State Historical Society of Iowa

Woman Working on the Motor of a B-25 Bomber, October 1942

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Image
Color image of a woman working on a B-52 bomber.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Palmer, Alfred T., "Part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber is assembled in the engine department of North American [Aviation, Inc.]'s Inglewood, Calif., plant," October 1942

Description

The iconic image of Rosie the Riveter is maybe what most Americans think of when discussing the contributions of American women on the homefront. The work of these women in defense plants and related industries was vital to both the war effort and challenging perceptions of the role of women in the workplace with 11 million men drafted into service.  Without the millions of women who took on a new role, such as this woman in the photo, America would not have registered the high output needed to supply both U.S. and Allied forces. The woman in the image is working on one of the motors for a B-25 bomber at a California plant. To understand this in real numbers defense industries produced two million trucks, 86,000 tanks and almost 300,000 aircraft.  

Source-Dependent Questions

  • Create a caption for this photograph that shows the significance of the contribution women made to the war effort.
  • Compare this photo to "I'm Proud...My Husband Wants Me To Do My Part" propaganda poster. Discuss how the women are portrayed in each image. Why would propaganda images, such as these, use women that looked like this?

Citation Information 

Palmer, Alfred T., "Part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber is assembled in the engine department of North American [Aviation, Inc.]'s Inglewood, Calif., plant," October 1942. Courtesy of Library of Congress