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The Second Year
A Study
of Women's .Participation
in War Activities
of the
Federal Govern1nent
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3 1_293 2014 9 4451
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The Second Year
***
A Study of Women's Participation
in War Activities of the
Federal Government
By LUCILLE FOSTER McMILLIN
United States
Civil Service Commissioner
f ; U. S. GOVERNMENT
PRINTING OFFICE : 1943
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UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
Form 3788-January 1943
II
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Foreword
AN ARMY
of over half a million women-soon, perhaps, to
~ reach one million-is now employed in the Federal service. This civilian army comprises women in all grades and
types of positions, from charwoman and laborer to the most
highly trained professional, scientific, and administrative
workers. Certain components of this army have entered occupations hitherto thought impossible for women; all are making contributions to the furtherance of the war effort.
It is the purpose of this study to record the story of women
Federal workers during the 12 months ended June 30, 1942.
This pamphlet is therefore a sequel to The First Year: A Study
of Women's Participation in Federal Defense Activities, which
contains the story of the achievements of women Government
workers during the preceding 12 months.
While it is not possible to record the entire story of the contribution of women to war work in the Federal Government,
the record of their participation thus far is one of which the
women of America may well be proud.
To the Directors of the 13 United States Civil Service
Regions, and to officials of many of the agencies of the Government, grateful acknowledgment is made for an abundance of
facts regarding the employment of women in Federal establishments in all parts of the country.
oE_;~ ~ ~.eL<;.,
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Contents
p ...
Foreword . . . . .
War Becomes the Business of Women . . . . •
What Supervisors Think About Women Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. • •
How Women Came Into Government War
Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •
Women Mechanics in Government War Work:
War Department:
Ordnance Department at Large .
Chemical Warfare Service . . .
Engineer Department at Large .
Navy Department . . . . . . .
Flying Fields and Air Stations . .
Military Camps and Forts . . . .
War Jobs for College-Trained Women.
The Search for the Stenographer-Typist .
A Million Women in the Federal Servke-1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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III
1
12
15
22
33
35
36
44
53
56
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War Becomes tbe
Business of Women
Pearl Harbor, a woman mechanic helper in
the assembly section of the Springfield, Mass., Armory re-.
ceived a certificate of merit for "outstanding performance,
ability, and cooperation in line of duty which has resulted in
expediting production of the Ml rifle."
In shop 104 of the same armory, a woman inspector of
ordnance, the mother of 18 children, had become a real war
worker with a perfect "on-the-job" attendance record. Before
going on the job, she had obtained her training in a trade
school during the day, and at night she worked in a carpet
factory to help support her family.
In the sheet-metal shop of the Puget Sound Navy Yard,
Bremerton, Wash., a former beauty parlor operator was employed as a sheet-metal helper. In the same yard, high above
the shipfi.tter shop, a former waitress was perched in the cab
of a crane, operating the huge machine in a masterly manner.
A former woman high rigger in logging operations was painting the buildings about the yard. A mother and daughter
worked side by side as radial drill operators.
At Cincinnati, Ohio, women lamp lighters employed by
the United States Coast Guard were attending electric batteryoperated lights and oil-burning lights on the rivers which
S
HORTLY .AFTBR
converge there.
A young woman who had specialized at college in biology
and chemistry was doing a man's job as inspector of powder
and explosives in the Iowa Ordnance Plant at Burlington,
Iowa.
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A woman, said to be the first woman engineer in the United
States Army Signal Corps, was on the job as a radio-telephone
operator at Fort Monmouth, N. J.
These are only some instances of the unique and picturesque
work performed in 1942 by thousands of women civil-service
employees in the Government's navy yards, arsenals, ordnance
plants, and other military establishments.
By June 1942, the demands, first of the defense program and,
after Pearl Harbor, of the war effort, necessitated the employment of 558,279 women in the Federal civil service, as
compared with 266,407 in June 1941. This army of over half
a million women represents an increase of 110 percent in 12
months in the number of Federal positions held by women, as
compared with an increase of 49 percent in the number held
by men and of 61 percent in the total number of Federal
employees. The much larger proportionate increase in the
number of women shows their employment was releasing men
for military duty in substantial numbers.
In the First World War, civilian employment in the executive branch of the Government had reached a total of 917,760
employees at the signing of the Armistice on November 11,
1918. Just how many were women has never been fully
determined, but it has been established that in the 2
years of the war period women received nearly 75 percent
of the appointments to Washington. In the field branches
of the Federal service, the proportion was about 1 woman
to 2 men.
After the First World War, the ranks of Government workers
were gradually reduced, and the number of women employees
decreased accordingly (82,180 women employees on June 30,
1925). Only a gradual increase occurred during the next few
years (88,856 in June 1930), followed in the next 5-year period
by a vast emergency expansion in Government functions and
a further increase in the number of women employees (120,777
in June 1935).
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Then came the rearmament program (1940). Government
and industry applied this principle: Employ more women in
jobs which, because of the withdrawal of men to the armed
forces, cannot be filled by qualified men.
In June 1940 there were 186,210 women in the Federal
executive civil service. In 6 months, their number had grown
to 227,377, and by June 1941 there were 266,407 women
workers-an increase in 12 months of more than 80,000.
A very conservative estimate placed the number of women
employees in the Federal service at more than 300,000 on
December 31, 1941.
When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,
production became the grand strategy of America. Production, now, was not a matter of preparedness, or of defense.
Production, now, was vital-vital in the literal meaning of
the word, for production must be ever greater, ever faster,
to save America's life, to sav; the lives of America's men,
who were fighting to save that life.
As the men left in steadily growing numbers for the fighting
services, women took their places at the machines, whether
those machines were in Government or private war factories.
As new machines were installed in Government and private
war plant expansion, women came to fill the new jobs. As
peacetime industry was converted to war production, yet more
women took their stations on the production line.
In the Federal service, the total number of women employees
increased at the average rate of 43,000 a month. As already
noted, there were 558,279 women in the service on June 30,
1942. They were occupying 25 percent of all Government
jobs-the highest percentage in the history of the country.
More and more, war came to be the daily business of
women.
The largest number of women Federal employees were
working in the War and Navy Departments. Between
June 1940 and June 1941, those departments had increased
the number of their women employees by 51,320 and 8,652,
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respectively, bringing the total to more than 84,000 on
June 30, 1941; by June 1942, this number had more than trebled,
totaling 331,517.
Of this number, 277,249 or 84 percent were in jobs outside
the District of Columbia, such as those in the Ordnance
Department at Large (arsenals, proving grounds, districts, and
depots), in the Engineer Department at Large, in the Chemical Warfare Service, in navy yards, in flying fields and air
stations, in army camps and forts, in naval torpedo stations,
and elsewhere.
They were manufacturing gas masks, working as machinetool operators, mending flags, making uniforms, and performing research work in the field of chemical warfare gases.
They were inspecting woven and knitted articles; cleaning
and grinding lenses; making heavy fleece-lined suits for pilots.
They served as draftsmen and as inspectors of engineering
materials. They were being hired as leather and canvas goods
workers, ·and to perform the unique duty of drop-testing and
repairing parachutes. Their nimble fingers gave them skill
in the manufacture, inspection, testing, and subassembly of
delicate parts ·of time fuzes used in artillery shells.
In addition to the War and Navy Departments, many other
agencies were employing women in large numbers. In the
Selective Service System more than 16,000 women in the local
boards and city and State headquarter offices were enrolling
and checking the questionnaires of men who were being called
· to war. In the Office for Emergency Management 24,000
women were at work in activities related to som,e of the most
important aspects of the war program. In the Treasury Department more than 23,000 women were employed; thousands of them-not in Washington alone, but all over the
country-were speeding the sale of war stamps and bonds.
And in the Department of Agriculture more than 25,000
women employees were at work, hundreds of them in professional jobs in food laboratories.
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Comparative statements on the extent to which men and
women were employed in all the departments and independent
establishments of the Government (in the District of Columbia and outside the District of Columbia) for the fiscal years
• ending June 1941 and June 1942 are shown by the table on
pages 6 and 7.
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c1vn EMPLOYMENT IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, BY SEX
J11ne 1941 and June 1942
Outside the Washington, D. C., Metropolitan Arca
In the Washington, D. C., Metropolitan Arca
Total Employees
June 1942
(EstiJune 1941
mated)
1,173
98
3,691
. .........
°'
. ·········
. .........
0
(0.
16,593
"'
1,792
99
46,385
9,008
1,859
1,560
26,114
June
1941
491
1S
1,608
·········
·········
.........
102
June
1942
(Estlmated)
789
75
June
1942
(Estimated)
June
1941
408
23
1,849
10,334
350 .........
862 ·•·······
422 ... ······
287
247
Women
Men
Women
Men
Department or Independent Establishment
6~
24
June
1941
180
June
1942
(Estimated)
236
June
1942
June
1941
(Estimated)
94
144
93
11,900
4,459
10
361
16,533
········· .......... ..... .... .........
141
12,503
281 .........
968 .........
459 .........
5,699
452
11,648
3,918
19
318
8,882
.........
.........
·········
10,505
N.
(1)
0
0
~,.......
r:.
1,056
12,396
40,050
3,173
980
14,218
1,675
6,665
7,490
637
l,072
11,740
11,340
2,414
941
5,043
1,697
6,542
6,841
1,486
102
143
S4
76
17
s
3
2
712
8,950
11,836
3,681
3,782
20,484
2,804
6,667
4,579
6,904
67,997
824,698
28,129
300,078
449,042
47,355
92,867
· 24,234
4,945
930
156
219
9S
7
7,009
65,573
320,291
21,401
301,215
222,862
47,980
91,146
23,896
C.
cl
In,
6,ns
1,378
12,038
14,400
4,092
4,574
30,794
3,726
4,481
4,669
1,605
3,973
33,589
239,118
12,800
272,471
187,487
36,866
59,392
9,411
1,405
3,237
32,072
535,298
17,570
269,980
361,731
35,427
62,829
9,869
1,884
1,252
11,294
57,997
2,506
24,021
9,848
6,613
18,545
869
758
1,233
11,491
234,950
3,294
24,544
42,299
6,527
18,892
2,206
819
......... .......... ········· ·········
72
··········
3
·········
Bituminous Coal Consumen' Counsel •
Board of Govcrnon, Federal Reserve
.......
0
<ij"
N.
""
(D
Q.
~
CJ
0
~........
(v
System . . . . • • . . . . • . . .
Board of Investigation and Research •
Board of Tax Appeals . . . . . . • .
Civil Service Commission . . . • . .
Electric Home and Farm Authority . .
Employees Comif:Htion Commission
~rt-Import ank . . . . . . . .
eral Communications Commission .
Federal I>cposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Power Commission. . • . . .
Federal Securit.oAgency . . . . . . .
Federal Trade mmission . • . . • .
Federal Works Agcn6ffi • . . . • . .
General Accounting
cc . . . • • .
Government Printing Office . • • • .
lnreratate Commerce Commission . . .
Maritime Commission . . . . . • . .
Nation_al Advisory Committee for Aeronauaa
National Archives
. . .. . . . .
National. ~pita! Park and Planning
Comtniwon . . . . . . . . . . .
National Houain£Agency . . . • . .
National Labor lations Board . . .
National Mediation Board . . . . . .
Panama Canal • . . . . . . . . . .
l\ailroad Retirement Board . . . . .
Reconstruction Finance Corporation •
Securities and Exchange Commission .
Smithsonian Institution . . . . . . .
Tariff Commission . . . . . . . . .
Tennessee Valley Authority . . . . .
Veterans' .Administration . . . . . .
Other • . • . . . . . . . • . . • •
.............
.
TOTAL • • • • . • • • • • • • • •
1
IP~luc!~, Qflic~ of Price Adminittradon,
51
45
470
31
1,414
2,357
814
31,872
685
36,945
5,461
7,119
2,799
2,157
461
136
131
7,832
112
529
46
2,041
2,644
870
33,271
639
36,053
7,401
7,717
2,644
5,314
1,245
422
30
15,500
882
73
36,425
2,213
5,010
1,678
869
292
..........
135
6,709
187
526
23,006
42,948
67
30
26
245
242
71
62
1,485
25
215
17
400
253
390
4,978
371
8,014
3,439
5,712
1,350
774
(i()
499
277
391
4,980
351
11,050
4,6(,()
6,192
1,195
1,081
2,603
525
48
255
318
24
13,970
25
2,387
243
997
77
32,986
1,806
5,664
1,439
845
320
40,867
43,984
..........
1,358,150 2,187,285
.........
·········
164
805
1,132
841
671
169
4
2,602
11
106,133
1,210
11
15
25
44
19
1,858
232
28
231
10
1,971
9
653
186
4
2,707
21
19 ...................
