This image is the cover for the book Norman's Navy Years, Images of America

Norman's Navy Years, Images of America

In 1944, A.L. Simon, a sailor at the Norman Naval Air Station, illustrated a booklet, "On the Beach," about Navy life in Norman, Oklahoma. The title he chose reflected the irony of the US Navy establishing two bases in a landlocked prairie town in 1942. The initial activation of the Navy bases (from 1942 to 1945) and their reactivation (from 1952 to 1959) greatly increased the employment rate and economy in Norman, offering locals a much-needed boost after the Great Depression of the 1930s. The men who influenced the Navy to choose Norman as the location for Navy installations were T. Jack Foster, of the Norman Chamber of Commerce; Joseph Brandt, president of the University of Oklahoma; and Savoie Lottinville, director of the University of Oklahoma Press.

Sue Schrems, Vernon Maddux,

The story of Norman's Navy Years: 1942-1959 is told through photographs and memorabilia housed in the Cleveland County Historical Society archive. Suzanne H. Schrems, PhD, and Lt. Col. Vernon R. Maddux, USMC (Ret.), are residents of Norman and board members of the Cleveland County Historical Society. Both are authors of books about Oklahoma and the American West, including the Arcadia title Norman: 1889-1949. The proceeds from this book will go directly to the Cleveland County Historical Society to support Norman's Moore-Lindsay Historical House Museum.

Arcadia Publishing