GM South Gate Assembly Plant (1936-1982)

In 1936, General Motors opened its first automobile assembly plant in Southern California at this location. The factory demonstrates the growing automobile market in the West and also serves as a reminder of the rapid switch from producing consumer goods to building vehicles for the military during World War II. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and the United State's entry into World War II, this and many other auto manufacturing plants transformed into a manufacturing plant for war vehicles and aircraft parts. The plant operated until 1982 and the location is now home to South East High School.

The war mobilization took the United States by storm and many cities saw the emergence and transformation of auto industry factories into factories that manufactured war vehicles. Following Pearl Harbor, the United States placed the emphasis on war production changed from a "defense program" to a "victory program” (Morgan, 1994). Historian Thomas Morgan’s article “The Industrial Mobilization of World War II: America Goes to War” notes how President Roosevelt announced new goals in regard to the “victory program” which aimed to increase rates of production for airplanes, tanks, vehicles, guns, and shipping to support the war effort. The United States' push for production saw substantial growth in the U.S labor force and an increase in hours worked (Mulligan, 1998). California like most of the cities of the United States would partake in the mass production and mobilization to support the war effort.

The GM South Gate Assembly Plant was one of the many locations that aided the manufacture of war vehicles and provide employment for many Southern California residents. The GM South Gate Assembly Plant opened in 1936 and was the first GM automobile factory built in the Western Region which was motivated by the goal of bringing automobile production closer to the growing market present in South California (Johnson, 2017). In the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, factories such as, GM South Gate Assembly, transformed quickly to produce goods for the war effort.

According to David Johnson’s article “Southern California Division of General Motors Corporation in World War II”, the South Gate Assembly plant manufactured M5 and M5A1 Stuart tank models, modified M4 medium tanks, and provided a range to test various machine gun and cannon shells and after the production ceased the plant was leased by Douglass Aircraft for aircraft part production until the end of the war. Johnson also includes a GM annual report from 1942 that notes how the Southern California Division was tasked by the Corporation to assemble the M5 Stuart tank and notes that nine hundred people were employed worked at the plant producing tanks from 1942-1943. Historian Thomas Morgan notes how the automobile industry was a crucial resource that supported the war effort and by the end of the war, the automobile industry had produced 75 percent of the aircraft engines, more than one-third of all machine guns, 80 percent of all tanks and tank parts, 50 percent of all diesel engines, and 100 percent of the vehicles that motorized the Army (Morgan, 1994).

The GM South Gate Assembly Plant no longer stands today, but the site offers a reminder of the role of manufacturing plants in shaping the city and the effort of corporate and civil leaders to lead efforts to support military production in Southern California and throughout the United States.

Jackson, David. 2017. "South California Division Of GM In World War Two". Usautoindustryworldwartwo.Com. http://www.usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/General%20Motors/southcalifornia.htm.

Morgan, Thomas D. 1994. "The Industrial Mobilization of World War II: America Goes to War." Army History, no. 30: 31-35. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26304207.

Mulligan, Casey B. 1998. "Pecuniary Incentives to Work in the United States during World War II." Journal of Political Economy 106, no. 5: 1033-077. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/250039