuring a plan for changing your business model, but be reasonable. If you were a saddle maker when Ford started producing cars, it didn’t mean you should have started manufacturing automobiles. Instead, you should build on what you know. Take your knowledge of cutting and sewing leather and make seats for the new horseless carriage. Consultants with experience in varied industries may be able to help you think about your business in new and different ways and create a plan for the future.

If you are losing market share, analyze why your competition is winning your customers. Is it your product/service package, pricing, service level, marketing or something else? Getting a fresh perspective can help you to discover why you are losing customers and assist you in putting a plan in place to get them back.

Polly and Doug White

3. You are losing key personnel. If your best employees are leaving, there are reasons. Perhaps your culture is declining. Maybe your customers are unhappy and it’s hurting morale. Alternatively, your competition may be wooing them away. Whatever the reason, the best employees leave a struggling organization because they can. Unfortunately, as this occurs, the speed at which your organization declines will increase. When talent walks out the door, the other employees will smell blood in the water. Only the most loyal and those who have no other good choices will stay. Often a third party can discover what is going on within the ranks. Employees will disclose to the right consultant information that they will withhold from you. With this information, you and your consultant can stop the turnover and salvage the talent that remains.

If your company is experiencing any of the three situations described above, don’t wait. Doing more of the same will not change the outcome. You need an intervention. There is no shame in reaching out for help. However, there may be regret if you wait too long and your window of opportunity closes.

In February 1948, the 76-year-old trestle across the James River that Southern Railway used to haul coal and iron between the Old Dominion Iron and Steel mill and Tredegar Co. was being removed. A 1909 fire had ravaged the bridge, and by 1948, its remnants on the isle were determined to be a fire hazard far beyond any use.

5-20-1948: The Bellwood Drive-In Theater, under construction now four miles south of Richmond city limits, will open on or about May 27. The tower shown in the photo is 70 feet high, serving as front of the theater and screen.

In September 1948, the first pupils entered the Bowler School. The school, at 26th and Leigh streets in Richmond, was previously the Springfield School, which taught white children. It had just been converted to a school for black youths, and more than 700 were enrolled on the first day. It was named for J. Andrew Bowler, the first pastor at Mount Olivet Baptist Church and organizer of a Church Hill school for black children in the 1880s. The building now houses the Bacon and Bowler Retirement Community.

In June 1948, four teenagers played a board game at the Cowardin Avenue Christian Recreation Center in Richmond.

In May 1948, flooding from heavy rains in the Windsor Shades area of New Kent County washed out a Chesapeake & Ohio Railway bed, leaving unsupported rails spanning a chasm. The flooded U.S. Route 60 is in the foreground. As much as 8 feet of water was reported on Route 60 in the area.

In June 1948, Mrs. C.N. Carter made a splash on the 11th hole at Glenwood Country Club in Henrico County as she blasted out of a creek. Carter was playing in a quarterfinal at the city women’s golf championship.

In July 1949, shoppers ducked into doorways or under awnings on Grace Street between Fourth and Fifth streets in downtown Richmond. Summer heat left the block unusually quiet for a Saturday afternoon.

In May 1948, Eldridge E. Scales of Maggie Walker High School conducted an elementary school band rehearsal for the Richmond public schools’ annual spring music festival, “One World Through Music.” The festival, which previously had been held in the Mosque, was postponed twice because bad weather threatened the new location at City Stadium. Despite the delays, about 8,000 people attended the show.

In June 1949, a power line on Brook Road was a tangled mess of wires after a lightning strike during a storm. About 15,000 homes in Ginter Park, Lakeside and nearby areas lost power, though it was restored within an hour.

12-31-1949: Richmond's Baths - The city keeps a close watch on the Grace Arents' baths on Oregon Hill, which cost $4,500 yearly to operate.

In September 1948, as the school year started, Dick Harvey gave a playful tug to Sue Gallegher's pigtails. The new year saw an unexpected boom in registrations across the area. Bellmeade and Summer Hill schools on the Petersburg Pike saw such an increase that they considered adding staff and operating classes on two shifts.

In February 1949, a new sign indicated the nearby Patrick Henry School along Semmes Avenue approaching Forest Hill Avenue in South Richmond.

This May 1948 image shows Boy Scouts enjoying the lake at Camp Shawondasee in Chesterfield County. In May 1965, the camp shut its doors after more than 50 years serving Scouts in the region. The urbanization of Chesterfield around it, limited drinking water and a lake that didn’t hold up to a whole summer of campers led the Scouts to find a new location in Goochland County. The next year, the YMCA purchased the land, and its Camp Thunderbird still operates there today.

This June 1948 image shows the exterior of the Sixth Street Market’s meat building, built in the mid-1800s. The market itself started in the early 19th century. In the mid-1960s, the meat building, with its 42 decorative bull heads, was torn down to make way for a parking lot. Most of the bull heads were salvaged and auctioned, and the market continued in the first floor of the Blue Armory building and in various stalls along the street for another 20 years.

In July 1948, the Sixth Street Market in Richmond had an abundance of locally grown produce. Hanover tomatoes were 10 cents a pound, Crozet peaches were 2 pounds for 35 cents, and butterbeans were 70 cents a pint. Local melons were not available, and the watermelons from other states cost between 50 cents and $1, down from $2 earlier in the season. Other local vegetable prices included carrots for 10 cents a bunch, cucumbers for 5 cents each, cabbage at 5 cents per pound, and squash at 15 cents for 2 pounds.

11-27-1949: Streetcars tend to bunch in Main Street financial district and this contributed to demand for switch to motor vehicles.

In August 1949, Mrs. Thomas Chappell executed a half-twist during the women’s competition of the state AAU Swimming and Diving Championship, held at Byrd Park in Richmond. Chappell won the springboard diving title.

This February 1949 image shows the South Lounge in the Mosque (now the Altria Theater) after its conversion to offices. At the time, the National Park Service was occupying the room that formerly hosted social events and served as a gathering spot for people attending performances.

In July 1948, Vincent K. Bass said goodbye to “Old 912,” an electric trolley car that had been in service in Richmond for nearly 40 years. Bass, a streetcar conductor for 42 years, was reluctantly learning to drive a bus – the following year, the city introduced a bus system to replace the streetcars. A contractor purchased this streetcar; the owner said he might use some of it for storage or as bunking quarters for some employees.

In February 1948, icicles formed a winter tableau along a water tower at Sixth and Porter streets in South Richmond.

In January 1949, Virginia farmers focused their eyes on two mules that were among 169 sold at the annual auction at the Richmond Stockyards. The average price of $157.78 was down about $25 from the previous year. The top sale brought $610; the lowest, only $35.

8/14/2015: In March 1949, smoldering embers and charred, jagged walls were all that remained of the Dunlop Mills in South Richmond. The two brick buildings, which had survived damage during the Civil War, were lost to the fire, which took more than 200 firemen six hours to put out.

In November 1949, Richmond’s electric streetcars, which began service in 1888, were retired from service. Here, a crowd waited to board cars as they took ceremonial final trips through the city, with car signs touting the city’s new bus service. The Virginia Transit Co. spent $2.2 million on 166 buses for the new system.

In October 1949, an organ grinder and his monkey entertained a young girl at the State Fair, held at the Atlantic Rural Exposition fairgrounds. The fair’s array of exhibits and events included motorcycle races, driving safety instruction from the state police and displays of the latest household inventions.

In June 1949, Carl A. Throckmorton (left) showed Richmond Postmaster Fergus McRee one of the 100 new mailboxes that would be installed at city street corners. The additions would bring the total number of receptacles to about 680, meaning no city resident would have to walk more than three blocks to deposit a letter.

In April 1949, Richmond Mayor W. Stirling King threw out the first pitch at the Richmond Colts home opener at Mooers Field. At right, wearing the new home uniform, is Colts manager Vinnie Smith. At left is Ray Schalk, manager of the Newport News Dodgers. The Colts won the Piedmont League game 6-5.

In March 1949, high water on Dock Street in downtown Richmond followed a brief flood that caused no damage. The James River crested at 13.1 feet during the afternoon but receded by 5 feet within hours.

