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)

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
W. B. WILSON, SECRETARY

WOMEN'S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

B U LLETIN OF THE W O MEN'S BUR E A U , NO . 13

INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES
AND
.
TRAINING FOR WOMEN
AND GIRLS
.

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1920

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[PunLro-No., 259-66TH CoNGREss.]
[H. R 13229.]

AN ACT To establish in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the
omen'i;; Bureau.

Be it enacted by the Senate..and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be
established in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the
Women's Bureau.
.
SEc. 2. That the said bureau shall be in charge of a director, a
woman, to be appointed by the Presid~nt, by ~nd with the advi?e and
consent of the Senate, who shall receive an annual compensation of
$5,000. It shall be the duty of said bureau to formulate standards
and policies which shall promote the welfare of wage-earning women,
improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency; and advance their opportunities for profitable employment. The said
bureau shall have authority to investigate and report to the said
department upon all matters pertaining to' the welfare of women in
industry. The director of said bureau may from time to time publish the results of these investigations in such a manner and to such
extent as the Secretary o-f Labor may prescribe.
.
SEc. 3. That there shall be in said bureau an assistant director, to
be appointed by the 1Secretary of Labor, who shall receive an annual
compensation of $3,500 and shall perform such duties as shall be
prescribed by the director and approved by the. Secretary of Labor.
SEC. 4. That there is hereby authorized to be employed by said
bureau a chief clerk and such special agents, assistants, clerks, and
other employees at such rates of compensation and in such numbers
as Congress may from time to time provide by appropriations.
SEc. 5. That the Secretary of Labor is hereby directed to furnish
sufficient quarters, office furniture, and equipment for the work of
tliis bureau.
SEC. 6. That this act shall take e:ffect and be in force from and
after its passage.
Approved, June 5, 1920.

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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
W. B. WILSON, SECRETARY

WOMEN'S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN'S BUREAU, NO. 13

INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES AND
TRAINING FOR WOMEN
.
AND GIRLS

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1920

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CONTENTS.
Page.

Letter of transmitta L _________________ ___________ ______ ___ ___ _______ _
Introduction _________ _____ _____ __ ______ _____________ _______ __________

5
7

New pos ition of women in industry------- -- --------------------------Shortage of male labor______ ____ ______ ___ ___ ____ ___________________ __
Experience gained by women wage earners during , v orld W a r __________
Industrial training received by women in public and semipublic schools___
Need for indus trial training in n ew cr a f ts__ _______ ___ ____ _____________
Localities where industrial training in new crafts is essentiaL __________
Existing. training facilities for new cra fts in public schools______ __ ____
Summary _____________________ _______________ ______ · __________ _____ __

8
10
11
15
22
2-1
:;5
47

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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

u. s. DEPARTMENT OF

LABOR,
vVoMEN's BUREAU,
Washington, July 6, 1920.
Sm: Herewith is transmitted a report giving the results of an investigation into the industrial opportunities and training for women
and girls. This investigation was made and the report written by
Miss Bertha M. Nienburg.
Respectfully submitted.
MARY ANDERSON, Director.
Hon. w. B. vVrLSON,
Secretary of Labor.
5

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INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES AND TRAINING FOR WOMEN
AND GIRLS.
INTRODUCTION.

As the social conscience has long regarded a measure of general
education to be the right of every boy and girl without regard to
rank of fortune or accident of birth; as the public mind has long
required that this right shall be secured through the maintenance of
schools publicly supported and especially equipped to impart the
general instruction essential to good citizenship, so apparently have
the social conscience and the public mind been moving slowly but
surely toward the conviction that specific vocational training in line
with the individual choice and capability of boy and girl is equally
essential to the public welfare, and that as such it should be secured
to the Nation's youth with the same disregard of fortune's unstable
ranks and birth's uncontrollable accidents as now prevails in providing general primary instruction.
The year and a half of our participation in the World War sharpened the public's sense of the lack of specific vocational training as
.decades had not dorie before. For the war cry for trained men and
trained women was answered in thousands of _eager" offers of service " from untrained men and in thousands of full-hearted responses
from untrained women. The Government had not only to promote
and stimulate specialized training, but had to provide extensive
facilities to meet the emergency. Yet most of the occupations for
which the Nation needed trained minds and hands to win the war
were occupations required in the performance of the Nation's daily
work in times of peace.
As the need of equipping the Nation's youth with specialized training in chosen vocations has grown in the public mind and conscience, so has grown a conviction that this training must be secured
through agencies especially equipped just as general education is
imparted by especially equipped institutions; that vocational education can not take the place of general educational agencies, nor can
agencies especially organized for general instruction take the place
of or do the work of schools for specific vocations. This conviction
resulted in the creation of a Federal Board for Vocational Education in 1917, with power to pay over to the States certain sums of
7

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'.l'.NbUS'rRIAL OPPO:rtTUNiTmS FOR WOMEN AND GI'.RLS.

money :for teaching vocational courses or :for training tea0hers to
give instruction in such courses. Naturally the creation of such a
board has served to arouse every State to undertake vocational
education.
In the present stage of development, however, there is still much
disagreement concerning the best method of securing to the maturing
generation this specific vocational training. The various systems
are as yet in stages more or less experimental. Undoubtedly the
policies framed by the Federal Board for Vocational Education on
the basis of the organic act creating it have given impetus to experiments with certain types of vocational schools by limiting the
kinds of schools that may receive Federal funds.
This survey was not concerned with comparing the relative merits
of one theory or method of vocation~! training as against another.
But it is particularly important that while the experiments in
methods of vocational training are stm under way and the various
theories are still in a state of flux that due, consideration shall be
given to the war and after war time experience in the employment of
woman labor. It would be most unfortunate at this time, when
industrial as well as other :forms o:f vocational education are in the
process of development, to overlook the new position which the
woman in industry made :for herself during the war and which she
has held since the close o:f the war, :for it is a position which demands
training opportunities commensurate with its possibilities.
Until the end o:f 1917 women were concentrated in so few lines
o:f industrial endeavor that what little training was given them was
largely centered on the sewing trades. Their latent abilities :for
trades other than those concerned with food and textile and kindred
industries were not, therefore, uncovered or developed either by
employer or vocational teacher. The pressing needs of the war alone
:forced a new recognition of the fact that ability varies not with sex
but with the individual.
NEW POSITION OF WOMEN IN INDUSTRY.

The enforced concentration of industrial activity on the making
of munitions and munition materials, on the manufacture of tools
and machinery to make munitions during the war, called women in
large numbers into machine shops and tool rooms :for the first time in
the history o:f the country. It extended their employment in :foundries and introduced them in small numbers to steel and rolling mills;
instrument and optical :factories needed their deft hands; warchemical, gas-mask, airplane, and munition-box makers used their
services extensively. The drafting into military service and the introduction to war-product factories of men :from peace• product fac•

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INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS.

tories, hitherto dependent largely on male labor, caused a labor
vacuum also in these peace-product factories which women were
sought to fill; sewing-machine and typewriter plants, utensil makers,
commercial gas and chemical producers, rubber and leather, stone,
clay, and glass manufacturers all called upon and to some extent
obtained women to carry on work which had been done by men. 1
Other peace-product factories which were conspicuous as strongholds of woman labor before the war lost many women workers as
well as men workers and were forced to operate at reduced capacity.
This enlargement in the field of woman's service has lasted in
some industries beyond the war period in spite of the many changes
involved in passing from war to peace manufacture.
The signing of the armistice restored the peace product to its
normal position and reduced to comparative in_significance the munitions industry. Forces of women and men were dismissed from the
one group of factories and taken on by the other group. But the
peace-time readjustment finds woman retaining her war-time hold
on the metal industries, losing a little in lumber industries, although
still employed in this industry in numbers far in excess of prewar
times, and falling back ·to the prewar status in the chemical and
miscellaneous industries. 1 Undoubtedly these conditions are partly
due to the ·present status of the industries and partly to the successes
and failures of the war-working women in the occupations to which
they were assigned in each industry.
Taking a bird's-eye view of industry after a year of peace, although the emphasis of manufacture has shifted from war to peace
products, the metal industries, which were the b~ckbone of war
products, continue to be the backbone of peace products. On them
almost all other industries depend for the machinery and tools with
which to do their work. Two years' concentration on war products
caused an acute shortage of peace-time implements of manufacture
both in thi~ country and abroad. Until this shortage is overcome
other industries can not reach maximum production. For some
time, therefore, although not under the strain of war demands, the
iron and steel and the brass and copper industries will continue to
need large forces of workers just to restore normal' conditions in
other industries. The stoppage of domestic and commercial building and construction work in 1917 and 1918 has resulted in a serious
shortage of living and business quarters and has necessitated great
activity in the lumber, sheet metal, and stone industries. This increase in domestic and commercial building carries with it a corresponding increase in the manufacture of household and office furni1 See Bulletin No. 12, Woman's Part in American Industry During the World War,
Women's Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, 1920.

3875°-20-2

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INDUSTRIAL .OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS.

ture and equipment, manufactures also stimulated by the need to
replenish supplies in established households and businesses after
several years of doing without such supplies. Shutting down of
many explosive factories and the lessening in production of wartime chemicals have caused chemical factories that had employed
women to -turn their attention to experimental work in new lines of
manufacture. This experimental stage requires a preliminary research activity in which women as yet have not made for themselves
a conspicuous place. Chemical plants are not, therefore, seeking
many women workers, whereas the metal industries and lumber industries call urgently for service.
SHORTAGE OF MALE LABOR.

Prior to 1915 our ·growing industries counted largely upon the
increase in our population through immigration to . meet the need
for additional workers. For the present, at lP✓ast , manufacturers
can not depend up.on this source of labor supply to meet the labor
demands of restored peace. The economic and political forces at
work here and abroad that make · for immigration and emigration
are too uncertain at this time to give more than speculative value
to discussions over the duration of curtailed immigration. However, the happenings of the first 11 months of 1919 are matters of
record. 2 From J anuary through November of that year-the first
year after the armistice-this country admitted 209,445 aliens to
take up permanent residence here; but during the same period
239,519 other aliens bade this cou~try farewell, presumably :forever. Through · this one source alone, therefore, we suffered a loss
of 30,074 persons, and this loss fell more heavily upon our manufacturing population than appears from these figures, for among
our largest number of immigran~s during this period were Mexicans,
few · of whom enter factories, whereas our heaviest emigration took
place among the Italians, thousands of whom had worked in o_u r
factories. In view of the fact that the net increase in population
during the last year of uninterrupted ocean travel prior to the
war was 915,142 persons, the 1919 situation does not stamp immigration as a very hopeful source of additional workers for manufacturing ·e stablishments.
However, it is highly significant that, although our total emigration exceeded our immigration in 1919, during the first six
months of that year ( the latest period for which figures by sex were
compiled) women immigrants to this country exceeded women emigrants by 16,748. The decreaised man population of Europe will
· - ~"••

See Annual Report of the Commissioner of Immigr?--1;.i op_ for 1919, pp. 154 and 155,
and advance sh eets on immigration from July to November, 1919, inclusive, issued by
the Commissioner of Immigration.
2

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undoubtedly tend toward a continued exodus o:f women from those
countries where women even before the war outnumbere'd men to
this country, where men still outnumber women.
The shortage o:f male labor, the uncertainty o:f the ebb and flow
o:f aliens, the excess o:f women immigrants over women emigrants,
arid the increasing demands upon industry /for production will unquestionably force a larger and more varied use o:f woman labor in
this country as the years go by.
EXPERIENCE GAINED BY WOMEN WAGE EARNERS
DURING WORLD WAR.

This situation makes the capabilities displayed by women for
mechanical work during the war o:f much more than passing interest
to industry, the public, and the educator. For the occupations in
which woman has been shown to be a success are the occupations for
which she needs to be educated. As stated earlier, the calls for
woman labor emanating since the war :from metal and wood working
:factories are bas~d undoubtedly on the experience gained by such establishments in the employment of women during the war.
Throughout the war the largest number o:f women employed in the
metal industries were assigned to the machine shops and tool rooms
to cut, cast, or forge parts to proper sizes .and shapes, or to make and
repair tools, or to inspect parts and assemble them. They operated
the lathe, the miller, the drill, the planer, the grinder, and other
machine tools; they became profici~nt in handling the file, the wrench,
the hammer, ~nd other hand tools; they read blue prints and used
micrometers, calipers, and gauges; they used rules and compasses to
lay out work for machine cutters. Their employment in these
capacities extended into every branch o:f machine-shop manufacture.
N aturaily . the largest number went into :factqries manufacturing
shells, pistols, guns, and cannon, but in these :factories women operated and handled the same kinds o:f machines and· tools as did the
smaller, but yet appreciably large, group of women who made parts
for engines and pumps; for machines and machinery; for automobiles, motor cycles, and airplanes; :for agricultural implements; or
who worked on ·tools, saws, hardware, electrical apparatus, instruments, and clqcks.
The kind and exte.nt of the experience secured by women in these
shops differed greatly. In a :few it was suffici~ntly varied to have in
time made them " machinists" or persons able to use all machine tools
in the making and repairing of machine parts and able successfully
to assemble and dismantle machines and machinery. The expression
"in time" is used advisedly, because the period which has elapsed
since w.omen wer:e first employed in these shops has been too short to

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have permitted them to obtain that experience on all classes of machine tools which is required to develop a full-fledged woman machinist. In the larger _number of shops it was the policy to make
" specialists " of women as it is of men. Such shops taught a woman
the underlying principles and methods of setting up and operating
just one machine, together with the varying characteristics of diffe'rent metals and tools used in the shop in order to enable her to cut each
piece of met al and grind each tool without waste of metal or tool.
In other shops where the work was of a repetitive character-which
was especially true in munition factories-time was not taken usually
to give the women employees general instruction in machine-shop
fundamentals. The woman was taught just enough to enable her
to turn out, assemble, or inspect duplicated parts at great speed.
This type of experience, except in one particular, made the woman
worker little more than a machine operator or routine assembler or
inspector, for although she became acquainted with a machine tool,
with metal work and with the m~chine-shop atmosphere, her knowledge of metal work did not extend beyond the limits of the task set
for her. The ·exception which redeemed this work from skill-killing
monotony was the accuracy demanded in munition work; all workers
had to learn how to read measuring instruments and to cut to very
narrow limits. This training in itself removed -these women from
the class of unskilled workers.
In spite of the numbers of women employed at repetitive .work
the capabilit ies of women for skilled mechanical service were uncovered in the many factories whose product was such that they could
not operate on a quantitative basis and could, therefore, only use
women whose knowledge of machine tools was varied or extensive
enough to meet the requirements of differing tasks. Naturally, th~
greater the degree of education and skill required in the work which
· women were called upon to do in machine shops during the war, the
greater the percentage of failure, for until the war created the need
for mechanically trained women practically no such training ·was
given to women. But in spite of this handicap, the failures of women
were always fewer than the successes.a In fact, about two-thirds of
the firms reporting as to the relative output of men and women in the
machine shops stated that women turned out as much or more work
than men. The numbers of firms retaining women in the machine
shop after the armistice would indicate the same approximate proportion of sucqesses. In examining the accounts of failures of
women, ·only one common characteristic of the work on which they
failed is found, and that is excessive weight of the article worked on.
Undoubtedly there is a weight below that recognized in factories
a See Bulletin No. 12, Wm;nan's Part in American Industry During the World War,
Woman's Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, 1920.

