THE STORY OF HELEN RICHEY - Explore PA History



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STUDENT HANDOUT 3-THE STORY OF HELEN RICHEY

and WOMEN IN THE WAR

During the Great Depression, there were few jobs available for anyone, and most women took care of their home and did not have jobs. But during World War II, the United States had many of its men away at war and there was a great need for somebody to make military supplies and equipment to help them win the war. Women were called on to go to work. Women helped out in the United States by filling the jobs that were once filled by men. Women received lesser pay than men, and were at times, mistreated by men who thought they should not be there. However, they learned skills and trades that they were not allowed to take part in before the war. This kept the factories going at full speed. Pennsylvania employed many women in their factories to assemble guns, bomb fuses, airplane wings, and other war material.

When World War II broke out in 1939, Helen Richey, a McKeesport, Pennsylvania native, was already an experienced pilot. She even held several world records. She was not a stranger to discrimination in the work place. The first female commercial pilot, she had already resigned when male pilots did not treat her fairly and refused to let her into their union.

Helen Richey wanted to help out with the war effort, but she did not want just any job. She wanted to join the American military. At that time, women were not allowed to join the military. Another woman pilot, named Jacqueline Cochran, also wanted to help out in the war effort by using her piloting skills. She went to the commander of the Army Air Corps, General Henry H. Arnold, and asked if women could help. Worried about using women, he gathered women pilots, including Helen Richey, and advised them to go to England where the Royal Air Force was already using women as shuttle pilots to fly new aircrafts from factories to air bases. This part of the Royal Air Force was called the British Air Transport Auxiliary.

Helen Richey decided to go to England to contribute her talents to the war effort. She served as the commandant (leader/commander) to the American section of the British Air Transport Auxiliary. When she returned to America, she joined the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), a group of female pilots who took newly-built military aircraft from factories to air bases. By the time the WASP corps broke apart in late 1944, Helen had achieved the rank of major and the distinction of becoming the first female flight instructor to army pilots. More than 1,000 women pilots (WASPs) had performed valuable services for the United States.

During the war, women entered other branches of the United States military as well—the Navy, the Army, and the Marines. Although women were prohibited from entering combat, thousands of women served as nurses--many taking great personal risk while caring for soldiers during battle. New positions in communications and intelligence were also available.

Six and a half million women went to work during World War II. However, after the war ended, they were quickly fired to make jobs for all of the men returning from war. Many women did not mind losing their jobs, but others were angry and depressed. After all that they had done to help with the war effort, they were still not treated with the same amount of respect offered to men. Helen Richey ended her life frustrated that she could no longer find a job as a pilot. In the end, the women who worked during the war not only were a huge help during the war, but they also started to open up doors for women in the work force. Due to the contribution of these brave women, women today are treated very differently in the work force.

Helen Richey

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Helen Richey served as part of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. These women pilots contributed an important part to the war effort—ferrying bombs and transporting equipment. This image shows Richey in her service uniform.

Courtesy United States Air Force

Rosie the Riveter

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by J. Howard Miller

While Helen Richey put on her service uniform, many other women put on their working uniforms and went to work in factories to aid the war effort. In this poster Rosie the Riveter--a strong, competent woman dressed in overalls and bandanna—shows her muscle and her positive attitude. She quickly became a symbol of patriotic womanhood.

Courtesy NARA Still Picture Branch

(NWDNS-179-WP-1563)

The Women’s Army Corps

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During World War II over 150,000 women served in the Women’s Army Corps(WACS) performing 155 different jobs.

Courtesy United States Army

Recruitment Poster: WAVE radio operator

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WAVES stands for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. Before World War II very few women served in the Navy, and those who did were mostly nurses. During World War II women were needed not only as secretaries and nurses, but also for jobs in communications and intelligence. This woman operates a telegraph key. The Navy ran a school for radio personnel beginning in 1942. Research suggests that John Falter, the artist of this recruitment poster, used a Naval photograph taken during March 1943 of Virginia L. Scott as the basis for this image. She is sending a message from the code room of the Radio School at Madison, Wisconsin.

Courtesy of the United States Navy

Recruitment Poster for the Marines

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Women joined all branches of the military during World War II. While some entered special branches of the Air Force, the Army, or the Navy, others contributed to the war by joining the Marines. Here is a recruitment poster from World War II asking women to “join the Marines.”

Courtesy of the United States Marines

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