“Have you heard of the York Plan?” someone once wrote in a community survey. “That’s us. We pretty much saved the world.”
“Pretty much” may be hard to measure, but this collaboration among industries in York County during the late 1930s and 1940s stood out as a bright spot locally and nationally during an otherwise difficult and complex two-front World War II. The York Plan was about the people of York County—in suits, work boots, and scarves—rising to meet a challenge. It earned a place among the county’s most notable moments on the national stage, alongside the adoption of the Articles of Confederation.
Jim McClure will share the story of the York Plan, when industries across the county pooled manpower and machinery to secure defense contracts that made a meaningful impact during World War II.