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as too heavy for men to lift at which objects become too heavy for
the average woman to manipulate by her muscle alone without strain
and consequent loss of time and efficiency. Some firms found that
it was a saving of money to employ women on large parts, and to
equip the shop with block and tackle to hold work, roller tables to
carry work to and from machines, and to equip machines with com~
pressed-air attachments whereby chucks to hold tools and materials
were tightened. With these aids women machined and inspected
heavy ·parts with as much success as light parts, but without them
women could not compete with men on heavy work.
Turning from the machine shop and the tool room to the employment of women in sheet-metal industries, it was found that although
women had been employed on various sheet-metal processes before
the war, their employment was extended during this period in the
old occupations and to new occupations 01). sheet iron, tin, aluminum,
brass, and copper sheets. Puring the war they operated blanking,
shearing, and drawing presses to cut or shape these sheets, they
soldered and riveted, welded, and assembled; dipped, buffed, and
finished. They worked on oil and gas stoves, hoods, radiators, tanks,
and fenders of automobiles, on agricultural implements, on tin and
aluminum containers and utensils, on brass and bronze fabrications,
on cartridges, and on airplanes. The machines operated were largely
automatic or required little skill to manipulate._ Some women learned
how to set up punch presses~ but few set up automatic machines.
When women could set up machines they usually were assigned to
this work alone and did not operate them. The machine operators
were, therefore, unskilled or at best semiskilled workers without the
redeeming exception noted in connection with repetition workers in
machine shops. Hand workers, however, acquired deftness in the use
0£ hammers, snips, and shears, rivet sets, soldering and welding outfits.
Their work on the whole required a higher type of ability than did
that done by the machine operators.
A smaller number of women than were employed in the two foregoing groups of metal occupations went into the foundries of this
country during 1917 and 1918. - While a few were employed at
molding and doing various jobs about the foundry such as sorting,
grinding, and filing castings, and laboring, the larger number worked
in the core-making branch of the industry, a-brancl) in which women
had been used for some years before the war . . The recently employed women core makers were started on the easiest, lightest cores,
and as they acquired deftness and speed were taught how to make
more difficult pieces. But no attempt was made to instruct them in
sand mixing, so their chance of advancement lay only in gaining
speed and in being able to do more difficult work. The other occupations at which women worked in the foundries offered little

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opportunity for learning anything but the task set-tasks easily
learned in a short time. Although women have secured a firm grip
on the oecupation of core making, their cliance for advancement in
the foundries is still negligible. It will probably continue to be so,
for outside of the core making and finishing rooms where advancement lies only in becoming forewomen, tasks requiring skill and
knowledge are performed in heat and smoke laden rooms and usually
involve lifting of weights heavier than can be handled by women
efficiently.
Conditions in the pig iron and rolling mill works are similar to
those in the foundry proper. With the exception of work for which
scientific knowledge was a prerequisite, the tasks at which women
were employed during the war demanded neither skill nor training.
As a large part of the work done required muscular strength, the
numbers of women retained when men could be secured were few.
In the metal industries, therefore, it is evident that women have
gained a foothold in the machine shops and in the sheet-metal manufacture, but that blast furl!aces and rolling mills and foundries ( core
making excepted) will continue to be the peculiar province of men
whenever men are procurable.
In the instrument and optical industries women were employed
not only on the metal parts of the instruments but in grinding and
polishing lenses, mounting and inspecting, and in assembling the
entire instrument. ~ Tomen were peculiarly adapted to this work
because of the smallness of the parts and the delicate fashioning
required. While these industries do not seem to be employing a
larger proportion of women than they did before the war, the growth
of the industry during the time in which German instruments and
optical glass were not obtainable was such that if our manufacturers
are sustained in their efforts to hold their war-gained position many
more women will be employed in these industries in future years than
were employed prior to 1915.
Turning to the woodworking industries, the largest group of
women substituted for men during 1917 and 1918 went into furniture
and veneer factories, there to work on peace-time products or to make
airplane parts or munition and tool boxes or wheels for artillery
trucks. The work done varied, some women being employed at almost
every process in the manufacture of veneer and furniture. However,
less work was done on machines in cutting and shaping wood than
was done in assembling the pieces and finishing the product'. In
assembling, women used hand tools and glues and operated a few
machines; in finishing, they handled different stains and varnishes,
fillers, polishing oils, and operated hand and machine , sanders and
polishers of different kinds. Much of this work was divided into

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INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITrn~ FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS.

many parts, each woman learning only the part assigned her. This is
particularly true of furniture assembling, for in order to build furniture in its entirety the assembler, or cabinetmaker as he is called,
must know woods, understand a stock bill giving the dimensions of
the finished parts, and be able to use and operate all kinds of woodworking machines and tools. Finishing requires a knowledge of
wood grains, oils, stains, fillings, and varnishes. Consequently, more
women attained the position of all-round finisher than that of cabinetmaker. Although orders for war products were canceled at the signing of the armistice, the employment of women was continued in
veneer and furniture factories and in the woodworking departments
of musical instrument plants.
In the chemical industries, exclusive · of explosive manufacture,
the tasks turned over to women were largely of a laboring character
or involved the feeding or tending of automatic machines. Few factories had adjusted the plant arrangements for the permanent employment of women. When production fell off or men were available,
these women were laid off.
The experiences in the employment of women in new occupations
during the war make it apparent, therefore, that the greatest succe s and most promising future for craftswomen in these fields lies.
in the order of importance, in( a) Machine shops where light parts are made.
(b) Wood-product factories where assembling and finishing
are important processes.
( c) Optical and instruments factories.
( d) Sheet-metal shops.
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING RECEIVED BY WOMEN IN
PUBLIC AND SEMIPUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Are women and girls being trained for these lines of endeavor1
To answer this a survey was made of industrial training schools in
which women were enrolled throughout the United States. Except
for the trade classes of the Young Women's Christian Association,
privately endowed schools, open to the public free or charging but
a small fee, were included with the public schools, for in some cities
such schools offer more industrial courses than do public schools.
The Bureau of Education furnished the list of trade schools and
gave access to unpublished data indicating which of these had women
enrolled in 1918. This list was checked against lists of vocational
schools furnished for this survey by State boards· of education.
While the list thus secured is fairly complete, the changes occurring
in the vocational field are so frequent as to limit the currency of all
lists of this nature. Questionnaires concerning 1919-20 conditions

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were sent to all schools which gave• trade courses and in which
women had been enrolled in 1918. The returns :for many schools
showed that while women were enrolled in the school they were
not receiving instruction in trades but in home economics, general art,
or commercial subjects. In a :few schools industrial courses given
:for women during the war had been- dropped in 1919.
In order to measure :fully the extent to which the school system
had responded to the present needs o:f women for industrial training,
the widest latitude was used in construing the term "industrial."
All schools of less than college standing affording practical instruction for positions in the manufacturing departments o:f :factories
or in the mechanical trades were included regardless of whether the
course was termed a " trade course," a " technical course," or an
"industrial art course." Schools giving industrial art courses without direct application to industrial needs were not included, however.
On the mailing list used, schools administered by the same official,
whether the all-day, part-time, and evening classes were managed
a~ ,one unit or as three units, were considered as one school. This
use of the term " school " has been found to be misleading as a
statistical unit of enumeration by the Federal Board for Vocational
Education, because each community not only organizes its vocational
school system differently, but varies its organization from year to
year. To make statistical comparison possible from year to year,
therefore, the Federal board has adopted as its unit of count the type
of school-that is, - each all-day, part-time, or evening school is
counted as one school, whether administered separately or in groups. 3
This method of count has been used in this survey, as it seemed
more to the purpose to give the same weight to courses offering equal
opportunity for training to the community regardless of school
organization.
Therefore, instead of stating that 75 school administration units
reported the enrollment of women in industrial training courses,
this survey shows that 104 schools had such an enrollment. Fortyeight of the latter were all-day schools or schools where women received instruction during the regular school day; evening schools
numbered 44; part-time schools or schools attended for only a part
of the school week numbered 12. These schools were conducted in
20 States, the number in each varying from one in Kentucky to 21
in Pennsylvania, as shown on Table 1.
3

Third Annual Report of the ' Federal Board for Vocational Education, p. 191.

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INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WO MEN AND GIRLS.
TABLE

1.-Number and type of schools i n which women were enrolled in industrial
courses .
Number of schools.
State.
All-day.

North Atlantic:

~!:S~t:~f~r-~·
. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Rhode I sland .. .. . .. .. . .. . ..... : .... . ...... . . . . . . . .

Connecticut .... . ... . ... . .. . .. . ... .... . . . .... . .. . . . .
New Y ork . . .... ..... . .... . .. . .. . ...... . .. . ...... . .

r:~ri~~nia::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::
East Central:
Ohio .. . ..... ........................... . ... . ...... .

~i1:?::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
, v isconsin . .. . .. . ..... .. ... . ... . . ... . . . . ..... . ... . .
Illinois . . . . .. . . ... .. . . ... . .. . . .... .. .. . .. . .. . ... .. . .

~1~~~~~~ ·.·.·.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

P arttime.

Evening.

1 .. . ............ . .. . . ... .
5
4 .... . .. . . . . .
1 .. .. .. . . . .. .
1
1
2
10
7
3

3 ·· · ··•··· · ··
1
1 ·· · •··· ·· •· ·
2
1 .. . . ... . . . . .
3

1
9
2
3

17
5
21
5
1
3

4
7
5

Pacific :
3 .• .• . . ...• • •
Oregon .. . . ................ .. . . ...... . ........ . . . . . .
4
2
California ... . . . .......... .. . .. .... . . . .. . ..... . .... .
Southern :
Virginia... .. . ... . . .. . . . ... . . . . . .... . . .............. .. .. .. .. .. ..
1
1 . ..... .. .. . .
Georgia... . . . .. .. . . .. . .. . . . . . .. .... . . . ......... . ...
1
Texas..... . . .... . . . . . ... . . .. . . .. . .. .. .. . . . .... . . . .. .. . . .. . . .. . .
Total·t ... . . . . . . ... . .. .. . .. . . . . .. .... . . . . . . . ... .. .

Total.

1
4
7
2
2
2

104

1 Schedules from 3 all-day schools, 1 part-t ime sch ool, and 2 evening schools were received too late t o
be incorporated in this report .

Table 2 shows the number of schools of each type th at h ad women
enrolled in courses intended as prepar ation for occupations in specific industries. It also names the subjects taught and the number
of schools teaching each subject.
This table indicates very clearly that while much of the instruction given women in this year was along trade lines traditio~ally
woman's, excursi~ns into newer fields were being made. For, although 66 of the schools taught women some branch of clothing
manufacture, 11 t aught textile operations, and 47 taught t rade millinery: there were 24 giving women instruction in subjects relating to
iron and steel manufacture, 4 giving instruction in industrial chemistry, 2 in industrial electricity, and 2 were teaching courses for
woodworking. factories.
3875°- 20-3

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TABLE

2.-Number of schools in which women were enrolled in sp ecified industrial
training coursesfrom September, 1919, to May, 1920.
Number of schools giving such courses.

Industrial training courses in which women were
enrolled.

Part-time.

All-day.

Total.
number.

Evening.

Clothing trades:
Dressmaking •..... _................. . ..... . ....... .
30
24
5
59
Power machine sewing ............................ .
10
2
15
3
Sewing and garment making . .. .... ........ ....... .
2
1
2
5
Ladies' tatloring _... _............................. .
1 ....................... .
1
Costume design .......... _..... . .. ... ....... . ..... .
8
15
Sewing machine repair ...................... .. .... .
1
2
Total 1 • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •••• •- • • • 1 - - - - 32--t-- - - - 7--t-------27-.I·- - - - 6 6
= = ===

Textile trades:
Cotton yarn manufacturing and warp drawing ........ ............ ... .. . . . .
Cottonclassing ...................... ............ . . .......... ..... ...... .. . .
Silk winding, warping'/ and twisting.. . ............
1 ......... . . .. .......... .
Weave formation and abric analysis. .. ....... . .... . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
1
Textile dyeing. . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 ............
1
Textile design... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 ............
3
Total!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
}fillill1i?i1~~;~e.s: .. ... ......... .........................
Machine straw hat making............ ... ..... . ... .
Artificial flower and feather making. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TotaP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

171

2 ............
1 ............

