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Primary Sources

Honoring Women Who Paved The Way in World War II​, 10 May 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzOBZd9Ov_w
This video is a news broadcast in which women who served in the military during WWII were
interviewed and talked about their time. This source helps us because it shows us the growth of
women’s rights throughout time directly coming off of the events after WWII.

The Roles of Women After World War II, 16 Feb 2016

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_Nlq3TonEU
This video is an interview in which a woman describes the growth and change of women’s rights
in and out of the workforce, experiencing them first hand, immediately after World War II. This
source helps us because it shows us the growth of women’s rights throughout time directly
coming off of the events after WWII from a first person perspective.

“Pearl James Hill, Interview by Rebecca Michaud, 16 March 2011,” Digital Public Library of
America
https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/world-war-ii-women-on-the-home-front/sources/372
This is an interview held by Rebecca Michaud with Pearl James Hill, somebody who
experienced World War II directly as she was an ammunition worker and ship welder in the war.
This source helps us because it shows the direct experience of a woman who was an active
member in the American military and shows us things in a more personal light.

https://www.msudenver.edu/media/content/camphale/www_003_NewspapersClippings2.pdf
https://www.msudenver.edu/media/content/camphale/www_003_NewpaperClippings3.pdf
https://www.msudenver.edu/media/content/camphale/mil_004_WomenFarmWorkersAreIncreasi
ng.pdf
These are primary source newspaper clippings from the time which show women’s successes in
the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps), special training opportunities, and outside in
Denver specifically on the agricultural side of things. This source helps us because it shows us
how women were accepted into the military, actively trained, and also managed to find other
successes within their community.

“WW2 People's War - Archive List.” ​BBC​, BBC, 11 Oct. 2014,

www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/categories/
This is a list that compiles a large amount of first-hand accounts and stories from all facets of
those that experienced WWII. This shows us a new and very personal look at the events of the
war and how it affected everyday people. This source is important to our project because it can
show us the direct perspective of all types of women during the time.
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Secondary Sources

Langguth, Paulette. ​Eleanor Roosevelt and Child Care: Finding Friends in Private Industries​.
www.usspotomac.org/contact/documents/pcfall_eleanor_roosevelt__child_care.pdf
This is an article that describes how Eleanor Roosevelt helped the children of working women in
the 1940’s. Women had to miss out on work opportunities because they didn’t have the time to
go for simple groceries. This article helps us support our main idea because it shows that women
didn’t have so much help on their side as men did. The article gives examples of how women
impacted America when working and how Eleanor Roosevelt saw the value in these women.

“American Women and World War II.” ​Khan Academy​, Khan Academy,
www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/us-wwii/a/american-women-a
nd-world-war-ii​.

This is an article that fully describes the impact American women had in all aspects of WWII.
Shows their importance in and outside the battlefield and fully examines their importance.
Provides very general but important information towards the focus of the project.

“Striking Women.” ​World War II: 1939-1945 | Striking Women,​

www.striking-women.org/module/women-and-work/world-war-ii-1939-1945​ .
This is an article which shows the impact WWII had on women in Europe. Describes them
working in manufacturing industry for the war, reinvigorating arguments towards equal pay,
explaining the discrimination they faced. Also shows individual case studies for prominent
women in their fields, helps show things didn’t only happen in America and provides more
information on the topic.

“History At a Glance: Women in World War II: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.”
The National WWII Museum | New Orleans,​
www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/women-ww
ii​.
This is an article that provides a brief summary on the role women played during the wartime.
Explains that 350,000 American women worked in uniform, describing all the various military
volunteer groups they joined. Also tells of all the women who still wanted to work afterwards,
shows the power of women and continues to maintain the focus of our project while hinting
towards the equality they seeked afterward

Mark D Catlin. “Women at Work WWII 1943.” ​YouTube​, YouTube, 25 Nov. 2006,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhswqZh2Rc4​.
This is a video that shows women hard at work during 1943. They are working on parts for large
airplanes and war vehicles, using teamwork to put them together, showing them getting paid at
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the end of their day. This shows us how the working conditions for the women were and how
exactly they got their work done.

Taylor, Alan. “World War II: Women at War.” ​The Atlantic​, Atlantic Media Company, 11 Sept.
2011, ​www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/09/world-war-ii-women-at-war/100145/​.
This is an article which also includes 20 photos of women all around the world doing powerful
feats on and off the battlefield. The article explains that these powerful women weren’t only
found in America and that 800,000 women served alongside the men in the Soviet Union. This
article benefits our project because it provides us additional context for all the powerful women
and all the amazing things they did.

