Talk:Willow Run Airport

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Willow Run Airport and the manufacturing facility that existed there in the Second World War are two different topics; why has it been suggested that the two articles be merged?



I agree that they are different topics and should not be merged. Perhaps a disambiguation page may be in order though, since "Willow Run" is used to refer to the airport, the plant, the community surrounding the two and its school district/high school.



More importantly, the article titled "Willow Run" is mistitled -- it *should* read "Willow Run Manufacturing Plant"; or "Willow Run Bomber Plant," since that's what were actually manufactured there. My grandfather worked there.

An additional separate article titled "Willow Run" or perhaps "Willow Run/Willow Village, Michigan" is in order. Willow was an unincorporated village on the east side of Ypsilanti Charter Township, near the boundary with Wayne County. It was predominately African-American and played a vital role during World War II when the area became home to the airstrip and bomber plant known as "Willow Run."

The Willow Run Community Schools district was created in 1944 and includes most of the eastern third of Ypsilanti Charter Township (the bottom of the township is part of the Lincoln Consolidated Schools District; the rest of YCT is served by the Ypsilanti Public Schools) and part of the lower eastern third of Superior Charter Township, with 8 schools and a total population of about 26,000 people.

During the Great Depression and World War II, a number of whites migrated to the area (many of them at the behest of Henry Ford) from Kentucky and Tennessee, to work at the auto plants in the area and, during the war, at the bomber plant. Thus, today, Willow Run/Willow Village has a majority White population, whereas it used to be majority African-American.