| Original caption: “Young men enlisting for service in World War II make the rounds of an induction center set up in New York’s Grand Central Palace, usually a center for conventions and assorted shows.” The 13-story Grand Central Palace opened on May 19, 1911, built on the air rights over the railroad tracks leading to Grand Central Terminal. The Palace was New York’s main exposition hall until it closed in 1953. Expositions of cars, boats, flowers, aviation, and sports ran for 30 years before the war canceled the annual shows. Grand Central Palace was a hospital during World War I. These are some of the 1st recruits processed in the Grand Central Palace Induction Center, which opened on October 5, 1942. These men had volunteered for service; draftees began to arrive at Grand Central Palace on October 12, 1942. The Center could process up to 3,000 recruits simultaneously through a 3- to 4-hour screening process, which included a blood test, chest x-ray, eye test, physical examination, vaccinations, psychological evaluation, and fingerprinting. Since some men took drugs to register an artificially high blood pressure, they could be detained for 3 to 5 days and monitored during their stay. The Induction Center occupied 4 floors, with a mess hall for 3,000 people occupying the main exhibition space, serviced by a 100 cooks and bakers, serving “an army meal, which is good food, well cooked,” according to the Saint-Lôuis Democrat on March 30, 1943. Grand Central Palace Induction Center closed on September 28, 1945, with the induction of 14 men from Brooklyn. 1,028,182 from 10 counties had been processed through the Center. The 1st man was William J. Lizotte (August 24, 1920 – April 24, 1989), and the last was Jack G. Rabinowitz (November 25, 1927 – December 6, 2021). Associated Press Chief Photographer Murray Becker (February 6, 1909 – March 18, 1986) was 1 of the 1st hired by the company in 1929. He worked for AP for 43 years, covering the Hindenburg Disaster in 1937 and a wide range of celebrities, sports, politics, and human interest stories. He taught photography at the University of North Carolina. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0928.jpg |
| Image Size | 443.06 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1601 x 1294 |
| Photographer | Murray Becker |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 6, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | New York |
| State or Province | New York |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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