17 j

:::::::g~~~l~~~~~ ~;~~·e·s·: .................·.... . . .
Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bookbinding................. . . .. ..................
Total!............ . ................... .. ..... ....

!-----

. . . . . . . . . ~·

2
3
8

226 1

2 ,

4
3

- - - ---- - - -

I====

3
1
1

3, \

Metal trades:
1 ......... .. .
Shop work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blacksmithing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 .......... .. .......... . .
Automobile mechanics................ . . . .......... . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
1
1
1
Automobile repairs.................................
Mechanical drawing 2 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
2 ............
6
2
2
4
Mechanical drafting 2 •• •• •• ••• • • • •• •• •• •• •• ••••••• ••
Total

1 •••••••••••• ••• • ••••.•.• • ••••••• •• •••••••••

2
1
3
3
8
8

24
3
j
====:.J===== =====

Woi!~~~,~~t:kiiig:::::::::::::.::::::::-::::::::: ::::::::::::l_:_::_:_:_::_:_:_::_:.1-----~I_____
Total
1..... .. .. .. .
2I
2
====
Electrical trades:
·
I
I
E lectrical measurements and machines.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
2
1 •• ••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••• •••••••• ••••• .•.••••. •

Wat$~if~f?li1~~~~~~:.t.r.~~~~~·····················
Jewelrymakingltnddesigning. .. ...... ............

1............
• • • • • • • • •• ••
1

====
1

2 , ·

2
6

3 I
8
!======:=====!=====:= = = =

Total I_ ........ - --- -- -- -- ... -- -- -- -- - • - -- -- -- - -- -- _,----5-1.... --- -- -.. -

Chemical trades:
•
Industrial chemistry .. .... . .......................................... . .... .

Li~t~:~~\ra~:r~J~~~~~~ ~~~.~.i~~~:: ~~.~~~~~ ~~~~~.

Pharmacy.........................................

. .... . ... .. .
. .. ... . . ... .

Total 1 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • •

• • • • • . . . • • • •.

!=====:=====!=====:= = = =
Technical optics .................................. .. .. ·l======l=~I=··=·=·=··=·=·=··=·=· =====1=I,====2=
1 Total schools is not total of columns because many schools gave more than 1 course.
2 Included under mechanical drawing are courses given for sho_p _pur_poses only.
AU coqrses preparatory
to draftsmanship are included under m,eclianie{\l drafting.

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TABLE

2.-Number of schools n which women were enrolled in specified industrial
training courses from September, 1919, to May, 1920-Continued.
Number of schools giving such courses.

Il1dustrial training courses in which women were
enrolled.

All-day.

Part-time.

E vening.

Total
number.

Miscellaneous trades:
Ship design and calculation ....................... . ................. . ..... .
H eating and ventilating.. . .... . ..... . .. . ......... ... ........... . ..... ... .. .
Preparatory course for foremen's institute ....... . ................... ... ... .

1~!~li~is~~~~r!::::::::::
::::::::::::::::::::::: ..........2~ ...........
~.
1
Wall paperdesigning............ .. .. ...... .... . ....
....... . .. . ..... . ...... .
t~~~n:~i::rn~:~~L:::::::::::::::::::::::::::
.......... 3~. :. :. :. :. :. :. :. :. :. :. :. :.
i3
Commerciallettering and sign painting. ...... . .....
Lamp shades and novelties, ........................
Pottery making and design . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tota11 . . ..... . .................................. .
Total all ind ustries 1

3
1
6

1 ............
2 .. . .. . ... _. _

1
1

441

1
I====

••••• • •••••••••••••••••••••••

1
1
1
4
1

= = = = = = = = =:= = = =

104

1 Total schools is not total of columns because many schools gave more than 1 course.

A tendency is shown, however, to give more instruction to women
in these new lines of endeavor in subjects intended for persons who
are already acquainted with shop work than to prepare beginners f<?r
shop work in manufacturing establishments. Of the 24 schools
having women enrolled in subjects relating to the metal trades,
according to Table 2, 2 schools gave machine-shop instruction, 1
school taught women blacksmithing, 3 schools taught automobile
mechanics and 3 taught repair, 8 aimed to turn out draftswomen,
and 8 gave courses to women in mechanical drawing. There is no
doubt concerning the immediate practicality for factory work of
the · two first-named courses. The know ledge gained i.n the courses
in automobile mechanics concerning the const ruction of the several
parts and the entire automobile and the experience received in taking down and reassembling a car must needs be a source of advancement to the girl working in automobile manufacture. While the
advanced courses in mechanical drawing are similar in content to
drafting courses and aim to make draftsmen rather than shopworkers, the elementary subject matter of these courses is of material
assistance to the shopworker. These beginning courses give her
sufficient knowledge of drawing to enable her to read and interpret
blue prints and to do layout work. Out of the 24 schools, therefore,
giving women instruction along metal working, 3 gave courses liaving definite trade content, 11 taught the students subjects which
ought to serve for their advancement in the shop, and 11 prepared
women not for the manufacturing shop but for the drafting room or
repair shop. It is interesting to note that while two evening schools
instructed women in the fundamentals of industrial chemistry, one

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day and one night school aimed to make her an assistant in metallurgical laboratories, in chemical producing laboratories, or in bacteriological laboratories.
Only t-wo schools had women enrolled in woodworking. In both
of these the instruction had specific manufacturing value, for in one
she learned to make wood patterns for foundrymen and in the other
did practical cabinetwork.
In schools of optometry, although women had received instruction in mechanical optics during the war, in 1919 and 1920 they were
enrolled in technical optics courses only.
Among the subjects taught for miscellaneous pursuits are several
of marked interest. Along the more customary lines are courses in
glove making and fancy novelty work; in the newer lines women
are found enrolled in evening courses in heating and ventilating
systems and in preparatory courses for industrial foremen.
How closely the distribution of courses for the several industries
approaches the distribution of the approximate twenty-four hundred
thousand 4 women engaged in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits in 1920 is not possible to determine .until the 1920 census of
manufactures and the 1920 census of occupations make their appearance. For at this time the only data available which would
make possible comparison of the proportion of women in each trade
and industry date back to 1910 for trades and 1914 for manufactures.
Material gathered from a considerable number of firms in 1919 5
indicates that women have increased in the iron and steel industry
· approximately 40 per cent since 1916, whereas automobile manufacturers showed over a 300 per cent increase in numbers of women,
instrument manufacture over 200 per cent, and woodworking establishments over 100 per cent.
With such strong evidence of changes in the distribution of woman
labor since 1916, the 1910 and 1914 figures can have no value for
purposes of comparison of the distribution of women in all trades
and industries. However, changes taking place in the last 10 years
in dressmaking, factory clothing manufacture, the textiles, millinery,
and hat industries are not such as to invalidate comparison between
the distribution of courses given for these trades and industries and
the numbers of women employed therein. A total of 142 courses
were given for employment in these industries in 1919 and 1920. Of
these, 65 were dressmaking, tailoring, or garment-making courses for
cus_tom trade, 15 taught power sewing-machine work for the clothing factory, 11 gave instruction in textile wo:rk, 47 in millinery, and
'Figure- estimated for 1920 by applying increase of 10 years from 1900 to 1910 figures.
5 See Bulletin No. 12, Woman 's Part in American Indu stry During the World War,
Women's Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, 1920, Table 26.

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4 in power sewing-machine operating on straw hats. As against this,
447,760 women gained a livelihood by dressmaking and garment
making for the custom trade, 299,995 worked in clothing factories,
447,726 were employed in textile mills, 12,709 made straw, wool, or
fur felt hats in factories, and 122,447 were milliners or millinery
dealers. 6 Or, while dressmakiJ?-g constituted over 45 per cent of all
courses taken for fabric and garment and h at manufacture, only 33.7
per cent of the women gainfully employed in fabric and garment and
hat manufacture were dressmakers. Ten and a half,per cent of these
courses were taken by women expecting to enter clothing factories,
whereas 22.5 per cent of the women in these t rades were employed in
clothing factories. The discrepancy becomes greater in textiles,
where the courses given form but 7.7 per cent, while textile workers
constituted 33.6 per cent of the whole number of workers in fabric
and garment and hat manufacture. In millinery the situation is reversed with only 9.2 per cent of the women employed therein, and yet
33 per cent of the courses are given in this trade. Had figures on the
distribution of the other eleven hundred thousand women working at
mechanical trades and in factories been available, the t endency to
develop dressmaking and millinery courses to the exclusion of equally
important courses for women in other occupations would doubtless
appear still greater.
.
In this connection it should also be recalled that instruction, not
for the trade but for personal use, is given in these subjects in the
majority of home economics courses in publicly or privately supported or endowed schools. While these courses do not in any sense
take the place of the dressmaking and millinery courses given for the
trades, they eliminate any necessity for giving trade courses in these
subjects to women who want the instruction only in order to make
their own clothes and hats. 7
Undoubtedly the important position assumed by dressmaking and
millinery in the trade schools has been due partly to the fact that
the long years of experience gained by a few schools in this type of
inst.r uction have developed excellent methods of teaching these
trades. Newer schools find it easier to copy these methods than to
act as pioneers in formulating courses for other equally important
trades.
o For figures on dressmakers and milliners, see U. S. Census of Population, Vol. IV,
pp. 91-92 ; for other figures, see .Abstract of the Census of Manufactures, 1914, pp. 530
to 543.
'7 In 1919 the Federal Board for Vocational Education gave fund s to 130 schools
teaching dressmaking and sewing and 69 teaching millinery as a part of home economics
courses.

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NEED FO R INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN NEW CRAFTS.

If women are to become skilled workers in the new as in a few of
the older crafts, proper training facilities must be provided. Girls
and boys and few women or men make articulate demands for training. We do not wait for the boy or the man to express his desires
for practical instruction before providing training facilities for him.
We study the industrial and educational needs of the community;
we secure the as;,istance of employers and employees' organizations
and civic and educational associations. When the trades for which
courses are to be given are determined and the equipment and teachers have been secured a campaign of publicity is organized to ep.list
the interest of every boy and man in the community. For not until
the opportunities offered in the trade schools are well known do even
boys and men enroll in them in any numbers. Not until the school
becomes a recognized force in the community do boys and men seek
instruction in them without effort on the part of the school authorities, the trade-unionists, and the employers to arouse in them a desire
for further know ledge.
More carefully organized and more thorough campaigns must' be
conducted to arouse the community and the employer, as well as the
girls and women to the needs of trade training for women. The gap
in the ranks of unskilled workers left by departing aliens, the attitude of skilled male workers toward the entrance of women into their
trades, the thoughlessness of the young girl worker who hopes that
her stay in the shop will pe short, the timidity of the older woman
who is afraid to venture on a new job, and the approval of many
employers of the patient plugging of women workers at the same task
year in and year out, raise a strong barrier against the war-created
current of enthusiasm over women's availability and tend toward the
restriction of women to the less skilled, less remunerative jobs, jobs
which give her no trade and leave her capabilities and her selfreliance undeveloped. The war emergencies forced manufacturers
to spend time and money in training a body of women to meet pressing war needs. This training was given in the interest of the prosecution of the war, not in the interest of the woman worker. With
the war incentive removed, expenditure by private concerns of moneys
for the training of unskilled ·women became less urgent. The obligation on the part of our training institutions to preserve and increase
the availability of woman labor as developed by war conditions is
correspondingly increased.
The emphasis, however, of such training must obviously be in the
interest of the worker and must be developed in such a manner as to
make the woman worker available for the greater variety of indus-

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tries developed in peace time. The need of women to earn their living and their right to earn it in occupations at which they are most
proficient and at which they can earn the largest amount create an
obligation to direct the new woman wage earner with the same close
reference to her capabilities that is now given t o the boy wage earner
as he leaves school. The inescapable fact that women can render as
good service in the machine shops as in clothing factories- and can
do it with no more impairment to health- make it a public responsibility to offer girls training in these new occupations as well as
in the old occupations. It constitutes a strong claim for the cordial
admission of women already trained in this work to instructor-training classes for machine-shop teachers. Furthermore, the increase in
the use of mechanical devices in the modern home renders a knowledge of mechanics as essential, if not more so, t o the average woman
who eventually leaves industry to t ake up household duties as is a
knowledge of sewing, because the manufacture of clothing has ceased
practically to be a profitable household industry.
While not overlooking the importance of continuing old and establishing new courses of study for woman in the occupations at which
she has been employed for many years, manifestly the value of her
war experiences can only be preserved by her immediate entrance into
training courses directed along the lines of her successful achievement during the war period. To allow time and the adverse forces
mentioned on page 22 to obliterate the war-time demonstrations of
her mechanical ability would rob industry of valuable and necessary
skill, and rob women of their right to every opportunity for service.
Until the use of labor-saving equipment becomes more common in
factories women will continue to achieve the greatest success working on light parts where her natural deftness, accuracy, and speed
will always stand her in good stead. Almost all metal-working
shops machine a number of light parts. But women have secured,
and will continue to-secure, the best footing in shops having enough
light work to make it possible to employ a considerable number of
women. Other shops will employ women in times of labor shortage,
but they will not make permanent ·provision for adequate accommodation for women workers · until they expect to employ women
continuously.
Metal-working industries in which women have done not only
much of the machining, but the bench work, inspecting, and the
assembling of many parts are the instrument, watch and clock, sew- ·
ing machine, typewriter, adding and computing machine, cream
separator, typesetting and shoe machinery, tool, and hardware industries. They have machined and assembled many small parts that

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make up gas and gasoline engines, metal-working and textile machines, automobiles, motor cycles, and agricultural implements.
Study of the characteristics of different metals, the principles of
·machine and tool design, simple shop mathematics, blue-print reading, training in the preparation and setting up of machine tools on
plain and complicated work, and training in the grinding and care
of tools are essential, however, if women are to be given the knowledge and manipulative skill that will open machinist, good specialist,
foremdn, or teaching positions to them in these industries.
The work on sheet metal which is open to women is not of a kind
to demand extensive training, but short courses in mathematics and
mechanical drawing and the use of tools and welding outfits would
be great aids to women expecting to work in automobile, airplane,
agricultural implement, and heating-apparatus factories.
"\Vhen equipped with a knowledge of wood structure, how to make
and read drawings, how to use hand tools and operate machines, and
information concerning the uses and values of different finishing oils,
varnishes, and fillers, women will be in a position not only to do
good productive work in furniture, veneer, and other finished wood
product factories, but after experience in these factories some will
be in line for promotion to supervisory or teaching positions:
Courses in mechanical optics, teaching the kinds of raw materials
and their manipulation for optical purposes, will fit other women to
take their places as skilled craftsmen in lens manufacturing plants.
As the "controlling purpose" of vocational education is to "fit
fo~ useful employment," it is essential that training facilities be developed not only with regard to the capabilities of women but also
with careful reference to the needs of the community. To direct the
training of boys and girls in such manner as to insure each a craft
for which local industries have need and for which he or she is best
fitted will not increase the number of either girls or boys who will
earn their bread; it will only effect a redistribution in the interest
of the wage earners, of industry, and of the community. Undoubtedly response to calls for the training of girls in the new crafts will
be forthcoming most readily in communities where competition from
industries older in the employment of women is least, but the presence of competition does not in any way lessen the need of such
training for girls.
'L OCALITIES WHERE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IN NEW
CRAFTS IS ESSENTIAL.