203
199
73
2,807
37
243
14
376
261
171
4,796
71
3,276
19
16
21
543
293
183
5,326
.........
65
......... .........
········· .........
22
20
863
81
27
1,531
52
228
1,554
44
41
1,815
30
270
1,133
208
13,990
1,278
248
14,820
796
48
8,145
25
11,158
.......... ......... .........
········· ..........
.........
......... .........
......... .......... ······· .. ·········
895
566
104
72
222
207
65
3,537
2,022
1,407
653
487
4,035
2,741
1,525
617
1,223
13,362
9,810
710
45
8,108
27
12,032
605
813
652
2,828
191
83
180
182
42
155
88
193
1,024
8
2,197
9
131
274
4
5
5
1,964
177
·········
20
789
940
.........
463
198
114
6
3,815
16
134,622
77,774
......... ·········· ......... .........
......... ·········· ......... .........
5 .........
2,203
6,446
200
250
.........
18
8
1,062
10
192
125
6
3,957
·········
133,142
38
33,591
437
1,765
265
.......... ......... .........
6,104
325
12
30,337
1,004
1,304
939
4,703
212
35
2,650
182
1,173
109
3,805
8
38,509
1
1,318
10,807
1
2,348
11,020
240
37
2,400
784
1,327
481
......... .......... ......... .........
8
21,678
25,724
37
..........
985,610
1,494,384
1 ~~Jud? 19 68, temparary substitutes,
1
.
S6
26,300
3
.........
188,633
425,137
The number of women employed by Federal agencies in the
various Civil Service Regions is shown on page 9. A comparison of the figures for June 1942 with those for June 1941
. shows that the .number of women Federal employees has more
than doubled in every Civil Service Region of the United
States.
In the First World War the work of women in i~dustry,
particularly in the Government's industrial establishments
(arsenals, navy yards, etc.), was concerned primarily with jobs
which could easily be divided into simple, repetitive operations, requiring only those techniques which were adaptable
to their quick, nimble fingers. Highly skilled jobs, under this
system, were so divided that they could be performed entirely
by unskilled labor.
While the same system of simple, repetitive operations is
used in the employment of women in this war, women have,
during the past 2 years, found many opportunities for new
kinds of endeavor, particularly in the crafts of the airplane
industry.
Women were being called to fill jobs in plants where "men
only'' had been used before-jobs in the skilled trades which
were being vacated by skilled manpower on its way into the
military services-jobs which had to be filled and the work
continued in order to build the implements of war.
To build up the qualifications required in the performance
of these jobs, many systems of training were established and
utilized. Women enrolled in training courses sponsored by
the U. S. Office of Education. These courses were conducted
in vocational schools and colleges throughout the country.
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GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF WOMEN IN THB
,
CIVIL SERVICE
,,,>, ,,.·
June1941andJune1942
June
1941
U. S. Civil Service Region
June
1942 1 Inacasc
--- --- --FIRST-Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island . . • . • • . . . . . . • .
SECOND-New York, New Jersey . . . . . . • • . . . . .
THIRD-Pennsylvania, Delaware . . . • . . . . . . . . . .
FOURTH-M~land, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina,
District of Columbia (ficld-setvice positions) . . .
FIFI'H-Tcnnessce, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama,
Geor,;ia. Florida, Puccto Rico . . . . • . . . . .
SIXTH-Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky . . . . . . . . • . . . . .
SEVENTH-Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois . . . . . . . . . .
m!,HTH-North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska,
Iowa
NINTH-Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas •
TENTH-Texas, Louisiana
ELEVENTH-Washington, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska
TWELFrH-caJifornia, Nevada, .Arizona, Hawaii. . . . . •
THIRTEENTH-Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico . .
Dc~rtmental sccvice ' . . , • • • • • . • . • • • . ., • .
On duty in foreign countries • • . . . • • . . . . • . . . .
............... .
................
TOTAL
9,359
21,590
17,796
19,656
45,372
37,401
10,297
23,732
19,605
17,778
67,566
49,788
21,900
13,869
15,577
46,028
29,156
32,705
24,128
15,287
17,128
18,018
25,409
31,777
17,780
30,521
11,466
n,114 133,142
6,354 12,282
9,434
13,292
16,659
9,309
15,983
6,008
55,368
5,928
266,283 558,279
291,996
8,584
12,117
15,118
8,471
14,538
5,458
Estimated.
Positions in the headquarters offices of agencies of the Federal Govccnment, in Washington.
D. C., and elsewhere.
I
1
In-service training courses were given by war-production
plants and by Government arsenals, ordnance depots, navy
yards, and air stations.
In these courses, women with some previous experience or
women who had received preliminary training in a vocational
school-or, indeed, women with no experience or·training at
· all-learned by working at the side of skilled mechanics,
with supplementary instruction and study under training
officers. In this way, they were advanced to more difficult
and responsible work, many becoming highly skilled workwomen.
War-production plants, whether Governmental or private,
underwent readjustment. It was necessary to expand plant
sanitation for the accommodation of women. New health
and safety devices and regulations were worked out. Equip9
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.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION Of IOMEN WORKERS IN THE FEDERAL
SERVICE BY UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE REGIONS
AS Of JUNE 30,1942
....0
0
cg
N
(D
a.
!l
C;
0
~
rS"'
--LEGEND-Cl UNDER 15,000
IIIIlB 15,000 TO 25 .000
C1J 25 ,000 TO 35,000
lffll 35,000 TO 50,000
- OVER 50,000
4TH REGION INCLUDES THE
DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE IN
WASHINGTON
*REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS
@CENTRAL OFFICE
ment was redesigned so that it could be more easily operated.
It was felt that women should not stand while working; if it
was necessary for them to stand, they stood on wooden platforms built for their comfort. Shatterproof glass windows
were installed through which women might watch their machines and thus avoid flying bits of metal. Extra precautions
were necessary to guard against their clothing being caught
in the machines.
It was forecast in The First Year that the most diversified
types of positions held by women in the Federal service during
the emergency would be those on the production lines of the
Government's armament industries. It was believed that the
largest number of women war workers would be found in the
arsenals, the ordnance depots, the proving grounds, and the
navy yards, and on army and navy airfields. At the same
time, it was predicted that the number of women then engaged in national-defense activities would seem small, indeed,
in comparison to the number who would be employed in similar work in the event of a declaration of war by this country.
These predictions have come true. The number of women
employees in Government war plants has grown twofold,
threefold, fourfold, even in some cases tenfold, and the duties
which were then unusual have now become hard, routine jobs.
What are the women doing who are now at work for the
Government in these activities? Where are they doing it?
How did they get their jobs? It is with this particular group
of women in the country's vast mobilization of womanpower
that this study is primarily concerned.
1133098-48-2
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What Supervisors Think
About Women Mechanics
ALMOST WITHOUT
exception, officials in Government agen-
.Il. cies speak in laudatory terms of the work performed by
women in the various mechanical trades.
At first, however, some appointing officers "did not think
much of the idea of hiring women for manual occupations.''
They were by no means enthusiastic about employing women
in jobs usually held by men. They felt that friction might be
caused in the shops by the replacement of men by women;
that time might be lost when women first came to work
because of the novelty of having them in the shops dressed in
slacks. Some felt that it might be desirable to start the
women at a slightly lower rate of pay than that which the
men received in order to avoid dissatisfaction among the men
if the women were at first assigned to lighter work at the same
pay; some felt that a few "good" workers might be produced;
some felt it was "experimental"; a few did not appear to
think that any considerable replacement of men by women
would be necessary "this year."
There were those, nevertheless, who believed that the immediate future would see a great change in the number of
women employed; that there would be no limit to the part
which women would take in the war program; that the
question was no longer which sex was superior on the job,
but which was available. They appeared willing to accept the
fact that it would be necessary and even desirable to employ
women wherever it was at all possible. They believed that
every effort should be· made to recruit and train women
workers in order that they might be available to fill "critical
jobs" in their plants, if these jobs were vacated by men called
to military service.
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In the reports received from the field on the increased use of
women in skilled trades positions, especially in a "learner"
or .. trainee" capacity, there is every indication that (11) many
positions formerly filled by nien can be handled efficiently by
women; (h) Government agencies are willing to employ
women in any position; (c) women receiving the same pay as
men for the same work try harder and put out more work;
(J) objection to the use of women in positions for which
they are physically and temperamentally fitted cannot be
justified; (e) the trend to employ women as replacements where
men were formerly preferred is noticeably stronger as it
becomes necessary to release men in even larger numbers for
service in the armed forces; CJ) the spirit and morale of men is
lifted by the infiltration of women workers; and Ci) once the
novelty of having women in the shops wears off, things get
back to normal.
It is also reported that appointing officers have discovered
that women are (11) above the average in patriotism, in
interest manifested on the job, and in zeal displayed in performing their assigned tasks; (h) more stable, dependable,
accurate; (c) more attentive to detail; (J) equal to men in
many positions; and (e) even more proficient than men in some
lines.
Most shop· foremen found that women are (a) unusually
adept at machine operations of all kinds; (h) proficient in
precise delicate work on small parts, where manual dexterity
is involved, and in repetitive operations (in one case a woman
on a small assembly job turned out work at 10 times the speed
of her male predecessor); (c) more eager to learn; (J) consistent
in their application to the job at hand; and (e) more "durable'"
(they tire out less easily when engaged continually on one
operation).
On the other•hand, some shop foremen also found that
women are (a) inferior at bench work; (h) slower at using a
hammer and chisel, at least skillfully; (c) unable to fill positions requiring the physical strength of a man; (J) unwilling
to accept appointment in.some instances because of the lack
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or the inadequacy of sanitary facilities; and (e) not so competent as men in analyzing situations, such as the procedures
necessary in determining the repairs needed on a damaged
instrument in an airplane, and the method pursued in making
such repairs.
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How Women Came Into
Government War Plants
for the manufactories, a'irfields, camps,
navy yards, and other establishments of the War and
Navy Departments are recruited by the field service of the
United States Civil Service Commission, through its 13
United States Civil Service Regions. The huge expansion of
the Federal armament plants, together with the accelerated
withdrawal of their men employees into military service,
resulted in a rapid succession of calls for large numbers of
new women employees. To satisfy these calls as rapidly as
possible, the 13 Civil Service Regions used all available lists
of eligibles-not only those of persons who had qualified in
examinations specifically for war-plant positions, but also
those of persons who had passed examinations of quite
different types, such as those for stenographer, typist, messenger, and hospital and mess attendant.
In the meanwhile, more examinations for war-plant positions were announced and women applied for these in large
numbers. These examinations were for such positions as:
C
IVILIAN EMPLOYEES
Laborer.
General helper.
Aircraft fabric worker.
Examiner, knitted and woven artides.
Leather and canvas worker.
Repairman, mattress and pillows.
Seamstress.
Sewer (machine and hand).
Tent repairman.
Trainee repairman, Signal Corps
equipment.
Labor and materials checker.
Property and supply clerk.
Shop checker.
Machine operator: Automatic screw,
broacher, driller, grinder, miller,
profiler, punch press, shaver, tool
grinder.
Mechanic learner (also called shop
girl).
Parachute mechanic.
Gas-mask inspector.
Optical worker.
Trainee engineering aid.
Laboratory helper.
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u. s. cmL SBRVICB
COIIIIISSIOR
No. 10-l.2ll
(Assembled)
IAAl~@lfu&1mJ@"'"'~~~~~
to till the positions ot:
IIBCHARIC LEARNER, NAVY DEP.AR'111ENT $4. 00 per day. See .Blocle No. l below.
(For all work in excess or 40 hours par week, employees will be paid the
rate ot time and a halt.)
IIECHANIC LEARNER! SIGNAL CORPS BQUIPIIKNT $1020 per annum. See Block No. 2
(SIGNAL CORPS
IIECIIANIC LEARNER (AIR CORPS)
900 per annum. See Block Ro, 3
IIINOR ENGINEERING AID (TRAINKE-INSPECTOR) 1020 per annum. See Block Ro. 4
t
overtime
below,
below.
below.
@IPm:OO V@ mJ®'ifrnl ~ffi:00 ~M@~lml
(Appointments will be made at salaries mentioned above subject to a deduction tor
retirement purposes: ~ to July 1, 1942, and ~ thereafter.)
NATURE OF APPOINTUENT: Appointments will be known as War Service Appointments.
