Editing Lima, Ohio (section)

===Early 20th century===
[[File:Lima, Ohio suffrage march in 1914.jpg|thumb|A 1914 [[women's suffrage]] march in Lima]]

In the early 20th century, Benjamin A. Gramm and his close friend Max Bernstein formed the [[Gramm-Bernstein Company]], which became a pioneer in the motor truck industry. During World War I, Gramm created the "[[Liberty truck]]", which was welcomed upon its arrival in Washington, D.C., by President [[Woodrow Wilson]]. Thousands were sent to Europe to help the Allied war effort.

After World War I, Allen County's population growth lagged the state and the nation. Galvin was an assistant superintendent at the Peru Steel Casting Co. of Peru, Ind. He then became acting manager at American Steel Foundries in Pittsburgh.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://the419.com/john-e-galvin-limas-man-steel/ |title=John e. Galvin: Lima's own Man of Steel - the419 |access-date=February 5, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205052248/http://the419.com/john-e-galvin-limas-man-steel/ |archive-date=February 5, 2015 }} John E. Galvin: Lima’s own Man of Steel</ref> In 1921, Lima voters approved a change in the structure of Lima city government. Voters now elected five [[commissioners]], with the commission chair serving as mayor. The charter sought to establish professional management, requiring the commissioners to hire a [[city manager]], who reported to the mayor. Lima proved itself to be very much in the Progressive tradition with these changes, after flirting with radicalism in 1912 when the voters elected a Socialist mayor.

The darker side of the progressive era revealed itself in the prominence of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in the city. It was a center for the [[Black Legion (political movement)|Black Legion]], a notoriously violent subset of the Klan. On August 1, 1923, a KKK parade in Lima drew a crowd estimated at 100,000 people.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Economically, the 1920s were a time of industrial expansion in Lima. In 1925, [[Lima Locomotive Works]], Inc. built the "Lima A-1", a 2-8-4 model that became the prototype for the modern steam locomotive. The Locomotive Works also created a new division, the Ohio Power Shovel Company. In 1927, local industrialist John E. Galvin helped found [[Superior Coach Company]]. It became the world's largest producer of school buses and funeral coaches within two decades. In 1930, eight railroad companies served Lima.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Allen County's population grew significantly faster than the state during the [[Great Depression]]. In 1933, Lima again reorganized its government. The citizens adopted a "strong mayor" model to replace the city manager of the 1920s. Despite the hardships of the decade, Lima residents supported the construction of a hospital to serve the area. Lima Memorial Hospital, named in honor of World War I veterans, opened on [[Memorial Day]], 1933.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The Lima area was not safe from the increased crime rate of the 1930s. In 1933, gangster [[John Dillinger]] was in the Allen County Jail, arrested for robbing the Citizens National Bank in nearby [[Bluffton, Ohio|Bluffton]]. Dillinger's cohorts broke him out of jail, killing Allen County Sheriff Jess Sarber in the process. The murder and jailbreak put Dillinger at the top of the [[FBI's ten most wanted list]]. His was not the only crime outfit to plague Lima during the decade. In 1936, the notorious Brady Gang robbed a local jewelry store twice.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[File:Lima public square, circa 1921.jpg|thumb|Public Square in downtown Lima {{circa|1921}}]]
The Great Depression slowed the pace of industrial expansion. In 1930, a Lima directory listed 93 industrial employers with some 8,000 employees. By 1934, industrial employment was reduced by half. In 1935, [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation (1886)|Westinghouse]] located a Small Motor Division in Lima to build fractional horsepower electric motors. The Ohio Steel Foundry turned the corner and grew, eventually expanding its successes in its industry. The 1930s was a decade for organizing labor in Lima. By 1940, there were at least fifty labor unions representing local workers.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Lima benefited from increased production during World War II and a growing population but suffered a significant economic decline at the end of the decade when industry retooled for peacetime production. In May 1941, based in the steel foundry, construction began on the [[Lima Army Tank Plant]] to manufacture centrifugally cast gun tubes. In November 1942, United Motors Services took over the operation of the plant to process vehicles under government contract. The plant prepared many vehicles for Europe, including the [[M5 light tank]] and the [[M26 Pershing|T-26 Pershing tank]]. At its peak during the war, the Lima Tank Depot (now the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, operated by [[General Dynamics]]), employed over 5,000 people.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}