Rebecca Brown
HIS/125
September 21 2014
Leslie Ruf

Women and the Homefront

Women and the Industry
• Women took on the responsibilities of so many diferent jobs in this country during
WWI. I have chosen the steel industry to discuss. This was a turning page for women to show that they had the abilities to do more than just housework. When the war was over, women were just dismissed. Many woman did not want to go back to their traditional roles of mother and housekeeper.

Working Outside the Home
• This was a good time in
America for women to show their abilities outside the home. This was also a very difficult time for them. The work was hard, and the hours were long. Women were also expected to perform their duties at home. When they got home from a long day at the steel mills, they had to cook and clean. Most of these women performed physical labor all day and were exhausted. Working in the Steel Mills
•

The steel industry was a hard one for women to work in, but they did it, and they performed their jobs well. They not only learned how to do the manual labor, they also held management positions.
Women excelled in these positions. For the first time in their lives, they were in charge of themselves. This was very empowering for them. They worked day and night to keep up with the demands for steel in the country. The work was grueling, but the women pushed forward and got the job done.

The Men come Home
• When the men returned from WWI, women were expected to