WWII Women in Aircraft Manufacturing: Pioneers in the Skies - Essay Sample

Photo 1:

This photo was likely taken in 1942 either at Douglas Aircraft or Boeing Aircraft plants in the US. The reason is that the two companies were the largest aircraft manufacturers during World War II (WWII), with the former employing more than 22,000 women in technical jobs. The photo shows a group of women offering labor in an aircraft manufacturing plant. In this picture, airplanes are in the early stage of the manufacturing process, suggesting that women played an active role in designing and building warplanes during WWII. This image is essential to my photo essay as it reinforces the idea that women replaced men in technical jobs to free them to join combat. Again, the photo has a significant contribution to the paper as it suggests that American women indirectly served in the military by taking non-combat roles. At that time, about 350,000 women participated in military activities both abroad and at home by volunteering for organizations that supported American soldiers. Some of them are the Navy Women’s Reserve (WAVES) and Women’s Army Corps (WACs). In 1942, thousands of American women assumed technical jobs in airplane-manufacturing companies when the federal government ordered the construction of more than 60,000 war aircraft.

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Photo 2: Women Air Service Pilots

This photo was likely taken at a United States Army Air Forces facility in 1943. It shows a group of women carrying their parachutes having alighted from a warplane. The writings in aircraft “Pistol Packin' Mama” suggests that the four women are members of the Women Air Service Pilots (WASP). The reason is that WASP pilots flew on war aircraft that were named “Pistol Packin' Mama." It further suggests that one of the women in the picture could be Frances Green since she played a leading role in the operations of WASP. The photo is of great importance to this paper as it brings to light the contributions of American women to the war efforts during WWII. In this regard, WASP trained American women to fly military aircraft to support men in combat. They ferried military personnel from one base to another besides flying warplanes from the factory to naval stations. More importantly, WASP women ferried American soldiers for combat duties overseas.

Photo 3: American women in the industry, business, and agriculture

There are high chances that the US Office of War Information (USOWI) produced this poster in 1943 during the peak of WWII. USOWI is more likely to have taken the photo in a factory where American women were operating machinery whose efforts were aimed at supporting military personnel in combat. In this poster, the Office of War information encouraged American women, especially those whose husbands were in the battle to take jobs with new skills. The reason is that during WWII, a vast majority of American women stayed at home taking care of their children and homes. As such, they needed to do other work, whether in business, industry, or agriculture, to enable them to take care of their families. This massive war campaign as well as targeted unmarried and poor women who could only work in public space. The photo is vital to this paper as it shows that WWII changed gender roles in American societies as women assumed roles traditionally associated with men.

Photo 4: Army Nurse Corps

The US Air force likely took this photo in Bowman Field military evacuation school in Kentucky in 1944. The image shows the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) women practicing how to evacuate patients using aircraft. In this photo, the women in uniform are ANC members, while the other three ladies are students in a training session. Specific details such as military helmets show that these women are training how to evacuate service members in combat. Also, the sign of the United States army inscribed on the surface of the plane further suggests that the efforts of these women were aimed at helping wounded soldiers. ANC women used military aircraft to evacuate wounded military personnel to rear areas and, more importantly, ferry them to better hospitals far from the front lines. The photo is useful for this paper as it shows how women, through flight nurses, played essential roles in nursing soldiers during WWII.

Photo 5: Women’s Auxiliary Air Force

This photo was likely taken in 1939 at a training facility of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). The reason is that WAAF was the primary institution training women who would later serve in the army. The photo shows a group of American women training on how to use guns. In this regard, specific details like officers in uniform standing behind women cocking guns suggest that these people are in a training session. American women that had gone through WAAF training performed police duties, while others supported the US self- defense efforts. WAAF worked directly with the army, while others helped the soldiers as clerks and typists. Women’s training was part of strategies of making available to the country defense skills and knowledge. Thus, the photo is relevant to this paper as it shows how women’s role in WAAF shaped a new military status for American women in the military or the army.

Photo 6: WWII ship scalers

The US Office of War Information took this photo in 1943, likely in California. It shows a woman working as a ship scaler during WWII. During this period, the US recorded a mass production of naval vessels called 'Liberty ships.' Therefore, the women in the picture could be repairing or contributing to the building of these ships. The US allies in WWII needed these ships as well, a situation that triggered mass production. Women played an active in building these naval ships during the war period. With time, however, liberty ships proved not only to be too small but also slow. This situation necessitated the US to start a new shipbuilding program that ultimately gave rise to Victory ships in 1943. The photo contributes essential ideas to this essay as it shows how American women performed technical jobs in the shipbuilding industry and later became a significant breakthrough to the army. The US used these ships to ferry supplies and other commodities to soldiers overseas.

Photo 7: A window clear during WWII

This newspaper photograph was taken in 1945 at one of the tallest buildings in the city of Minneapolis. The picture shows an American woman cleaning windows in a ten-story building. An idea that the woman was wiping windows in such a tall building suggests that WWII changed the landscape of gender roles in the US. The reason is that more women had to perform risky jobs since the vast majority of men had joined the army. Research has shown that the propaganda campaign of Rosie the Riveter led to a significant change in gender roles. In this view, Rosie organized war campaigns that encouraged women to join the war machinery by doing mechanical work to better their financial situation. This idea best explains the job that a woman in the photo is doing, which leaves her at the mercy of work accidents. The picture is useful as it shows how women’s contributions to war machines empowered them to take more roles.

Photo 8: Women's Air Raid Defense

The events in this photo were likely taken in 1941 during an attack at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese soldiers. Military equipment in the scene of attack gives a clue that the photo was taken at a US naval base during the Hawaii attack. The picture is integral to this paper as it brings to light the efforts of Women's Air Raid Defense (WARD), a US entity established to provide air defense for Hawaii following an attack at an American naval base. In this perspective, WARD brought together courageous women who volunteered to safeguard Hawaii and allow their men to pursue the enemy. In doing so, more American men could be freed from the naval base to combat duties. The event provided opportunities for women to join service as air raid wardens. Again, other women had a chance to acquire skills as tank drivers, mechanics, and engineers to boost their air-raid defense capabilities. This photo is vital to the paper since it conveys an idea of the event that compelled American women to take more military roles.

Bibliography

Feininger, Andreana. "Boeing aircraft plane, Seattle, Washington." Library of Congress. Accessed May 18, 2020. Accessed May 18, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017864423/

Goldstein, Andrea. "The Many Roles of Women in War: Sniper, Pilot, and Death Camp Guard." The New York Times. Last modified August 29, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/magazine/women-world-war-ii.html.

Jaworski, Taylor. "You're in the Army Now:" The Impact of World War II on Women's Education, Work, and Family." The Journal of Economic History 74, no. 1 (2014), 169-195. doi: 10.1017/s0022050714000060.

Library of Congress. "Hoe female scalers constructed Liberty ships." Library of Congress. 2012. Accessed May 18, 2020. http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8d18718/.

Library of Congress. "I've found the job where I fit best!" find your war job in the industry, agriculture, business." 1997. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b45153/.

Santana, María C. "From Empowerment to Domesticity: The Case of Rosie the Riveter and the WWII Campaign." Frontiers in Sociology 1 (2016). doi:10.3389/fsoc.2016.00016.

Weatherford, Doris. "American Women during World War II." Ladies Home Journal 4, no. 3, (2009). doi: 10.4324/9780203870662.