Table 3 shows the States which rank foremost as employers in
those industries in which women made conspicuous success during
the war and in which training would be most beneficial to them.

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The employment distribution shown in the table is based on 1914
figures. Some of the metal and optical industries listed have grown
extensively since that year. Such growth may have changed the
rank of several States when •arranged according to the numbers of
wage earners employed, but it is not probable that the 10 States
ranking highest in the number of workers in metal industries, in
furniture manufacture, or the three States ranking highest in optical
·goods manufacture in 1914, have been superseded by other States,
and thus ceased to be among the 10 highest in 1920. It is comparatively safe to say, therefore, that States offering largest opportunity
for employment in automobile, motor-cycle, engine, agricultural implements, steam fittings, oil and gas stove, cutlery and tool, hardware, small office and house machines and other machine-shop products, as well as instrument factories, are Ohio, Michigan, New York,
Pennsylvania, Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Indiana. States giving employment to the largest number of wage earners in wood-furniture producing are New York,
Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Massachusetts,
Ohio, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Optical goods are manufactured most largely in New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.
3.-States l eading in nurnber 1 of wage earners in specified industries
where women were either< introduced into skilled and semiskilled occupations for the first time during the wa,r, or where their nitmbers in such
occupations were increased at rates ranging from 10 to over 200 per cent. 2

TABLE

Rank of States according to numbers of wage earners employed.
First.

Second

Third.

Fourth.

Industry.
umNumNumNumber of State. ber of State. ber of
ber of
wage
wage
wage State. wage
earners.
earners.
earners.
earners.
---- ---Pa .... 43,437 Ohio .. 36,732 N.Y.. 33,082 Mass .. 29,308

State.

Machine shop products not elsewhere
specified.
Automobiles, including bodies and Mich .. 66,103
parts.
Hard ware and screws ........ ........ Conn .. 22,238
Agricultural i!llplements and dairy- Ill ..... 19,998
sr:W~i~~t,~r office and home use
Cutlery and tools ....................
Engines, steam, ~sand water . ......
Steam fittings, eating apparatus,
gas and oil stoves.
Motor cycles, bicycles, and parts .....
Instruments .........................

Ohio .. 21,280

N.Y .. 12,138

Ind ...

7,630

Ohio ..
N.Y ..

6,177
7,337

Pa ....
Ohio ..

5,185
5,621

Ill .....
Ind ... .

4,372
4,125

Ohio . .
Conn. .
Wis ...
Pa .....

9,092
7,669
6,134
6,004

N.J ...
Mass ..
Pa ....
Ohio ..

8,429
6,403
4,877
5,607

N.Y ..
N.Y ..
Mich ..
N.Y ..

6,727
4,928
4,660
5,460

Conn..
Pa .. . .
Ohio ..
Conn..

6,269
3,509
2,597
3,311

Mass ..
N.Y ..

2,517
2,459

Ohio ..
Ill.. ...

759
1,023

Ill. ....
Pa ....

634
800

N.Y..
Mass ..

590
679

Total for 10 metal industries .... Ohio .. 91,271

Mich .. 85,679

N.Y.. 77,133

Pa....

69,599

Optical goods . ....................... N.Y . . 3,117
Furniture, other than metal. .. .... . .. N.Y .. 17,345

Mass.
2,378
Mich . . 14, 151

Pa ....
872
Ill. .... 12,307

Ohio ..
Ind ....

184
10,506

---

1 Figures taken from U. S. Census of Manufactures, 1914, Vol. 1, except those given for "Small machines
for office and home use." As the census did not give figures for this industry by States, the figures were
compiled from State reports.
2 Tables showing changes and trend oflabor during the war, included in Bulletin No. 12, Woman's Part
in American Industries During the World War, Women's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, 1920.

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3.-States l eading in nurnber of wage earners in specified industries
w her e w omen were either introduced into slcffled and serniskilled occupations for the first time durilng the war, etc.-Continued.

TABLE

Rank of States according to numbers of wage earners employed.
Sixth.

Fifth.

Seventh.

Eighth.

IndustrY;,
State.

NumNumNumNumber of State. ber of State. ber of State. ber of
wage
wage
wage
wage
earners.
earners.
earners.
earners.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - ~ 1 - -- - 1 -

Machine shop products not elsewhere
specified.
Automobiles, including bodies and
parts.
·
Hardware and screws ................
Agricultural implements and dairysi:W~!~~!ior office and home use
Cutlery and tools ....................
Engines, steam, gas, and water. .... ..
Steam fittinfs, eating apparatus,
gas and oi stoves.
Motor cycles, bicycles, and parts .....
Instruments ....... . .................

Ill ..... 23,235

N.J ... 14,032

Conn..

10, 7'2:7

Wis ...

4,873

Mass ..

3,986

Pa .....

3,183

Ill .•• . .

2,577

N.Y..

2,662
3,444

N.J ...
Mich ..

2,145
1, 881

Mass ..
Pa .. . ..

1,645
1, 812

Mich . .

735

Ill .....
Ohio ..

N.Y ..

Mass ..
N.J ...

Mass ..

2,201
2,923
1,997
3,176

952
2,722
] , 750
3,057

"iii:::::
Ind ....

Ind .. ..
Ohio ..

194
483

Wis . . .

Ill .....

Total for 10 metal industries .... Ill ..... 60,722

Industry.

Wis ... 12, 661

Ill .....

Mich ..

1,628
1,414
1,245

....... . . ........
Mich . .
Conn..

N.J ..

.. ... 469
1, i~

126 . .......
..... ... . ... ... .
Pa .. !..
........ ········ ......... .--······
....... . ....... --- --···

Conn .. 53,688

Mass ... 49,024

N.J ...

31,013

Rank of States according to numbers of wage earners employed.
,- - - - - - ~ - - -- - , Number emNinth.
Tenth.
p1oyed1
1 - - - - ; - - -- - 1- -- , - - -- 1 in all
other
NumNum- States.
of State. ber of
State. ber
wage
wage
earners.
earners.

Machine shop products not elsewhere specified................ Mich.. 10,586 R. I... 9,464
Automobiles, including bodies and parts ............. .......... Conn.. 2,195 N. J... 2,133
Hardware and screws. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2)
• • • • • • • . Wis. . .
424
Agriculturalimplements and dairymen's supplies . ... . ... .. . ................................. .
Small machines for office and home use ................. .... ... .. .................. .. ......... .
449 ...... ... ...... .
Cutlery and tools ...... . ............... . ....... ·. ............... Ind. . .
Engines, s~eamhgas 1 and water ............. _. ......... . ... . ................................ . .. .
477 ............... .
Steam fittrng\ eatrng apparatus, gas and 011 stoves......... .. Ind....

~l~~~:'. _. i_c_~:1_6:3: -~~~- ~-~r_t_s_:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Total for 10 metal industries............................. Wis... 28,055

Ind. . . . 22,669

51,299
2,940
4,916
8,880
(3)
2,518
4,663
4,137
1, 886
1,853
'19; 137

Optical goods . ... .............................. .. .......... . ............ . ....... . ....... . .. . .
1,422
Furniture, other than metal..... . ................ ............. N. C... 5. 430 Tenn.. 2,207 21,590
I
I
I
I
I
1 Includes employees in boiler shops and foundries in 11 States for which separate figures for machine shops
were not given.
2 lowa, which ranks ninth in this industry, has been included with "allotherStates" becauseit is included
in this group for the other industries.
3 Total for industry given in 1914 census is less than total for 6 leading States for which figures were compiled from State reports.

Were these States also foremost in increasing the numbers of
women employed in these industries during the war~
Data on the numbers of men, women, and children at work in
these 12 industries in October, 1918, were secured from manufacturers' schedules on file in several war-time agencies. Only firms
employing 25 or more persons were included in the schedules tabu-

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lated. The resulting figures represent for each industry in each
of the largest metal and furniture and optical manufacturing Stateb,
with the exception of New Jersey and North Carolina, 20 per cent
or more of the total numbers of persons employed in the entire
industry in 1914 according to the 1914 census. The numbers of
wage earners employed in the New Jersey and North Carolina firms
reporting in 1918 were too small a prbportion to be representative
of conditions in industries in those States, and have therefore not
been included in the tables.
TABLE 4.-The proportion which women constituted of total number of wage

earners in 1914 1 in specified industries in 10 Stiates leading in the number of
wage earners in such industries; and the proportion which women constititted
in October, 1918, in plants employing 20 per eent or more of the total number of wage earnerS' report ea in such industries in 1914.
Proportion which women were of total wage earners inIndustry.

Ohio.
1914

1918

Michigan.

New York.

1914

Machine-shop products not elsewhere P.ct. P.ct. P.ct.
specified .............................. 1.0
6. 7
2.2
Automobiles, including bodies and parts . 2.1 11. 3 2.1
Hard ware and screws ................... 8.4 20.0
9.8
Agricultural implements and d airymen's
supplies ............................... 0.4
4.0 ......
Small m achines for office and home use .. 6. 7 21. 9
Cutlery and tools ....•..•..........•.... 8.1 15.2
2.3
0. 2
Engines: Steamhgas, and water ......... 0.3
3.6
Steam fittings, eating apparatus, gas
6.0 ........
and oil stoves ........•...•.•...•.•.... 0.2
Motor cycles, bicycles, and parts .••..•. 3.9 36.1
Instruments .....•••••••••••••••••••••...
12. 7
36. 7
13. 6

Total for 10 metal industries .•...• 2.6
Optical goods ........................... 15.8
Furniture, other than metal. .......... . . 4.9

o. 9
48. 9
3.6

1918

P ennsylvania.
1914

1918

Illinois.
1914

1918

P.ct. P.ct. P.ct. P.ct. P.ct. P.ct. P.ct.
6.1
8.6
17. 9

10. 3
23.8
20. 1
6.1
5.3

1. 9
0. 9
4. 9

9.3
6.6
13.1

3. 3
1.6
12. 2 24. 7
11.9 18. 4
0.2
2. 5
0.6

7.2

o. 7
o. 5
9.9

9.0
(2)

3. 7
23.1
3. 3

10. 4
23.1
9.6

2.3
1. 3
8. 7

7. 6
8. 5
10.0

1.0
3.1
5. 2
(2)

3. 7
43.6
7.5
14.9

17. 7

3.3
1. 4
23.8

6.2
7.9
21.0

10.4

2.8

8.8

2. 2

10.4

9. 9 ..(2) ..
3.0
8. 9
(3)
4.1
1.9

....... ....... ....... ······
18. 3 24. 5 3.4
13. 3

10.8
6. 7
21.5

1.7
43.6
3.4

2. 7

(2)

13.2

Proportion which women were of total wage earners inIndustry.

Connecticut.

Massachu- New Jersey. Wisconsin.
setts.

1914

1918

1914

--------

1918

1914

1918

Indiana.
1914

Machine-shop products not elsewhere P.ct. P.ct. P.ct. P.ct. P.ct. P.ct. P.ct. P.ct.
specified .............................. 2. 3 15. 5 1. 9 8.9
3. 3 (2)
0. 8 5. 6 3. 3
Automobiles, including bodies and parts. o. 5 5.1
o. 7 9. 3 2.3 ......... 1. 2 7. 6 1. 3
6.4 (2) 11.0
Hardware and screws ................... 17. 4 18.9
5.6 19.4 22.2
Agricnl turalimplements and dairymen's
2.9
supplies ..................... . ........
4.0
2.1
4. 5 ..(2) .. 8. 5
42.4 .......
Small machines for office and home use .. 10. 9 31.6
Cutlery and tools ....................... 9.1 13.1 1~ 3 18.4 10. 6 ...... 9. 7 5; 7 1. 3
6.6 ...... 1. 5 . ..... ....... 0.4
6.0
Engines: Steamhgas, and water .........
0.3
Steam fittings, eating apparatus, gas
7.9
2. 7
6. 9 1.9 ....... 0.3 22.0 ......
and oil stoves ......................... 4.0
1.0
Motor cycles, bicycles, and parts ....... , .......
...... 11.8 ······
......
47.'9° 8. 5 20. 7 ........ ······
Instruments .............................
······ ....... 24.8 ······
0

Total for 10 metal industries . .... 10. 5 18. 3 3.1
Optical goods ....•...................... ..(4 ) .. ..c4·)-- 27. 2
9.1
Furniture, other than metal. ............

