Hot off the presses, They Sawed Up a Storm captures a fascinating moment in New Hampshire history that will engage anyone with an interest in meteorology and weather disasters, the New Hampshire's forest and its industries, or the dramatic shift in gender roles that took place during World War II.

The author, UNH Cooperative Extension's Forest Industry Specialist Sarah Smith, describes her book this way:

"They Sawed Up a Storm is about an extraordinary group of women who operated a sawmill during World War II at Turkey Pond in Concord. The sawmill, one of two on the pond, was built to saw up what remained of logs still floating in the water from the 1938 hurricane.

"The book begins with the hurricane and its path of destruction from Long Island to northern New England. As a result, The Northeast Timber Salvage Administration (a federal, Roosevelt-Era program) was established to recover the felled timber.

"Four years later, when the U.S. had entered WWII, the salvage program was still operating and struggled to find laborers. In 1942, copying other wartime industries that recruited women, the U.S. Forest Service built a sawmill and hired women to run it. The October 26, 1942, Concord Daily Monitor headline read, Women-Operated Sawmill, First Of Kind in Country, Will Start Work Soon At Turkey Pond. Interviews, family stories, and historic photographs bring the women of Turkey Pond to life."

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