United Airlines DC-3 Mainliner aircraft lands and taxis to the airfield ramp,at Oakland, California. U.S. military and civilian officials, and newsmen gather around the airplane as its doors open. A crowd of spectators and well-wishers fill an area at the airfield terminal. Closeup of three Soviet flyers, standing and waving from the top of stairs at the plane's door. They are Pilot Valery Chkalov; Co-pilot Georgy Baydukov and Navigator Alexander Belyakov. They left Moscow, Russia, June 18, 1937 in a single-engine Soviet Tupolev ANT-25 aircraft on a flight over the North Pole and finally landed after 63 hours and 25 minutes, at. the U.S. Army Pearson Field in Fort Vancouver Barracks (Washington State, USA). Scene shifts to Pearson Field, where their airplane is being prepared for shipment back to Russia. U.S. Army soldiers package up recording instruments preserving evidence of the flight necessary to document their accomplishment. They remove and package loose articles, such as parachutes. View of the airplane being completely covered in protective tarp wrappings.
Prison planning at a Prison Industries Reorganization Administration (PIRA) office. PIRA officers inspect blueprints and sketches for prisons in the United States. A man views the “Sketch for a prison for the state of West Virginia” and its model sketches. Two PIRA employees view plans together. Employee wearing glasses smokes a cigar while conferring with colleague over blueprints. Man reviews a plan for a prison and answers the telephone. A female employee receive instructions, hands out a blueprint to her supervisor. Two female employees discuss blueprints together. View of a diagram chart “Vermont Turn-over in the Prison Population 1935”. View of a graph chart “District of Columbia Growth of Prison Population 1920-1937 Daily Average for Years Ending June 30th”.
Prison Industries Reorganization Administration (PIRA) employees review blueprints for prison planning. Behind the employees are pictures of projects “Maryland Penal Farm A Prison Labor Project” and “Virginia Convict Road Force”. A female employee hands out a document to an employee seated near the wall. Two employees are focused on reviewing blueprints. Employee with glasses works on documents from the U.S. Department of Labor and Prison Industries Reorganization Administration while he talks to the secretary who hands over paperwork to him. Man writes on Prison Industries Reorganization Administration letterhead while examining document detailing Missouri Penitentiary Production for the year 1937. View of tentative prison floor plan blueprints
Events of 1937. Wedding of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's son Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. in Wilmington, Delaware. Several prominent figures arrive to attend the wedding including James Farley, Cabinet Secretaries, Daniel Roper, and Henry Wallace. American socialite and bride Ethel du Pont arrives. Attendants carry the train of Ms. Du Pont’s veil. Ethel du Pont smiles on her wedding day. Exteriors of the Episcopal Christ Church Christiana Hundred (505 Buck Rd, Wilmington, DE 19807, United States). The newlywed couple Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. and Ethel du Pont pose after the wedding. President Franklin Roosevelt along with his wife Eleanor Roosevelt.
General Motors film entitled: "It's up to US," explains how to maintain private cars during World War 2, when all manufacturers switched to production of war materiel. Bugler, in U.S. Army uniform, blows reveille. Montage of American scenes, including homes and gardens; mountains; forests and lumberjacks felling a tree; an oil well gusher spewing crude oil; open pit mining operations; Niagara falls; flock of sheep grazing; workers picking cotton and it being delivered to a processing plant by horse-drawn wagon; a large timber log being cut into boards in a lumber mill; steel being manufactured for the war effort; a woman housewife or homemaker saving foods in a refrigerator in a vintage 1940s kitchen; a man cutting his lawn; a woman vacuuming her carpet; a woman taking clothes from a washing machine; a farmer plowing with a tractor; automobiles on American road and in parking lot of a defense plant. A driver with worn and dented 1938 Chevrolet Coupe car parked in front of a home is assisted by another who drives up behind him in a 1941 Oldsmobile and gives him a push. Sign at a Chevrolet service garage reading: "Official O.P.A. Tire Inspection Station." A 1942 Chevrolet 2-door fastback car drives into the garage. Mechanic greets driver and begins routine service, including: adding distilled water to battery; draining oil from car up on hydraulic lift. Scene shifts to a mechanic lubricates fittings on a 1937 Chevy on a lift at a gas station. Scene reverts to the earlier garage where mechanic drains cooling system, and refills it. The mechanic removes the carburetor and services it on a bench. He checks distributor rotor and makes compression checks. He cleans and re-gaps spark plugs, and checks tires and brakes. Cars driving on a town street. Mechanic aligning wheels on 1941 Chevrolet. Animated illustrations of tire wear from alignment problems. Servicing air in tire of 1942 2-door Chevy. More animated illustrations of tire problems. Illustrated explanation of rotation for bias tires.
Men work assembling transmissions on an automobile production line. John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers Union, giving a speech supporting formation of the Congress of Industrial organizations (CIO). Group of workers gather to listen to a union speaker. Many wear miners hats. Cheering Union workers march in street carrying posters reading: "Long-Live the C.I.O." and "Forward with C.I.O." Leaders of the early C.I.O., Sidney Hillman, President of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA); Philip Murray, Vice President of the C.I.O.; and John L. Lewis, C.I.O. President, circa 1938. David Dubinsky, President of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU); along with Sidney Hillman, and John L. Lewis, are seen mingling with clothing workers. View of a steel mill from workers' residential street on a snowy day. Steel worker in a mill. Deckhand and an engine man aboard a merchant ship. Roustabouts and riggers at an oil well. Nonferris metal miner in rail car. Worker in tire factory. Electrical worker. Union leader speaking to group of workers carrying banner reading: "Shirt workers, Local 128 Allentown, Pennsylvania Joint Board." Labor organizers passing out leaflets to workers leaving a factory. Labor discussions with workers at lunch tables. Draftsman preparing labor organization protest signs calling for "Sanitary Conditions" and "Fair Play." Working women singing a union song. Union workers marching and carrying signs for various causes. Man riding a bicycle displaying sign:"Don't Scab." Car overloaded with people with sign: "Come To Lafollette Labor Rally Monday, July 5, 1937." ACWA workers of Local 95, Atlas Plant. UMWA members of Lafollette, Tennessee. Miners playing cards and playing musical instruments. Miners on strike below in mine for 5 days, cheer leader. Poster encouraging Americans to travel and visit in the USA. Police with batons or billy clubs and military units repel, combat, beat, and arrest striking and protesting workers during labor disputes. Scenes of military uniformed men throwing tear gas grenades into crowds of workers as workers disperse. People assisting injured protesters. Police firing various weapons at protesting workers during labor protests and strikes in San Francisco. U.S. Army soldiers arresting a civilian and throwing tear gas grenades.