12. 4
21. 6
15.8

6.4
53. 9
(4)

(2~
(2
(4)

1. 2

6. 8

3. 9

13. 6

1918

-P.ct. P.ct.

2.1
19. 0
1.8

12. 0
5.6

(2)

7.3

.......

14.4

(2)

. .....
......

······
7.8
(2)
(2)

Figures compiled from Census of Manufactures of 1914, vol. 1.
Not reported.
Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.
• Connecticut and New Jersey do not rank among the 10 highest in the numbers employed in furniture
factories.
1

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Table 4 places side by side the per cent which women formed of all
wage earners in the 12 industries in 1914 and 1918. In no State
except Connecticut and New Jersey, where the hardware, typewriter,
and sewing-machine industries employed many women, did the 10
metal industries employ as much as 4 per cent of woman labor in
their working .forces in 1914. In 1918 Connecticut still had a
larger proportion of women in these 10 metal industries than did the
other States, 18 out of every 100 employed being women, as compared with an approximate 10 per cent in 1914. In 1918 in Ohio and
Massachusetts 12 out of every 100 employees in these metal industries
were women; in New York and Pennsylvania they formed a little
more than one-tenth the force; Michigan and Illinois employed 9
women in every 100, while in Indiana and Wisconsin women were
7.8 and 6.8 per cent, respectively: of the metal-working forces. Although Rhode Island does not appear among the 10 highest States
in the total numbers employed in these metal industries in 1914 (see
Table 3), in 1918 firms employing approximately 14,000 persons had
2,000, or over 14 per cent, women workers. A larger number of
women, therefore, were actually employed in these 10 metal industries in Rhode Island than in either Wisconsin or Indiana.
5.-The proportion which women constitut ed of the total number of
wage earners in August, 1919, in 261 plants. r epresenting 10 sp ecified branches
of the m etal industry/ and the furnriture a.n d opticai goods i n dustries.

TABLE

Ten branches of the metal industry.1

State.

Total wage earners1---~---1

In all
pfants
in 1914.

Ohio ........... .... . . . . . .. .. . ... . ....... . .

M~~t~k·.-:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
P ennsylvania... . .... .. . .. .... . .. ....... . .

91,271

In 215
plants
in 1919.

14, 801

Per cent Per cent Total wage earners1919 em- whieh
ployees women
are of
were of
t otal
total
In all
In41 ·
wage
wage
plants
plants
earners
earners in 1914. in 1919.
in 1914. in 1919.

~:m ~ui~

69, /i99
Illinois....... . .. .. ... . ... . .. ... ... ........
60,722
Connrcticut . .......... . . . .. .... . .. . .. ... . .
53,688
MRSsachuset ts......... . . .. ... .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .
Wisconsin.. ................ .. . . .. .. ... . . ..
28,055

10,513
·27,513
18,615
(2)
16,001

Furniture other
than metal furniture.

16. l

11.0

45. 3
34. 6

7. R
9, 741
1,146
5. 9
12,307
1,604
20. 1 ................... .

1
~:~
lii.l

~N~~

·····57:0· ...... if .... 7;4&1.

(2)

i;~

(2)

3,013

R1:i~~1sianc1::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: §;~1~ ~:!~g
g ::::::::::
... ?!....
T ennessee. ......... .. ... . . . .. . ..... . . .. ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . .
2,207
760
2

1 Includes machine-shop products not elsewhere specified, automobiles and borlies and parts, hardware
and screws, agricultural implements, small machines for office and home use, tools and cutlery, engines,
steam fittings and oil and gas stoves, motor cycles, and instruments.
2 Figures collected represented less than 8 per cent of total employees listed in l!l14 census, and have
therefore not been included in table.

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TABLE

5.- The proporti on w hich women constituted of the total n umb er of
w age earners in Ailgus t, 1919, etc.-Continued.
F urnitnro oth er
than metal furnituro-Continned.

Optical goods.

Per r ent Per cen t Total wage earn ers-- Per cent Per cent
1919 em- which
1919 em- which
ployees women
ployees women
are of
wer e of
are of
were of
In .5
to tal
total
total
In all
total
plants
plan ts
wag e
wage
wage
wage
earn ers earners in 1914. in 1919. earn ers earners
in 1914. in 1919.
in 1914. in 1919.
-----Ohio . ...... .. . . . .... .. ...... . ... ... . .......... . ........ . ..... . . . ......... .. . . .. . . . · · ··· ·· ·· · ·· · ·······
Michigan.. . . . . . . ....... . . . ..... . ... . ... ...
16. 6
7. 9 . . .......... .. . ... . _ .• .. .. . . . .. . ... . . . ..
State.

!iff ~~~~~::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: tU I!J : : ~:~~~: .. Jt. : ::~~;t ::::::~~:~
1