Such appointments generally will be tor the duration or the war and in no cue
will extend more than six months beyond the end ot tne war.
lll!nm: VINOR ENGINEERING AID ITRAINEE--INSPECTORI : To inspect and teat in learner
capacity, at contractor plants, Taried raw metallic materials, mechanical parts,
outings, assemblies, and components tor ordnance materials, to determine compliance with and acceptability under specitications; to prepare inspection reports
and to pertorm related duties as required,
IIECHARIC LEARNER. SIGNAL CORPS BQUIPIIENT: As employees of the Signal Corps
to receive instruction 8 hours a day in the fundamentals of overhaul, maintenance,
repair and inspection or miscellaneous signal corps equipment, including radio,
telephone, telegraph, power and light equipment, Thia training will include disassembly, overhaul, re-assembly, and teat of Signal Corps instruments, sasemblies,
and sub-assemblies and related tasks as assigned, These classes may be held in
the evening, :Employees will not be permitted to bold any other position during
thi ■ training period.
MECHANIC LEARNER: To assist (in learner capacity) skilled mechanics or
higher grade in the trade or occupatioA to which appointee is assigned for training.
BXAIIINAl'ION REQUIRED:
l. WRITTEN TEST: Competitors will be rated on the basis or a written mechanical
teat, on a scale of 100, Thia teat will consist of problems in spatial
relations, arithmetic, and simple mechanics. About ·3r hours will be requireci
tor this examination.
2. PLACE OF EXAMINATION: Louisiana: Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Latayette, Lake
Charles, Monroe, New Orleans and Shreveport
!!a!_: Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont, Big Spring,
Brownsville, Brownwood, Cameron, Childress, Cisco, Clarendon, Corpus Christi,
Corsicana, Dalhart, Dallas, Del Rio, El Paso, Fort Worth, Galveston, Greenville, Houston, Laredo, Longyiew, Lubbock, Lufkin, Marfa, Palestine, Pampa,
Pecos, Perryton, San Angelo, San Antonio, Shamrock, Texarkana, Tyler, Waco
and Wichita Falls.
3. SI: The department or office requesting list of eligibles has the legal right
to specify the sax desired.
4, AGE AND CITIZENSHIP:
On the date of filing application, applicants:
a. Must have reached their 16th birthday, and
Must not have passed their ~ birthday.
112!!.: Maximum age limit will be waived tor persona who turrrish proof ot
honorable discharge trom the armed forces.
Rote: In tilling vacancies as a result or thil examination apecitic age
- - limits applicable to the department requiring employees will be
observed,
b. llust be citizens ot or owe allegiance to the United States.
5. PHYSICAL RECUIREIIENTS:
Applicants must be physically capable ot performing the duties ot the
position and be free trom such defects or diseases as would constitute
employment hazards to themselves or danger to their tallow employees.
Proac of mechanic: learner announcement for recruiting male andlfemale trainees
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~~@~@if a@~
l,
2.
:5.
4.
(p@§dOIDa [blllfll~O
MECHANIC LEARNER. NAVY DEPARTMENT
Selection will be made from the register resulting from thie examination to fill
the position of Mechanic Learner at $4,00 per day at the U, S, Naval Air Station,
Corpua Christi, Texas. Persona appointed to this position, upon the successful
completion of training, will be eligible for promotion without further competi•
tive examination at increased pay to Helper Positions such as Halper, Aircraft
llachanic, General; Helper, Metalsm1th; and Helper, Aircraft Instrument Maker,
depending upon the trade in which they have been trained. If the services of a
Helper are satisfactory, further advancement, on merit, to positions such as
Aircraft Mechanic General, Aircraft Mechanic Motors, and Aviation Metalsmith, at
the regular scheduled rate of pay for such journeyman positions, is possible
without further competitive e%8lllination.
Yl!:CHANIC LEARNER, SIGNAL CORPS EQUIPUENT
The register resulting from this e%8lllination will be used to fill the position
of Mechanic Learner, Signal Corps Equipment, $1020 per annum, for employment by
the War Department, Signal Corps, San Antonio General Depot and Fort Sam Hoqston,
San Antonio, Texas, and wherever needed in the States of Louisiana and Texas,
Persons appointed to this position at $1020 per annum, will upon successful
completion of the preliminary training courae of approximately six months duration
be promoted to the advanced training claSB at a salary of $1440 a year, Upon
auccesaful completion of the advanced training period, trainsea will be &ligible
for Signal Corps positions at $1620 a year, the type of position depending upon
the specialized field of study followed in the advanced training class.
Yl!:CHANIC LEARNER, A.IR CORPS
Selection from the register resulting from this e%8lllination will be made for
filling the position of Mechanic Learner at the San Antonio Air Depot and subdepots of the San Antonio Air Depot located at: Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, New
Orleans and Shreveport, Louisiana; Abilene, Beaumont, Genoa, Harlingen, Lubbock,
llidland, Mission, San Angelo, Sherman, Stamford, Victoria, Wacoand Wichita Falla,
Texas, Persons appointed as Mechanic Learner at the San Antonio Air Depot or its
aub-depots will be given an intensive training courae ina school operated at the
place of employment under thejuriadiotion of the Air Corps. Persona successfully
completing the training program as Mechanic Learner will be eligible for promotion
to the following positions without further competitive e%8lllination: General
Mechanic Helper, $1:500 per annum, Junior Mechanic (Aircraft trades), $1860 per
annum and .Tourneymap Mechanic (Aircraft trades) i2200 per annum.
IIINOR ENGINEERING AID
ITRAINEE-Ig!PECTOR)
Selection will be made from the register resulting from this e%8lllination for
filling the position or Minor Engineering Aid (Trainee-Inspector), at $1020 per
annum, for appointment in the States of Louisiana and Texas by the Ordnance
Department of the War Department. Persona appointed to this position may be
promoted to the position of Minor Inspector, Ordnance Material, $1260 per annum,
upon satisfactory completion of a training period, (See "Statement of Duties"
below.
HOW TO APPLY:
File the following form witb the Manager, Tenth U. s. Civil Service District,
Customhouse, New Orleans, Louisiana:
a. Application Cerd Form 4000 ~C.
2. Necessary forms may be secured:
a. From the Uanager, Tenth U. S. Civil Service District, Customhouse, New
1.
Or1eans, Louisiana.
b. Any ftrst- or second-class post office in which this notice is posted.
:5. Purniahing information on applications:
a. Application forms must be fully and completely executed in accordance with
instructions thereon. Failure to so execute application forms may lead
to their cancellation.
Manager, Tenth U, S. Civil Service District,
Customhouse, New Orleans, Louisiana.
IBBued: March lll, 1942.
Back of mechanic learner announcement
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In addition to these examinations, others were held for
War Department positions more traditionally occupied by
women, such as forelady of laundry department, laundry
assistant and operative, cook, dental surgeon's assistant,
telephone operator, tabulating machine operator, and alphabetic card-punch operator.
A comparatively small number of women were able to meet
the experience requirements of the examinations in the skilledand semiskilled-trades group. Others were able to qualify by
taking Government-sponsored training courses in trade and
vocational· schools. But the great majority of women on
the Government's production lines have obtained their
positions through the female trainee examinations conducted
by the United States Civil Service Commission in the vicinity
of the large Government industrial establishments.
As an example of the requirements for the trainee examinations, and the duties and rates of pay of these positions, an
announcement of a mechanic learner examination is reproduced
on pages 16 and 17; this examination was announced to secure
both male and female trainees to fill vacancies in the positions
of mechanic learner (for appointment in the Navy Department,
in the Signal Corps, and in the Air Corps) and minor engineering aid (trainee-inspector) (for appointment in the Ordnance
Department of the War Department). Sim1lar examinations
were held throughout the country. Women who attain
eligibility in such examinations are appointed as trainees,
and, after receiving "on-the-job" tratning, they are promoted to better paying positions as semiskilled and skilled
workers.
Some idea of the extent to which 12 of these examinations
attracted women to the Federal service may be found in the
following table-compiled from data submitted by the 13
United States Civil Service Regions. The examinations were
announced during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1942. (The
tabulation is not complete, for complete reports were not
available from all regions.)
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SAMPLE DATA-WOMEN IN SUBPROFESSIONAL, SKILLED
TRADES, AND LABORER EXAMINATIONS
Fiscal year mdeJJ1me 30, 1942
Women
applied
Examination
Attendant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(Sth, 10th Civil Service Regions)
Examiner (Knitted and Woven Articles) . . • . . . . .
(3d, 5th, 10th Civil Service Regiona)
Female Trainee (Manual Occupationa) . . . . . . . . . .
(2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 12th Civil Service Regions)
Fem&le Trainee (Mechanic Leamer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(lat, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 10th, 12th Civil Service Regions)
HclP?" (General) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3d, 6th, 12th Civil Service Regions)
Laborer (Oassilicd) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(2d, 3d, Sth, 6th, 10th Civil Service Regions)
~~~
Lactr.
Civil ~ice· Regio~s) .
Machine ()pc:rator. • . . . . • • . • . . . . .
(3d Civil Service Res_ion)
Power Sewing-Machine upcrator . • • . • . . .
(2d, 3d, 5th, 10th Civil Service Regions)
Sewer Operative (hand cmbroidercss-scamstrcss) .
(1st, 3d, 10th Civil Service Regions)
Shop Checker. . . • . . . • . • • •
(3d Civil Service Region)
Tor.AL.
• ,
. Women
qualified
5,982
5,559
2,808
m
45,568
17,381
22,339
10,-404
2,474
1,428
14,967
6,668
13,217
10,lSl
3,122
1,985
9,682
6,013
4,177
1,8S6
2,019
1,4S9
126,355
63,961
Statistics on the number of appointments made from the
lists of those who became eligible for positions through participation in these examinations have not been compiled.
However, the following sample data show the number of appointments made from some of the lists in certain establishments and in certain areas; they are indicative of the total appointment figures during the fiscal year 1942. It should also
be kept in mind that appointments have been made continuously from these and similar lists since that time.
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SAMPLE DATA-WOMEN APPOINTED PROM SUBPROFESSIONAL, SKILLED TRADES, AND LABORER EXAMINATIONS
Fiscal year md«J Jtme 30, 1942
Women
applied
Establishment or Region
Pkatinny Arsenal (Dover, N. J.):
Power Sewing-Machine Operator
Laborer (Classified) . . . . .
Frankford Arsenal (Philadelphia):
Machine ~-\sator . . . . .
Fifth U.S. Civ1 Service Region:
Laundry Operative . . . . . . . .
Attendant . . . . . . . . . . . .
Army Air Forces, California and Nevada:
Mechanic Learner . . . . . . • • .
Naval Air Station, Alameda, Calif.:
Female Trainee, Manual Occupations . .
Quartermaster Depot, Philadelphia, Pa.:
.Examiner, Knitted and Woven Articles •
.
Women
qualiJied
Women
appointed
163
1,437
13,198
693
5,103
3,864
3,122
1,985
1,765
8,601
3,553
7,094
2,983
2,229
6,218
3,079
563
876
500
200
2,214
628
m
250
EXAMINATIONS WHICH ATTRACTED LARGE NUMBERS Oll'
WOMEN APPLICANTS DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED
JUNE 30, 1941
Women
applied
Ezamination
A~ticc, Arsenal
Attendant . . . . .
G_.Mask Assembler .
Hospital Attendant • .
Laborer (Qassified) • . • .
Laundry Assistant • • • . .
Laundry Operative . . . . . .
Machine Operator • . . . . .
Manual Oci:~tions, Trainee .
Mechanical uze Operator . .
Mess Attendant . . . . . . .
9Perator's Hel~ (Oothing Fact~iy).
Power.Sewing- chine Operator . .
.
Tar.AL ••
.. .
Women
WolllCII
qualified appointed'
3,593
5,028
1,752
5,995
7,933
3,520
8,352
3,741
2,278
1,458
4,122
5,189
19,056
3,304
3,565
1,131
4,225
7,492
2,109
6,964
2,565
1,708
554
2,732
3,614
13,470
72,107
53,433
173
131
738
415
2,641
509
1,424
9S6
..........
199
329
492
3,755
11,761
1 Thousands of additional appointments were made from these lim after the close of the
fiscal year Qune 30, 1941).
It appears from a comparison of these tables that women
are more interested in munitions jobs than in the more familiar
jobs connected with feeding, clothing, and equipping the
a:rmy. In all probability, the higher wages paid munitions
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workers influence the interest trend to a great extent. But it
also m~y be believed that patriotism, the ·glamor of being
"closer to the war," and the opportunity to break away from
"women's work" contribute more to the desire to handle
bullets than does the thought of financial advantage.
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Women Mechanics in
Government War Worlc
WAR DEPARTMENT
ORDNANCE DBP.ARTMBNT AT LARGE
T
HE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT AT LARGE designs, makes,
or
has made, stores, and distributes to the armed forces the
guns; ammunition, and ordnance materials necessary to wage
war. The work of the department is carried on in the Govemment' s manufacturing arsenals (where munitions are designed
and manufactured), at its "proving grounds" (where all such
material must meet a standard test for durability and accuracy), and in its supply depots ( where the materials are stored
pending distribution).
