Virginia made a very significant contribution to World War II. When the nation began to mobilize for war, Governor James H. Price created the Virginia Defense Council. Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman, a noted author, was appointed chairman of this council, the first in the United States. As in previous wars, the Hampton Roads area became strategically important; navy activities increased rapidly in this area; various camps including Camp Lee and Langley Field were re-opened; and production, transportation and consumption activities created new records in quantity and speed. Activities at Camp A. P. Hill, Camp Pickett, Newport News, Norfolk, Alexandria, Williamsburg, Quantico and Hampton Roads reflected much of the war effort of Virginians in this conflict. The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond was consigned again to make munitions for the armed conflict. Richmond along with Madison, Wisconsin, was selected as a test city for a scrap aluminum drive. The test proved most successful, and the scrap aluminum drives were soon extended throughout the nation. Various federal government offices were temporarily moved to Virginia, such as the United States Patent Office which was moved from Washington to Richmond. Since Richmond is located within a one hundred mile radius of the national capital and is geographically and strategically situated from a military viewpoint, it was designated as a "critical area." During the 1940-1945 period, Virginia furnished 137,000 men and 3,757 women to the Army (including the Air Force) and 71,091 men and 2,055 women to the Navy (including the Marines). Civilians in Virginia, as in all other states, contributed much physical, mental and financial effort during the war in their desire to bring peace again to the world. [Illustration: VIRGINIA STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE _Shrine of Memory: Virginia War Memorial_] One impact of World War II upon state government was action during Governor Colgate W. Darden's term to modify the poll tax requirement as applied to Virginia members of the armed forces on active duty. A special session of the Virginia legislature in 1944 attempted to exempt those persons from poll tax requirements but the judiciary nullified this measure as contrary to constitutional provision. Subsequently, by referendum, the voters of the state favored the calling of a limited constitutional convention to accomplish the objective. A condition of the referendum restricted the delegates to this convention to act solely upon the soldier vote and to agree not to consider, adopt or propose any other law, amendment or revision. The constitutional convention approved a measure which became the seventeenth article of the Virginia State Constitution: this new article allowed service men and women on active duty, otherwise eligible to vote, to vote without payment of a poll tax or without fulfillment of the registration requirement.