Amazing colorized photos show a unique side of World War II

Alfred T. Palmer/The Library of Congress

The 1930s and 1940s were a time of upheaval for both the US and the world at large. 

Reeling from the start of the Great Depression in 1929, the world soon faced a greater disaster with the start of World War II from 1939 to 1945. Although the US did not enter into the war officially until after Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the global war still affected the US.

The following photos, from the US Library of Congress, give us a rare glimpse of life in the US during World War II in color. The photos show some of the amazing changes that World War II helped usher into the US, such as women in the workforce and the widespread adoption of aerial and mechanized warfare. 

Mrs. Virginia Davis, a riveter in the assembly and repair department of the Naval air base, supervises Chas. Potter, a NYA trainee from Michigan at Corpus Christi, Texas. After eight weeks of training he will go into civil service.

Answering the nation's need for womanpower, Mrs. Virginia Davis made arrangement for the care of her two children during the day and joined her husband at work in the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas.

Jesse Rhodes Waller, A.O.M., third class, tries out a 30-calibre machine gun he has just installed in a Navy plane, Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas.