Liberty Factory: The Untold Story of Henry Kaiser’s Shipyards

Author and maritime journalist Peter Marsh will present photos and story of the shipyards of Portland and Vancouver during World War II from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 17 at the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, 1501 East Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver. Admission is free.

Hundreds of men and women worked in the local yards and trained in special technical schools to learn welding and design. Learn about the production, training, recruiting and housing for hundreds of people who worked here throughout the war.

Marsh grew up in Greenwich, England, in the heart of Great Britain’s maritime heritage. Loving small boats and teaching, he spent time boat-building and sail-racing, which eventually brought him to the US. He settled in Portland, and soon met Larry Barber, retired marine editor for The Oregonian. On Barber’s death in 1996, Marsh inherited Barber’s substantial archive of papers, photos and articles written about the Northwest. It soon became evident that the extensive Barber collection of wartime materials — diaries and photos recorded in detail the largely overlooked stories of Oregon and Vancouver shipyards. Correlating, researching and editing became Marsh’s challenge for the over five years and the ultimate result is this exceptional book of photos and stories in our region.