EDSITEment LaunchPad!

As you look at each poster, answer these questions:

What is the woman in the poster doing? What type of job is she demonstrating?
What skills might she need to perform this job?
Would she have done this job before the war? After the war?
What does the woman look like in the poster? Does her dress or behavior remind you of anyone? (A celebrity from that time, for example)
What does the poster seem to be saying about acceptable roles for women in wartime? How did women�s roles differ in peacetime?
What symbols does the poster use to get its point(s) across?
How might the government have used this poster to persuade women to join the war effort?

(Note: You may download a printable PDF worksheet with these questions.)

Activity 2: Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs)

During World War II, 350,00 women served in the U.S. military. Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) flew fighter planes from factories to Air Force bases around the world. They towed targets and tested new aircraft for the U.S. Army Air Force.

Learn more about the WASPs on these Websites:

National Museum of the United States Air Force
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
- Women in the AAF
  http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1476
National Archives, Women Who Served: The Women�s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/a_people_at_war/women_who_served/wafs_wasp.html
PBS, Fly Girls Documentary
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/index.html
- Program Description
  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/filmmore/description.html
- Timeline
  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/timeline/index.html
- WASP Qualifications
  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/filmmore/reference/primary/officialcorr03.html
- WASP Statistics
  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/filmmore/reference/primary/wasprecord01.html
Texas Woman's University, Women's Collection, WASP
http://www.twu.edu/wasp/
- Facts (PDF)
  http://www.twu.edu/wasp/Wasptextfacts.pdf
- History
  http://www.twu.edu/wasp/whistory.htm
Remember what you read? Take the WASP History Quiz
http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/wasp/waspquiz.html

(Note: You may download a printable PDF worksheet with these links.)

Activity 3: What Was It Like to Be a WASP?

“Fly girls, ” as women aviators were called, flew fighter planes at a time when few women held driver�s licenses or traveled on their own. During World War II, the media made it seem like flying planes was an exciting and glamorous job for women.

What was it really like to be a WASP?

Find out by reading these personal recollections of the WASPs:

PBS, Fly Girls Documentary
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/index.html
- Ann Carl: A WASP Among Eagles
  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/sfeature/bookexcerpt.html
Texas Woman�s University, Women�s Collection, WASP
http://www.twu.edu/wasp/
- Oral History Project
  http://www.twu.edu/wasp/oral.htm
WASP: Women Pilots of World War II
http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/wasp
- Articles Written by the WASP
  http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/records_all/article_archive.htm
  - Ann Darr, "The Long Flight Home" (PDF)
    http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/records_all/wasp_articles/darr.pdf
  - Cornelia Fort, "At the Twilight�s Last Gleaming" (PDF)
    http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/records_all/wasp_articles/twilight.pdf
- WASP Interviews
  http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/wings/interviews.htm

Compare and contrast these personal recollections with how women were portrayed in World War II posters (and newsreels, if you viewed them).

Select a WASP from the What Was It Like to Be a WASP? worksheet and write a brief essay about her experiences during the war.