Triumph News — Uncovering the Past Through World War II Company Magazines

During World War II, in-house magazines were vital channels for connecting employees engaged in critical wartime production. These internal publications not only informed workers about plant happenings but also fostered a sense of community and provided a unique glimpse into the daily lives of civilians contributing to national defense.    

Despite the wealth of information in these periodicals, they remain underutilized in historical research. Each page offered valuable insights into the social and industrial realities of the era, telling the stories of individuals engaged in hazardous occupations. 

Triumph News

One notable publication was “Triumph News Topics” (TNT), created for the employees of Triumph Explosives in Elkton, MD. This defense plant employed thousands of people, including many women who stepped into traditional male roles in ordnance production with remarkable resilience and dedication. These “Women Ordnance Workers” made up about 75 percent of the Elkton plant’s workforce. 1 

The roots of Triumph Explosives can be traced back to several small fireworks plants established in the Elkton area shortly after World War I. As the conflict in Europe escalated, these plants began receiving contracts to produce signal flares, so they shifted to producing war materials. Investors incorporated Triumph Explosives in the 1930s as European contracts swelled. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, defense requirements resulted in tremendous growth in the demand for ordnance, with the company expanding from a few hundred to around 11,500 workers to meet the surging needs of the Army and Navy.2,3

Winifred W. Gregory, Triumph News, TNT
Winifred W. Gregory, the first editor of Triumph News (TNT, June 1944) in the collection of the Historical Society of Cecil County

This hurried expansion called for an internal publication to keep employees informed and engaged. In June 1942, Winifred W. Gregory launched the Elkton plants’ in-house organ, TNT.4,5 Under her leadership as the editor for 25 months, the magazine became a vital source of news, entertainment, and inspiration for the workforce. TNT skillfully balanced the gravity of wartime work with lighter content to maintain high morale among employees. 

In the summer of 1944, the Navy transferred Gregory’s husband to Nevada, prompting the family to move with the chief ordnance inspector. In her final column, “Editor’s Adieu,” Gregory reflected on her time with the magazine: “We try to give you a magazine you can be proud to send home, but we remember that this is a war plant, and it won’t be too fancy. The same feeling is behind the content of the magazine. We try to hold to the middle course, giving you a few laughs, all the personal items we can gather, and reminders that you ought to buy bonds and give blood, and above every bit of information we get on the performance of the ammunition we make at Triumph.”6

Betty Reese
The cover of the January 1945 issue of TNT featured Betty Reese of Childs. Betty worked as an aide to John Lane, General Foreman of the fuse area. She was writing down her New Year’s resolutions for Triumph News.

Following Gregory’s departure, Harold F. Hall, a graduate of Notre Dame University, assumed the role of editor. Hall emphasized that the magazine should be tailored to the needs and interests of the employees and encouraged contributions from everyone.7

TNT’s last edition, Volume 4, Number 2, came off the printing press in July 1945. Throughout the war years, the monthly had offered a diverse range of content.8  Readers would find personal stories of employees, from their hobbies and family life to their wartime contributions and community involvement. The pages always featured social events, such as dances, picnics, and blood drives.  They also included humor sections with cartoons, jokes, and lighthearted anecdotes. Importantly, Triumph News Topics served as a platform for employee voices, featuring letters to the editor, poems, and even short stories written by fellow workers. This multifaceted approach ensured that the magazine remained engaging and relevant to the diverse interests of a large industrial workforce.

Researching Company Magazines

Margie Wilburn TNT
Margie Wilburn had worked on the press line and served as a powder carrier. When she appeared in the April 1945 issue, she was a timekeeper for Walter Lee.

In conclusion, company trade magazines like TNT are invaluable for historical research. They provide a window into the lives and contributions during wartime, enabling us to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences and resilience. By exploring these publications, we can better appreciate the stories like those at Triumph Explosives and piece together the rich tapestry of their contributions to the war effort—stories often overlooked in other historical sources.  Furthermore, these serials also make them valuable for family history research.

A nearly complete run of TNT is available at the Historical Society of Cecil County.

Should women give up their jobs after the war, TNT Minute Interviews, July 1944. In the collection of the Historical Society of Cecil County.
Should women give up their jobs after the war, TNT Minute Interviews, July 1944

Notes

  1. Maryland in World War II: Industry and Agriculture (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society. Ward Records Division. 1951), 429-433. HathiTrust https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89058524646&seq=5
    ↩︎
  2. Maryland in World War II, 429-433. ↩︎
  3. The Employment Angle, Vol. 3 Nos. 2-3 (Baltimore: Maryland State Employment, March-June 1941) Service, vertical files of Enoch Pratt Library. ↩︎
  4. Triumph News Topics, vol. 1, no. 2 (July 194), Triumph Explosives, Elkton, MD. Note: The information is taken from the second issue; the first issue was not located. ↩︎
  5. “Editor’s Adieu,” Triumph News Topics, vol. 3, no. 1 (June 1944). ↩︎
  6. “Editor’s Adieu,” Triumph News Topics, vol. 3, no. 1 (June 1944), Triumph Explosives: 2,7 ↩︎
  7. “New Editor,” Triumph News Topics, Vol 3. No. 2, (July 1944), Triumph Explosives: 2. ↩︎
  8. Triumph News Topics, vol. 4, no. 2 (July 1945), Triumph Explosives, Elkton, MD. Note: This was the final issue of the magazine. In 1945, the company changed its name to Triumph Industries. ↩︎

