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Overview:
Although often understated, the social, economic,
and political contributions of American women have all
had profound effects on the course of this nation. For
evidence of this, one needs to look no further than
the many roles that women have played during wartime.
From the Revolutionary War's "Molly Pitcher"
to the thousands of women serving the United States
overseas today, women have not only had a direct impact
on the conflicts of their times, but they have also
successfully transformed such experiences into opportunities
for future generations. Never was this more apparent
than during World War II. From 1941-1945, over 200,000
women served in the US military, while over 6 million
flooded the American workforce. Furthermore, countless
women -- both single and married -- supported the Allied
war effort through activities like civic campaigning
and rationing.
Many American students are aware that women played
a role in the Second World War. Unfortunately
this knowledge is often limited only to images of "Rosie
the Riveter" and the wives and mothers left to
manage households on their own. Consequently, this lesson
is designed to introduce and promote an interest in
the many essential roles that women carried out during
World War II and how they did so with such great success.
The driving force of this lesson is a student projected
entitled "The Faces of War" (see both Activity
Three and the Extension Activity of this lesson for
further details).
Objectives:
1. Students will build a comprehensive understanding
of the many ways that American women contributed to
the war effort during World War II.
2. Students will gain an understanding of how women's
efforts in World War II marked significant changes in
the American economy, politics, and the military.
3. Students will explore and analyze a number of primary
and secondary sources as well as multimedia resources.
4. Students will apply the knowledge gained in this
lesson to the development of a fictional character they
create for the assigned project.
5. Students will enhance their ability to research
historical documents and texts throughout the development
of their project.
Activity One : "Rosie"
1. After distributing lyrics of the World War II-era
song, "Rosie the Riveter," the teacher should
play the song for the students and instruct them to
follow along with the words. The following websites
will prove extremely helpful:
2. Upon completion of the song, the teacher should
ask if the students are familiar with the mythical World
War II character, "Rosie the Riveter." If
so, a student volunteer should be asked to describe
her. If not, the teacher should ask the students how
they imagined Rosie's appearance (given the song lyrics).
Regardless of whether or not the students can recall
the image of Rosie, the teacher should then share an
image of Rosie with them. This will serve to either
jog the students' memories or to introduce them to Rosie
for the first time. Although Norman Rockwell's cover
of the Saturday Evening Post (May 29, 1943)
is often viewed as the true version of "Rosie the
Riveter," other popular examples also exist. The
following websites provide high resolution images of
two different versions of Rosie:
3. Once the students have been engaged in the lesson,
the teacher should explain the fact that even though
the women in the American workforce did have a tremendous
impact on World War II, women played many different
key roles throughout the war. As a result, this lesson
will look at women's contributions to the war in three
different phases: 1.) "women at war" (i.e.
those who served in the military) 2.) "women at
work" (those who joined the American work force)
and 3.) "women at home" (those who made contributions
from their households).
Note : To better explain these roles and
to offer concrete statistics, facts, etc. regarding
the impact of American women, and to assist with the
culminating student project designed as this lesson's
extension activity, the following resources should prove
helpful to the teacher and/or the students:
Books:
- America's Women by Gail Collins (chapter
17: "World War II: ‘She's Making History,
Working for Victory'")
- The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw
(part IV: "Women in Uniform and Out")
- Most United States history textbooks intended for
high school use are helpful as well
Online Resources:
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