In time of war, these facilities become taxed, and must be
greatly extended by the enlargement of ordnance plants. In
addition, contracts are let through the 14 ordnance procurement districts of the department to private plants for the manufacture of guns, powder, shells, bombs, and tanks.
On June 30, 1942, there were approximately 50,000 women
workers on jobs in the Ordnance Department at Large, War
Department, outside of the District of Columbia.
Notwithstanding women's limitation in strength and technical training, ordnance officials are constantly seeking,
through training programs, to bring more and more female
employees into the department's arms-production work.
On June 30, 1940, around 3,000 women civilian employees
were at work in ordnance field establishments. On June 30,
1941, the number was 10,000. During the next 12 months,
an increase of 40,000 took place.
The great majority of these women were secured through
trainee examinations held by the United States Civil Service
Commission to secure eligibles for these positions:
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Tr11in11 Positions
Minor engineering aid .
Munitions handler . .
Trainee draftsman. . .
Operative, mechanical fw:e.
Inspector trainee, ordnance material.
Mechanic learner . . . . .
•
.
.
.
.
.
Subinspector (ammunition).
Arsenal apprentice. . . . .
Operator, machine, general.
Mechanic's helper. . . . .
Inspector, powder and explosives .
Precision optical worker . . . . .
Machine operator, graduating and engraving .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
$1,020 a year.
$3.92 a day.
$1,020 a year.
$3.60 a day.
$1,440 a year.
$0.50 an hour, or $900
to $1,080 a year.
$3.92 to $4.88 a day.
$3.12 a day.
$4 to $4.96 a day.
$4.72 to $5.76 a day.
$1,620 to $2,600 a year•
$4.24 to $5.20 a day.
$4.24 to $5.20 a day.
.
.
.
.
$3,52 a day.
$3.60 to $3.84 a day.
$4.32 a day.
$2,000 a year.
Nontr11ine1 Positions
Oassified laborer . . . .
Power sewing-machine operator
Shop checker . . . . . . . . .
Storekeeper. . . . . . . . . .
The rates of pay for many of these positions differ in various
localities, depending upon the wage rates prevailing in the
localities.
Arsenals
About 20,000 women, or two-fifths of the S0,000 women
employed by the Ordnance Department at Large, were at
work in manufacturing arsenals on June 30, 1942, whereas
only 6,000 women were at work in the arsenals on June 30,
1941.
The following resumes of reports by officials of the individual armories, arsenals, and proving grounds reveal more
vividly than any general statements can the work, progress,
and abilities of the women in these plants.
At the Springfield (Mass.) Armory, out of a total of approximately 2,000 women workers on June 30, 1942 (25S on June 30,
1941), more than 1,500 women were at work in the armory
shops. Among them were:
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(t1) Assemblers, engaged in repetitive work on the assembly
of minor units involving a small number of parts or standardized methods.
(b) Benchwomen, engaged in repetitive work involving
miscellaneous filing and burring of outside surfaces, and other
surfaces not requiring close tolerances.
(c) Mechanical helpers, assisting assemblers in the assembly
of'minor·units requiring no fitting or adjusting.
(a) Storekeepers, filling storage bins with a variety of smallarms components from standard packages, and drawing specified quantities of components from storage for delivery to
packers.
(,) Laboratory aids, testing and calibrating various gages
and delicate measuring instruments, making calculations, and
submitting reports.
(J) Material keepers, engaged in storing; arranging, and
issuing various components and the raw materials used in
connection with their manufacture; and keeping accurate
records in the accounting of stores.
Ci) Mechanic learners, assisting, in a learner capacity,
mechanics of higher grades in the performance of miscellaneous
manufacturing and repair work.
(h) Machine operators:
Drillers, operating hand or power-feed drill presses
using simple jigs. (Tooling, speeds, and feeds are prescribed. However, these drillers may change and adjust
cutting tools for simpler jobs. Highly repetitive work is
required to medium tolerances.)
Millers, operating the simplest automatic or hand
milling machine operations on light to medium weight
components to medium and coarse tolerances. (Fixtures, tooling, speeds, and feeds arc prescribed and set-ups
and tool changes are made by others. Highly repetitive.)
Punch-press operators, on small to medium-sized work,.
including forming, blanking, and piercing. (Set-ups and
adjustments are made by others. May include use of
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automatic-roll and dial-feed mechanisms, as required.
Highly repetitive.)
Tool grinders, grinding simple surfaces encountered in
ordinary cutting tools. (Repetitive work is done undei;
some supervision on tools such as plain milling cutters
or simple shank cutters.)
(i) Packers, counting and packing all types of small parts
and assemblies in cartons or cases. (A knowledge of part
names is required for accuracy in counting and record keeping.)
(j) Shop checkers, keeping records o{ all components, forgings and stock entering the woman worker'.s particular manufacturing section, and counting material issued to and received
from each machine operator.
(k) Shop inspectors, making highly repetitive dimensional
inspection of small arms components by ineans of plug, ring,
snap, and other fixed gages.
Most unusual as women's jobs, in the view of armory officials, are those of laboratory aid and toolgrinding-machine
operator. One woman is a machine woodworker.
At the Watertown (Mass.) Arsenal 102 women have been
appointed as female trainees in the mechanical trades. However, a total of 480 women were employed at the arsenal on
May 30, 1942 (251 a year before). All, with the exception of
the female trainees, are on jobs commonly filled by women,
such as clerk, stenographer, typist, metallurgical laboratory
worker, storekeeper, elevator operator, and charwoman.
On May 30, 1942, the Watervliet (N. Y.) Arsenal had 536
women employees on jobs in the "shop" classification (benchwork, assembly, and inspection) which ~ere formerly handled
exclusively by men (185 women a year before). The great
majority were mechanic learners, tool keepers, and laboratory
aids.
On March 14, 1942, a group of 12 girls were appointed as
laboratory aids to be trained in the duties of gage checkers.
These girls rapidly developed to the point where they were
able to check rather complicated gages. Twelve female
apprentice draftsmen were in training to become full-fledged
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shop draftsmen. Women arc being trained to run most of
the machines operated by men.
The Raritan Arsenal, Metuchen, N. J., is employing women
to fill whatever positions they may be qualified for, from laborers to engineers. A female classified laborer examination was
announced in which 216 ~omen qualified. The majority of
these women will be placed on labor~r jobs.
At the Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, N. J., out of a total of
14,635 women who filed applications for the power sewingmachine operator and classified laborer examinations, 5,796
passed, and 4,127 were appointed to positions in the arsenal.
The total number of women at work in this establishment on
June 30, 1941, was 2,349.
When employment expansion began at Picatinny Arsenal,
less than half of the classified laborer positions were filled by
women. Now, however, women are constantly being worked
into many other jobs formerly believed to be "for men only."
As a result, there is now a ratio of four women to three men,
and, eventually, it will become three women to one man. Five
hundred women are in training as mechanic learners, preparing
to become machine operators. Laboratory aids are being
appointed and trained as draftsmen and engineering aids.
At the Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia, Pa., women arc
far more numerous than they were in the first year of defense,
and the positions to which they have been appointed aremore
varied. On April 30, 1942, more than 6,000 women were
employed, compared to approximately half that number a
year earlier.
Before the war, women were found on the production
line as mechanical time fuze operators; as inspectors and
testers; as machine-tool operators and precision optical
workers. Now, in addition, they are physicists and chemists,
physical science aids, engineering aids, and inspectors of
ordnance materials; they check shells and assist in the operation of turret lathes; they pack gages for shipment. Women
explosives operators handle and prepare explosive components
used in the manufacture of small-arms ammunition by blend-
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~
OFFICIAL PHOTO, U. S. ARMY AIR FORCES
FOR
VI CTO RY
HAN D DRILLI NG A COMPO NENT FOR CANNO N
OFFICIAL PHOTO. U. S. ARMY SIG NAL CORPS
OFF ICIAL 0. W. I. P HOTO
PARACHUTES BACK FROM TEST FLIGHTS ARE INSPECTED BY WO MEN WOR KERS
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OFFICIAL PHOTO. U. S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS
PUNCH PRESS OPERA TOR
WAR
BECOMES WOMEN'S
OFFICIAL 0. W. I. PHOTO
MACHINE OPERATOR
DAILY BUSINESS
WOMEN INSPECTORS CHECK PRIMER HOLES IN AIRCRAFT CARTRIDGE CASES
OFFICIAL 0. W. I. PHOTO
> OFFICIAL PHOTO. U. S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS
>
PRECISION WORKERS ON FIRE CONTROL EQUIPMENT
LOADING MACHINE GUN AMMUNITION IN BELTS FOR SHIPMENT TO THE FRONT
OFFICIAL PHOTO. U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS
ing, m1xmg, and processing the ingredients of such components. As munition handlers they load (for transportation)
and transport from one point to another within the plant,
projectiles, grenades, and other forms of ammunition and
explosives.
Women subinspectors examine bullets, cartridge cases,
primers, and finished cartridges. Hundreds of women are
employed as clerks and stenographers, and as messengers
laborers, matrons, and janitors.
Authority has been granted officials of the arsenal to employ
women as machine adjusters. This authority will be used to
provide promotions for women who are found to be especially
adapted for such work.
Officials of the arsenal are showing an increasing interest
in hiring qualified women to fill junior and assistant engineer
positions.
In the Edgewood (Md.) Arsenal, where the bombs were
made which fell on Tokyo, more than 2,600 women are at
work running drill and punch presses, painting munitions
and gas-mask containers with spray-guns, weighing powder,
and filling shells. Only 181 women were at work in this .
establishment before the national emergency. Women are in
training as operators of chemical plant equipment. They
test the reaction of poison gases on goats and rabbits in order
to develop antidotes for the fumes.
Women are inspecting gas masks and chemical warfare material. They are messengers and storekeepers, artists and
illustrators. They work in the duplicating plant, operating
mimeograph, multilith, multigraph, addressograph, and
graphotype machines; and they are faithfully at work as
typists, stenographers, accountants, comptometer operators,
bookkeeping machine operators, card punch operators, coders,
and collators. Women operators of IBM machines keep soldiers' records, and other women make up the local pay rolls.
The Aberdeen (Md.) Proving Ground has also set a notable
example in the utilization of women workers. Women
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chauffeurs run trucks, busses, and cars; women set up velocity
screens and run gage tests in the testing and proving of Garand
rifles, machine guns, and other guns. Men supervisors say,.
in hitting the targets, women have a deadlier shooting eye
than men.
There are women draftsmen and women mathematical
workers who know calculus and can plot the proof-firing
results as well as any man. Women automotive mechanics
test cars, peeps, jeeps, and trucks, and "road test" tanks by
driving them over a half-mile track all day long.
Women tear down and rebuild motors and operate tractors
and 15-ton electric cranes. It has been found that they can
be taught to do all these things in about half the time it takes
to teach men!
At the San Antonio (Tex.) Arsenal 14 women instrument
makers are employed in the optical shop as trainees to replace
men engaged in the repair, maintenance, and overhaul of firecontrol instruments.
Women are also in training to replace.men of draft age now
engaged in issuing, receiving, and storing ordnance materials.
The Benicia (Calif.) Arsenal employs 334 women (70 a year
ago) as munition handlers and storekeepers in its link loading
plant. These women open boxes of loose shells and assemble
the shells in clips. They repack and solder the boxes for transportation. It is estimated that 1,500 women will soon be
engaged in this work.
Ordnance Procurement Districts
Typical of the increasing percentage of women employees
in the Ordnance Department at Large is the increase which
was charted in the Springfield (Mass.) Ordnance District
(comprising the State of Connecticut and the Counties of
Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire in the State of
Massachusetts):
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ALL POSmONS
Women
Men
Date
.
February 1941
December 1941
¥,ay 1942.
Number
Percentage
Number
Percentage
326
989
1,291
78.0
63.4
45.9
92
570
1,524
22.0
36.6
S4.l
INSPECTORS_ OF ORDNANCE
Women
Men
Date
Number Percentage Number Percentage
~aryl941 .
mber 1941
May 1942.
.
283
829
976
.
91.3
78.9
27
221
21.1
55.2
792
44.8
8.7
Employing officers are endeavoring to bring more women
workers into employment in the district as inspectors of ordnance. They also recently started a gage school for women for
the purpose of training them as gagers.
The outstanding position held by a woman in the district is
that of chief of the traffic division. She has approximately 50
employees under her supervision.
