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Talking about women in the industry in World War II:

Many of the new opportunities and jobs that opened for women during World War I faded away when the war ended. Many occupations were reserved for men returning from war; some states even barred women from holding jobs. Although some "new women" in World War I, who invested time and money in pursuing professional work continued in their careers outside the military during the 1920s and 1930s, most women returned to the home and took up their former roles as wives and mothers. This situation began to change after Germany invaded Poland in September of 1939, sparking the Second World War. The expansion of the war across Europe over the next two years convinced the United States to mobilize the country's entire population in an effort to aid the Allies . In October of 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted the first peace-time military draft in the United States for men. Women pursued myriad ways to contribute to the war effort.

Women in Industry
In December of 1940, one year before the United States entered the Second World War, factories that had previously made watches, farm equipment, linotypes, cash registers, and automobiles had already begun making fuses, bomb-packing crates, scope mounts, shells, pistols, and tanks. President Roosevelt announced his intention to vastly expand military production to support the Allies and to ready America for possible involvement in the war. "Guns, planes, and ships have to be built in the factories and arsenals of America," Roosevelt asserted. The enlistment of hundreds of thousands of men in the military opened wide the door of opportunity for women in well-paying jobs which had been male-dominated industries in peace time. The federal government launched an aggressive publicity campaign that appealed to women's patriotic duty and their need for greater financial security while spouses were away.

The first women to respond to the call, in 1940, became blue-collar workers. Many were working-class wives, widows, divorcees, and students who needed income to make ends meet. Industrial jobs, which often paid three times more than cleaning and food service jobs, drew both white and African American women into factories. The demand for female industrial workers continued to grow as more men left for the war. In 1943, a mythical woman, Rosie the Riveter , emerged from the lyrics of a song and was immortalized in the May 29, 1943, Saturday Evening Post cover artwork by well-known illustrator Norman Rockwell. A softer more feminine, less beefy, muscular version of Rosie appeared soon afterward on government-commissioned posters, accompanied by "We Can Do It" in bold type.

Female industrial workers could not keep up with demand as the war progressed. The September 6, 1943, issue of Newsweek reported that 3.2 million new workers were needed for industry—primarily in munitions—in the next two months. Although the government, at the suggestion of Eleanor Roosevelt, considered following the British example of drafting women into industry, it refrained, and relied on public relations to recruit more female labor. Soon, four million women who were already in the workforce shifted to industrial work; 2.5 million new women went into industrial defense jobs. African American women worked alongside white women. The racial divide, however, evident by prejudiced behaviors and Jim Crow segregation laws and customs in the South, existed in many factories, just as it did in the racially segregated military. At the height of wartime industrial production in 1943 and early 1944, almost 50 percent of all adult women were employed, many in industrial jobs.

Aircraft Industries
Women industrial workers focused most of their energies on building aircraft, ships, and munitions. In 1940, only 13,000 planes existed; President Roosevelt asked that 60,000 more war planes be built. Douglas Aircraft, one of the largest aircraft plants in the United States at that time had its main facility at Long Beach, California. During the war, Douglas employed 22,000 women, most of whom built bombers and transport planes. Women assembled thousands of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress airplanes, the workhorse on the European front, which carried ten-man crews and huge bomb loads into enemy territory.

Shipbuilding
Women experienced greater challenges breaking into the shipbuilding industry since a long tradition of an all-male workforce existed. This slowly changed as the need for greater production increased. In 1942, the Brooklyn Navy Yard lifted its 141-year ban on hiring women. The following year, a need for 30,000 workers in shipyards along the Gulf Coast prompted the hiring of huge numbers of women there. The Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond, California, one of the largest in the country, hired thousands of women to assemble Liberty ships—cargo ships that could be built quickly and inexpensively. At first, Liberty ships took a month to build, then a week, and, finally, just four days. They came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial efficiency and output. Women played a large role in building these ships with speed and deftness. Some women rose to managerial positions, like Elinor Herrick, who directed personnel at Todd Shipyards, which employed 140,000 people in ten port cities.

Munitions
Women held many jobs in munitions. Producing bombs and ammunition was extremely hazardous work. Accidental explosions could be easily triggered by small incorrect movements or misplacements of material. According to Susan B. Anthony II, "Women form[ed] almost half of all the workers trimming bullet jackets, annealing case parts and assembling bullets and cartridges. In big ammunition—artillery women form[ed] more than a third of the workers."

Finally, thousands of women worked in an array of other industrial production jobs. Women worked in textile mills and the clothing factories making uniforms and boots for military personnel, sewing heavy overcoats, assembling parachutes, and making blimp envelopes. They also prepared and packed food and worked in the nascent electronics industry. Many thought that women had superior manual dexterity and a greater tolerance for repetitive tasks. Of the six million women who joined the workforce between the late 1930s and 1945, 2.5 million worked in defense industries. Women workers produced 296,429 airplanes, 102,351 tanks and guns, 87,620 warships, 47 tons of artillery ammunition, and 44 billion rounds of small arms ammunition.