Black Women in World War II

Black Women

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Image Found: History.com

MLA Citation: Randle, Aaron. “'Black Rosies': The Forgotten African American Heroines of the WWII Homefront.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Nov. 2020, www.history.com/news/black-rosie-the-riveters-wwii-homefront-great-migration.

Finding work in war-related fields was difficult for many Black women. Many employers refused to hire black women, and would hire only white men and women until they were absolutely forced to resort to hiring Black women. However, things changed in 1941 when activists Mary McLeod Bethune and A. Philip Randolph made President Roosevelt aware of the hiring discrimination. This prompted President Roosevelt to sign Executive Order 8802, which prohibited ethnic and racial discrimination in the defense industry. As a result of the Executive Order, Black women were able to enter into war-related industries much more easily; of the 1 million African Americans who entered paid service for the war effort after Executive Order 8802 was signed, an incredible 600,000 were women.

Despite their important work for the war effort, Black women still faced sexism and racism at home. Both Black and white women were paid 10-15 cents less per hour than their male counterparts. Black workers across the country received less benefits and could not lead union activities - some unions even banned them from being members altogether.

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Image Found: History.com

MLA Citation: Randle, Aaron. “'Black Rosies': The Forgotten African American Heroines of the WWII Homefront.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Nov. 2020, www.history.com/news/black-rosie-the-riveters-wwii-homefront-great-migration.

After the United States entered World War II in 1941, millions of American men were enlisted into the military. As a result, American women had to take on new roles at home to support the war effort. As many as 2 million women worked to help the war effort at the peak of wartime industrial production. Working in war-related industries not only allowed Black women to help the war effort, but also gave them more economic freedom. Their new positions in places such as shipyards, factories, administrative offices, and more allowed them to leave dead-end jobs such as sharecropping and domestic work and make better money.

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Image Found: History.com

MLA Citation: Randle, Aaron. “'Black Rosies': The Forgotten African American Heroines of the WWII Homefront.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Nov. 2020, www.history.com/news/black-rosie-the-riveters-wwii-homefront-great-migration.

Unfortunately, the contributions of Black women during World War II were underappreciated for decades until historians and filmmakers in the 21st century began highlighting their efforts. However, Kathryn Blood, a researcher at the Department of Labor studying the contributions of Black women during wartime, wrote the following in a written report compiled after the war in 1945: “The contribution [of Black women] is one which this nation would be unwise to forget or evaluate falsely.”

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Image Found: History.com

MLA Citation: Randle, Aaron. “'Black Rosies': The Forgotten African American Heroines of the WWII Homefront.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Nov. 2020, www.history.com/news/black-rosie-the-riveters-wwii-homefront-great-migration.

Black women had various jobs such as assembling explosives and munitions, working as shipbuilders in navy yards, working as electricians, administrators, railroad conductors, sheet metal workers, and more. Black women also did important jobs outside of manual labor for the war effort such as working as typists and computer scientists.

Image Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images

Image Found: History.com

MLA Citation: Randle, Aaron. “'Black Rosies': The Forgotten African American Heroines of the WWII Homefront.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Nov. 2020, www.history.com/news/black-rosie-the-riveters-wwii-homefront-great-migration.

Randle, Aaron. “'Black Rosies': The Forgotten African American Heroines of the WWII Homefront.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Nov. 2020, www.history.com/news/black-rosie-the-riveters-wwii-homefront-great-migration.