Boston Ordnance District: Five hundred and forty-eight
women were at work in the district on May 31, 1942, compared
to 31 on May 31, 1941. Seventy-nine were minor inspectors of
ordnance materials; 51 were minor and assistant engineering
aids; 1 was a junior engineer; 3 were assistant laboratory aids;
6 were junior attorneys; 1 was an assistant attorney; 321 were
clerks, stenographers and typists. The remainder were telephone and teletype operators, messengers, and office-machine
operators.
Philadelphia Ordnance District: On May 30, 1942, it was
estimated that from 2,000 to 3,000 women were employed by
the Philadelphia district office of the Ordnance Department at
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Large. The women were used to a large extent in clerical
positions. However, through a number of female trainee
examinations announced to secure minor engineering aids and
mechanic learners (17,140 women applied for the examinations
and 5,529 qualified), minor engineering aids were appointed
in the district at a salary of $1,020 a year. Following their
appointment, the women were trained for the position of
minor inspectors of ordnance materials at $1,260 a year.
Their duties consist of inspecting and gaging metallic parts.
Women were also recruited for the position of junior inspector
of ordnance materials (trainee). After training, appointees
may be promoted to positions paying $1,620 a year. Women
.also operate duplicating and calculating machines in the
district office.
Birmingham(Ala.)Ordnance District: On May 30, 1942, 14
women were employed as minor engineering aids. These
women were trained in the use of gages and simple measuring
devices to become inspectors of ordnance in private contract
ordnance plants.
Cleveland (Ohio) Ordnance District: Approximately 400
girls are employed in the district as minor engineering aids.
Upon appointment they were assigned to various plants where
they were trained; many of them have progressed to the point
where they are now working as minor inspectors of ordnance
materials. One woman, a laboratory aid in the gage laboratory, is pedorming unusual technical work which is experimental in character and requires a broad educational background.
Cincinnati (Ohio) Ordnance District: More than 4,000
women were at work in the district on May 30, 1942. Slightly
fewer than 500 women were at work in the same district on
June 30, 1941. Of the total, 787 are engineering aids, laboratory technicians, inspectors, purchasing agents, and scientific
aids; over 3,000 are clerks, stenographers, and typists, and
operators of office machines.
Chicago Ordnance District: On June 1, 1942, approximately 700 women were at work on jobs in the various ord30
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nance plants in the district. (A year before there had been
none.) Five,hundred were working as engineering aids and
inspectors of ordnance, 100 as laborers, and 100 as explosives
operators. In line with the policy of the district to use more
and more women to fill critical positions, qualified women are
wanted at the rate of 100 a month to fill vacancies in the
positions of junior inspector (trainee), minor inspector
(trainee), and minor engineering aid.
Twin Cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis) Ordnance District:
In the Twin Cities, women are engaged in routine inspection
work in plants, privately owned and operated, which make
various parts going into the manufacture of ordnance. Women
inspectors are under the supervision of a resident inspector.
They must work to tolerances measured in two-thousandths
of an inch.
San Francisco and Los Angeles Ordnance Districts: On
June 30, 1942, 15 junior inspectors of ordnance materials-all
women-were at work in these two districts. They were
engaged in inspecting the manufacturing processes and the
completed articles made by private concerns under contract
with the Ordnance Department at Large. Future vacancies in
the districts will be filled for the most part by women.
Milan (Tenn.) Ordnance Depot: On May 30, 1942, 62
women were employed in skilled occupations, 60 in clerical
work, and 3 as graduate nurses.
Redstone Ordnance Works, Huntsville, Ala.: The Redstone
plant loads shells for shipment to storage depots. One hundred
and forty-two women mechanic learners were working on the
loading lines on May 30, 1942. These women (usually with a
grammar-school education) were recruited to a large extent
from textile and hosiery mills, where they had been operating
small knitting machines, looms, and hosiery machines.
The women use "go" and "no-go" gages on the loading
lines. H the shell fits in a prepared hole, it "goes." Otherwise, it is "no-go." Many of the women will advance to
become operators of automatic screw machines, or under and
minor inspectors of ammunition.
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Des Moines (Iowa) Ordnance Plant: A :female trainee
examination was announced to secure minor engineering aids
for the Des Moines plant. Six hundred and seventy-seven
women applied, 581 qualified in the examination, and by
June 15, 1942, 124 had been appointed. The plant manu~
factures small ammunition, and women inspect small parts
which require visual and general gage inspection.
Iowa Ordnance Plant, Burlington, Iowa: At this plant,
a. woman who graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree
in January 1942 has been .appointed as an under inspector of
powder and explosives. She was chosen for the position by
reason of her knowledge of chemistry, biochemistry, and
physics, The duties of her job, as set forth in the official
job description, are:
As under inspector, powder and explosives, • •· •
to inspect the assembly of primers at this plant-check
£lash hole for fit; gage heads and percussion clements for
size; inspect firing plugs for height and diameter, battery
cups for shape and length, black-powder charges for
weight, staking of bodies to heads; and completed
primer for general conformance to specifications; to
prepare daily inspection rcpons for submission to the
chief inspector; and perform related duties as assigned.
Women obtained from female trainee examfnations are being
used on the plant's components line. Their duties are similar
to those outlined in the description above. Officials of the
plant feel that it will be difficult to find many women with the
high qualifications of the graduate first employed. However,
they are attempting to fill vacancies with women who have
had factory experience.
Denver (Colo.) Ordnance Plant: Eighty-three women have
been appointed to positions requiring light manual labor.
These women were obtained from a register of eligibles
obtained through a female trainee, manual occupations
examination.
Pueblo (Colo.) Ordnance Depot: Approximately 600 women
pack ammunition into cases. This plant began operations
July 1, 1942.
, . .
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Umatilla Ordnance Depot, Hermiston, Oreg.: A new plant,
not yet in operation a full year. On June 1, 1942, there were
more than 1,800 employees, of whom only 59 were women.
Most of the women employees serve as clerks. One girl is
a storekeeper; one works in the paint shop; one makes blue
prints for the subdepot assembly and repair shops.
From 600 to 700 women will soon be employed in the depot's
new linking and belting plant. They will be used as floor
ladies, machine operators, and packers. They will be used
on the supply and shipping lines, and in the paint shop.
Here is an excellent example of a type of Federal defense plant
which can be staffed almost entirely with women. It is proposed to limit the number of men employed to one or two
hundred.
Ogden (Utah) Ordnance Depot: On June 30, 1942, there
were 1,416 women at work in the depot ( 48 on June 30, 1941).
Women were at work in the shell loading plants, the fuze
loading plants, and in the black powder pelleting plant. They
performed such duties as stamping shells, loading link-belts,
and measuring powder.
CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE
The employment of women in the making of bombs and
bullets filled with deadly gas vapors is gaining in the Chemical Warfare Service.
Again we find a type of work for which women are recruited
by means of the trainee examination. Through this examination women may become eligible to fill these positions: Inspector, chemical warfare materials, $4.80 a day; under and
minor inspector of materials, 42 to 54 cents an hour; process
inspector in the manufacture and assembly of gas masks, 60
cents an hour; chemical plant operator, $6.24 to $7.20 a day;
and chemical plant workwoman, $5.28 to $6.24 a day.
Boston Chemical Warfare Procurement District: Four hundred women were on jobs in the district on May 31, 1942approximately 175 more women than were employed a year
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mainder were employed in the inspection of gas-mask components, including rubber, metals, and textiles. Women inspect
gas-mask assembly operations on the assembly lines.
Recently, 25 women with college training (in such subjects
as chemistry, mathematics, and physics), or with equivalent
experience along technical lines, were appointed as trainees
for the purpose of training them as inspectors of chemical
warfare materials. After completing the necessary training
( 4 to 6 weeks), some were assigned to supervise lower-grade
inspectors in the scattered plants of the district. Others were
on travel assignment, making inspections at plants where the
production rate did not require the presence of full-time
inspectors.
Huntsville (Ala.) Arsenal (Chemical Warfare Service):
Women are employed as chemical plant workers to assist in
the operation of stills, reactors, dryers, centrifuges, and similar equipment used in the manufacture of chemicals. They
make minor repairs and adjustments to the equipment. They
even supervise chemical plant workmen and laborers who
transport and pack chemical munitions.
Women fill all types of munitions with chemical agents, and
perform labor incident to the movement of supplies. They
conduct simple chemical analyses, operate and maintain automatic temperature and flow-control devices, and keep log sets
and other plant records relating to the manufacture of commercial quantities of chemical products.
Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Denver, Colo. (Chemical Warfare
Service): Hundreds of women are employed as laborers and
inspectors.
Chemical Warfare Service, Los Angeles, Calif.: Two hundred and twenty-three women are engaged in inspecting and
passing on chemical warfare materials procured by the service.
Nine assistant laboratory mechanics are doing laboratory
work, a woman draftsman is engaged on various engineering
problems, and there is a woman attorney.
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ENGINEER DEPARTMENT AT LARGE
Administrative help is the greatest contribution of women
workers in the Engineer Department at Large, War Department. However, some women in the organization are engineering draftsmen, engineering aids, gage readers, attorneys,
computers, and minor laboratory helpers. In the skilled and
semiskilled trades, women have secured jobs in the department
by qualifying in such civil-service examinations as the one for
female trainee, manual occupations, announced to secure eligibles for the positions of trainee draftsman, at $1,020 a year,
and engineering aid, various grades, from $1,440 to $2,600
a year.
Previous training is required in some of the occupations,
such as engineer and architect; but in many cases, in the
absence of previous experience, passing a mechanical aptitude
test, meeting the physical requirements, and on-the-job
training have placed women in good positions. The various
types of positions in the several districts are described below.
Philadelphia (Pa.) Engineer District: Approximately 180
women are now employed in the district, as compared to 11 on
June 30, 1941. These women are, for the most part, occupying
clerical, stenographic, and typist positions, but recent appointments have been made to positions in the subprofessional
group, such as draftsman and engineering aid.
Pittsburgh (Pa.) Engineer District: A total of 221 women
are employed in the Pittsburgh district (88 on April 30, 1941).
Besides holding clerical positions, women are waitresses,
cooks, and charwomen.
Gage readers inspect and maintain record tide gages; they
read, record, and repair water meters and filter gages; they
measure filters and regulate filters. One woman is an attorney
for the district. 4
Norfolk (Va.) Engineer District: Except in the usual clerical
positions, women are not widely employed in this district.
Only three women are reported as occupying unusual jobs-
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one is a boat designer, one is a camouflage draftswoman, and
one is a junior architect.
New Orleans (La.) Engineer District: Airport construction>
new army camps, and extended district office activities have
tripled the number of women employees in the district. A
few women are working as draftsmen, and one is an assistant
engineer. It is the general policy of appointing officers in the
New Orleans district to appoint women to clerical positions
vacated by men going into the military service.
Galveston (Tex.) Engineer District: On May 25, 1942, 180
women were at work in the Galveston district, as compared
to 103 on August 1, 1941. Women hold clerical positions in
all grades up to heads of sections. A few women are in
draftsman positions, and two are employed as junior photographers.
New positions and replacements in vacated positions in the
clerical grades are being filled by women whenever feasible.
Denison (Tex.) Engineer District: Fifteen and one-half percent of the employees in the Denison district are women. A
year ago, .5 percent were women. The positions held are, to
a great extent, stenographic and clerical. The personnel of all
mail and files sections and of all suboffices is almost entirely
made up of women. A few women are engaged in minor
drafting duties, in auditing minor financial reports and cost
reports, and as messengers and PBX operators.
San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles (Calif.) Engineer Districts: Twenty women are employed in draftsman
positions (various grades) in these districts.
NAVY DEPARTMENT
In order to alleviate labor shortages resulting from the loss
of manpower within its civilian employee ranks, the Navy
Department has put aside its almost traditional preference for
men as civilian employees in navy yards, and is now placing
women in almost any job for which they are fitted.
Women are recruited for navy yard jobs through the helpertrainee examinations. They are employed as mechanical
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helpers at the rate of $4.72 to $5.68 a day; general helpers at
69 to 81 cents an hour; and primer workers and ordnance
workers at $3.92 to $4.88 a day. Women are recruited through
the sewer examinations as operators of single- or doubleneedle power-driven sewing machines at 64 to 76 cents an hour.
Women inspectors of engineering materials and naval
ordnance materials are secured through the trainee examinations for the positions of minor inspector (engineering
materials), $1,620 a year, and minor inspector (naval ordnance
material), $1,440 a year. Positions as junior inspector
(engineering materials)-in these optional branches: Steel
.lrulls, mechanical, electrical, and radio-are available for
women at $1,620 a year.
Here, again, it should be kept in mind that the rate of pay for
these positions differs in various localities, depending upon the
prevailing wage rates.
