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History 10/Topic IX

American Women at Work--The Homefront During World War II

Examine these three photographs. All of them were taken for the "Office of War Information," a government agency whose job was to keep morale up among Americans during the war years. Read the captions that accompany each photograph. Photo source: Library of Congress American Memory Project: memory.loc.gov/ammem/ammemhome.html

1. What do you think was the purpose of the photographs? What kinds of feelings or ideas are the photographers trying to communicate? Choose specific elements of the image to support your ideas.

2. Would the pictures look any different if they hadn't been taken by the Office of War Information? Can you think of an alternative caption to put underneath the photographs?


1. "Training" (September, 1942)
"Experienced workers train young girls in the high school Victory Corps to become valuable members of the vast womanpower army. Sally Brown, who is learning to rivet airplane parts at Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, California, will be ready for skilled work in the war industry when her course in riveting is completed."

2. "At Work" (October, 1942)
"A girl mechanic in a large Western aircraft plant rivets the belly of a new consolidated (C-87) transport plane."

3. "Painting" (August, 1942)
"Painting the American insignia on airplane wings is a job that Mrs. Irma Lee McElroy, a former office worker, does with precision and patriotic zeal. Mrs. McElroy is a civil service employee at the Naval Air Base in Corpus Christi, Texas. Her husband is a flight instructor."

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