Women at work World War II posters
Creation: circa 1941-1945Abstract
The collection consists of four World War II posters related to women in the workforce. Women on the Home Front worked in war industries and volunteered for war-related organizations, excelling at historically male-dominated trades such as welding, riveting, and engine repair. Their contribution was essential for the production and supply of wartime goods.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1941-1945
Creator
- Pennsylvania Railroad (Organization)
- United States Employment Service (Organization)
Extent
4 item(s)
General Physical Description
3 prints : posters ; 18 x 27.5 in. or smaller. 1 print : poster ; 24 x 40 in.
Historical Note
As men went off to fight in World War II, women on the Home Front worked in war industries and volunteered for war-related organizations. Women excelled at the historically male-dominated trades such as welding, riveting, and engine repair. Their contribution was essential for the production and supply of wartime goods. By 1945, over 2 million women were working in the war industries, building ships, aircraft, vehicles, and weaponry. Women also worked in factories and munitions plants, and on farms. They also drove trucks, provided logistic support for soldiers, and entered what were previously male only professional areas.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of four World War II posters related to women in the workforce. The first, "Do the Job He Left Behind," showing a woman with a rivet gun, and the second, "The More Women at Work--The Sooner We Win," showing a woman assembling a plexiglass bomb turret, both encourage women to apply to the U.S. Employment Service. The third, "Miss America 1943," shows a woman with a rivet gun and "V" symbol. The fourth poster is from the Pennsylvania Railroad and titled "So a Man Can Fight," it pictures a woman holding on to the side of a freight car with one hand and holding up a lantern in the other. Along the bottom of the poster it reads "Buy U.S. War Bonds and Stamps."
Location
Drawer AA-07.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Language of Materials
English
Additional Description
Provenance
These posters were purchased from dealers.
Subjects
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title:
- Women at work World War II posters
- Date:
- 2015
- Description rules:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description:
- English
- Script of description:
- Latin
Repository Details
Repository Details
Part of the Audiovisual Collections Repository
