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Recruiting Women

Propaganda posters recruiting women to different types of war work.

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Recruiting Women
A red, white, and blue colored WWII American Red Cross, New York chapter, nurse recruitment poster featuring a large illustration of a uniformed, Caucasian female nurse with a blue cloak and white cap saluting with her right arm. Below her are five uniformed men from different military branches raising their right arm appearing to request assistance, while a barbed wire field is visible in the background.
Red Cross recruiting poster

Pagano (artist), Red Cross recruiting poster, Army and Navy Nurse Corps. New-York Historical Society Library.

A WWII color poster featuring an illustration of a white female mechanic in a military green uniform with her hair neatly tucked under a green hair wrap, encouraging women to do their part and find their war job in industry, agriculture, or business.
Find Your War Job, Advertisement

“I’ve found the job where I fit best!” Find Your War Job in Industry – Agriculture – Business, U.S. Government Printing Office – Office of War Information, 1943. New-York Historical Society Library.

A 1943 War Manpower Commission color recruitment poster featuring an illustration of a white female clutching correspondence close to her heart. A blue star on a white and red flag is visible in the background. The label below states “Get a War Job!” as “longing won’t bring him back sooner…”
Get a War Job, Advertisement

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.

Background

Within months of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II, propaganda posters encouraging women to leave the home appeared. This was a dramatic shift from the widespread belief during the Great Depression that the best way for women to