In November 1949, Mrs. James Hicks of James City County and her daughter, Willie Mae, made a cornhusk doormat at home. A roughly 5-yard braid was needed to make the mat. Hicks could make about 200 in a year.

In November 1949, eastern Henrico County farmer J.B. Alvis drove his tractor through 70 acres of soybeans. The machine cut and threshed the beans, and with the help of the boy on the back of the tractor, Alvis bagged them. According to an accompanying article, Virginia farmers produced 1.75 million bushels of soybeans the year before, which grossed them $4.1 million.

In September 1948, Beverly Horsley, a Miller & Rhoads fashion model, choose vegetables from a lavish display at the Sixth Street Market as part of Style Marches On, a weeklong celebration of new fall fashion in the downtown Richmond retail district.

In June 1948, Dewey Picklesimer poured molten iron at Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. Tredegar opened in 1837 and was a major manufacturing center for the Confederacy during the Civil War. It survived the evacuation fire of 1865 and continued as a production facility through most of the 1950s. Today the facility houses the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar.

In August 1948, the Buyer’s Resistance Group, mostly made up of housewives, had been organizing a boycott of local meat markets, such as this one at the Sixth Street Market in Richmond, to attempt to bring down prices. This image was taken during a normally busy time for the market, which instead was nearly empty. Similar boycotts were popping up nationally.

This June 1948 photograph shows the old Sixth Street Market in downtown Richmond. When it was demolished in 1964 to make way for a parking garage, two of the ornamental terra cotta bulls that lined the top of the awning were relocated to the 17th Street Market.

In September 1948, Richmond actress, singer and national radio show host Patsy Garrett greeted a friend downtown during her visit here. Garrett was known for her time on Fred Waring’s “Pleasure Time” radio show in the 1940s and for her recurring film and television roles in “Nanny and the Professor,” “Room 222” and the “Benji” movie series.

In April 1948, James Phillips Schultz supervised a mumble-the-peg game played by two boys at the Richmond Home for Boys. Schultz, 81, was the oldest alumnus of the home. To celebrate the institution’s 102 birthday, alumni, families and children gathered for an afternoon program that included music , games and dancing for the children.

10-31-1948 (cutline):Sportsmen from Virginia and surrounding states brough their best hounds last Monday to Baskerville, near South Hill, for the twenty-sixth annual field trials of the Virginia Fox Hunters Association.

In November 1948, Army Lt. Charles D. Smith Jr. administered the oath to the first set of postwar draftees processed at the Richmond induction station at First and Broad streets. Several of the men were immediately sent to Camp Pickett in Blackstone.

In March 1948, W.J. Peacentini (from left), Lt. L.P. Tyler and L.C. Priddy watched M.E. Williams sink a ball during a game of pool at Firehouse No.7 on East Cary Street in Richmond. The pool table was the center of recreation for many firemen waiting for the alarm.

In October 1948, families and city officials attended a program at the Mosque pool in Richmond, which had just opened for the season. Highlights included a synchronized swimming exhibition as well as swim safety instruction. The pool was in the basement of what is known today as the Altria Theater.

In November 1948, Richmond teens put on their roller skates at the Cavalier Arena with some help from city recreation department employee Jane Hemby. The department held Wednesday afternoon skating parties at the rink, which opened in June 1941 and was at MacTavish Avenue and West Marshall Street in Richmond’s West End.

In November 1948, editors at the Richmond Times-Dispatch copy desk reviewed the first edition of the newspaper shortly after the presses rolled. Managing Editor Ben Johnston (standing) and News Editor Bill Leverty (center, in glasses) led the review. Copy boys were seated at right.

In February 1947, local game warden E.J. Gorman stood atop a dam in one of Chesterfield County’s nine beaver colonies. At the time, two dozen counties had beaver colonies, with an eye toward helping restore fur trapping in Virginia.

In January 1947, a newly renovated basketball court, plus improved lighting and expanded seating, awaited action at the Blues Armory at Sixth and Marshall streets in downtown Richmond. The next evening, the University of Richmond hosted the College of William & Mary. Ticket prices were $1 for adults and 60 cents for children 12 and younger.

This June 1946 image shows Berrier’s Ice Cream, located at the corner of Moore Street and the Boulevard in Scott’s Addition in Richmond. Berrier’s opened a plant on West Broad Street in 1930 – an advertisement for an open house, with samples, humbly touted that it’s “not a tremendous plant, supplying thousands of gallons of ice cream a day … nothing pretentious.” The Boulevard store, which has since been torn down, did serve sundaes and cones, but its main focus was takeout ice cream and blocks of ice.

This September 1947 image shows an Eastern Air Lines plane at Byrd Field. In 1947, the city of Richmond held negotiations with the War Assets Administration for the return of the airport, which had been transformed into the Richmond Army Air Base during World War II. When the field was returned to the city, it was more than 850 acres larger than when the federal government took it over.

On May 25, 1946, a train pulled into Main Street Station in Richmond. That afternoon marked the end of a crippling two-day national railroad strike, which had stranded passengers and cargo – local businesses were able to purchase some of the perishable foods as well as tropical fish. President Harry Truman had threatened an Army takeover of railroad facilities if the striking trainmen and engineers unions didn’t return to work.

In July 1947, “The Soldier,” as many people called the patient of Central State Hospital near Petersburg, sat outside a sentry box he had built on the grounds. The psychiatric hospital dates to 1869, when a former Confederate facility known as Howard’s Grove Hospital was designated as a mental health facility for African-Americans.

This January 1946 photo shows the Central Station Post Office on Second Street in downtown Richmond, whose size increased by a third after a remodeling several months earlier.

On March 8, 1946, while on a trip to America, British wartime leader Winston Churchill addressed a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly in the hall of the House of Delegates. He was flanked by Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson (left) and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the background (from left) are Gov. William M. Tuck, Speaker of the House Thomas B. Stanley and Lt. Gov. Lewis “Pat” Collins II.

In November 1946, female fans wearing the red and white of Thomas Jefferson High School were part of a crowd of 17,000 who watched Teejay beat John Marshall High 6-0 in the Prep Classic at City Stadium in Richmond. John Marshall got to Teejay’s one-foot line in the last minute of play but couldn’t score.

In November 1948, traffic moved through the intersection of Cowardin Avenue and Hull Street in South Richmond. The city was planning several pedestrian safety upgrades at the busy intersection, including painted crosswalks, new signage and a fence along Hull.

This July 1947 image shows the new Curles Neck Dairy plant at 1600 Roseneath Road in Richmond. The building, which cost more than $200,000, gave the 13-year-old dairy modern features including a refreshment room that served up to 50 people, ice-cream-making facilities and curbside service. The building is now home to the Dairy Bar restaurant.

This October 1946 image shows heavy kraft paper, made from wood pulp, that was being converted into drinking cups at a Richmond factory. The majority of Virginia pulp and paper mills made this type of paper, which was used to make other goods. Factories were maximizing production after the war era had developed new and popular paper products.

In March 1946, children at Elba School in Richmond visited the library to get books as their lunch dishes were washed by Principal Ethel T. Overby (second from right) and day center teacher Estelle H. Clark. Opened in 1880 in a white neighborhood, the school on West Marshall Street was designated for black students in 1927. By 1939, the school was recommended for abandonment because of its poor condition and a lack of facilities, such as a cafeteria. It was used until 1955 and later was torn down.

In August 1948, David Singleton fished below the spillway at Birchin Lake in Nottoway County. The soldier from Durham, N.C., eventually was rewarded with a catch of a 4-pound catfish.

This January 1946 image shows Forest Lodge, completed in the early 1880s by Confederate Army scout John Cussons. The six-story resort hotel stood on 1,000 acres in Glen Allen on Mountain Road and boasted more than 100 rooms. It never became the success that Cussons envisioned, and after changing hands and purposes several times, it was razed in 1992. The cupola was saved and can be seen at Mountain Road and Old Washington Highway.

In August 1948, Samuel and William Gladden sought relief from record high temperatures in the horse watering fountain at Broad and Adams streets in downtown Richmond. The fountain was later moved and still stands at the triangle in Jackson Ward where Chamberlayne Parkway meets Adams and Leigh streets.

