Final Project, History 2100, Spring 2017, William Paterson University

1. Working Women & World War II
By: Victoria Capizzi

2. Before The War
The stereotypical lifestyle for American families
before the war would be the men would bring
home the bacon while the women stayed at
home cooked, cleaned, and raised the
children. It was the American dream to have a
“perfect” little lifestyle. If women were not
married and did not have any children, they
had jobs that were suitable for ladies
“traditionally female” professions, such as
typing, being a teacher, or sewing.

3. Thesis
Due to World War II women worked much harder
than men did in the workforce. Women helped
World War II and if it wasn’t for them America would
have been different and the outlook on war would
have been changed. The women that were apart of
this has inspired and changed the feminist
movement today.

4. The Beginning of World War II (Quick Summary)
In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland starting World War
II. Britain and France declared war on Germany. Germany then
invaded Norway, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, and
Britain in 1940 and the Soviet Union in June 1941. The United
States hoped to stay out of the way and be neutral but they
entered the war in December 1941 after Japan bombs Pearl
Harbor. Soon enough “I Want You” posters of Uncle Sam were
blasted everywhere in the United States to help persuasive men
to join the army and to help defend the country. But it wasn’t
enough, so young men between the ages of 21 through 26 were
required to register to be drafted to the army for service. War
World II lasted from 1939 to 1945, and was one of the most
deadliest conflicts in human history with millions of people all over
the world dying as a result from battle or from the holocaust.

5. Getting Into The Work Field - Thanks FDR!
“The great arsenal for democracy” was the slogan used by U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a radio broadcast on December 29,
1940. FDR was called in for an increase of production of materials for
the war. New jobs were created, and the number of unemployed people
dropped, this helped America get out of The Great Depression. Men
were the first to be hired but it wasn’t enough, companies slowly but
surely began to hire women. Not everyone was on board for this, still
many employers refused to hire women. The companies and factories
believed that, “women did not have the physical strength, mechanical
ability, and emotional stability to do high-paying, skilled factory jobs”.
Discrimination was a very real and big problem for women who wanted
to work and help the country. In 1941, the U.S. government made efforts
to encourage to hire women. FDR’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a ten-
minute film “Women in Defense” to help prove women can do anything
from being a scientist to a factory worker.

6. Life On The Home Front
All Americans had an impact on the outcome of the War. As
men went off to fight for the country, women joined and
became a new movement and even was able to help out the
military and government. For the women who did not fight or
work for pay helped by volunteering their time and energy for
the war effort. A rationing system was in effect and women
helped promote that, Americans needed to ration food,
rubber, and steel. The women encouraged to recycle, and
remember the bacon the men brought home? Women
needed to save the waste fats and oils because it helped
build for explosives, and metals. Women organizations such
as Women’s Army Corps (WAACs), The Navy Women’s
Reserve (WAVES), and many more formed which were
branches of the US army. A lot of women volunteered and
helped out with Red Cross America to help get blood to
hospitals for the wounded.

7. Rosie The Riveter - Fictional Character
Rosie The Riveter is a fictional character that
represents and symbolizes millions of real working
women in America’s factories, plants, and shipyards
during World War II. With the help of advertising
agencies, the U.S. government mounted campaigns
to encourage women to join the workforce, by
promoting it through magazines and posters.
Norman Rockwell created the original poster and
icon image of Rosie that appeared on the cover of
The Saturday Evening Post on May 29th, 1943. In
the illustration Rosie seems to be on her lunch
break, eating a sandwich, with her riveting gun
resting on her lap. The American flag is waving, and
her foot is on top of Adolph Hitler’s book, Mein
Kampfat. The idea of Rosie first came through a
song called, Rosie The Riveter written by Redd
Evans and John Jacob Loeb.

8. Rosie The Riveter - We Can Do It!
One of the agencies hired artist, J.
Howard Miller in 1943 who then made
the more popular poster of Rosie The
Riveter that has the very famous line,
“We Can Do It!” This poster was seen
very little during World War II, but later
surfaced back in the 1980s to be apart
of the feminist movement. Even today
Rosie The Riveter still inspires and
encourages women to get out there and
show the world what they can do.

9. Togetherness (we)
In the poster Rosie says “We Can Do It”. WE represent women that
are at home cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. She
promoted a sense of togetherness in civic life. The togetherness
was known as Rosies. There were a lot of different jobs and
opportunities out there for the women. She presented herself in the
poster a to be strong and muscular by her outfit but she was in
makeup with a popular hairstyle, saying you can have both
masculine and feminine qualities. This help give women a sense of
empowerment promoting they have the option to work. By helping
influence many to join the workforce this broke the stereotypical
gender norms. Even as an fictional character she encouraged
women to work together in society, as well as providing confidence
to be a women in the work world as well as yourself. Rosie still
inspired people today and her poster can be on anything from a
coffee mug to a t-shirt, women even dress up as her as a Halloween
costume.

10. Rose Mill Monroe - Riveter
Like a few other women, Rose Mill Monroe was
casted to be Rosie The Riveter in advertisements to
promote women to go into the defense industry.
Monroe was a real life, Rosie and matches the
national ideal of a working women. She worked on
an assembly line in a factory in Michigan to help
create bomber airplanes. Monroe was a riveter of B-
24 and B-49 bomber airplanes. She was discovered
by Canadian actor, Walter Pidgeon who was staring
in wartime propaganda videos. He was at the factory
to shoot for a film to help promote war bonds. She
happened to be at the right place at the right time
because she ended up in the film with Pigeon and it
received national attention. Monroe was a real
symbol of a Rosie, pretty young lady that was tough
as nails and worked hard to help the country.

11. Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs) was created by
Public Law on May 15th, 1942. Oveta Culp Hobby was the
director or the program and helped fill the gaps up from the
shortage of “manpower”. The organization was the first
female organization to wear uniforms other than nurses.
Their purpose was to be a switchboard operators, that job
was for the brightness and had training programs for it.
Women who were good at problem solving were
mechanics,There also had bakers, postal clerks, drivers,
and typists to help maintain and repair weapons for the
army. In order to be apart of WAAC, the women went
through an mental test to place them in a job position, as
well to study a fitness manual titled, “You Must Be Fit”.

12. Elizabeth MacDonald - Journalist / Reporter
It was a typical Sunday morning for a reporter named
Elizabeth MacDonald was in Honolulu for an assignment.
When listening to the radio she heard the announcer, “The
island are under attack”! MacDonald describe it as “a
formation of black planes diving straight into the ocean off
Pearl Harbor. The blue sky was punctured with anti-aircraft
smoke puffs”. Bombs were being dropped all over the city.
MacDonald was witnessing the madness and watched
firefighters bring victims inside. MacDonald report was
never published because her editors thought it was too
graphic and would have a shock value to readers. Soon as
America entered World War II, MacDonald returned to
Washington, D.C. to cover Eleanor Roosevelt and other
government activities.

13. Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service
(WAVES)
United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve)
was known for being WAVES, for Women Accepted
for Volunteer Emergency Services during World
War II which was a branch for the United States
Naval Reserve. Authored by the U.S. Navy, they
had to accept and recruit women as commissioned
officer for at least six months. This was helpful so
the Navy can release officers and men from sea
duty and replace them with women so the men can
return to shore. WAVES served over 900 shore
stations in the United States. Eleanor Roosevelt
and WAAC had a big part to help establish,
WAVES, because she wrote a letter to James V.
Forrestal of secretary of the Navy explaining the
reasoning for it, soon after the branch was created
and women became to serve in the U.S. Navy.

14. Muriel Phillips - U.S. Army Nurse
Muriel Phillips was at her final year of nurse’s training
at Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts
when she heard about the news on December 7,
1941 that Japan has bombed the United States
Navy. Once she finished school, Phillips enlisted to
the armed services as an army nurse. After she
finished army training she was sent to Great Britain
and worked in Wales for six months helping
everyday illnesses to thousands of U.S. soldiers
stationed there. During her service of time other than
helping the soldiers she was very scared and wrote
letters to her cousin about her experience, explaining
how and what she was going through in her area,
that she would hear the bombs a few seconds of
silence then an explosion.

15. “Physically, mentally, everything-
that was tough for complete
greenhorns to go out on large
construction and now know what
on earth you’re getting into,”
LueRayne Culbertson said on her
experience working in a shipyard.

16. Women & Civic Engagement
Before the war, women were most likely to
stay at home with their children, take care of
them and the household. A lot of men and
husbands were intimidated by the idea of a
women going to work and bringing home
money, but the war hit women really shaped
up and got out there. This was a new
beginning for these ladies a change for their
own since freedom. Women were able to help
the economy, children, soldiers, and of course
America! They learned useful skills, from
nursing to machine work, to farming and more,
and the working women movement inspired
women all throughout history. Girls did it, they
proved to America that they are tough, strong,
and beautiful and can do a “man’s job”.

17. Back To Normal?
World War II was officially over by September 2nd, 1945.
Meaning the jobs the women took over at were promised
back to the men returning home. But needless to say
celebration broke out all over America. The propaganda that
once was recruiting women to work was now encouraging to
go home and take care of their husbands and children. The
best jobs for women post war were to be found in teaching,
nursing, and clerical work. Most of the women in the factories
were laid off while others voluntarily left. The following year
over three million women left the workforce.
One riveter said, “I was glad it was over. I wasn’t working
because I wanted to. I was working because I thought it was
necessary. I thought, I was going to stay home and be a
housewife. My husband never wanted me to work in the first
place”.

18. Bibliography
1. Colman, Penny.Rosie The Riveter: Women Working on the Front in World War II. New York , NY: Crown Publishers,
1995.
2. Kiernan, Denise. The Girls of Atomic City: the Secret History of the Women Who Built WWII's Most Powerful Weapon . Simon &
Schuster, 2013.
3. Atwood, Kathryn J. Women heroes of World War II: 26 stories of espionage, sabotage, resistance, and rescue . Chicago: Chicago
Review Press, 2011.
4. Atwood, Kathryn J. Women heroes of World War II: 15 stories of Resistance, Rescue, Sabotagem and Survival . Chicago: Chicago
Review Press, 2016.
5. Zebrowski, Carl. " YOUR NUMBER’S UP!" America in WWII magazine. Accessed April 29, 2017.
http://www.americainwwii.com/articles/your-numbers-up/
6. "LibGuides: Women and the Home Front During World War II: Overview." Overview - Women and the Home Front During World War
II - LibGuides at Minnesota Historical Society Library. Accessed April 28, 2017. http://libguides.mnhs.org/homefront.
7. ."Photos of WWII Navy WAVES." Women of World War II - Photos of Navy WAVES. Accessed April 30, 2017.
http://www.womenofwwii.com/navywaves.html.