Description
Whether it was by volunteering on the home front, serving in the military or working on production lines, women were definitely Americas secret weapon during World War II. Before the Second World War, women were viewed mainly as wives and mothers. But during the war, that all changed. See how in Women in World War II, a special collection of 12 National Archives films, including one featuring Eleanor Roosevelt in color!
It began with Rosie the Riveter, the iconic image of the young woman in a headscarf and overalls who, along with her real-life contemporaries, stepped onto factory lines across America to produce the machinery of World War II. But it didn t stop there; Army nurses, WAACs…for the first time ‘a womans place became the workplace and the social revolution that demanded career opportunities for women was born.
From the vaults of the National Archives now come the priceless films that chronicled the war years and the working lives of these patriotic and determined women.
Marcia Kolko, Archives Specialist, Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Office, National Archives and Records Administration