On Dec. 9, 1947, the Freedom Train stopped in Richmond at Allen Avenue and West Broad Street. People waited in blocks-long lines to tour exhibits of historical artifacts that included the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Truman Doctrine and Bill of Rights. The Freedom Train, which traveled the country between 1947 and 1949, was the first train to visit each of the 48 states (Alaska and Hawaii had not yet gained statehood). Virginians in blocks-long line await turn to tour exhibits aboard Freedom Train at Allen Avenue and Broad Street.

In February 1949, a boxcar from France’s “Merci Train,” loaded with gifts for Virginians, arrived in Richmond. The gifts – including dolls, lace, antique furniture, books, statues and paintings -- were an expression of thanks for the American "Friendship Train," which distributed food to needy Europeans in 1947. Richmonders filled two of the 12 boxcars of supplies sent by Virginia. After ceremonies at the state Capitol, the French boxcar spent a week on display downtown.

In October 1947, Richmond police considered the issue of cars parking next to the grassy medians of Monument Avenue. The city did not want to mar the beauty of the avenue with signs, even though no parking was permitted. While police strictly ticketed violators on weekdays, exceptions were made for churchgoers on Sunday mornings.

In September 1946, a crowd gathered outside a Richmond grocery store on a day that hard-to-get items were available. Because of rationing and shortages during World War II, shop inventory ebbed and flowed for some time afterward as the economy stabilized.

In January 1948, ice and snow created a winter wonderland scene on the James River in Richmond. Subfreezing temperatures had chilled Eastern and Midwestern states and led to a heating oil shortage.

In February 1947, an 18-unit apartment complex in the 2700 block of Kensington Avenue in Richmond was nearing completion.

This February 1946 image shows traffic along Main Street downtown. That month, a New York consultant selected by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce made a series of recommendations to improve local transit, including prohibiting parking along Main Street at busy times. As shown here, when cars were parked along the curb, drivers had to putter behind the glut of streetcars because there was no room to pass.

This June 1947 image shows the Virginia Fire & Marine Insurance Co. building at 1015 Main St. downtown. The company was at this location between 1861 and 1953, though the first building burned with the rest of Richmond in 1865. By 1869, the current structure, also known as the Branch Building, was completed. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered one of Richmond’s finest iron-fronted buildings.

On April 23, 1946, fishing enthusiasts came out to enjoy the bright sunshine on the Mayo Bridge in downtown Richmond. High temperatures matched the 1925 record of 90 degrees.

In May 1946, the historic Richmond Grays marched in a Memorial Day parade en route to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. The unit was organized in 1844 and served most famously in the Civil War; its history is incorporated in today’s 276th Engineer Battalion of the Virginia National Guard.

In June 1946, James Q. Jones took his male donkey on a two-week breeding circuit through Goochland, Louisa and Hanover counties. Jones “bugled his brains out” on his Boy Scout bugle to alert nearby horse owners and members of the League for Planned Mule Parenthood of his arrival.

In October 1948, a woman tried to pick up a nickel from the sidewalk near Ninth and Broad streets in downtown Richmond – but it was a long-lasting prank. For April Fools’ Day months earlier, the firefighters at Engine Co. 3 had embedded the coin so no one could pick it up. They had been pulling a coin prank for eight or nine years, and usually someone would eventually pry it loose. For the nickel, some days could see nearly 100 people try to claim the coin.

In April 1947, a portable drilling rig was set up in an oil field in Lee County in Southwest Virginia. During the decade, Lee was home to about 70 oil and gas test wells that had been drilled in the region.

In April 1948, the old Manchester water works at the foot of 22nd Street in South Richmond was within months of being dismantled. The plant was built in the 1890s when Richmond and Manchester were twin cities — they consolidated in 1910, and the structure was abandoned in 1914 after Richmond extended a water main into the area.

In October 1947, 85-year-old B.W. Partee (seated), caretaker at Camp Shawondasee in Chesterfield County for 26 years, was ready to retire. He was known as a storyteller, and here, he entertained E.G. McDowell, field executive of the Richmond Boy Scouts Council. Shawondasee closed in 1965 after more than 50 years serving Scouts in the region. The next year, the YMCA purchased the land, and its Camp Thunderbird still operates there.

In June 1946, 3,000 Shriners staged a parade downtown as part of the 60th anniversary celebration for Richmond’s ACCA Temple. Nearly 300 candidates for admission to the temple were present for induction rites at the event. Here, the Richmond Guard of Honor marched in the parade.

This August 1947 image of the Richmond skyline was published in the Richmond News Leader as a comparison with a sketch of the same skyline that was published in 1901 in the Evening Leader.

In February 1947, children hit the sleds at Bryan Park in Richmond to take advantage of a snow day. Snow and sleet had covered Virginia – some areas of the state received as much as 27 inches.

In January 1949, state toxicologist Sidney Kaye tested blood for lead poisoning. He joined the chief medical examiner’s office in 1947 after working in the St. Louis police department’s research lab.

In April 1946, Richmond was conducting a citywide cleanup, even using a snowplow to scoop away years of debris from street gutters. The campaign, which began in late March, aimed to get the city back to a tidy appearance, after which officials planned to enforce litter laws, perform more regular trash collection and engage residents to help keep the city clean. A major goal of the effort was to reduce the rat population, which had risen to more than 300,000 – there were more rats than residents.

In October 1953, Mary Workman (holding music stand), better known as Sunshine Sue, sang with her band. From 1946 to 1957, Workman was host of the popular “Old Dominion Barn Dance” music radio show, broadcast nationally on Saturday nights on WRVA from the Lyric Theater in downtown Richmond. The program helped launch the careers of several country music stars.

In February 1948, a Richmond policeman placed a parking ticket on the windshield of a car that was double-parked, which prevented other drivers from leaving their spaces.

In August 1948, an intersection along East Broad Street in downtown Richmond reflected a new safety measure: Traffic light poles on Broad between First and 11th streets were painted with black and white diagonal stripes, with an eye toward helping drivers avoid hitting them.

This February 1946 image shows Richmond streetcars double-berthing at First and Broad streets downtown. Loading and unloading streetcars simultaneously at the same stop helped speed transit service, according to Virginia Transit Company officials.

In April 1948, a nurse in the tuberculosis ward of McGuire Hospital in Richmond assisted a patient with a weaving project. More than a pastime, working the loom was a treatment that helped TB patients strengthen muscle. Patients typically were hospitalized for about six months.

In April 1947, University of Richmond students prepared for an open house in their lab classroom. The students named the class skeleton Josephine.

In November 1947, the James River Garden Club sponsored a tour of five houses to raise funds to restore the gardens at the

03-02-1948 (cutline): Rush hour crowd watches smoke pour from building at 14th and Main during fire. Traffic tied up an hour by three-alarm blaze at Casket Company late yesterday.

In June 1947, trucks blocked Cary Street in the wholesale produce district while passenger cars waited to get through. The Times-Dispatch ran a series analyzing Richmond’s traffic problems such as this, and reviewing a proposed expressway. Based on a survey completed by the Automotive Safety Foundation, the series indicated that the current infrastructure could not handle the predicted increase in traffic, and construction of the expressway was recommended.

In April 1947, about 20,000 pounds of paper was collected in a drive at Dumbarton Elementary School in Henrico County, with Edward O'Brien (from left), Leroy Foster and Thomas Riggan in charge. The paper was sold, with proceeds used to purchase library books and other materials for students. The previous year, paper-drive money purchased a mimeographing machine for teacher use.

In January 1957, Dot Perkins led a dance class in “the hut” at the Powhatan Hill playground in Richmond. The playground received the Quonset hut, a semicircular structure made out of corrugated metal, in 1947 after city officials authorized using $15,000 to erect it. It quickly became a center of extracurricular activities for area children.

This May 1947 image shows a street scene on Main Street near Ninth Street in downtown Richmond. At the time, cars shared the road with electric streetcars. Two years later, with the increase in buses and automobiles, the streetcar system was replaced.

