Lesson Plans -- Student
DBQ:Women & Labor During WWII
A Document Based
Question by Angelo Macchiano
Historical Context:
During World War II millions of male workers left the civilian work force to enlist in the armed services leaving an enormous gap in industrial producation that needed to be filled. As in World War I, World War II saw the need for women to become employed outside of the home to aid the war effort. With relatively well-paying jobs available in industry women abandoned low-paid, traditionally female occupations such as domestic service employment.
Directions:
The following question is based on the accompanying documents found in part A. As you begin to analyze the documents, take into account the source of the document and the author's point of view. Be sure to:
- Carefully read the document based question.
- Read each document carefully and answer the questions which follow each document
- Based on your knowledge of social studies and on the information found in the documents, formulate a thesis that directly answers the question.
- Write a well-organized essay proving your thesis. The essay should be logically presented and should include information both from the documetns and from your knowledge of social studies.
Essay Question: How did the role of women change during WWII?
Part A: The following documents will help you understand how women's roles changed within the United States during WWII. Examine each document carefully, and answer the questions that follow.
DOCUMENT 1
This World War II poster was produced by Westinghouse for the War Production Co-Ordinating Committe.
What is this poster trying to portray to women?
DOCUMENT 2
This is a WWII recruitment poster for the War Manpower Commission.
What various typres of jobs are being preformed by the women in this poster?
DOCUMENT 3
The Following excerpt came from Eleanor Roosevelt's, American Women in the War, The Readers Digest 44, (January 1944).
The many thousands of women who are not doing any unusual work, but are simply running their houses quietly and efficiently, are contributing more to the war effort that they themselves realize. The woman who meets war difficulties with a smile, who does her best with rationing and other curtailments, who writes her man overseas the kind of letters he must have to carry him through successfully, is making a great contribution to this difficult period. If, in addition to this work at home, a woman is giving her services to any volunteer organizations, our hats must be off to her.
According to Eleanor Roosevelt, how else are women contributing towards the war effort besides with their labor?
DOCUMENT 4
This is a WWII advertisment.
In what ways were women looked upon as vital to the war effort?
DOCUMENTS 5 & 6
The following documents are photographs of women industrial workers during WWII. The top photo is a punch press operator and the bottom photograph is of drill press operators.
How could these images be used as propaganda advertisements to attract women to the industrial workforce?
DOCUMENT 7
The following is a WWII recruitment poster for the Women's Land Army.
Besides working in factories, what other jobs and tasks were women being asked to perform and fill in for?
DOCUMENT 8
This excerpt is a personal account by Sybil Lewis, which was taken from Mark Jonathan's The Homefront: America During World War II.
The war years had a tremendous impact on women. I know for myself it was the first time I had a chance to get out of the kitchen and work in industry and make a few bucks. This was something I had never dreamed would happen. In Sapulpa all that women had to look forward to was keeping a house and raising families. The war years offered new possibilities. You came out to California, put on your pants and took your lunch pail to a man's job. In Oklahoma a woman's place was in the home, and men went to work and provided. This was the beginning of women's feeling that they could do something more. We were trained to do this kind of work because of the war, but there was no question that this was just an interim period. We were all told that when the war was over we would not be needed anymore.
According to Lewis, how did the war affect women?
Why would women workers not be needed following WWII?
PART B - ESSAY
How did the role of women change during WWII?
GRADING KEY
Document 1
Women are strong and quite capable of working outside the home in a factory setting.
Document 2
War industry, mechanic, manufacturing, waitress, riveter, carpentry, ect, ect.
Document 3
Women who do stay at home are still providing a valuable service to their country. They ration valuable materials: they keep the moral of the soilders high by writing to thier sons and husbands, along with maintaining an orderly home. They also give thier time to various volunteer organizations.
Document 4
Women had to fill the gaps along the assembly lines that were left vacant by the male workers who went over seas. Women of all ages were needed to full the factories. Their labor was essential in meeting the high demand for war production goods that were to supply the European and Pacific campaigns.
Documents 5 & 6
Photographs can be used in propoganda urging women to fulfill their patriotic duty and join their sisters in the factories. Both pictures show women hard at work doing their part to help with the war effort. The brave women of the homefront must now fill work that typically was reserved for men.
Document 7
Along with working in the industrial workforce, women were being called to the agricultural sector of the United States. Farming and gardening are the two areas that are illustrated on this war poster that need women's participation to ensure the survival of the United Staes.
Document 8
- For the first time women were given opportunity to get out of the kitchen and work in the traditionally male dominated factories. Women could now leave the house and earn a decent wage to support themselves and their families. Women also gained a new sense of accomplishment and self-confidence that they could do more that housekeeping and contribute to the war effort.
- The jobs that women held her only available because there was a labor shortage. These jobs rightfully belong to the male workers who had left to become soldiers and were now fighting in Europe and the Pacific.
Essay
The essay should be well organized and thought out. Thoughts and ideas supporting the student's thesis should be drawn from all eight documents presented in part (A) along with their own knowlege of social studies. The essay should consist of an introduction, multiple paragraphs concentrating on the various themes presented by the documents, and a persuasive conclusion.
EXPLANATION OF DOCUMENTS
The pupose of this DBQ is to test student's knowledge about the contributions and societal roles that women were expected to undertake during WWII. All these documents help portray women as active participants who filled the labor gaps, along with other contributions that helped in the war effort.
Documents 1 & 2 are both recruitment posters designed to attract women into the industrial labor force. Both documents help to show students how aggressively women were recruited to leave the traditional domestic home life to work in a factory. Document 3 is an excerpt from Eleanor Roosevelt praising the efforts of women who do not work inside the factories bit otherwise provide a valuable service within their traditional roles. Document 4 is an advertisement that shows women working in the war industry. This document also shows how women's participation is directly linked to the war effort against the axis powers. Documents 5 & 6 are both wartime photographs of various women operating complex machinery inside factories. I like these photos because it gives students a contrast to the typical "Suzie homemaker" photos of women inside a kitchen with an apron. These women are wearing overalls with flannel shirts and are getting thier hands dirty. Document 7 is a recruitment poster for the Women's Land Army. Many students are not aware that women worked in many other jobs besides factories. In this case, farming is the job that women are being called to serve. Document 8 is a personal, narritive acccount of a woman laborer (Sybil Lewis) and her personal reflection as an industrial worker. Lewis's account also tells an important hidden narritive to students, that the newfound employment that many women enjoyed was only on a temporary basis and long as the war was going on.
DOCUMENTS
Document 1: We can do it (poster)
http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/powers_of_persuasion/its_a_womans_war_too/images_html/we_can_do_it.html
Document 2: Work to be Done (poster)
http://media.nara.gov/media/images/17/8/17-0796a.gif
Document 3: Eleanor Roosevelt
http://newdeal.feri.org/er/er14.htm
Document 4: Women in War Industry (advertisement)
http://media.nara.gov/media/images/17/8/17-0795a.gif
Document 5: Punch Press Operator (photo)
http://wadsworth.com/history_d/special_features/ext/ap/chapter26/23-0101a.html
Document 6: Drill Press Operator (photo)
http://wadsworth.com/history_d/special_features/ext/ap/chapter26/23-0113a.html
Document 7: Pitch in and Help (poster)
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/collection/wwii-posters/img/ww0870-02.jpg
Document 8: Sybil Lewis (personal account)
http://wadsworth.com/history_d/special_features/ext/ap/chapter26/26.1.homefront.html