Connecticut .. . ....... . . . ... . . . . .. ... . ...... . .. . . . . . ...... . .......... . .. . . ... . . . .. .... ... .... . . . . . . . . .

~~~~~:.t.~:::::: :: ::::: ::: :: :::::: ::::: ·····4oj· · ·· .. ii:i . .... ~'.~'.~ .... .~:'.~: . .. .. ~~~: ~ ....... ~'.:~
f~~:s!!~~~~·. ::::::: :::::::::::::::::::: : ·· ···21'.1· · · · · · ·2'. 6·1::: :: :::: : ::: :::: ::: :::::::::: ::::::::::
Indiana . .. ... . . .... . . . ...... . ........ .. ..... . .. .. .. ... . .. .. . .. . . .. .......... . ... . . . ... . . . .. . .... . .. . .

1 Figures collected represented less than 8 per cent of total employees list ed in 1914 cen sus, and have
therefore not been included in t able.

Figures on the .numbers of women and men employed in August,
1919, were obtained for certain of these metal industries by personal
visits to 215 metal manufacturers in nine States. .Table 5 shows that
the total number of wage earners in the metal factories visited were
from 15 to over 100 per cent of the total wage earners employed in
the several States in 1914, so that the figures secured are representative of conditions in these industries in each State. From the same
table it will be seen that Connecticut and Ohio still lead in proportion
of women employed. In Connecticut 20 women were employed in
every 100 employees, and in Ohio 11 women in every 100. While the
relative imp.o rtance of women in these: metal industries in New York
and Pennsylvania is slightly less than in 1918, these St ates still average, as does Rhode I sland, 8 women in every 100 employees. Although
the proportion of women has fallen in Michigan in these industries
since 1918 from 9 to 5.2 per cent, the change in actual numbers of
women has not been as great, because the automobile industry in
Michigan has increased its total number of employees since 1918.
Michigan would, therefore, still rank among the largest employers of
women in these metal trades. Women lost a little in Illinois but still
constituted a proportion of 6 in every 100 in 1919, the actual numbers
of women in only 47 Illinois plants being over 1,600. Wisconsin and
Indiana, while not having returned to their prewar status in the employment of women, do not approach the other States in importance
in the employment of women in these metal industries. The Massachusetts reports have not been included in Table 5, as less than 10

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per cent of the wage earners in these industries were covered by the
schedules. The firms giving data on the numbers of wage earners,
however, employed as large and larger numbers of women in 1919
than they had done in 1918, so that it seems probable that these Massachusetts industries as a whole are still retaining women in considerable numbers.
It should not be overlooked, because of the large numbers of men
employed by these industries, that the proportions of w~men, even
when they are but 6 or 8 to every J-00 employees, represent actual
numbers of women workers running into thousands in. each branch
of industry.
There can be no doubt, therefore, that the greatest need for training women in machine-shop or sheet-metal work lies in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts,
and Rhode Island.
What is the situation in the furniture and veneer industries~ According to the census figures of 1914, New York, Michigan, Illinois,
and Indiana each had over 10,000 people, men and women, employed
in these industries; Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Ohio,
and North Carolina, each over 5,000, while Tennessee ranked tenth
with a little over 2,000 employees.
With the exception of Massachusetts where women were 9 per cent
of the furniture-factory workers in 1914, women were less than 5 per
cent of the total number of employees in such factories in other
States. In 1918, Table 4 shows that this proportion ranged in the
plants reported in the 10 States employing the largest numbers of
wage earners, from 9.6 per cent in New York to 26.3 per cent in
Tennessee. The prevailing proportion of women in the furniture
factories in 1918 in other States was 13 women to 100 employees.
Personal visits to 41 firms in 6 States in 1919 ( see Table 5) revealed
the fact that women were employed as furniture builders in relatively greater numbers in 1919 than in 1918 in New York State. In
Tennessee the furniture factories had reduced their woman labor
force almost to its prewar status, or to 2.6 per cent. In Pennsylvania,
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois women were employed to a lesser
extent in 1919 than in 1918, but far in excess of the relative numbers
employed in 1914. Figures were not available £or Indiana in 1918
or 1919.
Considering both the actual numbers employed and the proportionate number of women in furniture and veneer manufacture, the
largest opportunity in this industry £or women lies in New York,
Michigan, and Illinois. In Pennsylvania and Massachusetts women
would also find valuable use for such training, although a much
smaller group are employed in woodworking here than in the
machine-shop industries. In Wisconsin· the proportion of women

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in furniture manufacturing in 1919 was so much larger than was
the proportion in the metal industries that instruction in furniture
and veneering , would serve a larger number of girls than would
machine-shop instruction.
Optical-goods manufacture on a large scale is practically confined
to Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. While the relative
position of women in the total numbers employed has not changed
materially from 1914 to 1918 and 1919, the growth of the industry
during the war increased greatly the numbers of women actually
employed as well as the total numbers. While 1919 conditions have
lessened the demands on the industry, it is still employing more
people than it did in 1914 and will undoubtedly continue to be a
profitable field of employment for a moderate number of women in
a highly important industry.
It is not difficult to point out the cities in the nine States mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs where training in machine-shop,
sheet-metal, furniture-working, or optical work should be centered,
for in each State a few cities stand out as conspicuous in these lines
of manufacture and in numbers of women breadwinners. Not that
industrial training is not necessary in the smaller cities, but it is
more essential, on the theory of the "greatest good to the greatest
numb~r," that training facilities be provided first in cities having
the largest numbers of working women as well as in those offering
most opportunity for employment in these industries.
According to the figures given in the Directory of Ohio Manufacturers for 1918,8 Cleveland far outranks other cities in the number
of wage earners employed in the machine-shop industries listed in
Table 3. Toledo, because of the large numbers employed in automobile factories, ranked second. Dayton's large numbers of workers
in cash-register, calculating-machine, and sewing-machine factories
gave it third place, while Cincinnati ranked fourth, although it was
far more important as a machine and tool manufacturing center
than Dayton or Toledo. The proportion which women formed of
the total numbers employed in these industries was largest in Day. ton, although the l:;irgest actual numbers were employed in metal
machining in Cleveland.
In order to estimate the numbers of gainfully employed women
who might benefit by industrial training in these cities in 1920, and
among whom the metal industries might find the service they needed,
the percentage of increase in the total population between 1910 and
1920 was applied in each city 9 to the numbers of breadwinning
s The Industrial Comm'ission of Ohio, " Directory of Ohio Manufacturers, 1918." These
fi gures wer e n ot used elsewher e in the report, as the numbers include office as well as
factory workers.
9 preliminary Anno\lnce:ments of Population for 1920 by U. S. Bureau of the Census.

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women and girls in each city 10 in 1910.11 Cleveland continued to
hold first place in total numbers of women estimated to be gainfully employed in 1920; Cincinnati was second, with approximately
53,000 women breadwinners; Toledo had approximately 24,000; and
Dayton about 15,000 wage-earning women. There can be no hesitancy, therefore, in naming Cleveland as the Ohio city in which
machine-shop and sheet-metal training for women would be beneficial to the largest number of women and the largest number of
establishments. In Cincinnati, the boot and shoe and clothing industries would take precedence over the machine-shop industry in
securing a foothold in industrial training of women, as both lead the
machine shops in numbers of women employed. However, in Toledo
and Dayton, in spite of the smaller numbers of women gainfully employed, the demand for workers in the machining industries is such
as to ·make such training for women essential also in these cities.
For comparative purposes, the factory inspectors' reports 12 on
numbers employed in 1918 in each Michigan city in the eight branches
of the metal industry in which Michigan figures in Table 3 may be
used. Detroit far outranks other cities in the numbers employed.
Flint follows with approximately 19,000 wage earners in these eight_
metal industries. Lansing ranks third with firms employing over
10,000. In furniture manufacturing Grand Rapids still retains its
supremacy. When the estimated numbers of women wage earners
in each city are considered, Flint is of small importance compared
with Detroit or with Grand Rapids. But the concentration of wageearning women employed on manufacturing processes almost exclusively in automobile body and part making in Flint makes it
profitable both for the woman worker and the industry to introduce
machine-shop and sheet-metal work. Although .the metal-working
industries predominate in Lansing as a field for women workers, other
industries, such as food and printing and bookbinding, also make demands on the supply of woman labor.
According to the 1914 census, New York City manufactured almost half of the products listed under factory and machine-shop
products in the State. But according to the report of the committee
authorized by the New York City Board of Estimates and Apportionment to make an industrial survey 0£ the city 0£ New YorkIn spite of the very large numbers of machinists in New York, the city
is not a machine-manufacturing center but is, on the other hand, a great repair district, in which a vast amount of ,vork is constantly being done in
the repair of marine engines, street car, subway, and elevated equipment,
elevators, motor vehicles, and central power plants, and also upon the up:ro Thirteenth Census of U. S., Vol. IV, pp. 208 to 275, 535 to 607.
11 Girls 10 years of age and over had to be included in order to compare numbers involved in smaller cities with those in larger cities.
12 Michiga,_n Department of Labor, Thirty-sixth Annual Report.

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keep of the great numbers of machines used in the industries of the city,
a:s the printing and clothing trades.13
•

It was not in this repair work that women achieved a noticeable
position during the war, but in the manufacture of printing and
cigar machinery, and in the manufacture of tools and cutlery and
instruments. Such factories were located in Brooklyn to a much
larger extent than in Manhattan. As women formed a little over
12 per cent of the wage earners in these industries in Brooklyn in
1918, and but slightly less in 1919, it would appear that Brooklyn schools should include women in their machine-shop and instrument-making courses.
Next in rank in the machine and sheet-metal industry in New
York State are Buffalo, Roc~ester, and Syracuse. Rochester leads
in the manufacture of optical goods, while New York City (Manhattan leading) manufactures the largest amount of furniture.
Advance figures on population for 1920 were not available for any of
these citi~s except Syracuse. In Syracuse an increase of 25 per
cent had occurred between 1910 and 1920. This increase is estimated to have brought the numbers of women gainfully employed
in this city to approximately 20,000 women. As this was by far
the smallest of the four cities which were machine-shop or furniture
or optical working centers, the other cities will surpass Syracuse in
numbers of working women in 1920.
Training of women is of particular importance in New York State,
as this State is losing most heavily through emigration. In the fiscal
year ended June 30, 1919, its emigration exceeded its immigration by
12,220 persons. 14
In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh lead the many
smaller cities whose industries machine iron and steel into finished
products. The first-mentioned city showed a larger number of
women employed in such industries in 1918 and 1919 than did Pittsburgh. Of the furniture manufactured in the State, Philadelphia
made over 44 per cent, according to the 1914 census. This city also
manufactured the greater part of the optical goods made in the
State. The importance of Philadelphia as a center for training
women for work can not be overlooked, when as far back as 1910 the
city had over 200,000 women gainfully employed. In 1920 Pittsburgh is estimated to have had _approximately 57,000. The 1920
figures are not ·yet available for Philadelphia.
In Illinois, Chicago dominates all other cities in the numbers employed in machine shops, sheet-metal factories, and in furniture fac1.:1 R eport of committee a uth ori z<'d by t h e B oard of Est imates and · Appor tionmen t, The
Industrial Education Survey of the City of New York, Vol. I V, p. 20.
" Report of Commission of Immigration for 1919, pp. 138-149.

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tories., Rockford and Moline rank next in order of wage earners in
the branches of the metal industry mentioned in Table 3. While the
proportion of women employed in the 10 metal industries considered
was smaller in Chicago than in Rockford and Moline, the actual
number so e!Jlployed were far greater. As in other States, although
it is important from the viewpoint of the women of Rockford and
Moline to provide them with an industrial education which is designed to fit them for the big industries of these cities, it is not so
important, in point of numbers affected, as it is to fit Chicago women
for a place in the city's machine and sheet-metal shops and furniture
plants.
According to 1914 figures Bridgeport, New Haven, and Hartford
were the most important metal-working cities in Connecticut. The
advance figures for the census of 1920 show that Bridgeport and
Hartford increased in numbers of people in almost a like proportion
since 1910, or about 40 per cent. As these cities had almost an equal
number of women gainfully employed in 1910, it is probable that
there is no great difference in numbers of women thus employed in
1920. New Haven's population for 1920 has not been announced.
As the breadwinning women in this city in 1910 were several thousand more in numbers than in the other two cities, it is probable
that New Haven woman wage earners equaled those of Bridgeport
and Hartford in 1920, if they did not exceed them in numbers. In
the seven metal industries in which Connecticut appears in Table 3,
women formed a larger per: cent of the employees in 1918 in Hartford and New Haven than in Bridgeport. This is due to the exclusion of the munitions industry from the metal industries listed.15
Two Bridgeport munition factories alone gave employment to over
- 8,000 women in 1918, whereas Hartford's factories emp~oyed 1,500
and New Haven's plants 5:000. In 1919, one of Bridgeport's munitions factories continued making munitions, and em loyed 1,500
women. Another plant has been taken over by an electrical manufacturing company which has employed women in the machining of
parts for electrical apparatus in its plants in other States. . It is,
therefore, probable that Bridgeport firms will be as large employers
of woman labor in machine-shop trades in the next. year as Hartford
and New Haven.
According to the 1914 census, although Worcester ranked higher
than Boston in machine shops, wlien automobile, hardware, tool, and
steam-fitting manufactures are included, Boston occupies first position in Massachusetts. Lowell ranked third in the iron and steel
product industries in 1914. The figures published by the Massa15 This industry has been omitted from all tables in this report, even though much of
its work was like that done in other machine shops, because its importance as an employer of labor in peace times is so intimately connected with national policies not yet
definitely determined upon as to be uncertain at the present time.

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chusetts Bureau of Statistics for 1918 1 6 indicate that Boston and
Worcester continue to lead in these manufactures. Cambridge, however, had secured third place in the list in 1918. It did not, however,
have one-fourth the numbers of wage earners that the other two
cities had. Women formed a much larger proportion of the total
employees in the metal industries in Boston in 1918 than in W orcester. However, greater competition for woman's services in manufacturing industries exists in Boston than in Worcester. Gardner
and "\Vakefield are the furniture centers of Massachusetts. Southbridge leads in optical goods manufacture.
There were no complete figures available for the · furniture industry in Wisconsin cities either for 1914 or 1918. However , the
figures obtained from a partial list o:f Wisconsin firms in 1918 and
1919 indicate that Sheboygan employed the largest number of wage
earners in this line of woodworking and that Oshkosh took second
place. Women formed a larger proportion o:f workers in this
branch in the former city than in the latter. Estimates based on the
increase in population in 1910 indicate that Sheboygan h as a total
group of gainfully employed women numbering 2,700. Oshkosh
had 3,310 in 1910; figures for 1920 are not yet announced.
Providence employed the largest numbers of men and women in
machine-shop work in 1914 and in 1918 in the St at e of Rhode Island.
T he women employed in this branch in 1918 r epresented over 20 per
cent of all employees.
EXISTING TRAINING F ACILITIES F OR NEW CRAFTS IN
Pµ~ LIC SCHOOLS.

The nine Stat es in which it is most important that women should
receive school training for machine-shop, sheet-met al, furniture, or
optical work are not without industrial-training f acilities for these
occupations in their public schools, as will ~e seen from Table 6.
From State boards of vocational education in seven States were
secured lists of trade schools and courses given by these schools.
Each State supervisor of vocational education also named the number of schools receiving aid from the Federal Board for Vocational
Education. As the Michigan and Illinois boards for vocational education did not reply to inquiries concerning these matters, material
on trade schools in these States had to be compiled from unpublished data secured by the United States Bureau of Education in
1918 and from the 1919 report of the Fede.r al Board for Vocational
Education. All information was supplemented by data contained in
questionnaires secured by the vVar Department from educational
institutions desiring to purchase machine tools from the Government 11 at 15 per cent of their cost. As time would not permit a
1

16
17

Massa chusetts Bureau of Statistics : Thiryt-third Annual Report.
Act of Congress approved Nov. 19, 1919.

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INDUSTltlAL OPPORTUNITIES FOJt WOMEN AND GIRLS.

complete survey of all the training facilities for these indus ..
in the ·nine States discussed in the :foregoing paragraphs, the info
mation secured was confined to public institutions which, with a
few exceptions, were administered by State boards of vocational
education. 18
6.-Industrial training, given by p11,blic schools to rncn, w h'ich is also
essential to women, in States oonspiciwus for the emp loyment of both 111,(ln
and w o1nan labor in crafts specified.

TABLE

Publicschools f!
giving indus- ~
trial training ~
courses.

State.

Courses which women need but in which ncn
only were enrolled in preparation for-

T ypo of
school.
Woodworking
trades.

Metal trades.

- -- - -- -1--- - --1- - - - - - - - - - - t - - - - - - - -- --1 - - - -- - - Ohio_. __________ All-dayb__ 9
28 Macnine-shop practice ___ _ Cabinetmaking.
3
2
9
Evening __ 44 44
Tool making.
Woodworking.
2
35
I'attern making.
Shop mathematic~.
Mechanical drafting.
Blue-print reading.
Metallurgy.
Pattern making.
Sheet-metal work.
Welding.
Auto mechanics and repair.
Motor-cycle mechanics.
Ga.'1 engineering.
14 Macine-shop practice _____ . Cabinetmaking.
Michigan._..... All-day __ . 9
9
1
6
Tool making.
Part-time. 4
Woodworking.
4 ··-·2
Tool designing.
Evening.. 6
Pattern making.
6
2
5
Shop mathematics.
Mechanical drawing.
Blue-print r ead.in~.
Strength of materials and
heat treatment.
Pattern making.
Sheet-metal work.
Sheet-metal drafting.
Acetylene welding.
Auto mechanics and repair.
Gas-engine testing.
15 Machine-shop practice __ . _ Cabinetmaking.
NewYork.- . . . . All-day .. _ 34 33
3
17
Evening __ 34 32
Tool and die making.
Furniture making.
8 --·· ·
Shop mathematics.
Mechanical drawing.
Wood turning.
Mechanical drafting.
Blue-print reading.
Wood fininshing.
Pattern making.
r attern making.
Sheet-metal work.
Joinery.
Sheet-metal dra fting.
Auto mechanics and repair.
E lectrical ins t r u men t
making.
Gas-engine .construct.ion.
Steam engineering.
a Based on approval of Government of the applications of t.l:iese schools for machine tools.
b Twenty-three part-time schools have not been included, as the number of these which were general
continuation _schools was not known.

i¥~~~:t.

18 In the earlier section of this r eport dealing with indu strial training facilities for
women throughout the United States, both pubiic and private sc'hools giving such train ing
were included. In thi s section dealing with the training facilities for both men and
women in nine States, time did not permit of the inclusion of private vocational schools
and small municipally ope rated vocational schools.

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INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS.
TABLE

6.-Industrial traiming, given by public schools to men, which is also
essential to women, etc.-Continued.
Public schools
giving ind ustrial training
courses.

Stat e.

~
,.q,d

Typeof
scliool.

OQ:l

PennsylYania ... All-day ... 22
Part-time. 8
Evening .. 19

sd, I>a

]

Q;)

b.Co+i

Q;)

i:=C!, ~

:a~ -~L,;
~2 '"'A
o't:l

Connecticut .•.•. All-day ... 9
Part-time. 11
Evening .. 9
-

Ma.'>Sachusetts ... AU-day . .. 19
Evening .. 24

Rhode Island ... All-day ...
Part-time.
E,vening ..

1
2

Wisconsin ...•.. All-day . .. 5
Part-time. 3fi
Evening .. 43

Courses which women need but in which men
only were enrolled in preparation for-

:~~.::

~~~
fr:
.!lS~
g- l~8.
.s e ,§
,.q · .

Q;),C,

:a:::
~o
.s § ... ~ en ...en-,...
8+>
z ...,.,,
.0
~A .0
AA
~~ ~~ s S:a s
z z~ z z
A ,!l::::s
Q;)

O enlO

Q;)

Metal trades.

Woodworking
trades.

._.a;,

Cl) ...

~Cl) ....

Q;)

::I

::IO

1 112
1
5
3 19

Illinois .. ...•..•. All-day ... 6
Part-tune. 7
Evening .. 10

2
7 .....

1·
10

8
8

4
4

16
21

1
2

···-1

1
2

9
11
9

.....

4 ......

4
36
43

2
4

4
4

Machine-shop practice .••.
Shot mathematics.
Mee anical drawing.
Mechanical drafting.
Pattern making.
Sheet-metal work.
Sheet-metal drafting.
Auto body building.
Marine eniinecring.
Machine-s op practice ..••
Tool making.
Sho~ mathematics.
Mee anical drawing.
Mechanical drafting.
Blue-print reading.
Pattern making.
Sheet-metal work.
Auto mechanics.
Machine-shop _practice ..••
Tool making.
Mechanical drawing.
Mechanical drafting.
Blue-print reading.
Pattern making
Auto mechanics.
Machine-shop practice ....
Tool makin~.
Tool desi~ng.
Sho~ mat ematics.
Mee anical drawing.
Drafting, machine and
mechanical.
Blue-print reading.
ShoE science.
Pat om making.
Sheet-meta! work.
Sheet-metal drafting.
Welding.
Auto mechanics and repair.
Gas-engine practice.
Steam practice.
Heating and ventilating.
Molding and coremaking.
Machine-1<hop practice...••
Shot mathematics.
Mac ine drafting.
Blue-~rint reading.
Ship rafting.
Auto repair.
Machine-shop practice ....
Tool making.
Mechanical drawing.
Draftin~.
Blue-pnnt reading.
Sheet-metal work.
Oxy-acetylene welding.
Auto assembly and repair.
Gas-engine mechanics.

Cabinetmaking.
Pattern making.

Woodworking.
Pattern making.

Cabinet making.
Woodworking.
Wood finishing.
Pattern making.

Woodworking.

Cabinetmaking.
Furniture making.
Machine working.
Wood finishing.
Wood turning.
Pattern making.
Joinery.

Requests for Federal aid made by several schools had not been acted upon at the time of writing.
Figures !or year ended June, 1919, as later figures were not available.