In July 1947, Richmond midget car driver Cary Williams (in white T-shirt) and mechanic Charles Nigro pushed out the new Ford-Kurtiscraft car, which Nigro built, in preparation for racing at Richmond Stadium Speedway.

In December 1947, T.E. Burton Jr. diagnosed a patient at his doll hospital on Forest Hill Avenue in Richmond. Burton, a state Highway Department employee, was part-time chief surgeon at the doll hospital he ran out of his home. He got into the repair business when his two young daughters received antiquated china dolls as gifts that were badly in need of work. Burton averaged about 10 patients a week, with a busy season around the holidays.

In April 1947, members of the West Avenue Improvement Association enjoyed a backyard picnic after the first day of the neighborhood’s spring cleanup campaign. From left are R.R. McKaig, Mrs. Granville Coleman and Mr. and Mrs. Chris Payne.

In June 1947, Richmond officials put up warning signs near the city limits on West Broad Street to limit speeding, which was a top traffic concern at the time.

In April 1947, Ed Brooking, the 68-year-old proprietor of the Cedar Point Grist Mill in Goochland County, loaded corn into a funnel to be ground by the millstones. While his machine was old and often required maintenance, Brooking swore by the method of stone-ground corn.

In May 1947, the Main Street Station tower in Richmond was still missing its clocks, which were removed during World War II because it was difficult to find replacement parts. At the time, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway was receiving cost estimate to restore the clocks.

In March 1946, British wartime leader Winston Churchill’s trip to America included an address to the General Assembly. He waved to a crowd that waited in the rain to see him as his motorcade came through Capitol Square in Richmond.

In May 1946, the future of the military draft was in question, and David Burruss, 19, of Norfolk, got lots of attention when he was thought to be the last man selected at the Richmond Armed Forces Induction Station. He was among about a dozen inductees who then headed off to Fort Meade in Maryland. (The wartime selective service act was extended, though.)

In August 1946, leaders of the three flights in the Gamble’s Hill Community Center Air Scouts received their banners at the first review of the corps held in Gamble's Hill Park. This was the only troupe of Air Scouts organized in Richmond at that time; they wore the regulation National Air Scout uniform. Pictured (from left) were pilot leader Eddie Williams, sponsor Verna Walker, pilot leader William Massie, sponsor Barbara Chandler, pilot leader Everett Webb and sponsor Virginia Blackburn. The community center was financed by Second Presbyterian Church.

This April 1946 image shows members of the Girl Reserve Club at Maggie Walker High School in Richmond. Club activities included drama, knitting, glass painting, embroidery and sewing. From left were Laura Belle Manning, Marie Spurlock, Eloise Taylor and Gladys Claxton.

In November 1946, Henrico County police seized 20 pinball machines and made multiple arrests as part of a countywide raid. The coin-operated machines were licensed for amusement only, but they had money drawers that collected from and dispensed to patrons.

In September 1945, an Allied Victory Day parade was staged by Richmond's Chinese population and visiting Chinese residents from other cities. Several colorful floats such as this one, a Marine Corps band from Quantico, two Chinese orchestras, native costumes, high school cadet bands, and units of soldiers and sailors from nearby camps marched along the route that began at Boulevard and Monument Avenue.

In October 1942, the Richmond chapter of the American Red Cross moved into its new headquarters in the Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House at Fifth and Main streets downtown. Helping to move were Jeanne Begien (left), Evelyn Bishop (front), Mrs. Roger F. Clapp (back) and Mrs. Leland Jones (peering from back of truck).

This September 1942 image shows the uniforms of the volunteer services of the American Red Cross. From left: Georgina Marracinia, outdoor uniform; Nancy Wortham, staff assistant; Mrs. C.F. Bowles, gray ladies; Mrs. William Hall, nurses’ aide; Mrs. Livingstone, home service; Mrs. J. Scott Parrish Jr., canteen; Mrs. Robert Cabell III, production, and Mrs. Collins Denny Jr., motor corps.

On Nov. 11, 1942, John Marshall High School cadet sergeants M. Cohen and J.C. Fuquay played taps during a service on Armistice Day at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond. They stood under the church’s service flag: Each blue star represented a church member who was on active duty in World War II, and each gold star represented a church member lost in the war. Service flags were popular for families but sometimes were used by organizations and communities.

This June 1942 image shows the Belgian Friendship Building and Bell Tower at Virginia Union University in Richmond. The building served as the Belgian Pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, but because Belgium was under wartime occupation after the event, it could not be returned to the country. Belgium gifted the building to VUU -- it was reassembled on campus starting in 1941 and housed the university library for decades.

In February 1942, a blackout test during World War II – in case enemy aircraft flew over the city – darkened the interior of many buildings in downtown Richmond. The one-hour exercise, which covered the Richmond and Tri-Cities area, required that buildings and residences turn off lights or prevent light from being seen from the outside. Buses, ambulances and personal vehicles were also asked to remain off the roads.

In August 1945, tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson showed his wife, Elaine, the house at 915 N. Third St. in which he was born. Robinson, who left Richmond at age 7 to join a traveling show, wanted to get a photo of the house so that his show business friends would believe his stories about his humble beginnings.

In October 1959, Richmond homemaker Virginia Mann prepared a recipe from her Braille cookbook. Mann knew how to cook before she lost her sight in 1945, so her readjustment included using other senses to help prepare meals for her family of five. “Now cooking is second nature, and I just don’t stop to think about it,” she said.

In May 1946, a passenger train pulled out of Broad Street Station in Richmond and headed to Washington. At the time, a potential labor strike was threatening service.

In June 1942, workers lifted a car – temporarily – from the middle quarry at Bryan Park. It had been stolen days earlier, and once it was pulled to the bank, Henrico County police confirmed that no one was in it. But halfway up the bank, shortly after this picture was taken, the chain broke and the car slipped back into the quarry – 32 feet of water had to be pumped out of the quarry before the car could be recovered.

In September 1944, the Carters - Anita, June and their mother, Maybelle - gather for a song while the oldest daughter, Helen, accompanies them on the accordion.

This August 1941 image shows a woman working in a tobacco factory. An accompanying story outlined the growth of Virginia women in the workforce. Based on 1930 census data, more than 6,000 women worked in tobacco factories – the sixth-ranked source of employment for women.

In June 1941, the Police Benevolent Association presented its sixth annual boxing show at City Stadium, headlined by Jimmy Webb, Johnny “Bandit” Romero, Georgie Abrams and Richmond’s Joey Spangler. A crowd of more than 10,000 watched Webb knock out Romero in the third round, and Abrams won a decision over Spangler. Tickets were $1 for general admission, $2 for reserved and $3 for ringside.

In October 1927, John Lewis Fink, 77, the youngest soldier in the Robert E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers’ Home, and Sidney Jennings Robertson, 79, the next youngest, played checkers as fellow residents E.G. Tyler and P.S. Childress watched. The facility, at the corner of Grove Avenue and the Boulevard in Richmond, closed after the last resident died in 1941.

In December 1941, the Defense Special No. 1 train stopped in Richmond at Broad Street Station. Nearly 800 local manufacturers were issued tickets to visit the eight-car train, which held an array of sample equipment that the government needed contractors to build for the war effort – such as guns, airplane and ship parts, field hospital equipment, chairs, saws and pipe fittings. The train staff interviewed and guided qualified manufacturers through the process to become a contractor.

In April 1942, about 26,000 Richmond men ages 45 to 64 participated in the country’s fourth Selective Service registration. These men were registering at Ginter Park School. Men in this age range were not subject to military service at that time, but they were being asked about special skills to determine how they could best aid the war effort.

This September 1942 image shows the outside restrooms at the Elba School in Richmond. Opened in 1880 in a white neighborhood, the school on West Marshall Street was designated for black students in 1927. By 1939, the school was recommended for abandonment because of its poor condition and a lack of facilities, such as adequate interior restrooms. It was used until 1955 and later was torn down.

1-20-1942: Mrs. Price looks on while Lucille, the mansion's cook, mixes up something special in the kitchen, which has been completely renovated during the Price administration.

