Women in Industry
In 1918, six women war workers, representing thousands of others, were delegated to see President Woodrow Wilson and urge him to support the motion for an immediate passage of the federal suffrage amendment. These women were employed at Bethlehem Steel Company's plant at Newcastle, Pennsylvania. They supplemented their argument with the statement that women were serving the government in war industries and felt the urgent need for federal enfranchisement. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Woman’s Land Army of America (WLAA) recruited more than 20,000 urban women to work on rural farms during World War I. Most had no experience working on farms, and were required to become quick studies in the agricultural world. Women learned to drive tractors, plow fields, plant, and harvest crops.
In the absence of the male laborers who had gone off to the front lines, women also took up roles in factories that traditionally employed men. The most common factories in which women labored produced ammunition and textiles—industries that directly supported the war effort. The success of women in such labor-driven sectors challenged the conventional perceptions of the woman’s role in American industry and society.
