Women in WWII



Women in WWII

In the days after December 7th, 1941, "Remember Pearl Harbor" became a battle cry for all of America as it entered World War II and America began a war in the Pacific Ocean against Japan and in Europe and Africa against Germany. By the summer of 1942, men disappeared almost completely from the work place, having been drafted or enlisted into the US military. With men being shipped overseas by the thousand, women were needed to step in to fill factory jobs, as well as to beef up hospitals, and even lend a hand to the military. During WWII, over 6 million women took wartime jobs in factories or filling in for men on farms, 3 million women volunteered with the Red Cross, and over 200,000 women served the military as nurses or other needed jobs. Although many women were unused to doing this tough work (and instead after WWI went back to being housewives), to some of the new female factory workers, however, the job boom was a godsend. The depression of the 1930's had left many families still not completely financially stable. Women moved into cities and crammed into tiny apartments with several roommates to make some extra money. For those families that were hit hardest during the depression, the chance for a wife to earn a paycheck while her husband was getting his overseas pay was almost a lucky break.

"Those of us who have seen and know the work they are doing throughout the military establishment of our country and in our foreign stations have only admiration and respect for the spirit, the dignity, and the courage they have shown." – President Franklin Roosevelt

African Americans at War

To help win the war, President Roosevelt created the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) by signing Executive Order 8802. It said "there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin". In 1943 Roosevelt greatly strengthened FEPC with a new executive order, #9346. It required that all government contracts have a non-discrimination clause. FEPC was the most significant breakthrough ever for Blacks and women on the job front. FEPC rules applied and guaranteed equality of employment rights. The African American community in the United States resolved on a Double “V” Campaign: Victory over fascism abroad, and Victory over discrimination at home. Large numbers migrated from poor Southern farms to munitions centers. Racial tensions were high in overcrowded cities like Chicago; Detroit and Harlem experienced race riots in 1943. In addition, over 900,000 black soldiers served very bravely overseas in World War 2, although many still fought in segregated units (the most famous unit was the airforce unit of the Tuskegee Airmen who never lost a plane in their battles over Europe). In 1948, 3 years after the war, President Harry Truman desegregated and fully integrated all army units.

Mexican Americans

A War Time Economy

|Salvage (saving) in WWII |

|SAVE… |CAN BE MADE INTO… |

|30,000 razor blades |50 machine guns (.30 caliber) |

|30 lipstick tubes |20 ammunition cartridges |

|2,300 pairs of nylons |1 parachute |

|1 pound of fat |1/3 pound of gunpowder |

|2,5000 tons of tin and 190,000 tons|5,000 tanks |

|of steel | |

-----------------------

During WWII women were expected to be both housewives who did all the chores and work. In this way their jobs were even more difficult as many households did not have modern day conveniences that make cleaning easier. Also the government was rationing (limitations of what people could buy) food—so it was even more difficult to get the needed food to cook basic meals.

“I will never regret my two years or more in the shipyards. It gave me a good start in life…I decided that if I could learn to weld like a man, I could do anything it took to make a living.”

-Nova Lee McGhee Holbrook

Quoted in A Mouthful of Rivets (Wise)

Women responded to the urgent demand for their labor. Almost 5 million women entered the work force. They replaced the men who joined the armed services. Many women worked in offices. Millions more kept the nation’s factories operating around the clock. Some welded, ran huge cranes, and tended to blast furnaces. Others became bus drivers, police officers, and gas station attendants. The images of Rosie the Riveter, a fictional factory worker, became a symbol of American women’s contribution to the war effort.

As industry geared up for war, factories replaced “No Help Wanted” signs with “Help Wanted, White” signs. Such discrimination angered African Americans.

In 1941, A. Philip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, called for a protest march on Washington. The government, he said, “will never give the Negro justice until they see masses—ten, twenty, fifty thousand Negroes on the White House lawn.”

Government officials worried. After meeting with Rudolph, FDR ordered employers that did business with the government to end discrimination in hiring. As a result, the employment of skilled black workers doubled during the war.

However, as black employment increased, so did racial tension. Thousands of Americans—black and white—moved to cities to work in industry. Competition for scarce housing led to angry incidents.

On July 19, 1941, the U.S. Air force began a program in Tuskegee, Alabama to train black Americans as military pilots. At the time, the Army was segregated, and only whites were allowed to fly. In the five years that followed, 992 black pilots graduated, receiving commissions and pilot wings. They came from all U.S. cities and wanted to serve their country. These black World War II pilots who fought both fascism and racism became known as Tuskegee Airmen.

Zoot suit riots shown above and to the right. These were the reactions to Mexican immigrants and the suits they wore.

“This war…has shown those ‘across the tracks’ that we all share the same problems. It has shown them what the Mexican American will do, what responsibility he will take, and what leadership qualities he will demonstrate. After this struggle, the status of the Mexican American will be different.

-Manuel de la Raza

A growing Mexican American population also faced problems. Because of the need for workers, the United States signed a treaty with Mexico in 1942. It allowed the recruitment of Mexican laborers (workers) to work in the United States. Under this bracero (Spanish term, meaning manual labor) program, many Mexicans moved north to work on farms and railroads.

In June 1943, a group of sailors on leave attacked some young Mexican Americans, beating them on the streets. This was due to teens wearing zoot suits (a fashion fad at the time). The incident led to several days of rioting in Los Angeles. Newspapers blamed the violence on the Mexican Americans. Police even left the servicemen along and arrested the victims instead. In her newspaper column, Eleanor Roosevelt argued that riots were the result of “long standing discrimination against the Mexicans in the Southwest.”

Still, like other groups, Mexican Americans served bravely in the military during World War II. Despite lingering problems at home, Americans were united in their resolve to push on to victory in Europe and the Pacific.

During the war, the government rationed (limitations on the amounts of certain goods that people could buy) essential items such as sugar, gasoline, coffee, meat, and even ketchup. Citizens were given ration books to keep track of the “points” allotted to each family.

The start of World War II ended the Great Depression as millions went to serve overseas and millions more were needed in all of the wartime industries at home. To help support the war, citizens were encouraged to buy war bonds. This meant that people gave the government money now, and then the government gave them double in a few years (example, if you buy a $50 war bond, you give the government $25 but then in 7 years, the government gives you $50). Companies would earn merit flags from the United States if all of their employees were part of the 10% club (they gave 10% of their paycheck to war bonds). Many household products and the materials that made them were needed to produce military goods. This meant that people had to ration (save and limit the amount they used) . People also did not use regular supplies like rubber, nylon plastic, aluminum, regular grade beef, and used car pools to save gas as all of these raw materials were sent to the army. When the war was over, people had saved up from both serving overseas and at home, and demanded all of the consumer products they could not have the four years of the war and the whole Great Depression. The American economy began to boom! In addition, there was a baby boom as people could now afford to have more children. However, for many of the millions of the returning veterans, life was difficult returning home and readjusting to civilian life and civilian jobs after many years overseas. For all of their sacrifice in fighting against dictators who tried to rule the world, the generation of veterans that fought in World War II was known as “The Greatest Generation.”

To help win the war, families, even children, went to the streets to collect scrap metal, paper, rubber—anything that could be recycled to help win the war.

During WWII, there was a nationwide victory garden program to help combat food shortages. Victory gardens made an important contribution to the home-front effort by producing a significant amount of food (approximately 40 percent of the vegetables consumed in 1943) and by providing a way to contribute to the war effort for those who could not fight on the battlefield.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download