World War II for Women and Minorities

Document-Based Investigation

The More WOMEN at Work the Sooner We WIN!, 1943

Palmer, Alfred T. The More WOMEN at Work the Sooner We

WIN! 1943. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of
Congress. Web.

World War II bought benefits for women and minorities in terms of increased social
responsibility and employment. Despite gender and race inequality before and during
the war, women and minorities provided crucial support on the home front. However,
many women and minorities were forced to give up their roles once the war ended.
Discrimination and segregation remained social issues that troubled many Americans.

Investigation Question:

In this Document-Based Investigation, you will analyze source materials and investigate
this question:

For American women and minority groups, was World War II a time of progress?

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Once you complete your investigation, you will select one of the following
projects:
• You are a museum curator, putting together an exhibit on World War II on the
home front called The War at Home: Were Women and Minorities Victorious?
Write an introduction for a pamphlet that will be given to visitors to the museum.
Your article must be informative, persuasive, and supported by the necessary
resources.
• You are a historian who has been asked to give the opening remarks for a
conference on Women and Minorities—Effects of World War II. Write a script
for your speech that summarizes your research on the investigation question.

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1. Excerpt from “Employment of Women in an Emergency Period,”

Women’s Bureau Bulletin Number 241, 1952

The long-term trend toward increased participation of women in the labor force was
accelerated by the two world wars. Immediately following the close of World War II,
there was a marked withdrawal of women from the labor force. Nevertheless, their
rate of participation in April 1947 remained higher than it had been in 1940, prior to
the war. . . .

Between the spring of 1940 and the spring of 1945 almost 6 million women entered
the labor force. By the latter date there were 19.5 million women workers; and 36
percent of all civilian workers were women. . . .

World War II not only increased the total number of women workers but changed the
distribution of women in the work force both by occupation and by industry. . . .

It was founded as a result of World War II experience, that women can equal men in
job performance, provided the jobs are within their physical abilities and they are
given the proper training.

“Employment of Women in an Emergency Period.” 1952. Women’s Bureau Bulletin Number 241. U.S. Department of Labor.
Web.

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2. Women War Workers, 1942

Palmer, Alfred T. Women War Workers. 1942. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Web.

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3. Excerpt from Long Passage to Korea—Black Sailors and the Integration

of the U.S. Navy, “World War II Experience” and “Into the Cold War,”
2003

Most African American sailors performed duties indirectly related to combat . . .

Forced into a narrow range of specialties, black sailors saw themselves as outsiders,
excluded from the real Navy, serving as workers rather than fighters. . . .

The barriers separating the races had already been lowered to permit African
Americans to become officers and petty officers and to serve at sea in a variety of
specialties other than steward. African Americans resented the narrow range of
opportunity open to most of them, and white seamen objected to the prospect of
repeated tours of sea duty and the likelihood of combat because black sailors filled
many shore-based billets [positions]. . . .

As World War II drew to a close, Secretary Forrestal pursued the objective of

providing equal treatment and opportunity for all races while causing a minimum of
commotion in the ranks. . . .

In the postwar Navy, African Americans were to be eligible for “all types of
assignments in all ratings in all activities and all ships of the naval service.”

Nalty, Bernard C. Long Passage to Korea—Black Sailors and the Integration of the U.S. Navy. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of the Navy, 2003. Web.

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4. African American Troops in San Francisco Awaiting Deployment, 1942

African American Troops at SF Awaiting Shipment. IRC, 2005. Discovery Education. Web.

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5. Foreword to Ansel Adams’s Born Free and Equal, 1944

The foreword to Adams’s book was written by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Harold
L. Ickes in July 1944.

It has long been my belief that the greatness of American has arisen in large part out
of the diversity of her peoples. Before the war, peoples of Japanese ancestry were a
small but valuable element in our population. Their record of law-abiding,
industrious citizenship was surpassed by no other group. Their contributions to the
arts, agriculture, and science were indisputable evidence that the majority of them
believed in America and were growing with America.

