World War II provided several job opportunities to women, especially in the defense industry, that had never before been open to women. The gap in the labor force created by departing soldiers opened many jobs for women. Before WWII, women’s duties were restricted to traditional professions such as sewing, teaching, nursing, and domestic service workers. And most women were expected to leave the job as soon as they were married or had children. Over five million women in the United States entered the workforce between 1940-1945. Approximately 350,000 American women joined the military and worked as nurses, drivers repairing and manufacturing airplanes, tanks, vehicles, and vessels.
Women worked in heavy industry, wartime production plants, chemical factories, volunteer policewomen, and several other jobs that had traditionally belonged to men. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt approved the first US government Community Facilities Act of 1942. Seven centers were built around the country servicing 105,000 children.
Here below are some photos that show uniform of female workers, including nurses, fire workers, officers, and several other professions from WWII.
