Child Service Centers, Swan Island shipyards

At the entrance to the Oregon Shipyard Corporation’s (OSC) facilities on Portland’s Swan Island in the Willamette River, the company built a large, onsite daycare center for its workforce. Between November 1943 and September 1945, the Child Service Centers cared for over 4000 young children while their parents labored in the yards.

The centers were the idea of Edgar F. Kaiser, vice-president and general manager of Kaiser Shipyards—the parent company of OSC. Kaiser saw the centers as a solution to the childcare problem faced by his workers, especially by the thousands of women who were recruited to the shipyards during World War II. As a result, the onsite daycare centers reduced absenteeism and improved employee satisfaction.