Overview | Prehistory | American Indians | Explorers and Trappers | Mormon Settlement
Territorial Days | Crossroads of the West | Mines and Minorities | Transition| Statehood
Adjustment | War and Depression | Utah Today | Bibliography | Glossary

Beginning with World War I, events in Utah were much like the rest of the nation. Utah made its contribution to the war effort, and its businesses enjoyed temporary prosperity. Union activity increased, particularly in the coal and copper industries. In 1933 the United Mine Workers of America became very important in the Carbon County coal mines.

The Great Depression of the 1930s hit Utah especially hard. Unemployment was already widespread in mining and agriculture, and conditions worsened for a number of reasons. Severe droughts hit farmers hard in 1931 and 1934. High transportation cost limited the expansion of manufacturing. The New Deal of 1933-1939 helped Utah out of the depression. Programs like Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) came to Utah with a variety of projects to help ease unemployment. Recovery slowly came to Utah, as it did the rest of the nation.

Cleaning weeds along the Tooele army depot bomb storage

World War II started for America on December 7, 1941, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Because of the war there came an increase demand for food production that helped Utah's economy. Important military installations, the Geneva steel plant, and other war-related industries brought new prosperity to the state. Utah had several prisoner of war camps. Topaz, a relocation camp for Americans of Japanese ancestry was located 10 miles northwest of Delta. During its operation over 8,000 American citizens and resident aliens lived at this camp.