Impact of WWI on African Americans & Women

1. Impact of WWI on
African Americans
&
Women
MAST HS
US HIS – Period 4
Ms. Richardson

2. AIM: How did WWI change the
lives of women and African
Americans?
SWBAT analyze how World War I
transformed the roles of women
and African Americans socially,
economically and politically.

3. Great Migration
- 1916 – 1919  500,000 A.A moved from
the South to North.
- War industries for work
- Enlistment in segregated units in the army
- Increased racial tensions
Opportunities for African Americans
during WWI

5. Effects – African Americans
• African-American soldiers played a significant role in
World War I
• Despite the numbers they faced racial
discrimination:
– Racially segregated forces (navy barred blacks)
– Blacks were often classified as unfit for combat
and were not allowed on the front lines
– Blacks were mostly given support duties
(cooks, janitors)

6. Chicago Race Riot (1919)
• A major racial conflict that began in
Chicago, Illinois
• The African-American population in Chicago
increased from 44,000 to 109,000, for a
total of 148 percent during 1916-1919.
• During the riot, dozens died and hundreds
were injured.

7. Effects - Women
• Women took on many of the roles
that had traditionally belonged to
men:
–Factory workers
–Coal miners
–Military nurses*
–Clerks
–Teachers

8. How did the war affect the U.S.?
 Women
•Women filled factory jobs
•Women’s war effort
helped bring about
passage of the 19th
Amendment after the war
giving women the right to
vote.
•Black soldiers still served in segregated units.
 African Americans
•In the “Great Migration” thousands of African
Americans moved to the North to work in factories.

9. R.A.F.T
• Role of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? A
movie star? The President? Student?
• Audience: To whom are you writing? A
senator? Yourself? A company?
• Format: In what format are you writing? A diary
entry? A newspaper?
• Topic: What are you writing about?

10. R.A.F.T
• Role of the Writer: African America or
Woman
• Audience: ______________
• Format: Letter or Journal Entry
• Topic: How your life has changed because
of WWI.

11. SAMPLE
November 11, 1917
Dear Sam,
I hope this letter greets you with good health
and fortunes. Life in war has been very difficult
and my job as a cook grows worse by the day. As
an all Black unit we face the harshest conditions
and get little respect from our white peers. Yet I
am glad for this opportunity and to have left the
Mississippi because there was little for me
except servitude….