1920 – 1948 Confidence and Crises World War II

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World War II

Key Ideas

1. From the home front to the warfront, women were critical participants in World War II.

2. War work and military service provided women with new opportunities and improved access to higher pay and skills training.

3. The federal government provided opportunities for women of color to participate in the military and war work facilities, although those experiences did not always guarantee racial equality in the workplace.

4. America struggled to guarantee freedom and equality at home while promoting these ideals overseas.

Introduction

Lawrence Wilbur; U.S. Government Printing Office, Longing Won’t Bring him back sooner… Get A War Job! See your U.S. Employment Service. War Manpower Commission. 1944. New-York Historical Society Library.

World War II

As soon as America entered World War II, the lives of all Americans changed.

The country had never mobilized so quickly or on such a massive scale. Mass mobilization required women to actively commit to fulfilling their patriotic duty on a daily basis.

Over 6 million women entered the workforce for the first time during World War II. Civilian jobs for women included almost everything – office work, manufacturing, computer programming, journalism, nursing, scientific research, and more. Any man who could fight in the war was expected to do so, and his job was often temporarily filled by an able-bodied woman. Even the military officially opened its doors to women. WAACs (Army), WAVES (Navy), and WASPS (Air Force) attended boot camp, donned uniforms, and served in the armed forces in the United States and abroad.

Section Essential Questions

1. In what ways did women contribute to World War II? How did age, race, ethnicity, and geography influence the opportunities available to women?

2. What motivated women to participate in the war and what do these motivations say about the hopes, dreams, and ideals of American women across diverse backgrounds?

3. What new opportunities were available to women during the war? Why is this significant?

4. How did Japanese American women experience the war? How does the history of Japanese internment influence the greater narrative of World War II?

Resources

HOME LIFE IN WAR TIME
A poster outlining the responsibilities of homefront housewives.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
home front
Go to Resource
RECRUITING WOMEN
Propaganda posters recruiting women to different types of war work.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
home front, war front, propaganda
Go to Resource
WOMEN AND WAR WORK ON FILM
A training film for managers of women war workers in industrial plants.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
home front
Go to Resource
INTEGRATED WAR WORK
Photographs of African American women doing industrial war work.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
home front, race and racism, segregation
Go to Resource
A LETTER FROM THE FRONT
A letter from a nurse stationed in Europe to a friend at home.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
war front
Go to Resource
WOMEN IN THE ARMY (WAACS)
Excerpts from a magazine article about the newly-formed Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
war front
Go to Resource
THE NAVY MEETS HAUTE COUTURE
An article about the creation of uniforms for the United States Navy’s WAVES program.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
war front, consumer culture
Go to Resource
SURVIVING INCARCERATION
Illustrations by Miné Okobu, a Japanese American artist who lived at Topez concentration camp for almost two years.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
incarceration of Japanese Americans, home front, race and racism
Go to Resource

Life Stories

CHIEN-SHIUNG WU
The story of a Chinese American physicist who contributed to the development of the atomic bomb and overcame many racial and gender barriers to achieve recognition.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
immigration, home front, technological innovations
Go to Resource
GRACE BREWSTER MURRAY HOPPER
The story of a world-famous computer programmer whose impressive career in STEM began when she joined the war effort.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
technological innovations, war front
Go to Resource
GRACE THORPE
The story of a Native American woman who served her country on the Pacific front during World War II and became an advocate for Native rights and the anti-nuclear movement.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
war front, reform movements
Go to Resource
ANNE O’HARE MCCORMICK
The story of the first woman to sit on The New York Times editorial board, who brought European politics to American audiences before and during World War II.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
U.S. foreign policy
Go to Resource