The Torpedo Factory Art Center: War and Art is an Oxymoron

At the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria. VA. Somewhat of an oxymoron, with the torpedo you can see in this photo along with art gallery and art stores. The US Naval Torpedo Station, first built after World War I, had 5000 workers during World War II. The factory was not racially segregated, unlike most of the rest of Virginia. Bayard Rustin and A Philip Randolph were organizing a March on Washington to force FDR to integrate the war industry in 1941. The president accepted the petition but stopped short of integrating the armed forces. In 1948 the same threat of a March on Washington forced Truman to integrate the armed forces.