In January 1943, William H. Haskins gazed over what was left of his Health Centre Inc. bowling alley at Hermitage Road and Meadow Street in Richmond after a fire. The sprawling brick building, which opened in 1928 and housed 36 lanes, was totally destroyed.

In July 1943, gas shortages prompted the Retailers for Victory campaign to stage Richmond’s first “gasless parade” to promote the sale of war stamps, which would fund construction of the aircraft carrier Shangri-La. The event featured all manner of transportation not fueled by gas: Gov. Colgate Darden rode in an ox-driven cart, and a goat-powered wagon (center right) carried Mayor Gordon Ambler along the parade route from Monroe Park to Capitol Square.

In June 1943, students at the Grace Arents School celebrated the end of the school year. The Oregon Hill school, which opened in 1911, honored the philanthropist for her donation of the land and $5,000 toward the building. After decades as an elementary school and later a special education school, the building has housed Open High School since 1989.

6-26-1942: 6th and Grace Streets looking west at 5:30pm.

11-9-1944: Grace Street sidewalk being cleared of today's 'black snow.' Soot and grime. Air pollution.

In March 1942, members of the Henrico Red Cross Motor Corps participated in a test drill in uniform. The women had completed courses in basic and advanced first aid, motor mechanics and blackout driving. The motor corps was established by the American Red Cross in 1917 during World War I to transport wounded soldiers to local hospitals and deliver supplies.

This December 1951 image shows the Highland Springs Volunteer Fire Department. The unit was organized in July 1941 with 45 volunteers and a $6,000 fire truck. The unit moved into this building on Nine Mile Road in 1947. At far left is Fire Chief Percy L. Burnett.

This September 1942 image shows the Holden Rhodes House, also known as the old Stone House, located at Forest Hill Park in South Richmond. The house, named for the noted lawyer and businessman who built it, dates to around 1840 and was made of granite from the quarries on the original estate. It was remodeled in the 1930s and for a time was home to a library. The house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, now serves as an event venue.

In January 1943, workmen of the Virginia Electric and Power Company repaired damage from sleet and ice at Brook Road and Westwood Avenue.

In September 1944, Richmond city employees hurriedly made preparations for a James River flood by filling and loading sandbags. The James ultimately rose to 24.2 feet in the city after heavy rains throughout the river’s watershed.

In December 1945, the Virginia Department of Highways debuted its newest piece of equipment on U.S. Route 1 between Richmond and Ashland. The road magnet, moving at about 15 mph, picked up nails, spikes, tacks and other metallic objects on roads that might lead to flat tires.

In March 1942, residents of the Lakeside area took down their Rural Free Delivery mailboxes, which had given way to new, smaller metal boxes on porches. Richmond delivery would be beginning as a result of annexation, in which the city added portions of Henrico and Chesterfield counties (about 16 square miles covering 22,000 residents).

12-30-1943: Morton Marks 1217 E Main St. The block at left is between 13 & 14 on East Main St & looking East on Main. Fire.

In April 1941, the Mayo Bridge in downtown Richmond underwent a two-month repaving project. Tolls on the Lee Bridge were lifted for cars with city license plates to ease the inconvenience during the work. The Mayo Bridge, also known as the 14th Street Bridge, is where the original structure connected Richmond and Manchester in the late 1700s. TONING COMPLETE -- Repaving starts on Mayo Bridge. This picture shows workmen repaving the Mayo Bridge. Southbound traffic can be seen over the span. Northbound traffic has been halted during the repairs. Fourteenth Street Bridge.

This November 1941 image shows the newly installed “Three Bears” statue in front of the Medical College of Virginia Hospital at the corner of 12th and Broad streets in Richmond. Noted sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington created the work, which she and her husband, Archer Milton Huntington, donated to the college. Bears are a symbol of healing in Native American culture. Decades later, the statue was moved inside to protect it.

In May 1946, a young Randy Morris peered over a truckload of watermelons, which was en route to be sold at the 17th Street Farmers’ Market in downtown Richmond.

In October 1942, Richmond was the site of Virginia’s largest military parade since World War II began, with more than 6,000 uniformed men and women marching along Monument Avenue and Franklin, Belvidere and Broad streets. The parade was organized as part of the nation’s drive to secure the voluntary enlistment of 18 and 19-year-olds in the war effort.

In March 1942, Robert Price stood beside a horse and wagon he would soon be driving for the Miller & Rhoads department store in Richmond. With the government calling for conserving tires as shortages loomed during World War II, Miller & Rhoads and Thalhimers looked to their past to find alternate ways deliver purchases to customers, as was their custom at the time.

In April 1942, Mrs. Tazewell Perrow served soup to children from Bon Air School from the first mobile canteen for Chesterfield County. The canteen also served a test “disaster supper” at the Bon Air Community House later that week. The mobile kitchen would be used to feed civilians in case of a disaster involving more than five families.

In January 1943, Mrs. J. Scott Parrish Jr., Gordon Sheain and Joe Brown examined a mobile kitchen that was part of the Red Cross Canteen Corps in Richmond. Red Cross members would use the canteens to feed soldiers; they practiced by feeding large groups at Richmond-area churches, parks and events. The $1,795 canteen was made possible through proceeds from a city scrap metal drive directed by Sheain and donations from WRVA listeners of Brown’s “Okay America” program. Parrish led the Red Cross canteen committee.

This January 1946 image shows team owner Eddie Mooers standing outside his baseball park. Located at Norfolk and Roseneath streets, Mooers Field hosted the Richmond Colts from 1942 through 1953. Mooers then converted the field into a stock car racetrack for a time before it was sold and dismantled in the late 1950s.

This March 1946 image shows Mooers Field, with grass throughout the infield but dirt beyond. Located at Norfolk and Roseneath streets, Mooers Field hosted the Richmond Colts from 1942 through 1953. Eddie Mooers then converted the field into a stock car racetrack for a time before it was sold and dismantled in the late 1950s. 3-7-1946: 'And the green grass grows all around' - the infield. But the Mooers Field outfield is mighty barren these days.

This April 1941 image shows Pamunkey Indians returning with a catch of several dozen shad to the tribe’s King William County reservation. At the time, shad was the most valuable commercial food fish in Virginia waters. Sometimes as many as 1,000 fish were caught by the tribe in a 24-hour period.

In March 1942, Richmond staged its first parade since the United States entered World War II – it honored 110 Virginia aviation cadets who were to be sworn in at the state Capitol at the conclusion of the event. The parade included a battalion of 1,000 troops from Fort Lee as well as several color guards, including the American Legion color guard seen here.

In December 1942, East Main Street in downtown Richmond between First and Second streets reflected a parking ban that aimed to speed streetcar service. The ban was in effect from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. – though one car in the distance was parked illegally.

In August 1943, Thalhimers was allowing nighttime use of part of this parking area, at Seventh and East Grace streets downtown, as the Parking Lot Canteen, a place for service members to spend their evenings dancing under the stars. The dance pavilion project was financed by the Richmond War and Community Fund. Included in the experience were complimentary refreshments – and hostesses available as dancing partners for those who didn't bring their own dates.

In September 1943, the Quiz Kids learned about railroading from RF&P engineer C.W. Shackleford (rear) during their visit to Richmond to help sell war bonds during World War II. The youths – Richard Williams (from left), Harvey Fischman and Gerard Darrow – were part of a national radio and TV series in which children with high IQs answered questions from listeners. The show was broadcast on NBC in the 1940s and ‘50s.

In February 1944, E.W. Saunders, a clerk at R.L. Christian & Co. in downtown Richmond, showed Mrs. L.E. Barber how to use ration tokens. The tokens were used during World War II to purchase rationed goods, which in the Richmond area included food, liquor, rubber and gasoline.

In March 1943, meat and cheese were added to World War II rationing, and Richmond butcher Herman Linas weighed 5-ounce pieces of meat that marked a typical portion. Rationing began in early 1942, with sugar among the first items targeted. Many other products followed, from vehicle tires to foodstuffs to gasoline.

