WOWs
Approximately three million women served on the home front as defense production workers during World War II.
Women were employed in munitions factories spread throughout rural America. Because the work was often dangerous, the factories were typically located a significant distance from major metropolitan areas. Women were often recruited from the neighboring towns and communities.
The women who flooded the factory workforce organized themselves into a group known as the Woman Ordnance Workers (WOWs). Membership in the WOWs required perfect attendance at work and at chapter meetings for three months. While WOWs took over the work of men, they often did not receive equal pay for their work. In 1942 the National War Labor Board advised that women receive compensation commensurate to that of their male counterparts. Although the National War Labor Board could not force the factories to increase women’s pay, the Army and Navy responded by providing their female workforce with a pay increase. Once World War II ended the women workers were asked to return to their previous lives. Many women found this a challenge, as giving up a paying job meant they were giving up financial independence. It would take many years for women to regain the workforce presence that they enjoyed during World War II.