History of Capital Punishment in New Jersey: A Talk at the Library

capital punishment in New Jersey

WHEN THE SHERIFF WAS THE EXECUTIONER

THE HISTORY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN NEW JERSEY

PROGRAM AT THE AVALON FREE LIBRARY

JAN. 11, 2025 @ 1 p.m.

by Mike Dixon

235 32nd St.,

AVALON, NJ 08202

This program explores the complex history of capital punishment in New Jersey. The talk begins by examining the era when county sheriffs served as executioners and public hangings drew large crowds. Also, it delves into some grim crimes, particularly in South Jersey, to understand how early lawmen solved murders while navigating the legal system. The discussion then transitions to the modern era, highlighting key reforms such as the adoption of the electric chair in 1906 as a supposedly more humane method of execution. Throughout the presentation, we’ll analyze the shifting historical, cultural, legal, and ethical factors that shaped New Jersey’s approach to capital punishment.

For additional information about this talk, click this link.

Pikesville Speakers Series: CSI-The Historical Edition

Historian Mike Dixon reviews the advancements made in criminology that helped solve once unsolvable historical cold cases.

Wed., Dec. 4, 2024 @ 2 pm.

Pikesville Branch, Baltimore County Public Library

Television programs, such as Law and Order and CSI, have acquainted most people with the modern techniques for solving crimes. However, for most of our past, sleuths did as much as they could to investigate crimes, lacking the most basic of tools. There wasn’t much the sheriff, part-time constable, justice of the peace or coroner could do, except rely on obvious physical evidence and witnesses. As the scientific age arrived, great advances in police science allowed detectives to crack complex cases. Drawing on notorious crimes and real mysteries from yesteryear, this program shows how science, technology and professional police practices helped detectives catch and convict criminals and close once unsolvable cases.

CSI, the Historical Edition — A free program at the Pikesville Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library

The Cape May County “Murder Map”

While exploring the history of capital punishment in pre-World War II, New Jersey, I stumbled upon an elusive artifact during a visit to the Cape May County Archive in August 2024. As I inquired about 19th-century judicial documents and outlined the scope of my research, the Records Room Supervisor casually mentioned the “Murder Map.”1   

cape may county murder map
Map of the crime scene, February 1894 (Cape May County Archive)

Naturally, that piqued my curiosity, prompting me to ask, “What’s the murder map?” The Deputy Clerk responded by guiding me to a liber in the Hall of Records containing old property maps.2 There, I found myself viewing a unique item stored between sheets of mundane land surveys from the 1890s–Exhibit A for a 130-year-old capital case. It was labeled the “Map of the locality of the MURDER of Sarah Pierce in the vicinity of Goshen,” February 1894.3 

This meticulously hand-drawn map, once crucial evidence in a high-profile Cape May County murder trial, was produced by Leaming M. Rice, Jr., a civil engineer. Following the murder on February 19, 1894, the county prosecutor commissioned him to create an accurate survey of the crime scene.4 This surviving drawing offers a rare glimpse into the intersection of emerging forensic science, cartography, police investigative methods, and legal proceedings in the late 19th century.

Examining the map’s detailed annotations, which include the precise location of the victim’s body, the arrangement of structures, the placement of furniture, and other relevant markers, provided a visual representation of the crime scene for the jury. For 21st-century researchers studying the past, it offers valuable insight into the slowly emerging investigative techniques of crime scene investigation in the late 19th century.

Initially presented as evidence at the trial, this haunting map—professionally sketched and measured at a scale of 10 feet to the inch—does more than chronicle a harrowing event; it highlights the nascent stages of systematic criminal investigations in late 19th-century South Jersey, a time when investigations were only beginning to use systematic practices.

This artifact not only sheds light on the specific case of Sarah Pierce but also situates it within a larger framework for understanding the development of crime scene investigations and judicial practices.  This serendipitous discovery, with its meticulous rendering, underscores the significance of archival research when investigating the past.

Endnotes
  1. On February 19, 1894, Sarah Pierce was murdered and her husband, Richard PIerce, Jr. was charged. The court found him guilty, and the sheriff hung him in July 1894. ↩︎
  2. Liber refers to a specific type of record-keeping book used in legal contexts. Legalbriefai.com writes: “Think of it as a logbook or ledger where important documents are recorded.” ↩︎
  3. Rice, Leaming R., Jr. Map of the locality of the MURDER of Sarah Pierce in the vicinity of Goshen. February 1894. Cape May County Clerk of the Court’s Office, Cape May County, New Jersey. ↩︎
  4. Fulginiti, Rita Marie. “The Pierce Murder: A Goshen, NJ Tragedy in 1894.” Cape May County Historical Magazine, Special Deputy Clerk, Cape May County, 1990. ↩︎