Then war came with the nation of their parental origin. The ensuing two and a half
years have brought heartaches to many in our population. Among the casualties of
war has been America’s Japanese minority. It is my hope that the wounds which it
has received in the great uprooting will heal. It is my prayer that other Americans will
fully realize that to condone the whittling away of the rights of any one minority
group is to pave the way for all of us to lose the guarantees of the constitution.

As the President has said, “Americanism is a matter of the mind and the heart;
Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry.”

Adams, Ansel. Born Free and Equal. 1944. Library of Congress. Web.

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6. Noon Mess Line at Camp for Japanese Americans

Noon Mess Line at Camp for Japanese Americans. IRC, 2005. Discovery Education. Web.

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7. Native American Section Gang Working on the Atchison, Topeka, and

Santa Fe Railroad Track, 1943

Indian Section Gang Working on the AT&SF Track. IRC, 2005. Discovery Education. Web.

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8. Excerpt from Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the

Defense Industry, June 25, 1941

The threatened March on Washington in 1941 led by A. Philip Randolph resulted in

President Franklin D. Roosevelt issuing Executive Order 8802.

WHEREAS it is the policy of the United States to encourage full participation in the
national defense program by all citizens of the United States, regardless of race,
creed, color, or national origin, in the firm belief that the democratic way of life
within the Nation can be defended successfully only with the help and support of all
groups within its borders; and

WHEREAS there is evidence that available and needed workers have been barred
from employment in industries engaged in defense production solely because of
considerations of race, creed, color, or national origin, to the detriment of workers'
morale and of national unity:

NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and

the statutes, and as a prerequisite to the successful conduct of our national defense
production effort, I do hereby reaffirm the policy of the United States that there shall
be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or
government because of race, creed, color, or national origin, and I do hereby declare
that it is the duty of employers and of labor organizations, in furtherance of said
policy and of this order, to provide for the full and equitable participation of all
workers in defense industries, without discrimination because of race, creed, color, or
national origin;

And it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. All departments and agencies of the Government of the United States concerned
with vocational and training programs for defense production shall take special
measures appropriate to assure that such programs are administered without
discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin;

2. All contracting agencies of the Government of the United States shall include in all
defense contracts hereafter negotiated by them a provision obligating the contractor
not to discriminate against any worker because of race, creed, color, or national
origin;

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3. There is established in the Office of Production Management a Committee on Fair

Employment Practice. . . . The Committee shall receive and investigate complaints of
discrimination in violation of the provisions of this order and shall take appropriate
steps to redress grievances which it finds to be valid. The Committee shall also
recommend to the several departments and agencies of the Government of the United
States and to the President all measures which may be deemed by it necessary or
proper to effectuate the provisions of this order.

Executive Order 8802. June 25, 1941, General Records of the U.S. Government; Record Group 11. National Archives. Web.

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9. Excerpt from To Secure These Rights, 1947

In December 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9808,

creating the President’s Commission on Civil Rights, which would develop
recommendations for “more adequate means and procedures for the protection of
the civil rights of the people of the United States.” The commission issued its report,
To Secure These Rights, in October 1947. This excerpt is from the first page of that
report.

Freedom From Fear is more fully realized in our country than in any other on the face
of the earth. Yet all parts of our population are not equally free from fear. And from
time to time, and in some places, this freedom has been gravely threatened. It was so
after the last war, when organized groups fanned hatred and intolerance, until, at
times, mob action struck fear into the hearts of men and women because of their
racial origin or religious beliefs.

Today, Freedom From Fear, and the democratic institutions which sustain it, are
again under attack. In some places, from time to time, the local enforcement of law
and order has broken down, and individuals -- sometimes ex-servicemen, even
women -- have been killed, maimed, or intimidated.

The preservation of civil liberties is a duty of every Government-state, Federal and

local. Wherever the law enforcement measures and the authority of Federal, state,
and local governments are inadequate to discharge this primary function of
government, these measures and this authority should be strengthened and
improved. . . .