Washington (D. C.) Navy Yard: A detailed description of
the types of positions, working conditions, and training programs for women workers in this navy yard will serve as an
example of the similar work in the other navy yards of the
country, brief summaries of which follow this section.
Qualified women employees, secured from lists of eligibles
set up through the trainee examinations, are assigned to various shops in the Washington Navy Yard for training and
subsequent promotion to good jobs in activities vital to war
production.
On June 30, 1942, approximately 2,000 women were at work
in the yard. In all the shops they are first instructed in the
safety regulations which must be observed in operating the
machines which they are later to use. They learn the names
of loose materials, parts, and hand tools. They are taught
how to file, store, and issue materials and tools, and how to
handle high explosives in accordance with prescribed safety
regulations.
Women who accept jobs in the yard must observe certain
safety rules in the matter of dress. Jewelry is not allowed.
Low-heeled shoes (no open toes), and slack suits or coveralls
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if possible (except in the optical shop), are prescribed. Loose
and flowing clothing is never worn, and a cap, bandana, or
other suitable covering over the hair must be worn in order
to lessen the hazard of hair being caught in running machinery.
Long finger nails are not permitted. All precautions are
taken to avoid dermatitis, which is a hazard in these shops
because of cutting oils and chemicals. Women assigned to
duty in the magazine must not wear underclothing made of
rayon, nylon, silk, or wool, as such fabrics collect high
static. To prevent this, only cotton fabrics are allowed in
work clothing. Rubber overshoes must not be worn in the
buildings. All workers are warned that cold, dry days are
the most dangerous for static accumulation.
In the sight shop women are placed under competent instructors for training in the reading of drawings and measuring
instruments; they are shown how to receive and ship materials
out of the shop; they are taught how to care for jigs and
fixtures. They learn to operate engraving machines, drill
presses, and thread millers, and they are shifted from one
machine to another in order to round out this training.
In the assembly and fuze shop they are taught to burr and
inspect materials; they wind coils; and they are trained in the,
use of indicators and gages as called for on the operation
sheets on ordnance parts, such as fuzes, torpedo parts, fixtures, and other materials.
In the optical shop women are trained in 14 of the 22 basic
operations CC'nnected with the manufacture, assembly, subassembly, and inspection of precision ordnance equipment,
including optical equipment. In the optical glass section
they are trained in the following operations:
(a) Hand polishing, assembling coincidence prisms, polishing plano surfaces and lenses;
(b) Edge-grinding lenses, glass milling and drilling, inspection;
(c) Fine-grinding lenses, fine-correcting plano surfaces,
fine-grinding plano surfaces, and glass plate blocking;
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(I) Plaster blocking, silver-ruling prisms, centering and
cementing lenses;
(e) Bevel and groove (either prisms or lenses) lens blocking,
cleaning and waxing; and
(J) Rough-grinding prisms, rough-grinding lenses, and
ground surface inspection.
Other women workers in the mechanical assembly section
are instructed in ruling and etching; prism scraping and fitting;
cleaning and inspection; machine engraving; and bench milling
and bench lathing.
In the quiet, professional atmosphere of the optical shop,
women in white inspect precision instruments by sighting
them against peaceful northern skies. The silvery etched
lines on a lens are carefully scrutinized by their keen eycs1
for it is on the exactness of these lines that the gunner in some
future battle must depend for a true aim as he "frames" his
target and opens fire on the enemy.
At the magazine, women are placed under competent instructors for training in a specific fuze-loading operation.
Women who master this operation progress to others until
they are competent to perform any loading operation in the
assembling of fuzes. In the assembling of fuzes they are taught
the danger points to watch out for, such as maladjustments
and misfits.
In the ordnance electrical shop, women are taught to prepare
micro-insulators for the assembly of repaired commutators,
and they are trained to operate coil-taping machines. Women
prepare wires of predetermined lengths to form cables used on
firing and lighting circuits. They are taught to assist armature winders in taping coils for armatures and field coils for
motors; to assist in the assembly of details for switches on
component parts for gunfiring circuits; and to assist in the
final inspection of circuits, and in the preparation of the shipment of the circuits by taping leads together.
New York Navy Yard: The yard is steadily employing large
numbers of women as power sewing-machine operators, female
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classified laborers, and coat finishers. Women, of course, are
filling the great majority of the clerical positions in the yard.
Surveys are under way in the machine shop and material
laboratories in an attempt to determine just what jobs women
are capable of filling. Upon completion of the survey, the
trainee examination will be used to secure qualified women
to replace men in various positions, both in the machine shop
and in the material laboratories.
Philadelphia Navy Yard: On May 15, 1942, more than
1,100 women were employed in the yard in nonclerical jobs
(206 on May 15, 1941); they were employed in laborer positions, in the skilled-trades positions (such as mechanic helper,
sewer, aircraft fabric worker, and mechanic learner), and in
mechanic supervisory positions. An additional 1,200 women
were at work in other occupations in the yard, such as clerk,
office-machine operator, messenger, draftsman, blueprint operator, and physical science aid.
Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va.: The artisan shops
of the yard increased their number of women employees to approximately 1,000 by the end of 1942. The women at present
employed are trainees who work as '·on-the-job'' helpers in
the electrical shops for armature and coil winding; in the tool
rooms; in the instrument shops as optical workers; in the paint
shops; in the machine shops, where they operate lathes, drill
presses, planers, and shapers; in the sheet-metal shops, where
they make metal furniture; and in the welding shops. A few
women are in training as plumbers.
Crews of women are used to operate electric overhead
cranes in the shops. They do this with surprising success,
thus releasing for duty the men who are urgently needed for
work on the outside.
It is estimated that approximately 1,200 women are employed in the yard in mechanic positions.
Charleston (S. C.) Navy Yard: More than 800 women are
employed at this yard-most of them in clerical and administrative positions.
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Through the trainee examinations, women have been
recruited as draftsmen, and as helpers for coppersmiths,
electricians, machinists, pipefitters, riggers, sheet-metal workers, shipfitters, joiners, and shipwrights ($4.72 to $5.68 per
day). It was estimated that more than 600 women would
be filling these jobs by the end of 1942.
Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash.: The employment of women in the Puget Sound yard has gone far beyond
the experimental stage. Women workers have proved
that they can be employed advantageously in a great many
positions.
On June 1, 1942, there were 1,675 women at work in the
yard (460 on June 1, 1941). Approximately 6 percent of the
total employees are women-73 percent in clerical positions
.and 27 percent in laborer positions.
Women who were formerly beauty parlor operators are now
radial drill operators and sheet-metal helpers. Others operate
huge cranes; others thread bolts in the shipfitter shop; and
,still others do precision work with machine tools. Every
.effort is being made to use women wherever possible.
Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif.: Women are employed as general helpers and as trainees, as follows:
(a) Fifty-eight are employed in the shipfitter and welding
shop. They weld, operate small cranes, lay out ship plates
from blueprints, operate drill presses, and do toolroom work.
(h) Six are employed in the sheet-metal shop. They weld,
-operate engraving machines, buck rivets, do bench work, and
run bucket-machine presses.
(c) One hundred and twenty-five women are employed in
the machine shops. They operate turret lathes, automatic
:Screw machines, drill presses, milling machines, engraving
machines, shapers, and small cranes.
(a) Fifty-one are employed in the electrical shop. They
-operate drill presses, punch presses, and small precision lathes;
they wind small coils, clean parts, wire, solder, do lens
work, assist instrument makers, and test under-water sound
-equipment.
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(e) Five are employed in the pipditter shop as storekeepers
in the tool crib, and as gasket trimmers in the rubber laboratory.
(J) Four are employed in the boat shop. They operate
mortise machines, band saws, and boring machines.
(i) Eight are employed in the paint shop and paint-manufacturing plant. They refinish furniture, grind glass, and
assist in laboratory and storekeeper duties.
(h) Nineteen are employed in the foundry, receiving and
storing patterns, shipping small castings, and working with
small cores.
(i) Twenty-five are employed in the pattern shop, sandpapering, gluing, shellacking patterns, installing fillets,
operating small machines and hand tools, and keeping stores.
Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, R. I.: Approximately
1,000 women were at work at the station on June 1, 1942an increase of more than 700 in a year. While the great
majority of these women were in clerical and stenographic
positions, a considerable number were employed as mechanic
learners, as classified laborers, and as ordnance workers and
primer workers. Employees in the two latter groups were
appointed from civil-service examinations announced to
secure ordnance workers and primer workers for positions
paying from $3.92 to $4.88 a day.
Ordnance workers perform various operations involved in
the manufacture, subassembly, assembly, and inspection of
ordnance material. Primer workers inspect and assemble
components of fuzes, primers, tracers, detonators, igniters, and
similar ordnance material which may contain explosives or
pyrotechnic materials.
Twelve hundred women applied for the examination for
ordnance workers, and 530 were found eligible for the job;
632 women applied for the mechanic learner examination, and
363 qualified.
A number of women inspectors of engineering materials
($1,620 a year) perform minor inspection work on precisionmachined component parts of ordnance materials, involving
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OFFICIAL PHOTO . U. 5 . ARMY AIR FORCES
INSPECTING AIRPLANE PARTS
OFFICIAL 0 . W. I. PHOTO
C
PUTTI NG DRILL NUTS IN TO THE
MONACOCK OF AN A IRP LA NE
REMOVING BLISTERS IN A BUILDING FORM FOR BULLET-SEALED TANKS
OFFICIAL 0. W. I. PHOTO
,
OFFICIAL 0 . W. I. PHOTO
ALUMINUM WORKER INSPECTING A SAND CASTING FOR DEFECTS
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OFFI CIAL 0 . W. I. PHOTO
PRECISION DR ILLER O N STEEL TA NK PARTS
OFFICI AL PHOTO. U. 5 . NAVY'/
CHECK ING AN
THE H A RD W ORK OF WO M E N
I
AIRPLANE MOTOR
WA R
WO MEN WO RKERS EN G A GED IN REBUILDIN G AND RE -EQUIPPING TANKS AND TRUCKS
- --------- -
OFFICIAL PHOTO. U. S. ARMY SIGNAL CORP~•
TOOL GRINDER AT WO RK IN A GO VERNMENT ARSENAL
IOFFICIAL PHOTO, U. S. ARMY AIR CORPS
WELDING PA RT FOR A COCKPI T
the use of "go" and "no-go" gages and dial gages. The
women are trained to take over higher-grade inspector positions through the use of precision measuring instruments, such
as micrometers, verniers, depth gages, shadowgraphs, and
various tensile-strength measuring machines.
Women ordnance workers earning 61 cents an hour during a
prescribed training course are in line for promotion to the
position of machine-shop precision operative at 73 cents an
hour. In this position they perform various operations in the
manufacture, subassembly, assembly, and inspection of ordnance equipment,[including details for mechanical and dectrical
equipment, and for ammunition. From this position they
may be promoted to the next higher grade at 94 cents an hour;
in the latter grade they perform precision operations requiring
a high degree of skill in the manufacture, subassembly, and
inspection of precision ordnance equipment.
Naval Torpedo Plant, Alexandria, Va.: This is a comparatively new plant and has been using women workers since the
first part of 1942 only. Women work 8 hours a day at $1,260
a year, with time and a half for overtime, on thread checking,
depth gaging, burring, and engraving numbers on parts.
Parts for several different types of torpedoes are assembled in
the plant. It is necessary to have a series of numbers for each
type of torpedo. The women must memorize each series and
be absolutely accurate in placing the correct number on a part
in order to make sure that it goes into the right torpedo.
Naval Ammunition Depot, St. Juliens Creek, Va.: Women
mechanic learners, secured through the female trainee, manual
occupations examination ($4 a day), are trained in the operations incident to the manufacture of ammunition. After
completing a prescribed training period, they are promoted
to the position of general helper (minimum pay 69 cents an
hour). Their principal duties include cutting out and sewing
raw silk in the manufacture of powder bags to hold black
cannon powder; loading small caliber projectiles; placing the
explosive charge in the projectile, and fuzing it; the assembly
of medium and minor caliber cartridges; fuze work; and
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operating drill presses, lathes, and boring machines in the
machine shop.
·
Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, Va.: Women trainees
assist ordnancemen and mechanical workers.
Naval Mine Depot, Yorktown, Va.: More than 200 women
are employed at the depot as mechanic learners, doing light
manual jobs of a mechanical nature in ordnance work.
Naval Experiment Station, Annapolis, Md.: Women are
employed as engineering aids and as laboratory assistants, performing simple and routine work in the fields of electricity,
metallurgy, chemistry, and mechanics.
FLYING FIELDS AND AIR STATIONS
Women mechanic helpers appointed at $1,500 a year are
making good in the flying fields and air stations for the Army
and Navy. With compacts and lipsticks in their pockets,
they are making records in the operation of turret lathes and
gear-cutting machines. They are putting planes in the air
with a skill equal to that of many men.