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But the public ageneies included in Table· 6, even though they
represented only a part of the schools giving trade training, had
men enrolled iri many courses valuable both for the prospective
worker in machine shops and for the person already employed in a
machine shop. Machine-shop practice was given in every State.
Tool-making courses had men enrolled- in them in seven S~ates.
Blue-print reading, shop mathematics, and mechanical-drawing
courses were usual. Only Connecticut and Rhode Island schools
did not give courses in sheet-metal work. Not as much instruction
was given in woodworking manufacture as in metal work. How, ever, according to Table 6, cabinet making for the trade was reported as being taught in all big furniture manufacturing States
except Illinois. But it is possible that such courses are being given
i:n Illinois in 1920, for, as hitherto stated, it is not known how complete the reports secured for 1918 and 1919 were.
As far as could be ascertained, there were at least 53 public vocational institutions in Ohio giving trade and industrial courses. In
addition to these, 23 schools gave part-time courses, but the larger
number of these courses were designed to "increase th~ vocational
or civic intelligence of workers over 14 and under 18 years of age"
rather than t provide industrial-training instruction, and therefore
they have not been included. Thirty-seven of the 53 public all-day
and evening schools received some funds for teaching from the Federal Board for Vocational Education. Twenty-eight of these
schools purchased machine tools from the United States War Department at 15 per cent of the cost of such tools to the Government.
Women were enrolled in courses in only 5 of the 53 public vocational institutions reporting. In these 5 schools women were taught
dressmaking, costume design, dress-pattern making, embroidery,
power-machine sewing;and pottery making, as will be seen in Table
7. This does not mean that the 1,028 girls enrolled in these 5
schools for the semester ending June, 1920, were either by rule or
law prevented from attending any of the other schools or taking any
of the other courses. The situation in Ohio, however, is clearly reflected in a statement written by one vocational-school superintendent on the questionnaire filled out for this survey. "Unfortunately,"
he wrote, '4 we haye had no courses open that were available to
women. However, they have not been denied. They have not availed
themselves of the privilege, since our work is all designed for men."
In spite of the fact that Cleveland employs so many women in
machine-shop work, in spite of the fact that her public vocational
schools give both day and evening courses in machine-shop practice,
tool making, mechanical drawing, sheet-metal work, and gas,:~ngine
mechanics, and make no restrictions · as to the sex of the students,
women will continue to enroll in the dressmaking and millinery

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courses-even though these trades may be overstocked with workers-until such time as the school authorities recognize the need of
" designing " their metal courses for women as well as for men.
In Detroit a few courses in one of the large technical schools were
opened to women only in the early part of 1920. This•school gives
all-day, part-time, and evening instruction, planned especially to
meet the needs of Detroit's mechanics. It has a building especially
equipped for automobile work including" garage, starting, lighting,
ignition, transmission, vulcanizing, battery courses, and auto-body
drafting." It has four machine shops, four pattern shops, provision
for metal plating; acetylene welding, forge and foundry work, and
has chemical and physical laboratories to provide skilled workers
with technical knowledge. The courses to which it has recently admitted women, however, are printing, jewelry manufacture and design, bookbinding, commercial art, pharmacy, practical science, and
mechanical drawing. The automobile and kindred industries in
Detroit are employing women in their machine shops. The absence
of women :from enrollment in automobile vocational courses is a challenge to the vocational policy of the Detroit vocational school:3.
At this time Flint has no public vocatio~al school giving courses
for the mechanical trades. It has, however, a "school of automobile
trades " conducted by a league of employees of Flint automobile factories. This school has not been included in the tables, as it is not a
public agency. It gives courses in automobile assembly and inaintenance, starting, lighting, and ignition, storage batteries, brazing and
welding, blue-print reading and mechanical drawing, machine-shop
tools and methods, tool-room practice, a·u to-body drafting and design,
shop mathematics and shop mechanics, metallurgy, and heat treatment-in fact, in every line of work'helpful to automobile workers.
But women are enrolled only in comptometer-operating courses, even
though they are employed in the factories along with men.
Gra1td Rapids has a :vocational school which was used to train men
under the ·d raft in certain metal trades. At the time of writing, however, the school officials state that they "wish to start an all-day
vocational and continuation school for both boys and girls " and are
interested in "machine-shop tools, woodworking tools, printing outfits, auto repairing outfits, cafeteria equipment, domestic science
equipment, and sewing machines." It is evident that the girls of
Grand Rapids will be taught cooking and sewing and household arts.
Will they be taught woodworking, so that they can enter the city's
furniture factories on an equal footing with the boys of Grand
Rapids? Will any of the woodworking tools which the Federal Government sold this school for 15 per cent of the cost be m~ed by girls?
Will any of the Federal funds which this school expects to receive be
used to equip girls to share in the bread-winning work afforded by
the city's industries?

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TABLE

7.-Industrial training courses in which women were enrolled from September, 1919 , to May, 1920, '. n 104 public and semipublic schools
by States.

. State.

T ype of
school.

Number
schools
reportmg
enrollment
of women in
industrial
t£aimng
courses.

Rhode I sland ..... All-day .••..
l'art-time .. .
Connecticut. . . . . . All-day .... .
Evening ....
Middle Atlantic:
N·ew York........ All-day .... .

Evening ....

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Clothing trades.

Textile trades.

Millinery trades.

Printing and publishing
'l'rades.

Metal trades.

New England:
New Hampshire.. All-day .....
Massachusetts . ... ...• do ••...•.

Evening ....

Courses in which women were enrolled in preparation for 1-

.~~:sJ~~~~~::::: :: ::::: ·iie~fi1e·
·ciierri;try. ··or· .~~~;.? :: ::::::::: :::: :::::::: :::::::: ::::::·::: ·i1eciia~iciiidi-~~viI;i ··
d yeing-.
f:>

Power-machine sewing ..
Costume desi~.
Sewing-machme repair.
Dressmaking..... .... . . ..
Power m achine sowing.
Costnme design.
Sewing-machine repair.

Textile design . . . . . . . . . . Machine straw-hat making.

Textile chemistry or
dyeing.
Toxtile design.
Cotton clussing.
Cotton yarn manufacturing.
Warp drawing.

Millinery ......... . . . ... .. ... . ................... .
Do.
Machine straw-hat makMachine construction.
ing.
Automobile
engine
mechanics.

g~~~:1-11.~~~!:::::
:: : ::::::::: :::::: ::: :::::::: ·M11ifriery:·.·.·.·:::: ::::: :: ·nooi.1:>kdii:ii: :::::::::: :::: :: :::::: :: :::::::: ::
Power-ma$ine sewing.

Dressmakin~ .. . .. . . •... . . Textile design .......... .
Machine-wa1s4; making.
Power-machine sewing.
Machine hemstitching.
Dress drafting.
Draping or design.
Dressmakin~ ..... _.. _... .. . .. do ...... .. .•. .. ... . .
Machine-waist making.
Machine hemstitching.
Costume design.

z
H

f-3
H

t,:j

U1
1-zj

Ladies' tailorinp· · · · · · · · · · · -· · · · · · -· · - -· · - - ---- · ···· · · ··-··· ···· ···- . . . .. do ..... ··-··-····-··- ............ .......... .... ·····-··················
7

f-3

1 .... .......... ... .... ..... ~~I1~aesign ............................. '. ....... . ................... ~ ........................... .

re
re

.. ... do .............. .. ............................. Mechanical drafting.
Machine straw-hat making.
Artificial-flower making.
Feather making.
Millinery .. .. .... .. . __..
Machine straw-hat making.
Artificial•f:lower making.
Feather making.

Linotyping ............ . Mechanical drawing.
Book and job composi- Automobile repair.
tion.
Imposition.
Press work.
Proof reading.

t,:j

zi:;

a
~

New Jersey •...... All-day .....

Enning ....
Pennsylvania..... All-day .•.••

~ i~~=~~~ ·. ~::::::: ·Texii1e· <iesiin: ~::::::::: ·wlllii~ry:::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::

Part-time .•.
Evening ••..

Dressmaking.......... . . Silk winding ..... . .................................................................................•
Power-machine sewing .. Silk warping.
Trade design.
Silk twisting.
•

Power-machine sewing.
Costume design.
Dressmaking· · · · · · · · · · · ·

t~J~ !c:a1f;;i~~n · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

~~:~Jding: ··········· f~f~~l{;ile mechanics.

10 ...•. do .... .. ............ Weave formation ....... Millinery ••................................•.•••••. Mechanical drafting.

Power-machine sewing.
Costume design.

Fabric analysis.
Cotton yam manufacturing.

East Central:
Ohio.............. All-day .....

Evening•••••

Kentucky. . . . . . • . All-day .•...
Michigan 2 •••••••••••• do •...•..

1
1

Evening ....

All-day .... .
Part-time .. .

i .~~~~s.~.~~~~::::::::: :: : : :: :: : : : : ::: :: ::: :: :: ::::: ::::: :::::::::::: :::::: ::: .~r.i~J~~::: :::::::::::::

Indiana 2. .

• • • ••••

Wisconsin.~.:.... All-day .•••.
Part-time ••.
Evening .••.
Illinois. . • . . . . . . . . All-day_ •.•.
Evening ....

Mechanical drawing.

' Dressmaking........................................... do .......,•.....••.................•............. . .. -. ........ . ......... .
Power-machine sewing.
Embroidery.
Costume design.
Pattern making.
Dressmaking •............... . .... . ........ . ............ do ....•........ . ......................................................•
Power-machine sewing.
Costume design.
Dressmaking•.. _. .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing ................•..•....................
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Monotype keyboard op- Mechanical drawing.
erating.
Composing or design.
Bookbinding.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Monotype keyboard op- Automobile mechanics.
era ting.
Mech~ical drawing.
Composing or design.
Bookbinding.
Aut~obilerepair.

1 Dressmaking ........ .. . . ..... . ...... . ............. Millinery ..... . .. .. .... . ...... . .................... Drafting.
2 ..... do ................... . ..... .. . . ...... . . . ........... do..... . ...... . ... . . Printing ......................... . ............. .
4 ..... do .•....... : ........... . .. . ...... . ...... .. .....•... do ....... . ................... . ......................... . ............. .

: ·~~~:~.-.·.~: : : : : : : :::: ::::: : : : : :::::::: ·~;l;~~;~: : :::::: : : :::::::::::::: :: :::::: :::: E~t:*i~k.

Cloth analysis.
·
Shop work.
of courses t 1.ken from schedules filled out by the officers of tbe several schools.
2 The following additional reports were received too late to be incorporated in the body of the report: Indiana, 1 all-day and 1 evening school having women enrolled in dressmaking and millinery conrses. Michigan, 1 all-day school having women enrolled in sewing, millinery, lamp-shade manufacturing, desi~ing, drafting, and printing; 1 part-time
school having women enrolled in sewing and printing courses. Colorado, 1 evening school having women enrolled in dressmaking, millmery, bookbinding, cabinetmaking, and
printing courses. North Carolina, 1 all-day school having women enrolled in textile courses.
1 Description

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TABLE

7.-Industrial training courses in which women were enrolled from September, 1919, to M<J/JJ, 1920, etc.~Continued.

State.

Type of
school.

Number
schools
reporting
enrollment
ofwomenin ,
industrial
training
courses.

West Central:
Minnesota........ AU-day .... .
Evening ... .
Missouri.. . . . . . . . . All-day. . . . . Texas ............ Part•time .. .
Evening ... .
Pacific: 1
Oregon •........... ... . do ..... .
Evening ... .
California..... . . . . All-day .... .
Part-time ...
Evening ....
South_ A~l~ntic: 1
Vrrgrma ..•....... Part-time .. .
Evening .... .
Georgia......... . . All-day .... .
Evening .... .

Courses in which women were enrolled in preparation for-

Clothing trades.

'l'extile trades.

Millinery trades.

Printing and publishing
trades.

Metal trades.

2 .Dressmak "ng ...................................... Millinery••.......... .. . ....... ........... . ................... . ......... .. ~
Power-machine sewing.
Dressmak:ng .........................•........... ..... . do ................... .... .....................•.•••....... .... .. .. . •. . ..
French !lower making.
..... do ....................................................................................................................... .
. ~~~v.~r.-~~~~~~~!:: :::: :::::::: :: :: ::: : : : : : ::

.i-i:i1iiiie~j,:::: :: :: :::: :: :: :: :: :::::::::: :: ::::: ::::: :::::: :: :: :::::::::: ::::

Sewing.................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M;Il'nery :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing •......................... . ... . ..... ....
1 ... . . do .... ............................................. do ...... .. . .. .. . ...............•......................... .... .........
4 Dressmaking .............•.•.....•............ ...... ... do .................. Printing ••.... : .......•• Blacksmithing.
Power-machine sewing.
Card writing.
Dress des gn.
2 Dressmaking .................•...... . ........ . .... .... . do ........................•.....................•••....................
Power-maehine sewing.
Dressmaking .. .. .............................. ......... do .................. ... ..... . ................••••................... . .

1 ..... do . .. ...... ..... ................................... do ............... .... . . ...................••••••••.......... . .........
1 ..... do ........................................... ... ... do ......•...................................•••.••.....................

.~~~a~~.~~~:::::::::::: :: :::::::::: :: :::: :::::: :: ·i-i:11iine~y:::::::::::::: :: :::::: :: :: :: ::::: ::::::::: ::::::::::: ::::::: :::: ::

1 The following additional rep')rts were received too late to be incorporated in the body of the report:
Indiana , 1 all-day and 1 evening school having women enrolled in dressmaking and millinery courses. Michigan, 1 all-day school having women enrolled in sewmg, millinery, lamp-shade manufacturing, designing, drafting, and printing; 1 part-time
school having women enrolled in sewing and printing courses. Colorado-I 1 evening school having women enrolled in dressmaking, millinery, bookbinding, cabinetmaking, and
printing courses. North Carolina, 1 all-day school having women enrollea in textile courses. ,

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TABLE

7.-Industrial trainvng courses in which women were enrolled from Septer,iber, 1919, to May, 19'20, etc.-Continued.

State.

Type of
school.

New England:
·
·
Massachusetts __ . . Evening .....

Rhode Island.. . . . All day .....
Middle Atlantic:
New York. ... ..... ... do .•. •.. .

Evening __..