McEuen, Melissa A. “Women, Gender, and World War II.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of
American History, 8 June 2017,
https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-
9780199329175-e-55​.
This is a source that provides a detailed description of women during the war relating to all
topics. These topics include wage work, military service, social issues, as well as the lasting
effects of the women who faced a lot of challenge and sacrifice during wartime.

Honey, Maureen. “The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.” African American
Women in World War II | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, 1 Jan. 1970,
www.gilderlehrman.org/history-now/essays/african-american-women-world-war-ii​.
This is an article which illustrates the advances African American women made during the war
in both armed and labor forces. Huge steps were taken for African Americans as a whole during
this period, discusses the Double Victory Campaign. This is important to our project because it
shows the different challenges African American women faced as well as the long lasting impact
their struggles had long after the war.

Hartmann, Susan. “Women & World War II.” Women & WWII | Camp Hale | MSU
Denver, 2017, ​www.msudenver.edu/camphale/thewomensarmycorps/womenwwii/​.
This is an article which includes many fast facts and statistics on women and their impact in the
workforce and military. Statistics include that at the height of the war there were 19,170,000
women in the laborforce and that between 1943 and 1945, 61-85% of women wanted to keep
their jobs after the war. These statistics and facts help our project by showing accessible
information that shows just how big the impact WWII had on women as a whole.

“Women in the Military.” The Women's Army Corps | Camp Hale | MSU Denver,
www.msudenver.edu/camphale/thewomensarmycorps/​.
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This is a short article which describes the evolution of women and their participation in the
military. In WWI, over 34,000 women served in various branches, only as nurses and didn’t hold
fully military status but as WWII forced America into the war, the Women Auxilary Corps was
formed. This is important to our project because it shows how the severity of the second world
war brought more attention to women and their benefit to the war efforts.

Moore, Cara. “Women Workers in Wartime.” National Archives and Records Administration,
National Archives and Records Administration, 2016,
www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2016/fall/women-workers​.
This is an article which describes the story of Lucile Atcherson and how she applied for work.
This explains the specific details and all the formal steps taken towards actually applying for
employment as a woman. This is beneficial to our project because it shows very specific details
and explains all the hoops a woman has to jump through to get jobs.

Lewis, Jone Johnson. “Women of World War II at Work in Offices and Factories.” ThoughtCo,
ThoughtCo, 5 Mar. 2019, ​www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-women-at-work-3530690​.
This is a short article which describes the types of jobs women did during the war as well as the
effects this had towards childcare. Office jobs and factory jobs were incredibly common during
the time and women faced a lot of difficulty with taking care of their children while at work.
This is an important source towards our project because it shows the various jobs a woman could
get as well as the balance they had to find while working and dealing with their own families.

“Women in WWI.” ​National WWI Museum and Memorial​, 5 Mar. 2019,

www.theworldwar.org/learn/women
This is a detailed article which describes a woman’s place during the first world war. It goes into
details with how they benefited the war efforts and the strife they faced with getting recognition.
It is important towards the goal of our project because it shows the seeds being placed for
women in the war and further shows just how beneficial WWII actually was.

“Women in World War I.” ​National Museum of American History​, 2015

https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/women-in-wwi

“Women's Suffrage and WWI (U.S. National Park Service).” ​National Parks Service,​ U.S.
Department of the Interior, 15 Oct. 2018,
https://www.nps.gov/articles/womens-suffrage-wwi.htm

Pictures
https://oberlinlibstaff.com/omeka_hist244/exhibits/show/homefront/propaganda
This is an article including various propaganda pieces showing how women were portrayed at
the time of the war. Some of these images include a woman and her daughter canning food for
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the war effort, women being shown as victims, as well as “fast” women being shown as a threat
to men due to the possible spread of diseases.

https://www.msudenver.edu/camphale/thewomensarmycorps/womenwwii/posterimages/
This is an article which includes first-hand propaganda posters used to inspire women to help the
work and war efforts. The most prominent image includes Rosie the Riveter saying, “We Can Do
It!” which was a huge deal for getting women into the workforce, as well as a poster saying,
“Longing won’t bring him back sooner… Get A War Job!”. These propaganda posters provide
additional context to our project topic, they speak a whole lot for the situation of women without
even having too many words.

http://womenofwwii.com/
This is an article including images showing women serve all across various aspects of military
including construction. This shows first-hand examples of exactly what women did at the time
and the power they had doing jobs many people thought exclusive to women at the time.