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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Powder Keg (Hastings, Neb.) 1943-19??

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About The Powder Keg (Hastings, Neb.) 1943-19??

Located southeast of Hastings, Nebraska, the Naval Ammunition Depot (NAD) was the largest naval ordnance facility in the country when it was built during World War II. Chronicling the livelihood and leisure of the facility’s workforce was the Powder Keg. First published on September 17, 1943, the paper ran weekly through WWII, with intermittent revivals as a biweekly publication over the ensuing decade. The built-in audience for the Powder Keg was substantial; at its height, the NAD was vast, covering nearly 49,000 acres, employing as many as 10,000 workers, and providing 40 percent of the Navy’s ordinance in WWII. The sheer size of the facility meant that its paper of record would have a readership that exceeded most contemporary newspapers in Nebraska.

Publication of the Powder Keg was subject to the Navy’s chain of command. As such, the editorial staff lists the base’s commanding officer in the position of preeminence, with civilian editors listed below. In the debut issue, Captain D. F. Patterson made clear the utility of the paper, stating that, “This paper is published in the interest of the personnel of the Depot, both civilian and Navy. It is designed to distribute information and to afford entertainment and amusement to all hands attached to the Depot with the end in view of increasing the production of ammunition.”

Under its wartime editorship, the paper tended toward a mix of knuckle-rapping jingoism and light-hearted recreational reporting. Early issues featured the recurring column “Hitler’s and Hirohito’s Pals” in which workers were called out by name for work infractions or unsatisfactory performance. The column then would conclude with a short diatribe playing on themes of sacrifice and unity as the only way for America to prevail. In short order, this column was replaced with a more positive listing of individuals performing meritorious service. Still, by far the lion’s share of content was coverage of the depot’s many sports teams and social opportunities. There was always another baseball game, pageant, or pledge drive attempting to convince citizens to invest in government bonds on the horizon.

When, in 1944, the NAD suffered four separate fatal accidents involving exploding ordnance, the Powder Keg kept its commentary on these events minimal. Between the four incidents, 21 workers were killed and dozens more injured, with the largest of these explosions felt in Lincoln 100 miles away.  News coverage focused on singling out individuals for bravery while chastising known safety violations. Much of the news focused on the plans to memorialize the lost lives, typically in the form of naming streets at the depot after them. Beyond the occasion of the explosions, individuals frequently received praise for exceptional efforts made to prevent future such catastrophes.

As it became clear that WWII was reaching its final months, the NAD began to face the realities of a post-war world. Work shifts began to be cut back, and efforts were made to facilitate the transition of the workforce back into civilian industry. The Powder Keg had a role to play in this transition, as its content shifted away from coverage of the workers’ lives and more toward publishing bureaucratic to-do lists for its departing workforce. While the outbreak of the Korean War breathed new life into the NAD, the Powder Keg remained more of an administrative newsletter rather than providing insights into the daily lives of its employees. It finally ceased publication in 1965, shortly before the depot itself was closed.

Provided By: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Powder Keg (Hastings, Neb.) 1943-19??

Names

  • U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot (Hastings, Neb.)

Dates of Publication

  • 1943-19??

Created / Published

  • Hastings, Neb. : Naval Ammunition Depot, 1943-

Headings

  • -  U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot (Hastings, Neb.)--Newspapers
  • -  Ammunition--Newspapers
  • -  Ammunition
  • -  United States--Nebraska--Adams--Hastings

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Monthly, Aug. 17, 1959-
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Sept. 17, 1943)-
  • -  Suspended with Apr. 26, 1946 issue; resumed <, Nov. 7, 1947>.

Medium

  • volumes

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2023271000

OCLC Number

  • 1378166044
  • n1378166044

ISSN Number

  • 2997-9358

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Powder Keg Hastings, Neb. -19??. (Hastings, NE), Jan. 1 1943. https://www.loc.gov/item/2023271000/.

APA citation style:

(1943, January 1) The Powder Keg Hastings, Neb. -19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2023271000/.

MLA citation style:

The Powder Keg Hastings, Neb. -19??. (Hastings, NE) 1 Jan. 1943. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2023271000/.