New Jersey ....... All-day .... .
Evening ... .
Pe.nnsylvania... .. All-day .... .

Evening .••.

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Number
schools
reporting
enrollment
of women in
rndustrial
training
courses.

Courses in which women were enrolled in preparation for-

mectr.ical

Woodworking trades.

trades.

"\,\ atch and jewelry
trades.

Chemical trades.

Miscellaneous trades.

5 .. _. _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electrical measurements ..... _..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Industrial chemistry.... Ship design.
Electrical machinery.
.Architectural working
drawing.
Heating and ventilating
P~~~~~~in'~our~;f{
tute."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jewelry making .. ... ........ ........ .......... ... ...•..•...............• _.
7 ........•...••••••••••••••••••••••••.•...•............... do.. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Architectural drafting.
Lamp shades or novelty.making.
Wall-paper design.
Technical optics.
Glove making.
10 ...........••••••••••••••• -----····················· Jewelry design .. ...... ....... . .....• .............. Interior decoratini
Commercial lettering.
Architectural drafting.
Lamp shades or novelty making.
Technical optics.
Sign painting.

::~i,;;,;,:

! ::::::::::::::::::::::J ;;,~~~i:ei~;;i'i ': :i~j~j; ~i:::::::: :; ,~.; ~; .;:••.;.; ; ,~: : .
10

Engraving. ·
Jewelry making and re-

Wall-paper design.

Wood pattern making... •••••• ••• • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wai~~~king ................................. _. ~ ....................... .

TABLE

7.-Industrial training courses in which wonien were enrolled from September, 1919, to May, 1920, etc.-Continued.

State.

Type of
school.

East Central:
Ohio •.••.......... All-day .... . .
Evening .... .
Michigan 1 •••••••• All-day .... .

Evening ..•.

Indiana1.......... All•day•..•• .
Illinois. . . . . . . . . . . . .... do ..... .
Pacifi c:1
California .............. do . .... .
Part•time .. .

Nnmber
5Chools
reporting
enrollment
of women in
industrial
traming
courses.

Courses in which women were enrolled in preparation for-

Woodworking trades.

Electrical trades.

Watch and jewelry
trades.

Chemical trades.

Miscellaneous trades.

3 .••.....•.••••.••••....... . ....•••....•.......•..••..•••••....•.............•• ·········••·••·•••·•··••·· Pottery making.
2
Do.

1 : : : : :: : : : : : :: :: :: : : : : : : : : : : : : :: : : : : : : : : : :: : ::: : : : :: :

·jeweir.:i making::::::::: ·Labo.i-aio~y·· wo.i-ic. ··in·
Jewelry design.

metal chemistry.
General chemistry or
bacteriology.
Pharmacy.
Cabinet work ........... . ..............•.•.•...... Je",\,elry making ......... Laboratory work in
Jewelry design.
metal chemistry.
General chemistry or
bacteriology.
Pharmacy.

Architectural drawmg
or tracing.

Do.

3 .••.••.•••••••••••••.•••.• ·•···•·•••••·•·••••··••••• •·······••···••·••···••••• .• ...............•.•..•... Interior decorating.

Glove making.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::r ::::::::::::::::::::::::

House decorating.
Interor decorating.

1 The f->llo~ing ad1iti'.>nal re')1rts were received t'.>'.> late to be incorporated in the body of the re_:iort: In1lana, 1 all-day and 1 evening school having women enrolled in dress
making and millinery courses, Mbhi~an, 1 all-iay school having women enrolled in sewing, millinery, lamp-shade manufacturing, desi~ning, drafting and printing; 1 part-time
school having women enrolled in se ving and printing courses. Cohrado, 1 evening school having women enrolled in dressmaking', millinery, bookbinding, cabinetmaking, and
printing courses. North Carolina, 1 all-day school having women enrolled in textile courses.

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INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS.

Sixty-eight public ,industrial vocational schools were reported
New York State in 1920. Women were enrolled in 11 of these and
men were enrolled in 65 schools. There were 6 other schools teaching women trades, but these were of a semipublic character. In
Brooklyn, where machine-shop and instrument-making courses
would be helpful to women as well as to men workers, there is a day
trade school for boys and three evening trade schools, one of which
is entirely set aside to teach women dress making and millinery. The
principal of one of the other evening schools states: "Women are
eligible to any'course, provided they are employed at that particular
trade during the day." Although women are working in Brooklyn
machine shops, none are found enrolled in this school's courses in
machine-shop practice, mechanical drawing, shop mathematics, sheetmetal work, or technical courses for mechanics.
Buffalo has five all-day and five evening schools which teach the
important instruction for metal-working and woodworking occupations. But these schools admitted women to a course in photography
only-a course, however, in which women failed to enroll.
Rochester has three public all-day vocational schools and three
public evening vocational schools. These had 410 women enrolled
in dressmaking and millinery courses. No women were enrolled
in the machine-shop courses given. Although Rochester is a
center · of optical goods manufacture, the only courses given for
this work are given in a semipublic school, where an admittance fee
is charged. Women, as well as men, are admitted to the optical
courses given in this school. It is interesting, also, that in 1920
women elected to take courses in technical optics in this vocational
school. The· course fitted them for positions as assistants to optometrists. Girls, as well as boys, are also admitted to mechanical
courses in the Rochester Mechanics' Institute, a semipublic school.
Although the only course of this character in this school in which
girls were enrolled in 1920 was mechanical drafting, during 1918
and 1919 women did enroll in auto mechanics and industrial training
in woodwork.
When the numbers of Pennsylvania schools reporting enrollment
of women in industrial training courses shown in Table 7, which is
made up of both semipublic and public in_stitutions, are compared
with the numbers set forth in Table 6, it will be seen that the tradetraining of women is still very largely done by semipublic schools.
For of the 20 schools giving such training to women, only 5 are under
the supervision of the State bureau of vocational education. This
bureau has developed 47 public trade schools for instructing the
boys and men of the State. Thirty-one of these give courses for
machinists or in shop mathematics and shop drawing. Six give in-

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INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS.

stru.ction in sheet-metal work. Nine give men instruction in cabinetmaking or other woodwork for furniture manufacture. In Philadelphia, the center of the machine-shop and furniture and optical
work in the 8tate, the girls' trade school teaches only millinery,
dressmaking, and light power-machine sewing.
In Chicago the public vocational trade schools give courses in
machine-shop practice and other related subjects to boys and men.
To girls they teach sewing, dressmaking, millinery, and glove making. Again, a semipublic school has taken the lead in admitting
women to courses not concerned with clothes. For- women were
enrolled in machine-shop and dra:fting courses in both day and
evening classes in such a school in Chicago.
Connecticut reports 29 public schools giving industrial training
courses. Among the courses given were instruction in machine-shop
practice, tool making, blue-print reading, mechanical drawing, and
pattern making. But with the exception of bookbinding the trades
taught women were confined to the clothing trades.
Although the public trades schools in Rhode Island give several
courses for machinists, in Providence, the city where the largest
numbers of women worked in machine shops, the two part-time
schools under State supervision taught machine drafting and commercial drafting, auto repair, electricity, woodworking, painting, ·
printing, and garment making. In t he evening classes, however, instruction in machine-shop practice, machine drafting, blue-print reading, and shop mathematics was given to men.
Massachusetts reported 43 public schools giving vocational trade _
training courses. All but six of these received Federal aid, and 17
had received machine tools from the Federal Government at the time
of writing. These schools taught all the established lines of instruction in the metal trades. Boston and Worcester each had a day
school and an evening school in which machine-shop work was done,
and another day school and evening schools for dressmakers, milliners, and power-machine sewers. In Cambridge, an evening school
taught machine-shop practice, drawing for machinists, forging, heating and ventilating, and woodworking, but the girls' trade school in
dressmaking and millinery had been discontinued for lack of pupils.
In a semipublic school in Boston, which is designed to supplement
shop work with practical but technical instruction, women were
enrolled in 1920 in courses in automobile engine mechanics, mechanical drawing, industri~l electrici(y, industrial chemistry, in heating
and ventilating systems, as well as in preparatory work for a foreman's training institute.
The city of Sheboygan, Wis., whose women would be greatly
helped by training for the woodworking industries, has classes re-

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INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS.

ceiving Federal aid and giving instruction in cabinetmaking. Women
are not, however, enrolled in this course.
It is obvious, therefore, from the foregoing discussion that the
States and all the larger cities jn which machine-shop, sheet-metal,
or furniture-making courses would be most helpful to girls and
women and to the industries of these localities have already established facilities for training boys and men for these industries.
Whether these facilities are extensive enough to meet all the requirements were both boys and girls trained in the proportions warranted
by employment records does not invalidate the claim of either boys
or girls for needed instruction. Some equipment for such instruction exists and is maintained at the expense alike of men and women
of the city, State, and Nation. Such equipment as there is should
serve women as well as men. It is obvious that the public vocational
school authorities, with few exceptions, . think of trade for women
only in terms of dressmaking and millinery, and are as yet quite
oblivious to the fact that these trades, except in certain clothing centers, are not the big employers of woman labor, nor are they always
the best trades at which to earn a livelihood. It is the semipublic
school that is beginning first to recognize the new position which
woman occupies in industry as a result of the war and is opening to
her its doors and guiding her into courses leading to efficiency in the
new occupations. Even though the women attending these schools
are relatively few, the mere fact that without encouragement they
will pay a fee to advance themselves in the new trades indicates that
there is a realization among the women workers themselves of their
changed position.
vVomen work side by side with men in many factories, they take
trade instruction in the semipublic and some public schools in the
same classes with men. It is not" necessary to establish trade schools
in machine-shop, or sheet-metal, or furniture or optical work especially for women. It is only necessary to open the classes that exist
to them not only in the announcement of courses · but in the policy
of recruiting the ranks of vocational students.
SUMMARY.
1. The experiences in the employment of women in new occupations during the war make it apparent that her most promising fut-µre
as a wage en,rner in the new pursuits lies, in the order of importance,
1n-

(a) Machine shops wh~re light parts are made.
( b) Wood-product factories where assembling and finishing are
important proces13es.
( c) Optical and instrument factories.
( d) Sheet-metal shops.

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INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS.

2. The States and principal cities in which these industries eJ?-ploy
the largest number of total ,vage earners and the largest number of
women wage earners are( a) Machine-shop and sheet-metal industries.
(1) Ohio: Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton.
(2) Michigan: Detroit, Flint.
(3) New York: Brooklyn, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse.
( 4) Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh.
( 5) Illinois: Chicago.
(6) Connecticut: Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven.
(7) Massachusetts: Boston, Worcester.
( 8) Rhode Island : Providence.
(b) Wood-product factories where assembling and finishing are
important processes(1) New York: New York City.
(2) Michigan: Grand Rapids.
( 3) Illinois : Chicago.
( 4) Pennsylvania: Philadelphia,
( 5) Massachusetts: Gardner, Wakefield.
( 6) Wisconsin : Sheboygan.
( c) Optical goods factories.
(1) New York: Rochester.
(2) Massachusetts: Southbridge.
(3) Pennsylvania: Philadelphia.
3. Public vocational training facilities for occupations in these
industries and for preparing teachers for these industries are already
in existence in these States and cities. But very few of these facilities are now being used by women, either because women are not
admitted to these public vocational schools, or are not encouraged to
attend.
4. The greater number of industrial training courses in which
women are e:Qrolled in public and semipublic schools throughout the
country are courses in dressmaking and sewing for the ·custom trade
and in millinery.
5. The increase in the numbers of wage-earning women, the demon:
strated capabilities of women during the war, the decrease in male
immigrant labor, and the growing demands of our expanding mdustries call, not only for the admission of women into courses in
machine shop, sheet metal, factory woodworking, and optical work~
but for the same policy among vocational educators of encouraging
girls as is now adopted to encourage boys to take such instruction.

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;

_.,

PUBLICATIONS OF THE WOMEN'S BUREAU.

Bulletins:
No. 1. Proposed Employment of Women During the War in the Industries
of Niagara Falls, N. Y. 16 pp. 1918.
No. 2. Labor Laws for Women in Industry in Indiana. · 29 pp. 1918.
No. 3. Standards for the Employment of Women in Industry. 7 pp. 1919.
No. 4. Wages of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. 46 pp. 1919.
No. 5. The Eight-Hour Day in Federal and State Legislation. 19 pp. 1919.
No. 6. The Employment of Women in Hazardous Industries in the United
States. 8 pp. 1919.
No. 7. Night-Work Laws in the United States. 4 pp. 1919.
No .. 8. Women in the Government Service. 37 pp. 1920.
No. 9. Home W,o rk in Bridgeport, Connecticut. 35 pp. 1920.
No. 10. Hours and Conditions· of Work for Women in Industry in Virginia.
32 pp. 1920.
:ro. 11. Women St r eet Car Conductors and Ticket Agents. (In press.)
No. 12. ,voman's Part in American Industries During the world \Var. (In
press.)
No. 13. Industrial Opportunities and 'rrainiJ)g for Women and Girls. 48 pp.
1920.
Charts:
No. I. Eight-Hour and Eight-and-a-Half-Hour Laws for Women workers.
No. II. Nine-Hour Laws for Women workers-.
No. III. Ten-Hour Laws for Women W'orkers.
No. IV. Ten-and-a-Quarter-Hour, Ten-and-a-Half-Hour, Eleven-Hour, und
Twelve-Hour Laws for -Women Workers.
No. V. Weekly Hour Laws for Women Workers.
No. VI. (In preparation.)
No. VII. Night-Work Laws for Women Wo.rkers.
No. VIII. (In preparation.)
No. IX. Minimum Wage Legislation in the United States-April, 1920.
3 sections.
/
' No. X. Mothers' Pension Laws in the United States. 4 sections.

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Full text of Industrial Opportunities and Training for Women and Girls : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 13

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