Officials of a naval aircraft factory said that the 300 women
mechanic helpers they had on the job were "Grade A," and
they would take another thousand immediately if they could
find them. "With calm indifference and high efficiency,"
they said, "these women slam down 10-, 20-, and 100-ton
pressure punch presses of which even men are 'leery'.''
Women secure jobs in the flying fields and air stations by
meeting the physical requirements of a trainee examination
and by passing a simple mechanical aptitude test. The
examination is announced for the purpose of finding women
qualified to fill the position of mechanic learner at various
rates of pay ($900 to $1,080 a year). In one such examination,
more than 900 women applied for the examination; approximately 500 qualified.
Other examinations announced to secure women workers
for flying fields and air stations are listed below, together with
the duties of the positions:
Packer, ll,320 a year. Duties: To pack miscellaneous articles.
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.Aircr"ft Fabric Worker, $4.40 to $5.36 "Jay. Duties: To cut, sew, fit, and
repair fabric coverings of airplane wings, fuselages, control surfaces, and
other parts.
Le11ther 11ml C11nfl11.r Worker, $1,320 to $2,040 ".7e4r. Duties: To perform
tasks • • • involved in the fabrication, maintenance, overhaul, alteration, and repair of articles used by the Air Corps which arc made of leather
or canvas, • • • including parachutes • • •.
·
Shee111Ut4l Worker, $8.08 tr, $9.04 "day. Duties: Cutting, filing, and drill•
ing.
Welder, Ga.r, $8.08 to $9.04 11 IL,y. Duties: To perform acetylene welding
on miscellaneous jobs • • •. ·
Storekeeper, $1,260 to $1,440 11 .7e11r. Duties: Requisitioning, storing, and
packing miscellaneous supplies.
Aircrlljt Procurement Inspector, $1,620 to $2,900 11.7e11r. Duties: To conduct
inspections in the procurement of aircraft materials, with optional branches
in aircraft engines, instruments, parachutes, propellers, tools and gages,
radio, textiles, fur-lined clothing, optical and magnetic materials.
Upholsterer, $8.08 to $9.04 per tlt,y. Duties: To upholster all classes of
furniture, automobiles, boats, and airplanes.
Tr4inee, Junior Aircraft Communicator, $1,440 "year. Duties: To provide
airmen and other persons concerned with information vital to the safe
operation of aircraft by means of radiotelephone, radiotelegraph, teletype,
and interphone.
· Aircraft Fahric Seam.rtre.r.r, $900 to $1,200 11 year. Duties: Under supervision,
to cut, repair, and fit aircraft fabrics to wings, control surfaces, and other
aircraft parts.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration encourages women to
file applications for the trainee, traffic controller (airway and
airport) examination, which is announced to secure eligibles
for traffic controller positions paying $1,800 a year. The
duties of these positions are directly related to the safety of
human life, and are exacting and responsible. Women who
are appointed to these positions receive training in the fundamentals of airway and airport traffic control by performing
routine assignments at an airway control center, or an airport
traffic control tower.
The work of the women who build and repair airplanes and
aeronautical equipment in Federal aircraft plants and flying
fields is described in the following section, which summarizes
the reports of officials of the individual plants and fields.
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U. S. Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, R. I.: Approximately 200 women are employed at the Quonset Point stationas clerks, laborers, mechanic learners, sewers, aircraft fabric
workers, and parachute mechanics.
In the assembly and repair department, women are doing an
excellent job in overhauling, reconditioning, testing, and
inspecting aircraft spark plugs. Women of one group are
overhauling, repairing, and reconditioning wings, ailerons,
rudders, and elevators. Much practice and skill are required
to do this type of work.
A woman parachute mechanic is doing first-rate work in
the parachute repair shop. It is reported that, in some respects,
she is a better mechanic than some of her fellow male workers.
One woman doing aircraft fabric work has been promoted to
the position of instructor, and is teaching other women the
duties of the aircraft fabric worker position.
Houlton (Maine) Air Base: As the ranks of men employees
are depleted by induction into the armed forces, the engineering department of the base anticipates the use of women in
mechanic positions. They will be selected from lists of
eligibles resulting from the mechanic learner or mechanic
helper examination.
Middletown Air Depot, Olmstead Field, Middletown, Pa. :
It is believed that this air depot is the largest employer of
women in the entire air service. On May 30, 1942, there
were 1,610 women at work in the depot, compared to a total
of 149 on May 30, 1941. Again, the majority of women are
in clerical positions, but women are continuously entering the
skilled trades by means of the mechanic learner and the
mechanic helper examinations.
During the past year, women have been appointed to the
following positions, which they are filling to the entire
satisfaction of the officials of the depot: Assistant engineering
draftsman, general mechanic's helper, junior blueprint operator, leather and canvas worker's helper, packer, storekeeper,
property and supply clerk, and mechanic learner.
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Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Va.: Women workers secured
-through the mechanic learner examination are successfully at
work in the fabric shop of the station, where they cut and sew
materials for airplane wings (the first woman to be appointed
"leading man" of sewersin the station's history is at work in
this shop); in tae parachute shop, where they inspect para•chutes; and in the instrument shop, where they repair, overhaul, and maintain clocks, watches, and other aeronautical
instruments, in all cases working with small delicate parts.
In the dope shop, they apply acetate to wing fabric. In the
machine shop, they weld, run drill presses, lathes, and cutting
machines. In the sewing shop, they "baseball stitch" by hand
on metal ribs of wings.
Most of the women are learners in these positions. How-ever, many who have had preliminary training or experience
have been appointed as third-class helpers in the various trades .
.Some women are stationed at the side of skilled male me•chanics, where they receive training on engine overhaul, assembly, and disassembly.
Langley Field, Va. : The Langley Memorial Aeronautical
Laboratory, under the jurisdiction of the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics, and the subdepot of the Middletown (Pa.) Air Depot, are located at this field. Approximately 75 women are employed by the two establishments.
They are occupying positions of scientific aid, mechanic trainee,
mechanic, truck driver, junior aircraft mechanic, junior sheetmetal worker, instrument repairer, and parachute folder and
tester.
Women aircraft mechanics and sheet-metal workers shirk no
phase of their jobs, no matter how dirty or greasy or heavy.
Wearing slacks, coveralls, and overalls, they repair airplane
motors and wings with sheet metal. The work includes making and installing the parts, and using the machines and tools
required in cutting, fitting, welding, and riveting various
metals. These women mechanics disassemble, assemble, maintain, and repair airplanes and airplane engines.
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Women instrument workers··repair, replace, and test all
instruments essential to the proper operation of the airplane
by the pilot, the navigator, and the bombardier. Women
parachute mechanics test, inspect, repair, fold, and pack
parachutes.
Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, N. C. : The Cherry
Point station is a comparatively new post. Women are employed as telephone and teletype operators, messengers, and
matrons. Many of the key clerical positions are being filled
with women.
Army Air Fields and Naval Air Stations of the Fifth United
States Civil Service Region (South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and the
Virgin Islands): Most of the women workers are in clerical
positions, but some are serving as_physical therapy aids, dental hygienists, nurses, medical technicians, dietitians, laboratory helpers, and librarians. Large numbers of women are
employed as laundry workers, seamstresses, attendants, cooks,
laborers, and maids.
In the skilled trades, women are employed as helpers in the
fabrication, maintenance, overhaul, alteration, and repair of
feather and canvas articles used by the Air Corps. 1 These
irticles include parachutes, packs, harness, fabric-covered
airplane tail surfaces, and leading-edges of wings, airplane
seats, cushions, covers, awnings, tow targets, tents, belts,
straps, shoes, boots, gloves, and other items of clothing.
Others are radium dial painters. Women are also called upon
to pack parachutes, and to drop-test and inspect parachutes
and parachute harness to assure their proper functioning. A
number of women mechanic learners are being trained for
various helper positions and for aircraft spark plug and
aircraft fabric work.
Bowman Field, Louisville, Ky.: Women are being placed
in virtually all positions in the aircraft repair shops. These
positions include inspector, sheet..metal worker, leather and
canvas worker, aircraft mechanic,-welder,, .machinist, aircraft
electrician, and aircraft painter.
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Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio: Vacancies are being filled with
women storekeepers and property and supply clerks. A
number of mechanic helpers are on the job.
Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Tex.: More than 700
women are employed at the station (71 a year ago) as clerks,
stenographers, typists, telephone operators, office machine
operators, purchasing clerks, librarians, messengers, mechanic
learners, sewers, and classified laborers.
San Antonio Air Depot, Duncan Field, San Antonio, Tex.:
Approximately 2,800 women were employed at the depot on
June 1, 1942 (99 on June 1, 1941), as storekeepers, janitors,
seamstresses, leather and canvas goods workers, and messengers. Many women are already occupying, or are in training for, these positions: Aircraft mechanic, aircraft electrician, aircraft engine mechanic, leather and canvas worker,
sheet-metal worker, aircraft inspector, engineering draftsman,
aircraft instrument mechanic, and propeller mechanic.
Army Air Base Subdepot, Portland, Oreg.: There is a
definite tendency in the depot to employ women wherever
possible. A number of women are working in the position of
sheet-metal worker's helper in the process of fabricating airplane parts, such as tanks, oil coolers, sheet-metal boxes for
radios and electrical installations, and cowlings.
On the basis of drawings, sketches, and verbal instructions,
women perform work necessary for the upkeep of shops and
laboratory equipment-work which involves the operation of
various types of machine tools.
Other women inspect and repack parachutes, flying helmets,
radio phones, and oxygen masks. They repair all types of
flying clothing, make leather covers for miscellaneous gadgets,
and sew name plates, identification tags, and insignia on
flying clothes.
General mechanic helpers make minor adjustments and
repairs to airplane engines, checking ignition timing, spark
plugs, carburetors, gas and water lines; and they connect hose
clamps, service and replace tires, service airplanes with oil
and gas, and wash, oil, grease, and clean parts. They operate
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motorized machinery and equipment, such as tractors, mowers,
and graders, used in maintaining the flying field, roads, and
lawns at the post.
Naval Air Station, Seattle, Wash.: More than 200 women
were employed at the station on June 1, 1942. About 12
percent were working as mechanic learners, in the assembly
and repair department, on aircraft mechanic work. Other
women are working as sewers on aircraft fabrics.
Sacramento Air Depot, McClellan Field, Calif. : Approximately 2,500 women were employed at the Sacramento
depot- 1,900 in the clerical and 600 in the mechanic positions. Only 50 women were employed by the depot on July
1, 1941.
In the skilled trades, women are at work in the following
classifications:
(a) Mechanic learners (563). These learners are given 3
months' training to fill positions as helpers in the aircraft
mechanical trades for assignment to duty at the depot and its
subdepots.
(b) General mechanic·s helpers (27). Their duties involve
minor adjustments and repairs to aircraft engines and parts and
assisting journeymen aircraft mechanics.
(c) Stock tracer's helpers (6). They dispatch, dismantle,
disassemble, assemble, and repair aircraft parts, fittings, and
accessories, procure stocks from stock rooms, and deliver raw
materials, aircraft parts, fittings, accessories, and equipment to
mechanics who are engaged in overhaul, maintenance, and
repair of aircraft engines.
(a) Mechanics ( 4), engaged in leather and canvas work.
March Field Subdepot, March Field, Cali,£.: Approximately
25 women are employed in the stock and tool room receiving
and issuing tools, and sorting, tagging, and storing aircraft
supplies.
Naval Air Station, San Diego, Calif.: More than 600 women
are employed at the station in the following kinds of work:
(a) Metal shop: Cutting, filing, drilling, sawing, grinding,
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and hand-forming metal parts. Women will be used in the
shop as welders, first working with aluminum, and then with
other metals.
(h) Tube shop: Bending and forming tubing; identifying
tubing; capping ends of tubes; cleaning and painting tubings.
(c) Machine shop: Subassembly work, filing, riveting, drilling, removing burrs, operating engraving machines, issuing
tools and supplies. The shop expects to use women in the
operation of metal saws and turret lathes.
(J) Hull and float shop: Women assist in the overhaul of
main and wing tip floats, and hulls.
(e) Overhaul control shop: Reconditioning hose clamps,
sorting nuts, bolts, and screws; salvaging aircraft electrical
cables; identifying parts and boxing them.
(J) Fabric shop: Sewing, installing, doping and taping fabric
on wings and control surfaces; making seat cushions.
(i) Wing shop: Issuing rivets and tools; delivering rivets;
receiving and unloading trucks and trailers; riveting wings.
(h) Cable shop: Checking cable and parts; splicing cable.
