S w19 31109034

Women of World War II

By juliamaxwell19

  • Women Working

    Women Working
    When the United States entered World War II in 1941, 12 million women were already working (making up one quarter of the workforce).

  • Congress passed WAAC bill

    Congress passed WAAC bill
    The Army establishes the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in 1942, which is converted to the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943. More than 150,000 women serve as WACs during the war; thousands are sent to the European and Pacific theaters.

  • WAVES was established

    WAVES was established
    WAVES on 30 July 1942 was established as a World War II division of the U.S. Navy, that consisted entirely of women in the 1940s, but on 12 June 1948, women gained permanent status in the armed services of the United States. The name was the acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" (as well as an allusion to ocean waves).

  • SPARS was established

    SPARS was established
    SPARS was the nickname for the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, created 23 November 1942 with the signing of Public Law 773 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The name is the contraction of the Coast Guard motto: Semper Paratus and its English translation, Always Ready. The name also refers to a spar in nautical usage.

  • We Can Do It!

    We Can Do It!
    The intent of the poster was to keep production up by boosting morale, not to recruit more women workers. It was shown only to Westinghouse employees in the Midwest during a two-week period in February 1943, then it disappeared for nearly four decades. During the war, the name "Rosie" was not associated with the image, and it was not about women's empowerment. It was only later, in the early 1980s, that the Miller poster was rediscovered and became famous and often mistaked with "Rosie".

  • WASP was established

    WASP was established
    On August 5, 1943, these two efforts -- WAFS and WFTD -- merged to become the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), with Cochran as director. More than 25,000 women applied -- with requirements including a pilot's license and many hours experience.

  • Women Working

    Women Working
    By the end of the war, the number was up to 18 million (one third of the workforce). Around 4 million women were fired from their jobs.