NHF_CUSP_2001_Marshall_Lester
May 23 2001
Lester Marshall was born on 5 March 1921 in Washington, D.C. After graduating from high
school in 1939 he completed an apprenticeship at the Navy Yard in Washington, where he
worked as a skilled machinist throughout the war years. As a skilled worker, Lester
received a deferment from active service in the military. He met his future wife, Jo Ann
Marshall, of Cloquet, Minnesota, in 1942, while she was working a government job. Lester
and Jo Ann were married in October 1943 in Cloquet.
In 1945, as the war was coming to a close, Lester and Jo Ann decided to leave
Washington and return to her hometown of Cloquet, where they raised two children and
remained. Lester worked 41 years as a machinist at Northwest Paper (later Potlatch Paper,
then Sappi) in Cloquet, retiring in 1986. Lester passed away on 5 December 2005, aged 84.
Lester provides important details of military production work at a major naval facility; he
also discusses some of the difficulties of civilian life during wartime in the nation’s capital,
such as transportation and housing.
school in 1939 he completed an apprenticeship at the Navy Yard in Washington, where he
worked as a skilled machinist throughout the war years. As a skilled worker, Lester
received a deferment from active service in the military. He met his future wife, Jo Ann
Marshall, of Cloquet, Minnesota, in 1942, while she was working a government job. Lester
and Jo Ann were married in October 1943 in Cloquet.
In 1945, as the war was coming to a close, Lester and Jo Ann decided to leave
Washington and return to her hometown of Cloquet, where they raised two children and
remained. Lester worked 41 years as a machinist at Northwest Paper (later Potlatch Paper,
then Sappi) in Cloquet, retiring in 1986. Lester passed away on 5 December 2005, aged 84.
Lester provides important details of military production work at a major naval facility; he
also discusses some of the difficulties of civilian life during wartime in the nation’s capital,
such as transportation and housing.
Digital
1h 33m 17s
Lester Marshall, Interview, National Home Front Project, Washington College, Chestertown Maryland.
Interview was recorded by Thomas Saylor through Concordia University St. Paul for the Starr Center of the American Experience National Homefront Project.
Cloquet, Carlton, Minnesota, United States, NA [46.72161,-92.45936] [id:5021632]Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C., United States, NA [38.91706,-77.00025] [id:4138106]
C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience (Washington College)
Concordia University--St. Paul
oral histories (literary works)
Shipbuilding--United States--History
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Social aspects--United States
Concordia University--St. Paul
oral histories (literary works)
Shipbuilding--United States--History
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Social aspects--United States