During World War I, 4.8 million men served in the US Armed Forces. This staggering military effort required the support of everyone in the country. During the war, the government encouraged women to get involved in the war effort in all sorts of novel ways. 

On the home front, women could support the war effort at home or outside it. At home, women canned food, grew their own fruits and vegetables, collected and recycled materials needed for military purposes, and made clothing and bandages for soldiers. Outside the home, there were voluntary and paid opportunities for women. Volunteers sent care packages overseas, ran fundraisers, and organized collections for home efforts. Women also took over jobs in factories, farms, and offices that were left empty when the men joined the armed forces. Women war workers were paid less than men, but in many cases they still earned more than they had been able to before the war. 

There were also opportunities for women to work on the warfront. Thousands of women joined military and support organizations like the Red Cross or YMCA as nurses, clerical workers, telephone operators, translators, cooks, and drivers. These women worked on the French front alongside and in support of soldiers.

But all these new opportunities were temporary. After the war, the government encouraged women to give up their jobs for the men returning home. The number of women working for pay declined and Congress banned women from military service.

These images are posters produced by national organizations who wanted to recruit women to the war effort. All three embrace a stereotypical view of women war workers as young, strong, beautiful, and white. They offer insights into the kind of work available to women during World War I, and how those women workers were perceived by society.

The first image was produced by the National League for Women’s Service, an umbrella organization that coordinated war efforts. Nursing, farming, military service, and home canning are all represented. The women look strong, capable, and confident. 

The second image was produced by the National War Garden Commission. They encouraged Americans to plant gardens to grow food for their families so that more commercially grown food could be saved for the military. The figure’s clothing and pose imply that this kind of work was a vital act of patriotism.

The third image is a recruitment poster for the Red Cross, which sent nurses to the war front. In addition to treating sick and injured soldiers, Red Cross nurses cooked, cleaned, managed mail, and completed other domestic duties in soldiers’ camps. In this image, the women’s clothing and posture makes them look like religious figures, implying they are performing a spiritual calling.

• canning: Preserving food in cans or jars.
• home front: The civilian activities that support a war effort overseas.
• stereotype: An oversimplified and often offensive assumption or description of a person or group of people.
• umbrella organization: A large organization that coordinates many smaller organizations.
• warfront: The place where the fighting takes place. Also known as a battle line.
• World War I: Military conflict that involved countries from every inhabited continent from 1914-1918.

• Use these images to explore how World War I radically reshaped women’s roles in the late 1910s. Consider how this imagery may have contributed to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. 
• Use this resource to talk about propaganda, how it works, and what makes it effective.
• Pair this resource with the following resources to consider how visual imagery was an important part of defining American ideals and culture:
  • Monuments to the Lost Cause
  • Exercise and Functional Fashion
  • Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls
  • Women and Modern Art
  • Life Story: Jessie Tarbox Beals
• For a larger lesson about the history of women in the US military, pair this life story with any or all of the following resources:
  • Life Story: Margaret Corbin
  • Women Soldiers
  • Life Story: Loreta Janeta Velázquez
  • Life Story: Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas
  • Life Story: Dr. Mary Walker
  • Women in the Army (WAACS)
  • Life Story: Grace Brewster Murray Hopper
  • Life Story: Grace Thorpe
  • Life Story: Nancy Sanchez
  • Life Story: Maria Connie Villescas

POLITICS AND SOCIETY; AMERICA IN THE WORLD