Women in World War II

"Women: There's work to be done and a war to be won...NOW! See Your U.S. Employment Service," 1944.

Vernon Grant, U.S. Government Printing Office/Office of War Information. Courtesy Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-5604

Rosie the Riveter is an icon of the American experience during World War II. With her denim uniform, red kerchief, and flexed bicep, she represents women’s employment and empowerment. But the story of women on the home front is broader, deeper, and more complex than Rosie’s image suggests.

Millions of women did work in shipyards and factories during World War II. They labored as welders, machinists, and (of course) riveters. Women also drove trucks, cleaned houses, flew planes, organized fundraisers, treated patients, grew crops, broke codes, and took care of children. Hundreds of thousands of them joined the armed forces.

With opportunities came struggles. Some Americans heralded women’s patriotism, but others thought it was inappropriate for them to work outside the home. Women experienced sexual harassment and violence at work, in public, and in their homes. Black, Latina, Native American, and Asian American women faced racism and discrimination in war work and society. The US government forced Japanese American and Unangax̂ (Aleut) people into incarceration camps.

On this page, you will find stories of American women spending World War II in uniform, at work, and in their homes and communities. You can engage with this legacy through articles, lesson plans, travel ideas, and historic places. Learn about the history of women in World War II at national parks, like Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in California. Or investigate how women lived and worked on the home front in American World War II Heritage Cities.

Women’s home front experience is the American experience. Explore your history here.

Featured Stories of Women & WWII

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  Home, Family, & Community

  Childcare on the World War II Home Front

  The federal government funded "war nurseries" for women workers during World War II.

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  Women in Uniform

  Dr. Margaret "Mom" Chung

  The first Chinese American woman to become a physician, Dr. Margaret “Mom” Chung lobbied for the creation of the WAVES in WWII.

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  Women at Work

  Women Shipbuilders in Boston

  More than 8000 civilian women worked at Boston's Charlestown Navy Yard during WWII, building ships for the US Navy.

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  Women in Uniform

  Cadet Nurse Corps

  During World War II, more than 100,000 American women served their country as members of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps.

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  Women at Work

  Eleanor Roosevelt and World War II

  First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt traveled to conflict zones in Europe and Pacific as part of her work during World War II.

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  Home, Family, and Community

  Haruko Takahashi

  Haruko Takahashi was a Shintō priestess who spent part of World War II imprisoned at Honouliuli Internment Camp on O’ahu, Hawai’i.

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  Home, Family, and Community

  LGBTQ Histories From the WWII Home Front

  WWII drew millions of servicemen and women and defense workers to the Bay Area, where many of them found queer community.

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  Place

  Fort Ontario

  From 1944 to 1946, Fort Ontario served as the only shelter in the US for Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust.

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  Home, Family, & Community

  Food Rationing on the WWII Home Front

  Supply issues, military needs, and economic factors drove food rationing during World War II.