Women's Economic Role In WWII
Coming only 21 years after the war to end all wars, World War II plunged the United States into yet another worldwide conflict. This brought significant changes to everyone's lives, especially those of American women. Until the 1940's, women usually got married at a young age. They did housework and took care of their children while their husbands went to work to support the family. In fact, during the depression, the federal government joined with local government, school boards, and private business to exclude married women from the work force (Woloch 301). All of this changed forever with the onset of World War II, which opened numerous opportunities for women.During the Depression years of the 1930's, many changes took place. Men were losing their jobs, and family life was severely stressed. "Middle class families had a sudden decline in status. In such families, wives often moved in to fill a power vacuum" (Woloch 285). "Contradictory pressures" were brought to bear upon women wage earners (Woloch 287). "Public attitudes urged them not to work, but economic circumstances both spurred wage labor and in some instances made jobs available" (Woloch 287). While there was significant job loss suffered by both men and w
Asher, Lisa, 'Taking Flight', The Baylor Line, Vol. 62 No. 2, Spring 2000, Baylor Brokaw, Tom, The Greatest Generation, Random House, 1998. Women served in many other military roles such as ferry pilots including Teresa D. James; a pilot for the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASP). On September 22, 1944, Teresa James flew the 10,000th P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane that was produced at the Republic Aviation factory at Farmingdale, NY to Newark, NJ (Colman 19). "Because male pilots were needed exclusively for combat duty during World War II, "the Army Air Force reluctantly recruited hundreds of women pilots. From 1942 through 1944, more than a thousand women aided the US military by ferrying and flight testing aircraft, transporting cargo and personnel and serving as flight instructors" (Asher, WASP Baylor website). "Some WASPs piloted radio-controlled low-target planes. If the radio signal failed, they were there to take the controls. Other WASP's towed practice targets for antiaircraft batteries and airborne gunners to shoot at, and more than once a WASP pilot returned to the base with more bullet holes in her plane than the target" (Brokaw 166). Ruth Dailey Helm "flew fighter planes and B-25 bombers out of Dallas's Love Field - later was inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame" (Asher, WASP Baylor website). "Although the women didn't fly combat missions, thirty-eight lost their lives as military pilots. But because the women had never been granted veteran status, the program was never officially recognized. At the end of 1944, it was abruptly disbanded, and government documents pertaining to the project were either destroyed or archived (Asher, WASP Baylor website). "When a WASP pilot died in the line of duty, there were no military honors" (Brokaw 166).
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Approximate Word count = 2517
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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