Columbia University in World War II collection, 1933-1975

As an institution and a community, Columbia University completely mobilized its people and resources in order to help the United States and its allies, as well as protect itself from possible enemy attack, during World War II. The war affected the University most directly once the U.S. was involved, but the topic had entered the campus consciousness as early as 1933, when the merits of entering into war were debated on campus by faculty and students alike. By the fall of 1941, with war raging in Europe, it was becoming more and more likely the U.S. would eventually be drawn into the conflict. In response, the University began preparing itself for the contingencies of war, well before the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of that year.

The University participated in the war effort in several major ways: government-aided research, civilian defense, war relief, and military and educational training programs. Scientific research was conducted both on campus and in laboratories on Long Island and in Connecticut. Columbia engaged in research in the fields of engineering, physics, and medicine, ranging from high profile programs like the Manhattan Project to lesser known projects such as one developing underwater sonar systems. Research conducted during WWII sometimes continued into the post-war period, and new research projects were given to the university as the connections between government agencies and the University begun during the war period continued and grew.

Two major programs instituted on campus, in addition to the ongoing research in the many labs in and around campus, were Civilian Defense and the Committee for War Relief. Civilian Defense, a domain mainly controlled by men on campus, was comprised of six different committees: Committee on Campus Protection (including the Building Control Division), Committee on Community Education, Committee on Courses of Training, Committee on Protection of Valuable Possessions, Committee on Technical Advice, and Committee on Volunteer Participation. Another important sub-division of the Civilian Defense program was the Student Auxiliary Corps (SAC) comprising five different squads – fire, first aid, campus patrol, information desk and communications. All of these committees used the talents and manpower of those in the campus community to institute defensive measures such as blackout regulations, air raid drills, evacuation procedures, and training in first-aid. The committee also acted as a liaison between Columbia and the larger New York City and metropolitan area communities and their civilian defense programs.

Committee for War Relief was mainly the domain of women within the Columbia community and acted primarily as a fundraising organization. It raised money through the organization of fairs, concerts and lectures in order to aid people suffering in war torn countries, such as Britain and France. In addition to fundraising, this group also organized volunteers to make surgical dressings, knit socks, organize blood drives and hold lectures on home front activities, such as growing victory gardens.

Columbia also made its facilities available to the military as a place where thousands of new recruits could be housed and instructed in the United States Naval Reserve (U.S.N.R.) Midshipmen's School, the Navy V-12 program and the U.S. Navy School of Military Government and Administration. Additionally, the university adjusted its coursework within the college and other areas of the school to meet the new needs of wartime. Thus, map-making classes, more engineering courses, speeded up degree programs, and intensive language courses in Japanese and German were instituted.