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WorldWar1.pptxThe Home Front
World War I
April 6, 1917, Congress Declares War on Germany
Institutes the selective service act requiring men between the age of 21 and 35 to register (later becomes 18-45)
By the end of the war over 24 million men registered
370,000 black men drafted
2.8 million called up for service (with about 340,00 fail to show) about 2.4 million men who serve
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The Home Front Labor
American Workers Enjoyed Higher Wages & A Better Standard of Living
WHY?
Shortage of labor-Significant Reduction in Cheap Labor
Expansion of the economy-American Industrial Economy Grew Significantly
Decline of immigrants from Europe-War cut off European immigration
This carves out a large number of white men and a significant number of black men from the US labor force
The Immigration Act of 1917 required a literacy test and an $8 head Tax for Mexican
This cut Mexican immigration almost in half
Industries that suffered included farmers in places like Arizona and California who need laborers to harvest grain, cotton and fruit…the railroad and copper mines, smelting industries
The wartime demands for laborers in the southwest helped ease the restrictions
Just a few months after it went into affect the department of labor suspended the new law for the duration of the war
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The Home Front-Working Women
Approximately 8 million women already in the workforce
War offers opportunity for them to move from low wage jobs (many as domestic workers) to higher paying industrial jobs
Over a million women joined the labor force for the first time
Of the estimate 9.4 million workers engaged in war work 2.25 million were women
Women making machine guns in New Haven, CT
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Young Women’s Christian Association
(YWCA)
In 1858, YWCA formed in NYC
When the US entered the war the YWCA joined the "Committee of Eleven” an organizations that came together to create the United War Work Campaign, Inc.,
Its objective was to raise and distribute funds to aid war relief efforts at home and abroad.
YWCA was the lone women’s organization among the group.
They were charged to meet the special needs of women and girls affected by the war.
The YWCA raised money, recruited war workers
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The Home Front-women
Women working as munitions plant workers, train engineers, drill press operators, street conductors, meatpacking plant workers, and mail carriers
Labor Department creates Women in Industry Service (WIS)
Advised employers on using female labor
Formulated general standards
Tried to improve working conditions for women
Pushed for 8 hour work day, equality in pay, minimum wage, rest periods, meal breaks, and restroom facilities
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The Home Front-Women
Middle Class Women
Participated in Volunteer Work
Sold Bonds
Organized Benefits
Before the war, a number of middle class women participated in the Women’s Peace Party established in 1915 (co founded by Jane Addams who established settlement houses for poor and immigrant women)
They objected to the United States mobilizing for war
However, as more Americans started to support the war, the party dissolved
These women (many of them a part of the women’s suffrage movement) would now participate in volunteer war work
Among the activist middle class women war work becomes popular…it gives them the opportunity to sell bonds, coordinate food conservation drives, and work for hospitals and the Red Cross
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The Home Front Women
The movement of women into the workforce and their volunteer efforts are credited with helping secure the vote for women
1920 vote extended to women with the 19th amendment to the constitution
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The Home front-Migration
Between 1916-1918, over 400,000 African Americans migrated from the South to primarily northern cities, at an average rate of sixteen thousand per month, or five hundred per day
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The Home Front Migration
The war industry opened up possibilities for those who wanted to “escape” the South
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The Home Front
Black Women
Black Woman working in a tanning factory.
A worker transports tanning bark, to be used for tanning leather products needed in the war effort. This photograph was originally titled Cheerfully Doing the Work Required.
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The home Front Black Women
Advertisement from National Board of Young Women's Christian Associations, 1919.
“A New Day for the Colored Woman Worker-skilled work and skilled workman’s wages
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The Home Front Black Women
World War I cut off European immigration and reduced the pool of available cheap labor. Employees could make three dollars a day at this northern packinghouse, compared to fifty cents picking cotton in the South.
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The Home Front Black Women
Black Women able to get training that helped them secure skilled work
Young women receive clerical training in Chicago. Throughout the North prior to 1915, 80 percent of black working women were in domestic or personal service.
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The Home Front Black Women
Black women also supported bond campaigns
Here a black women in Chicago is handing over a check to the us treasury for over 263,000
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The Home Front Black Women
Black women also joining
They also establish their own organizations, such as National Association of Colored Women (NACW)
They use these organizations to serve the needs of black soldiers and improve their own condition
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The Home Front Women
Sometimes forced to work in spaces with hostile men
Had to become comfortable with using unfamiliar machinery
Worked with hazardous chemicals
Black women often assigned the most physically demanding jobs (as opposed to their white female counterparts)
They also had to deal with blatant racial discrimination
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The Home Front
Women praised for their work during the war
But, most women working in the war industry lost their jobs when the war ended
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