In August 1942, Anna Purcell (left) and Mrs. Thomas P. Bryan oversaw the surgical dressing division at the Red Cross chapter in Richmond. After the dressings were made, they were distributed all over the world.

In June 1946, guard Herbert Barr fed the elk at the Army’s Richmond Quartermaster Depot at Bellwood in Chesterfield County. The land was purchased by James Bellwood in 1877, and he brought in a pair of elk from his native Canada to feel more at home. By 1941, when the Army purchased the land from Bellwood’s sons, there were 11 elk, and the sons were more concerned with the welfare of the elk than the transfer of the land. The Army agreed to take care of the elk and continues to do so to this day. The Army's elk brigade - and they can't be discharged. Herbert R. Barr, guard at the Richmond General Depot, feeds his charges.

In May 1941, the Robert E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers’ Home was closed after the last resident died. This was the scene when demolition of the buildings began, with one of the cannons visible at the facility at the corner of Grove Avenue and the Boulevard in Richmond. At one time there were at least eight cannons, and today one remains outside the former chapel, across from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

In July 1942, manpower and a cart were a means of transporting new books to the Rosa D. Bowser Branch of the Richmond library during the gas-rationing days of World War II. Bowser was a prominent African-American educator and social activist in Richmond from the 1880s to the 1920s. The branch was the city library’s first that was opened to African-Americans.

In fall 1942, Virginia newspaper publishers sponsored a three-week scrap metal drive to aid the war effort. Here, workmen removed decorative lights – installed in 1924 and made mostly of cast iron, weighing 317 pounds each – from the front of the Richmond Newspapers building to add to the heap. Richmond exceeded its goal of collecting 15 million pounds of scrap.

In February 1943, Aaron Hyman repaired a shoe in his Richmond store. With wartime shoe rationing, cobblers were swamped with business for repairs. Hyman said that since the rationing began, his business had doubled.

Dec 26, 1943: Traffic jam at 6th street market, looking south from Marshall St.

In December 1943, Richmond Mayor Gordon Ambler broke in the city’s new street sweeper, which had been on order for months. Wartime restrictions on manufacturing slowed production and delivery of the motorized sweeper, which city officials said was needed in light of the labor shortage in the streets unit of the Department of Public Works. The low bidder for the sweeper priced it at $4,325.

In May 1967, the Thomas Jefferson High School Cadet Corps marched in a parade. The corps was created in 1942 and had more than 500 cadets in the first class. The corps folded after the 1971 school year.

In March 1943, workers unloaded tin cans into a storage container at the RF&P Railroad yards near Broad and Lombardy streets in Richmond. The cans were collected in the area as part of “Win With Tin” campaign during World War II. The first day yielded 30,000 pounds of tin.

This October 1943 image shows a home that stood near West Cary and Nansemond streets in Richmond’s Carytown area. Built around 1851, it housed a toll-gate keeper who served along what was then known as Westham Plank Road. The home later became on office for Williams & Harvey Nursery and was restored in 1967. A shopping center is on the site today.

In January 1945, Alma May Billings, a 22-year-old streetcar operator for the Virginia Transit Co., modeled one of the new uniforms that had been procured to end a long controversy about what the women should wear. The uniforms were gray with dubonnet trim. Drawn up by stylists for the Virginia Electric and Power Co., the uniforms initially carried a Vepco insignia, but it was soon replaced with a VTC emblem.

In April 1945, A.J. Stephan (seated) and R.L. Anderson (left), both veterans of World War I and employees at Underwood Elliott Fisher Co. in downtown Richmond, trained recent World War II vets in the repair and servicing of typewriters.

In October 1942, employees J.H. Elder, Jackson P. Duggins and T.B. Martin of the Virginia Department of Agriculture’s chemistry division used an array of test equipment in the state gasoline laboratory. The lab on Governor Street in downtown Richmond was in its second year of operation, in a building that previously housed a power plant for the Capitol area.

In December 1942, newspaper boys Arthur (left) and Thomas Purvis of Richmond bought war bonds with money they saved from their routes. Together, the brothers bought 11 $25 bonds from R. Page French, executive vice president of Southern Bank and Trust Co.

In January 1946, construction continued on a 1 million-gallon water storage tank near Hawthorne Avenue and Old Brood Road in North Richmond. The tank, costing $125,000, was to be 93 feet high and 125 feet wide.

In September 1984, Willie Thompson added flour to dough at Weiman’s Bakery on Church Hill in Richmond. The bakery was opened in 1945 by Jacob Weiman and produced nearly 120,000 pounds of baked goods each month at its peak. Over the years, the bakery supplied grocery stores, brand-name bread dealers and local restaurants. After almost seven decades, Weiman’s closed in February 2013.

In August 1942, white visitors enjoyed a day at Wilcox Lake in Petersburg. The swimming facility was segregated, and the lake was closed by the city in 1958 to prevent integration. It was never officially reopened for swimming (though in the 1960s, fishing was permitted at the lake).

In November 1945, Mrs. James A Quisenberry visited WLEE radio station in Richmond to collect her $209 winnings for playing the Tello-Test quiz show. Quisenberry returned the check to studio general manager Irving Abeloff (left) in exchange for Victory Bonds. Production manager Jim Fair stood ready to hand her the bonds, which continued to be a popular way to help with the war effort.

In October 1945, a dedication ceremony for new radio station WLEE was broadcast from the Mosque in Richmond. From left, WLEE owner Thomas Tinsley was joined by film and stage actors Guy Kibbee and Jean Parker as well as station manager Irvin G. Abeloff.

In June 1943, eight of the 10 members of Women in Production Service central committee met. WIPS had organized at DuPont Co.’s Spruance plant in Chesterfield County that March as part of a nationwide movement of women taking over work in factories as men served during World War II. The committee included representatives for plant management and labor, and the chairwoman reported to the Spruance War Production Committee.

In June 1944, to mark the Fifth War Loan campaign, Richmond hosted a parade that included Women’s Army Corps members. The organization was formed initially in May 1942 as the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and took on its new name in 1943. Aside from nurses, the WACs were the first women to serve in the Army, and other military branches had similar groups that formed during World War II. The organization was officially disbanded as a women’s branch in 1978, with all members folding into full Army.

In May 1941, some Richmonders wondered why Works Progress Administration workers were digging holes and apparently refilling them with the same dirt. The effort was actually a tree-planting beautification project sponsored by the Department of Public Works. The WPA worker dug a 3x3x3-foot hole, then filled it with enriched top soil. A young tree was later planted – more than 1,000 of them.

In September 1945, the sound of the bell summoned students to George Wythe School in Richmond on the first day of class.

In December 1945, Richmond lawyer Robert R. Merhige Jr. worked with his secretary, Mrs. Robert Wagner, to conduct inventory at a laundry on North Addison Street for which he had been appointed receiver. Merhige, who had recently been discharged from the Army Air Forces, later became a federal judge in Virginia.

In May 1954, Scoop sniffed around the pet food aisle at a grocery store in Richmond’s West End. The store offered a large selection of pet foods, a relatively new concept for the era. The accompanying article said: “Gone, apparently, are the days that Fido took the scraps from the table and liked them.”

In August 1945, Richmond News Leader reporter Irene Stickler got her palm read by a fortune teller at the newspaper office. For a story, Stickler got her fortune told by six area psychics and compared their interpretations of her past, present and future.

In February 1944, a group of Lakeside air raid wardens rolled bandages for the Red Cross at the Hatcher Memorial Church on Dumbarton Road in Henrico County. During World War II, the sight of women in overalls doing what traditionally had been men’s jobs had grown familiar. And while the reverse was less common, the military’s need for surgical dressings prompted these men to help answer the call. They had taken first-aid courses, too.

This June 1938 image shows the old YMCA building at Seventh and Grace streets in downtown Richmond. Built in 1908, it was the center of “Y” activities for 30 years. In 1938, it was sold for $300,000, and the YMCA later relocated to West Franklin Street, where it remains today. This building was torn down after the sale, and a new one replaced it.

In October 1947, as Richmonders headed home from work, Thomas Jefferson High School students distributed literature for the Junior Chamber of Commerce promoting the change to a council-manager type of city government. In the next month’s vote, the issue generated a higher turnout than the 1944 presidential election, and the new charter was approved overwhelmingly.