Yet in its discharge of the obligations placed on it by the Constitution, the Federal
Government is hampered by inadequate civil rights statutes. The protection of our
democratic institutions and the enjoyment by the people of their rights under the
Constitution require that these weak and inadequate statutes should be expanded and
improved. We must provide the Department of Justice with the tools to do the job.
I have, therefore, issued today an Executive Order creating the President's Committee
on Civil Rights and I am asking this Committee to prepare for me a written report . . .
[issuing] recommendations with respect to the adoption or establishment by
legislation or otherwise of more adequate and effective means and procedures for the
protection of the civil rights of the people of the United States.

The President’s Committee on Civil Rights. To Secure These Rights: The Report of the President’s Committee on Civil Rights,
1947. Independence, MO: Harry S. Truman Library. Web.

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10. Excerpt from Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces,
July 26, 1948

WHEREAS it is essential that there be maintained in the armed services of the

United States the highest standards of democracy, with equality of treatment and
opportunity for all those who serve in our country's defense:

NOW THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the

United States, by the Constitution and the statutes of the United States, and as
Commander in Chief of the armed services, it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality
of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to
race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly
as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary
changes without impairing efficiency or morale.

2. There shall be created in the National Military Establishment an advisory

committee to be known as the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and
Opportunity in the Armed Services, which shall be composed of seven members to
be designated by the President.

3. The Committee is authorized on behalf of the President to examine into the rules,
procedures and practices of the Armed Services in order to determine in what
respect such rules, procedures and practices may be altered or improved with a view
to carrying out the policy of this order. The Committee shall confer and advise the
Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, and the
Secretary of the Air Force, and shall make such recommendations to the President
and to said Secretaries as in the judgment of the Committee will effectuate the
policy hereof.

4. All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government are

authorized and directed to cooperate with the Committee in its work, and to furnish
the Committee such information or the services of such persons as the Committee
may require in the performance of its duties.

5. When requested by the Committee to do so, persons in the armed services or in

any of the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall
testify before the Committee and shall make available for use of the Committee such
documents and other information as the Committee may require.

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6. The Committee shall continue to exist until such time as the President shall
terminate its existence by Executive order.

Executive Order 9981, July 26, 1948. General Records of the U.S. Government; Record Group 11. National Archives. Web.

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Already Know/Need to Know

Investigation Question: For American women and minority groups, was World War
II a time of progress?

Information I Already Know Information I Still Need to Know to

About This Topic Answer the Investigation Question

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Document-Based Investigation

Document-Based Investigation Resource Sheet

Directions: As you analyze the sources in your packet, complete the organizer below.

Investigation Question: For American women and minority groups, was World War II a time of progress?

Basic Information The Source’s The Source and the

About the Source
- What type of document?
- Who created it? When?
- What was its purpose?
- Who was the intended audience?
Overall Message Investigation Question
- How would I summarize the - Does this source help me address
content or overall message of this the investigation questions? If so,
primary source? how? If not, why not?
- Which parts of the source are facts?
Which are opinions? What biases
does the source reveal?

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Investigation Question: For American women and minority groups, was World War II a time of progress?

Basic Information The Source’s The Source and the

About the Source Overall Message Investigation Question

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Investigation Question For American women and minority groups, was World War II a time of progress?

Basic Information The Source’s The Source and the

About the Source Overall Message Investigation Question

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Investigation Question For American women and minority groups, was World War II a time of progress?

Basic Information The Source’s The Source and the

About the Source Overall Message Investigation Question

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Putting It All Together

Investigation Question: For American women and minority groups, was World War
II a time of progress?
Use the space below to respond directly to the investigation question.

FIRST POINT OF SUPPORTING EVIDENCE:

Why is this point important?

Which sources demonstrate this point?

SECOND POINT OF SUPPORTING EVIDENCE:

Why is this point important?

Which sources demonstrate this point?

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THIRD POINT OF SUPPORTING EVIDENCE:

Why is this point important?

Which sources demonstrate this point?

COUNTERPOINTS:

What will people who disagree with your position argue?

Why is your argument more convincing?

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