How Did The Waac Change The World

As men went off to war, women had to find ways to provide for their families until the return of their men. Women took over farm tasks, filled jobs at schools and offices, worked in factories, and even became nurses to make wages. Women even became spies and scouts to aid in the war effort. This new found independence would eventually push women to question their submissive roles and begin fighting for their equal rights. Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, put it perfectly: “At the war’s end, woman was at least fifty years in advance of the normal position which continued peace would have assigned her.”

Due to the lack of manpower during the years of 1940 -1945, women had to maintain the jobs held by men. However, this change of attitude involving women in the workforce permeated the beginning of the Women Rights Movement. During and immediately after the Second World War, women became free to create their own lives and senses of individualism. With this increase in freedom also came an increase in equality. The war gave more and more women the chance to prove that they were just as capable as men. Greater numbers of women began to take control. For the first time, women in the United States were learning to work as factory workers, nurses, and journalists. Many women even joined the army through an organization called the Women’s Army Corps.

There were over 30,000 applicants to the first class of officer candidates, of which 440 were hand selected to attend. As Director Hobby addressed the class, she realized the impact these female officers could have. She stated, “You are all here for the same reason – you have a debt and a date. A debt to democracy, a date with destiny.”7 Once these trailblazers proved their success, the doors were opened for other women to enlist. In total, more than 150,000 women served as WACs during the war, and thousands were sent to the European and Pacific regions. In 1944, WACs landed in Normandy after D-Day and served in Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines.8

Women were just beginning to break into new jobs and industries during World War II. In addition to women working in factories and on home fronts 350,000 women also joined the armed forces. In May 1942 Congress began a new service branch called the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps they also became Airforce Service Pilot’s. Although women were getting various jobs in the workforce the aviation industry saw the largest increase in female employees. In 1953 they made up 65% of the aviation industry workers in comparison to the 1% they made up prior to the war. Women were changing their role they were taking steps to better themselves and they were spending less time relying on men.Propaganda like Rosie the Riveter became one of the most successful recruitment tools it depicted the strength of women and represented the ability of the nation to pull together in a tough time. Rosie brought to life the idea that this was everyone's fight everyone had to do their part in the war effort and the workforce wasn’t just a man’s world anymore. Those qualities have carried on to our current generation and it improved women’s roles in society. The war provided an opportunity for women to advance into any and every job they could think of. For women the war provided more opportunity for

In 1942 the Women’s Army Corps was introduced. These women worked in more than 200 non- combatant jobs stateside and also every part of the war. They served not only as common nurses but also “within the ranks of the United States Army.” There was also the Women’s Army Corps introduced in 1942. This group of 1,100 women was asked to join and fly military aircraft, due to the shortage of pilots. Their job was to fly from factories to military bases and also different take off points around the country. Even though during their enlistment the WASP were supposed to become part of the military, after a couple years the program was cancelled. The last group the, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, was already established. After being absent for twenty-three years, they had to be reactivated because of WW2. While a large portion of these women did the job of secretarial and clerical they had other jobs they did. Thousands of WAVES performed duties in aviation, medical professions, communication, intelligence, science and technology. These military jobs and the other non-traditional jobs the women participated in made them almost like a ghost in their home front.

Another way woman had positively influenced the war was through the assisting in the operation of stores and businesses. Due to all the men enlisted in the war the government came across a job shortage there were not enough men to work in stores. women jumped at the chance to help, and support their family's while they were at it. Although woman could not have jobs that required high responsibility woman could work in jobs such as secretarial positions, as clerks, cleaners, ect. This was a major stepping stone to woman proving their equality with men in society and the workplace.

     “May 22, 1942, will surely go down on the record,” predicted the Christian Science Monitor. “It was the day that women joined up with the army...” It was obvious; the U.S. needed a larger military force. Thus women joined the army within organizations. From there came Oveta Culp Hobby, the director for the first American military organization of women. This organization was called the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps). Many people were impressed by the strength of the WAAC and it is said that within three months, the AAF was discussing the possibilities of obtaining more members of the WAAC (Weatherford, p.34).

With a yet another big war in full swing, women had their own branches of the armed forces. American people, both men and women, signed up for the armed forces by hundreds of thousands. The first and largest division was the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Approximately 140,000 women had a

In the beginning, the United States’ Government was against involving women in their military forces. Before the war, it was commonly believed that a working man was the main provider in a household. Therefore, any woman who took a job that was

Women once again were the backbone of America during WWII just like in WWI. They worked high jobs reserved for men and some women helped create machines that would help in the war (ships, tanks, planes, etc.). Agricultural took a backburner because many left their jobs to either fight in the war or work in jobs that would provide for the war. Although the jobs for women didn’t last long and they didn’t get paid as much it set in motion more encouragement for Women’s Suffrage. African Americans also moved from farming to more industrialized jobs because they believed that winning the war might encourage more equality in America itself. African-Americans could earn more money and FDR passed the FEPC (Fair Employment Practices Commission) but it was not practiced much in the armed forces. In the armed forces African-Americans were given small jobs and not properly trained for higher jobs if they got one. The FEPC called for the armed forces to give out

This investigation will attempt to answer the question: “To what extent did the two major woman’s contributions in World War II, the WAACS and nurses, undergird the women fighting for equal rights achieve their goals of economic and social independence in the job force, during the years following WWII?” This research question will allow for exploration on women involvement in the war and how involvement affected woman’s independence in the United States. This investigation will analyze women rights and war involvement from 1939 to 1964 when title VII was passed.

Congresswoman Rogers’s crowning legislative achievements came during World War II and in the immediate postwar years. In May 1941, Rogers introduced the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps Act, to create a voluntary enrollment program for women to join the U.S. Army in a non combat capacity. Her proposal, she explained to colleagues, “gives women a chance to volunteer to serve their country in a patriotic way,” as medical care professionals, welfare workers, clerical workers, cooks, messengers, military postal employees, chauffeurs, and telephone and telegraph operators, and in hundreds of other capacities

This permitted women to fill combat-support positions, at least for the duration of World War II. Greater progress came after World War II with the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948. This would be the first time that women were permitted to serve in the military during peace-time. However, each branch had a two percent limit on the number of women that could be enlisted at any one time, and promotions were very restricted (Valceanu 22). Certainly, this shows advancement for women in the military, but it was merely due to the shortage of men available for military duty. Equality for women in the military was definitely not a consideration at this time.

By 1943, housewife workers outnumbered single workers for the first time in history.Throughout the war women went to work in shipyards, aircraft plants and other assembly lines. They also loaded shells, operated cranes, painted ships. Many of them became welders, bus drivers, train conductors, mechanics, bellhops, nurses and day-care providers. Women comprised a third of the workers in aircraft plants and about 10 percent of the workers at the shipyards and steel mills were women. Although most war work was in factories, many women found work elsewhere. Many became secretaries and clerks in Washington D.C. and more than 200,000 women entered the special branches of the military. Such branches include Women’s Army Corp (WAC), Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). These military positions allowed women to take over tasks for soldiers so they could be free to go to combat. Although women participated in jobs extremely similar to men, they were not treated equally. For the long hour’s women put in, their salaries averaged only 60 percent of men’s. However, the greatest struggle for American women throughout the war was not simply the issue of money.