In November 1944, Mrs. Alfred Adkins of Gordo, Ala., and her two young daughters visited the Travelers’ Aid Society in Richmond en route to Williamsburg, where her military husband was stationed. The society was a charter member of the Richmond War and Community Fund and offered travel assistance to servicemen and civilians.

In June 1944, Richmond street sweepers wielded brooms along Adams Street. They were among the first 28 African-Americans hired by the city for the previously all-white field of employment.

In December 1944, employees of DuPont’s Spruance plant in Chesterfield County worked to find housing and transportation for company workers. During the war, the women – Mary B. Traylor (from left), Bella C. Hill and Pearl R. Kessler – helped new employees get adjusted to their jobs.

In September 1944, dwellers of Richmond-area houseboats endured nature’s wrath as the James River swelled after a storm. The boats often were secured to trees or pilings, but rising floodwaters put them in jeopardy.

This July 1955 image shows the building, at Madison and Grace streets in Richmond, that once sat downtown and housed First Presbyterian Church. Completed in 1853 at the current site of Old City Hall, the building’s outer shell was moved to Madison and Grace in the mid-1880s to make room for the city building. In 1943, the Acca Shriners, who had lost the Mosque (now Altria Theater) during the Great Depression, purchased the old church building. They used it until the mid-1950s; the building has since been torn down.

In June 1943, an executive of Atlantic Life Insurance Co. posted a sign in the elevators at the office building at Main and Sixth streets in downtown Richmond. The sign, which asked men to keep their hats on, challenged tradition – in the presence of women, men customarily removed their hats and held them to their chest. The executive felt the new policy would speed elevator service and allow for more room.

In June 1943, the restaurant at a Peoples Drug Store in Richmond was bustling. The chain was founded in 1905 in Alexandria, and by 1943, there were six locations in the Richmond area, plus one in Petersburg. Many of them had lunch counters.

In March 1943, teenagers visited the newly reopened Main Street Station Dining Room in Richmond, which was closed for a month to allow for remodeling required by the city. During that period, the Red Cross stepped in to supply food to World War II servicemen passing through the terminal.

In September 1943, Richmond women participated in a Red Cross swimming program to practice personal safety, rescue and resuscitation methods.

In June 1943, shoppers waited outside a Hofheimer’s shoe store on East Broad Street in downtown Richmond, eager to use their No. 17 ration coupon before it expired. Shoes were among the items rationed during World War II because of shortages of leather and rubber. In the two days before the coupon expired, Richmond shoe businesses saw thousands of customers deplete their inventories.

In July 1942, Mrs. P.M. Edwards directed a group of women to a shelter during a daylight air raid test in Richmond. She was among the first women to serve as auxiliary wardens during a test.

In May 1942, Reaville M. Brown, a government engineer from Savannah, Ga., presented his X card to E.D. Dover at Jim’s Service Station on East Grace Street in Richmond. That month, Richmond drivers were among many on the East Coast who got gasoline cards as part of World War II rationing. An X card allowed unlimited purchases and typically was available to physicians, public transportation drivers, clergy and government officials. For most car owners, their A card had limited units in 3-gallon increments.

In June 1942, the fifth registration for the Selective Service, covering men ages 18-20, took place across the nation. Here, Walter Nelson (left), 18, and William Arnette, 20, arrived to register at Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond. They were among an estimated 7,500 young Richmonders to be registered.

In May 1942, Rawling Davenport rode an old-fashioned bike for the Play Day program held in Richmond’s Byrd Park. The event was sponsored by the city and a Community Fund agency to encourage participation in sports.

In January 1942, writer Emma Speed Sampson worked at her desk in her Richmond home. Sampson’s career as a well-known writer began later in life, at age 45. Her work included continuing several book series, including “Miss Minerva,” “Molly Brown,” and the Bluebird Books (“Mary Louise”) line that originated with L. Frank Baum under a pseudonym. She even wrote features for the Richmond Times-Dispatch for several years.

In May 1942, actress-singers Dorothy Lamour (center), Patsy Garrett (at left) and actor Bert Lytell (at right) visited Richmond as part of a rally to stimulate sales of war bonds and stamps. They stood under a “Welcome to Richmond” sign and were flanked by Malcolm Bridges (left), the executive secretary of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, and Ship Ahoy Girls Jetsy Parker and Dorothy Schoemer. The rally drew a crowd of more than 5,000.

In March 1942, A. Edward Campbell, state campaign manager for the United Service Organization, stood beside his new car. His purchase was the first car sale since Richmond began a car rationing program as part of the war effort during World War II.

In September 1942, members of Richmond Hotels Inc. donated typewriters to the War Production Board and the Office of War Information in response to an appeal for businesses to let the government have any machines they could spare.

This June 1946 image shows the train depot at the Army’s Richmond Quartermaster Depot at Bellwood in Chesterfield County. The Army purchased the land from the Bellwood family in 1941 and activated the post the following year. It was heavily used during World War II – more than 800 rail cars would pass through on some days.

This April 1941 image shows the old-fashioned way the Pamunkey Indians in King William County cured the shad they caught. The fish were split in half, cleaned thoroughly and nailed on boards, upon which they were allowed to dry. At intervals, salt was sprinkled over the curing fish. At the time, shad was the most valuable commercial food fish in Virginia waters.

In April 1941, the dance floor was full at the newly opened Service Club at Camp Lee in Prince George County. The dance kicked off a series that was to run three times per week, with a different battalion invited each night. About 500 service members and 125 girls attended this first dance.

In June 1941, Richmond firefighters (from left) Charles Donnini, I.A. Butler and W.C. Gilman helped collect aluminum from Richmonders. Scrap metal drives were a popular way to support national defense and war preparation efforts.

On Dec. 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, soldiers and sailors were called to return to their bases. This farewell scene in Richmond was a common one around the nation.

In October 1941, a review of 10,400 troops was conducted at Camp Lee after the Quartermaster Replacement Training Center completed a second 13-week training period. The review was the first official appearance of the 10th Quartermaster Training Regiment, which had just been activated that week, bringing the number of training regiments there to five as war preparations accelerated.

In April and May 1940, volunteers with the Chesterfield County branch of the American Red Cross Production Corps put in 314 collective hours of work making 40 dresses, 12 sweaters and 14 banners for the relief drive to aid war-stricken Europeans. The volunteers shown here are (from left) Mrs. A. Baake, Mrs. W.E. Pearce, Mrs. J.P. Belcher, Mrs. W.F. Saunders, Mrs. H.E. Adams, Mrs. N.H. Cogbill and Mrs. H.C. Cline.

In September 1941, Elwyn Major (left) and Virgie Gentry of Richmond practiced archery, a sport that was attracting more interest from females.

Could be 1948 or 1940. Academic Masons - Dr. Elwood B. Boone works on a basement window installation and A. J. Miller (right foreground), readies the mortar for a brick. Halsey T. Johnson (in long coat) instructor of Maggie L. Walker bricklaying class, checks on the progress of another class member.

In December 1941, soldiers from Camp Lee in Prince George County were positioned on the south end of the old Lee Bridge in Richmond just days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II. On Dec. 22, The Times-Dispatch reported that a “fully armed anti-tank company of the 111th United States Army regiment had arrived” in the middle of the night and was “on 24-hour guard duty at vital points in Richmond.”

In December 1940, barracks for 1 million soldiers were being built quickly at Camp Lee near Petersburg and other bases around the country - the Selective Training and Service Act had been enacted in September as part of preparations for World War II. At some installations, structures went up at the rate of one every 54 minutes.

In March 1941, RTD film critic Edith Lindeman traveled to Hollywood, where interviewed actor Clark Gable – he was preparing to star in the MGM film “They Met in Bombay” with Rosalind Russell. Lindeman, who in a 1973 article recalled how Hollywood would invite writers to the West Coast, described Gable as down-to-earth and easy to talk to.

