1. Rosie the Riveter “All day long, whether rain or shine,
She’s part of the assembly line.
She’s making history,
Working for victory,
Rosie the Riveter.”
Listen to song from Witness History (audio) Disc 3 Track 3
How were women making history?

2. New Economic Opportunities
American Industry quickly converted to war production
Once industry exhausted the available men..they turned to women
Government launched an all-out government campaign urging women to do their part
In time, women made up 1/3 of the wartime workforce

3. Women work for victory Short Term Trend Long Term trend
Blue/White collar
¾ of women were married and 60% were older than 35
Blue collared workers were expected to step aside at the end of the war
Long Term trend
White collar workers did not step aside and women employed as such increased five-fold
Government spent $50 million building DAYCARE centers for children of working mothers
With fathers at work and mothers at work—what do we do with the children?

4. African-Americans Demand Fair Employment
Double “V” campaign
Victory against fascism and victory against discrimination
A. Philip Randolph
Labor leader who organized a march on Washington
FDR-fearing the site of a march would undermine war unity issued Executive Order 8802
Assured fair hiring practices
OUTCOME:
Wartime developments helped set the agenda for the Civil Rights struggles

5. Workers on the Move The Population starts to shift
After receiving billions to fund industry, the South and Southwest boomed
US partnered with Mexico to operate the bracero program, bringing labor from Mexico to work on US farms
Migration triggers conflict
1943-wartime migration led to racial violence
Detroit, MI
100,000 blacks and whites broke into scattered fights
Full scale riots erupted in which 34 people died
Los Angeles, CA
Mexicans dressed in “zoot suits” aggravated racial tensions. Mobs of off-duty sailors attacked the “zooters”
Once fighting ended, the “zooters” were arrested
Wartime needs encouraged migration
California alone gained 2 million new residents seeking work in the state’s many shipyards and other wartime industries.

6. A challenge of Civil Liberties
Aliens Face Restrictions
Japanese-aliens and Japanese-Americans citizens
Considered a “threat”
Feb, 1942, FDR issued Exec. Order 9066-designated certain areas to be “war zones” from which anyone may be removed for any reason
By Sept. 1942
100,000 Japanese-Americans were evacuated on the West Coast
Forced to sell their property at a loss

7. Japanese-Americans are Interned
War Dept issued a policy of “internment”
Temporary imprisonment
Located in isolated locations (Poston, Arizona, Gila Indian Reservation)
Most were interned throughout the entire war
Conditions:
Families in one-room shacks
Singles-herded into bunkhouses
Camp schools-underfunded
Food shortages
Substandard medical care
Psychological effects

8. Reparations 1944-Korematsu v. United States
Upheld the wartime internment policy
1988-Government offered an apology and $20,000 payments to survivors
Japanese-Americans still served
Ban lifted as of 1943
442nd Regimental Combat Team
The most highly decorated military unit in American history.
Some went to court to seek their rights

9. Supporting the War Effort
War costs: $330 billion dollars
5% tax on all working Americans
War Bonds
Rationing
Wages/Prices regulated
Planted “victory gardens”
Recycled
How did they support that financial loss?