The Library of Congress

Putting finishing touches on the bombardier nose, October 1942, FSA/OWI Photographs, 1938-1944

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the United States was drawn into World War II. As men enlisted for service overseas, they left open skilled industrial positions in munitions and war goods factories. To fill these positions, women were hired for the first time for jobs which were not considered as their domain. Suddenly women were building airplanes, riveting, and operating heavy machinery. The Office of War Information (OWI) was a government photography unit established in 1942. FSA/OWI Color Photographs, 1939-1945 contains pictures produced by the OWI as propaganda to help promote the idea of women in the workforce. Search on women AND employment, bombers, and assembly-line methods to see images of these women workers on the job.

Women were important members of the American workforce long before World War II. Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, 1880-1920 has a number of photographs of working women. Search on bookbinding, stenographers, and typewriters to find images of women on the job.

Inside an American Factory: Westinghouse Works, 1904 consists of 21 films documenting a factory and its labor force in turn-of-the-century America. Search on women workers to find films showing women in the work environment, such as Girls Winding Armatures, filmed on April 18, 1904, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Westinghouse was proud of it's "modern and progressive" factories.

Girls Winding Armatures, April 18, 1904
Inside an American Factory: Westinghouse Works, 1904

Working women have often endured poor working conditions, discrimination, and low pay. American Life Histories, 1936-1940, has many interviews with American women who spoke of the conditions of their work environs and how they dealt with them. For example, you can read the interviews with Henrietta Dozier, an architect, Marge Paca, a meat packinghouse worker, and Mary Willingham, a practical nurse. The Special Presentation Voices from the Thirties is an introduction to this rich collection. Read the interview excerpts in the section Making Do: Women and Work, to find more examples of women working in the workforce and in the home.