Photos | Videos | Audio | Interactives
Photo Galleries (2)
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Women Factory Workers of World War II
Women Factory Workers of World War II(10 Photos)
10 Photos
During World War II, American women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers. The munitions industry heavily recruited women workers, as represented by the U.S. government's "Rosie the Riveter" propaganda campaign.
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World War II Posters
World War II Posters(16 Photos)
16 Photos
View photos of famous posters from the World War II era.
Videos (3)
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Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
Women's Army Auxiliary CorpsVideo Clip (3:13)
Video Clip (3:13)
May 14, 1943, marked the first anniversary of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). The Women's Army Corps, a U.S. army organization created during World War II to enlist women as auxiliaries for noncombatant duty in the U.S. army. Before 1943 it was known as the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. Its first director was Oveta Culp Hobby. During World War II, WACs served as medical technicians, cartography clerks, secretaries, and the like in the United States and in all the theaters of war. Almost 100,000 had joined the WAC by 1945. Enlistment ended with the war's end, and rapid demobilization followed. But by 1946 the War Department asked for reenlistments to meet shortages in army hospitals and personnel centers. In 1948 a bill was passed by Congress formally establishing the WAC within the regular army. The WAC was dissolved in 1978.
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Women in the Cockpit
Women in the CockpitVideo Clip (3:52)
Video Clip (3:52)
Dawn Letson befriended a World War II veteran who was a member of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, and shares her films from WASP training camp.
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Women of War
Women of WarVideo Clip (1:38)
Video Clip (1:38)
Find out the surprising stories of the unexpected ways women have served their countries in times of war.
Speeches & Audio (1)
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WAC Recruits Take Oath of Enlistment
WAC Recruits Take Oath of EnlistmentAudio Clip (2:53)
Audio Clip (2:53)
An October 28, 1943, oath ceremony grants to women who had served in the military the official membership of the Armed Forces. Though women had established a long record of military service dating to the early 1900s, it wasn't until the Women's Army Corps bill was signed into law on July 1, 1943, that they received full status.
Interactives (1)
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Inside WWII
Inside WWIIInteractive
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Read More about American Women in World War II
American women helped the World War II effort, both in uniform and by joining the industrial workforce.
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