War WorkingWomen and Minorities

in the Workplace

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Mexicans •Mexicans faced discrimination•Zoot suitors were attacked but they were arrested not the attackers (Los Angeles)

•Bracero program- brought laborers from Mexico to work on farms

African Americans• Few African Americans found

meaningful employment w/ national defense employers

• Stressed for a “Double V” campaign- victory against fascism aboard and victory against discrimination at home

• A. Philip Randolph- Africans Americans would no longer accept second-class citizenship

African Americans Cont.

•FDR issued Executive Order 8802

•This assured fair hiring practices in any job funded w/ gov. money and established the Fair Employment Practices Committee to enforce these requirements

Women•Women made up 1/3 of the

wartime workforce•Women labored in both blue-

collar and white-collar jobs•During the 1940s the # of

women employed in secretarial and clerical work increased by a five-fold

Women Cont.

•Women gained some benefits from wartime

•Earned paychecks•Formed new and diff. relationships

•Gained organizational experience

Military Nurses• Nurses pay was better than an average

civilian women• Room, board, and laundry were taken care

of • Eating was a major problem(2 meals a

day)• 8 to 9 hundred victims a day• ANC was created by congress in 1901 in

response to the work women did as volunteers

Military and Industrial Women

• 6,000 women who were volunteers were to be militarized

• Women’s Auxiliary Corps was established to protect from incoming enemy planes

• 13,000 U.S women served w/ the same status as men in the navy and marine corps during WWI

Cont.• Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)• Women’s Royal Navy Service

(WRENS)• Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS)• Tanks and ships were built by

women• Women were producing 120,000

planes annually

Significance to the War

•Women- nurses, helped with airplane parts, and they joined the military

•Mexicans- were laborers on farms

•African Americans- drafted unto the military draft

Overview

Due to World War II more opportunities came about for women, African Americans, and Mexicans.

Quiz

1) What were the three groups of women?

2) What was the program called that sent Mexican laborers to the U.S. for farming?

3) What was a “Double V” Campaign?

Answers

1)Military Women, Industrial Women, and Military Nurses

2)Bracero Program3)Victory against fascism

aboard and victory against discrimination at home

Works Cited

• Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J. United States history. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.

• Weatherford, Doris. American women and World War II. New York: Facts on File, 1990.

• "Women and World War II - Female Soldiers - Roles of Women - Home Front - Concentration Camps." Women's History - Comprehensive Women's History Research Guide. 30 Mar. 2010 <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/Women_and_World_War_II.htm>.