ACTIVITY #8: Things That Only Men Had Done Before- New Roles for Women in Wartime

Millions of men left their civilian jobs to join the armed forces, creating opportunities for women to fill new roles. By 1945, women made up more than one third of the nation's labor force. Illustrator Norman Rockwell painted the image of Rosie the Riveter to symbolize these patriotic workers. Winona Espinoza was a real-life riveter, who fastened steel plates together with bolt.

In July 1942 I left Grand Junction, Colorado, where I grew up, and came to San Diego with my brother-in-law and my sister. I was 19 and my boyfriend had joined the Army and was in Washington State. In my mind, San Diego sounded closer to Washington than Colorado, and I thought that would make it easier for us to see each other. I also wanted to do something to help the country get the war over with and I knew there were a lot of defense jobs in San Diego.

I applied for a job at Rohr Aircraft, and they sent me to a six-week training school. You learned how to use an electric drill, how to do precision drilling, how to rivet. I hadn't seen anything like a rivet gun, or an electric drill motor before except in Buck Rogers funny books. Thats the way they looked to me. But I was an eager learner, and soon I became an outstanding riveter.

At Rohr I worked riveting the boom doors on P-38s (a fighter plane). They were big, long, huge doors that had three or four thicknesses of skins, and you had to rivet those skins together. Everything had to be precise. It all had to pass inspection. Each rivet had to be countersunk by hand, so you had to be very good.

I found the work challenging, but I hated the dress. We had to wear ugly-looking hairnets that made the girls look awful. The female guards were very strict about them too. Maybe youd try to leave your bangs sticking out but theyd come and make you stick them back in. You looked just like a skinhead, very unfeminine. Then youd have to wear pants - we called them slacks in those days - and you never wore them prior to the war. Finally, all women had to wear those ugly scarves. They issued them so they were all the same. You couldn't wear a colorful scarf or bandana.

I worked at Rohr for almost a year, then, when I got married and pregnant, I went back to Grand Junction for a while.

Espinosa, Winona. Ordinary Americans. Things That Only Men Had Done Before. Close Up Publishing, 1994.

1. Besides seeing her boyfriend more easily, what other reason does Winona give for getting a defense job?
2. Why did women go to work during World War II?