This WW2 film “Campus on the March” showcases how colleges across the US were preparing students for war; curriculums changed in WWII as students learned about farm labor, international relations, chemical weapon preparations, aviation, wartime nutrition, cryptology and codes as well as various war industrial related training. A highlight is given to female students and African Americans taking on new roles. This was a time of patriotic enthusiasm. The film opens with a note informing viewers it was released by the Office of War Information Bureau of Motion Pictures based in Washington DC (:07). It is presented by the US Government (:14). The film was produced by the Office of War Information (:23). The statue of Thomas Jefferson sits outside the University of Virginia (:52). The camera pans over the campus courtyard (1:07). Virginia’s dawn patrol marches (1:25). A Naval ROTC unit (1:37). Virginia Cadets (1:45) learn to operate the sextant. A professor lectures students on military phrases (1:53). Future doctors and nurses learn military medicine (2:01). A professor lectures in a military government class at the Virginia Law School (2:28). Airplanes stand in the aerodynamics department (2:40). Scale models are tested in a wind tunnel (2:44). Student fliers work with the Piper J-3 (2:50) during a Civilian Pilot Training course. Indiana’s Purdue University is pictured (3:13) as they practice takeoffs. A Purdue experimental plane (3:35). Fundamentals of plane construction (3:50). Posterazzi Heavilon Hall (3:54) precedes Indian West Lafayette Elliot Hall of Music (4:02). The Mechanical Engineering Hall of Purdue (4:11). Engineering students learn how to make parts for war machines (4:14). A Signal Corps Group trains in the operation of plane and submarine detectors (4:39). ROTC student’s march; nearly 218,000 enrolled (4:55). Students learn to operate the howitzer (5:01). Sailors (5:28) compete for higher ratings as electrician mates. Female students take up courses for employment in careers vacated by men leaving for war (5:39). Female students learn farm labor (5:49) on a Farmall tractor. A busload of students arrive at Stephens College (5:59). The role of women in the industrial world was greatly changed by the war effort. Women in aviation class (6:09). A female operator answers the phone at an airline ticket office (6:28). Women receive training with radio equipment (6:33). The University of Texas’s tower appears (6:44). The seal of the University follows (6:47). Students study petroleum engineering (6:58). Students learn the functionality of airplane motors in the aeronautics class (7:14). Foreign relations was another class emphasized due to the looming war (7:18). Students learn to broadcast in Spanish (7:31). Coding in various languages (7:40). Naval regulations (8:35). A Cornell ROTC unit receives instruction (8:48). The engineering department teaches students manufacturing of war instruments (9:15). High school students learn to make gliders (9:21). Cornell students work on condensing high vitamin foods for troops (9:37). Tulane University is pictured in New Orleans (10:08). Physics students study (10:24) problems of aviation. Tulane’s Green Wave Flying Unit appears (10:29). The naval ROTC works with weapons (10:37). Hampton Institute of Virginia, an historically Black university, (10:52) follows. African American students study new war materials (11:09) and study codes (11:26). A plaque commemorating Eleazar Wheelock at Dartmouth college (11:37). A specialized war course sits on the steps of Dartmouth hall (11:57). Students enlist for a farm labor class (12:25). The University at North Carolina (12:47). Boxing (14:05). ROTC run through an obstacle course (14:35). Physical fitness at Harvard (14:39). An experiment is conducted at the fatigue department (14:50). Cadets stand at the famed Harvard yard (15:13) and later learn how to run Army camps (15:28). University of California (15:38). A naval ROTC unit follows (15:51). Meat and fruit are dehydrated (16:04). Female students in mechanical designing classes (16:17). Cadets assemble machine guns (16:54) and heavy coast artillery (17:01). Texas A&M (17:12) gas mask drill (17:25).

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com