In April 1940, a crowd estimated at 8,000 came from around the state to watch the Deep Run races at Curles Neck Farm in Henrico County. Escape 3d won the Deep Run Cup, the featured event. A group of movie stars and dignitaries including Cary Grant turned out to watch while taking a break from filming “The Howards of Virginia” in Colonial Williamsburg. Part of the big crowd, estimated at 8,000 spectators, is shown above. The picture shows the members' reserve section just to right of the grandstand. This event was held at Curles Neck Farm.

In September 1940, the nearly 4,500-ton British steamer Markland was the first ship to dock at Richmond’s new Deep Water Terminal on the James River. The ship brought a cargo of 1,000 tons of newsprint from Nova Scotia for The Times-Dispatch and News Leader.

Em Bowles Locker and Frank McCarthy at a celebration following the premiere of "Gone With The Wind" at Loew's Theater in Richmond on February 2, 1940. McCarthy was a childhood friend who went on to become a wartime aide to General George Marshall and later a film producer in Hollywood, producing "Patton" among other projects.

This June 1941 image shows the interior of the First and Merchants National Bank of Richmond which was located at Ninth and Main Streets in downtown. The bank was in the process of adding the first drive-in tellers windows which would allow customers to drive thru for service on the Eighth Street side of the building. The bank hoped the system would alleviate downtown parking woes and quicken service for customers.

In July 1941, children took a homemade cart for a spin along North 19th Street in Richmond. They built the toy in the spirit of “Gasless Sundays,” a means of conserving resources in a national defense drive ahead of U.S. entry into World War II. The cart was fashioned from an orange crate, old baby carriage wheels and scrap lumber.

In August 1941, one woman demonstrated on another how to use an eyebrow pencil to draw a seam on the leg, which would give the appearance of nylon hosiery. During the World War II era, nylon was rationed for the war effort, and hosiery had virtually disappeared from stores. So-called “liquid stockings” gave the appearance of hosiery – the leg was covered in a nude-colored makeup, and then a line was drawn.

This November 1940 image shows the newly remodeled interior of Monument Methodist Church in Richmond. The new pulpit had a mural depicting the “Ascension of Christ,” which was the work of Reinhold Fobian, a Danish artist of New York, and Hans Peter Hansen of New England. The remodeling was done by Mrs. James E. Crass as a memorial to her husband.

In March 1941, Nelle Brook Stull, a matchmaker who was also known as “Mrs. Cupid,” visited Richmond. The Ohio native was the founder and national president of the Widows and Widowers Club, which introduced bereaved men and women to one another with the hope of a romantic connection. During her visit to Richmond, Stull established temporary headquarters at the Hotel Murphy with plans to “stimulate the matrimonial market," which she said was "threatened with a serious slump since the passing of the Leap Year.”

In December 1941, Mrs. Frank Sloan of the Red Cross took dictation from soldier Robert Parks in the convalescent ward at the Camp Lee Hospital in Prince George County. She was among two dozen women from the Richmond and Tri-Cities areas who had just become Gray Ladies, a hospital volunteer branch of the Red Cross.

In September 1941, Frances Butler (right) and Mrs. John Gerlach were first- and second-place winners, respectively, of an “old-fashioned swimsuit” contest during an outing for Thalhimers employees at Swift Creek in Chesterfield County. More than 400 people attended the last in what was a weekly series of summertime picnics.

The front page of the Richmond Times-Dispatch from Monday, Dec. 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked, was photographed at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond, VA Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016.

In March 1946, Richmond sanitary inspector Jack Mathews held up two of the estimated 1,000 rats killed by poison that the city health department placed in cans overnight at the Magnolia Street dump. The roughly 75 rats pictured were picked up on or near the road surrounding the dump. Rats were a huge problem in Richmond in the 1940s — it was estimated in 1940 that 400,000 rats lived in the city. At one point, the mayor even announced a full-on war against the rodents.

In October 1940, Erma Castillo Najera, daughter of the Mexican ambassador to the United States, was the queen of the Rockingham National Turkey Festival in Harrisonburg. Najera traveled the streets on one of the more than 30 floats during the festival parade, after which the queen and the members of her court attended a dinner with town officials. A turkey ball was held at the Spotswood Country Club to close the two-day celebration.

This image shows “Sergeant Jack” Blizzard at the Robert E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers’ Home in Richmond. Blizzard, who served as courier for Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson during the Civil War, was its last resident. After he died in early 1941, the home was closed, and the land at the corner of Grove Avenue and the Boulevard reverted to the state. One of the home’s cannons remains outside the former chapel, across from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

In January 1947, Timothy Byrum, lay pastor of Seven Pines Baptist Church, purchased a chapel on the Richmond Army Air Base from the War Assets Administration for $750. The church, in existence since 1890, lost its chapel in 1940 when the government took it under eminent domain for expansion of the base. The new chapel was to be moved to a site east of Sandston on Highway 60 where the congregation had been worshipping through the World War II period.

Grace Street near Fourth Street after Jan. 23 and Jan. 24, 1940, snowfall, measured at 21.6 inches at airport.

Richmond News Leader reporter Merritt K. Ruddock rides Belle the mule from Bon Air to downtown Richmond on Jan. 25, 1940, after 21.6-inch snowfall paralyzed the region.

2-23-1940: Library's cornerstone laid: Scenes here were snapped as state and city notables gathered yesterday for cornerstone-laying ceremonies at the new State Library Building. This is a general view of the speakers' platform as the foundation stone was swung into place.

10-17-1940: Young men registered for possible military service.

In December 1941, Billie MacIntire, a professional at the Cavalier Arena roller skating rink posed for a photo to promote her upcoming demonstration of a new routine. The arena, which opened in June 1941, was at MacTavish Avenue and West Marshall Street in Richmond’s West End. It held skating exhibitions on Friday and Saturday nights.

In April 1941, retired Pamunkey Indian chief J.R. Bradley removed kinks from his net during shad fishing season near the reservation in King William County. At the time, shad was one of the most valuable commercial food fishes in Virginia waters.

In October 1941, babies slept in the nursery at Brookfield, located on West Broad Street in Henrico County. The home for unwed mothers was the successor to Spring Street Home in Richmond’s Oregon Hill area, which was established in 1874 by the Magdalen Association to help single women and their children. In the 1930s, the operation moved from Spring Street to Brookfield, and later to Brook Road in Henrico. The Brookfield area was redeveloped in the 1970s and was the site of the Hyatt House hotel.

In June 1941, Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech was re-enacted at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Church Hill in Richmond as part of its bicentennial celebration. Construction of the church, built on land donated by city founder William Byrd II, was completed in June 1741.

In September 1941, amid a nationwide gas shortage, Harry J. Donati (left) and Joseph G. Robben drove their horse-drawn carriage down 25th Street in Church Hill in Richmond.

In November 1948, Richmond teens put on their roller skates at the Cavalier Arena with some help from city recreation department employee Jane Hemby. The department held Wednesday afternoon skating parties at the rink, which opened in June 1941 and was at MacTavish Avenue and West Marshall Street in Richmond’s West End.

In November 1940, the Richmond News Leader published a photo essay titled “Working … on the railroad,” which featured laborers on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. This image shows motor cars being lifted off the tracks at the end of the day, while the cook in the kitchen car in the background signals that it’s dinnertime.

In May 1940, Mrs. St. George Bryan and Mrs. Lawrence Price helped pack more than 1,000 sweaters, socks, afghans and other items knitted by Richmond volunteers, which were being sent to the Red Cross "Mercy Ship" that sailed in June to deliver war relief to Europeans.

In October 1940, the dedication ceremony was held for Richmond’s new deepwater terminal. The USS O’Brien, a recently commissioned Navy destroyer, had docked at the terminal a day earlier for the occasion.

In July 1940, a Richmond Colts batter headed to first base while a teammate scored in a victory over the Norfolk Tars in a Piedmont League game at Tate Field, which was on Mayo Island in Richmond.

08-20-1940: Floods

Doug and Polly White have a large ownership stake in Gather, a company that designs, builds and operates collaborative workspaces. Polly’s focus is on human resources, people management and human systems. Doug’s areas of expertise are business strategy, operations and finance.

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