(i) Tank shop: Bench filing; assembling tanks; welding and
brazing.
(j) Parachute shop: Repairing and reconditioning parachutes.
(k) Engine shop: Reconditioning spark plugs; working in
the storeroom; sorting small parts; learning carburetor overhaul; inspection of engine parts. The shop expects to use
women in the overhauling and checking of cylinder parts>
ignition harness, magnetos, and other engine parts.
(1) Assembly shop: Subassembly of small engine parts and
engine accessories; keeping shop records; issuing small parts;
subassembly and installation of cowlings; subassembly on
wings; subassembly and installation of fuel systems; subassembly and assistance in the installation of fixed equipment,
such as seats, doors, small cowlings, and hydraulic equipment;
and assisting in the installation of surface controls; in rigging
and installation of tail surfaces; and in the installation of
instruments.
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(m) Graphic arts shop: Radium refinishing on dials and indicators. Women assist in the photographic laboratory in
such tasks as ·art layout, multilith work, screen processing,
optical silvering, and plastic molding.
(n) Radio shop: Repairing minor radio parts, including cable
assembly, microphones, antenna reel counters, telegraph keys;
cleaning parts.
(o) Electrical shop: Subassembly of aircraft wiring.
(p) Accessory shop: Overhauling control pulley bearings.
(q) Paint shop: Making miscellaneous parts and painting
with spray guns.
(r) Plating shop: Preparing parts for plating and assisting
in plating operations.
(s) Propeller shop: Cleaning and buffing propellers.
(t) Windshield shop: Assisting in bending and forming of
plexi-glass; subassembly on windshields.
(u) Fuselage shop: Riveting and cutting metal.
(v) Photographic catalog shop: Compiling photographic
catalog of airplane parts.
Naval Air Station, Alameda, Calif.: One year ago, no
women were empoyed at the Alameda station. Now there
are 275-50 employed as sewers, rib stitchers, and aircraft
fabric workers; 25 as helpers and storekeepers in the various
aircraft shops; and 200 as mechanic learners on light metal
work such as riveting, drilling, metal forming with hand
tools, making metal subassemblies, spark-plug cleaning, and
aircraft electrical work.
A few mechanic learners are employed in the instrument
shop, where they are being taught the overhaul, repair, and
calibration of aircraft instruments. A mechanic instructs
them in disassembly of instruments, and in diagnosing trouble.
With 9 months' training, women are expected to be able to
overhaul at least three or four different kinds of aircraft
instruments.
Ogden (Utah) Air Depot: More than 1,000 women were on
the pay roll of the depot in June 1942. Only 14 were on the
pay roll in June 1941. Women were employed at the depot
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as mechanic learners in all types of aircraft mechanic positions.
Three women were engineering draftsmen.
To fill vacancies at the depot~ officials have decided to employ women to the extent (in terms of percentages) indicated
in the following schedule:
TrllM
Plftffltlll' ,, -
25
25
25
Aircraft engine mechanic.
General aircraft mechanic
Aircraft propeller mechanic
Aircraft hydraulic me(:hanic
Aircraft welder ·. . . . .
Aircraft electrical worker .
Aircraft radib mechanic • .
Aircraft leather and canvas worker .
25
50
50
50
75
MILITARY CAMPS AND FORTS
Since July 1941, thousands of enlisted men in office and
-skilled trades jobs in recruiting stations, army posts and camps,
and marine posts, have been replaced by women civil-service
,employees and have thus been released for duty with the
combat forces. Indicative of the rapid trend in this replacement policy is the fact that by the first part of January 1942,
20,000 men had been so replaced.
Replacements have been made in all branches of the armed
services, but chiefly in the Quartermaster Corps, the Medical
Corps, the Signal Corps, and in the administrative offices of
the Army. Women replaced enlisted men as typists, stenographers, office-machine operators, clerks, telephone switchboard operators, messengers, cooks, and kitchen workers.
They also replaced men in such jobs as plumber, machinist,
welder, sheet-metal worker, truck driver, janitor, and laborer.
The ranks of women workers in the military posts have been.
increased to the greatest extent by qualified women secured
from lists of eligibles set up through such civil-service examinations as those for laundry operative, laundry assistant, forelady of laundry department, telephone operator, storekeeper,
.and dental surgeon's assistant. The mechanic learner and
learner-trainee examinations have also provided a number of
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women employees in the skilled and semiskilled trades .. The
following section gives some idea of the diversified occupations at which women work in the military posts of the
Nation.
Marine Barracks, Quantico, Va.: Fifty women, employed
as helper-trainees, assist aircraft mechanics in the aircraft
engine overhaul shops. One interesting duty among many
others is that of painting insignia on aircraft.
Camp Davis, Wilmington, N. C.: More than 800 women
are employed at Camp Davis, most of them in clerical and
stenographic positions. Two hundred and ninety-six are
employed in the quartermaster laundry, and 399 in the Office
of the Quartermaster.
Fort Meade, Md.: Women are employed as mess attendants.
Holabird Quartermaster Depot, Baltimore, Md. : A number
of women artists are engaged in free-hand drawing of illustrations for use in textbooks in the field of automobile mechanics. These books are used in all army mechanic schools
throughout the country. Women in the engineering division
draw charts and make blueprints which are used by mechanics.
and engineers on duty in the depot.
Post Commissary, Fort Knox, Ky:: Women are employed
as meat cutters.
Army Camps and Forts, Alexandria, La.: More than 1,200
women, including some draftsmen, are employed in camps and
forts in the vicinity of Alexandria.
Army Camps and Forts, San Antonio, Tex., and vicinity:
Approximately 2,000 women are employed in camp activities
as compared to 700 a year ago. Included in this number are
284 laundry workers, 834 typists, 448 stenographers, 78 clerks,.
14 dietitians, 33 laboratory technicians, 22 seamstresses, and
15 dental and laboratory helpers.
Fort Lewis, Wash.: The post ordnance office employs.
women as clerks, and as junior storekeepers in the ordnance
warehouses. Women have proved themselves capable of handling and storing heavy,' greasreqmpment-doing the work
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formerly done by soldiers. The post signal radio repair office
also employs women as storekeepers and messengers.
Other women are employed as mechanic learners, dismantling field glasses, cleaning the lenses, reassembling the parts,
and making the necessary adjustments. Others drive trucks
and busses.
The quartermaster laundry at the post employs 635 persons,
of whom 85 percent are women. Many of the women are
doing heavy work formerly assigned to men-for example,
those employed as extractors and washers.
The station hospital employs women as cooks, bakers, dishwashers, and janitors, and as classified laborers. for the distribution of linens.
At the McChord Field subdepot, women ride motor scooters
to deliver mail and messages; other women unload freight cars
and army trucks, work in storerooms as storekeepers, and do
janitor work.
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War Jobs for
College-trained Women
women are being sought in ever-increasing numbers to fill war-service. jobs in the Government.
In The First Year it was found that women who had pursued
professional and scien~ific courses in colleges were making
superb contributions to the Federal defense program. In the
Government agencies they were filling-important positions in
the professional and scientific fields. They were serving as
dietitians, social workers, dental hygienists, nurses, lawyers,
doctors, economists, personnel officers, and chiefs of publicinformation and press relations.
Highly trained women were ground-crew instructors and
pilots. They were designing work outfits for women. testing
textiles to determine resistance to mildew in order to improve
cloth for military clothing and equipment, and inspecting
lease-lend supplies which were being sent to England.
Now, women are found in the shops and laboratories of the
Government, working as engineering draftsmen, conducting
experiments relating to the dehydration of fresh vegetables,
studying ways to preserve and increase the nutritive value of
foods, and producing vaccine for use in the prevention of
animal diseases.
Due to the heavy recruiting and examining workload of the
Civil Service Commission, the assembling of statistical data on
Federal employment has been greatly curtailed for the duration
of the war. For that reason, it is difficult to estimate the
number of college-trained women who are contributing to the
Government's war program. It is also difficult to ascertain in
what professions they are working in the largest numbers, and
under what conditions they are working. Certain it is that
C
OLLEGE-TRAINED
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WOMEN AT WORK IN THE SHOPS AND LABORATORIES
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they are doing all, and more, of the work they were doing in
the first year of the emergency, and in much larger numbers.
Some of the professional and technical positions· in the
Federal service in which women are making notable contributions to the war program are:
Bacteriologist.
Biochemist.
Business specialist.
Club organization specialist.
Commercial specialist.
Commodity specialist.
Community organization analyst.
Cryptanalyst.
Economic analyst.
Economic planning consultant.
Economic warfare analyst.
Economist:
Business.
Home.
Home (extension).
Medical.
Education specialist:
Elementary.
Exceptional children.
Home economics.
Parent.
Employee relations consultant.
Employment analyst.
Employment specialist.
Home marketing specialist.
Industrial analyst.
Industrial specialist.
Information specialist.
Laboratory technician.
Leasing and occupancy analyst.
Library material specialist.
Medical officer.
Meteorologist.
Microscopist.
Nutrition specialist.
Nutritionist.
Personnel research technician.
Physical analyst.
Price analyst.
Program specialist.
Public heal th nursing consultant.
Public welfare consultant.
School program specialist.
Social science analyst.
Social scientist.
Social welfare officer.
Statistical analyst.
Statistical research consultant.
Statistician:
Health and disability studies.
Venereal diseases.
Student personnel administration
specialist.
Surgeon.
Technical aid.
Technical analyst.
Translator.
Zoologist.
The war program of the Federal service has accentuated
tenfold the need for professional and technical workers.
Critical labor shortages have developed in engineering (all
branches) and in the physical sciences (physicists, chemists,
metallurgists, geologists, meteorologists); in management and
administration (administrative analysts, industrial consult-
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ants, personnel managers, housing managers); in the social
sciences (technical experts, statisticians, transportation economists, marketing analysts); in the field of accounting (cost
auditors and purchasing officers); and in medicine and related
fields (nurses, medical officers, physiotherapy aids, occupational therapists, dental hygienists).
As the central personnel agency of the Government, the
Civil Service Commission has found it increasingly difficult to
recruit an adequate number of trained personnel in many
occupations requiring college training. Critical shortages
exist in such fields as engineering, drafting, meteorology,
physics, and chemistry. It is more and more imperative that
professionally and technically trained women take war jobs
in which they can fully utilize their highest skills and talents,
lest the war program be seriously crippled.
It is estimated that there are approximately 3,500,000
women in America who have either received college degrees
or certificates, or have had 1, 2, or 3 years of college training.
The Civil Service Commission has recognized the importance
of this vast reservoir of trained womanpower.
As the
recruiting agency of the Government, it seeks to draw from it
women who are qualified through training to fill critical warservice positions in Federal war agencies. The Commission
has sought to do this through wholesale shortcuts in its
recruiting methods and through numerous procedural innovations designed to facilitate the task of supplying emergency
personnel.
Age, physical, and even educational requirements have
been liberalized in many of the professional civil-service examinations announced by the Commission to secure professional
and scientific workers. Such examinations are continuously
open to applicants, and the great majority of them are "unassembled' '-that is to say, applicants are rated on their sworn
statements as to their education and experience, and on
corroborative evidence gathered by the Commission; they
are not required to assemble for a written test.
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Under the Engineering, Science, and Management War
Training Program, sponsored by the U. S. Office of Education,
training courses are available to women who need "refresher'"
training, or more specific training, in order to qualify for
war jobs.
Records of persons qualified for Government jobs in the
professional and subprofessional fields are maintained in the
Commission's examining units. The persons who submitted
their records-in the form of applications for employmentdid so as an indication of their willingness to fill war-service
jobs. By reference to these records, the Commission has
supplied hundreds of qualified women to fill critical positions
in Federal agencies.
But the response to the Commission's efforts to induce professionally trained women to submit statements of their qualifications has been below expectations.
A number of conditions contribute to this situation. First,
many women have responded to the call of the volunteer services (Red Cross, U. S. 0., WAAC, WAVES, etc.); second,
more money is finding its way into households because of the
increased earning power of men, so that there is less inducement
for women to seek employment; third, and quite likely the
most important of all, is the simple fact that comparatively
few women have received training in the professional fields in
which critical war jobs exist.
During the past several years, the Federal Government has
looked .with increasing interest upon the annual "crop" of
students graduating from the colleges and universities. These
students, in the view of Federal appointing officers, were the
best prospects that could be found for appointment to juniorgrade professional positions. The Civil Service Commission
has reached out for these students, announcing, at least once
each year, a "junior professional assistant" examination.
The first "JPA" examination was announced in February 1939,
and six others had been announced by July 1942.
In sampling the data compiled on the junior professional
assistant examinations held during 1941 and the early part of
1133008-43-5
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1942 (for the purpose of giving some idea as to what "optional
~bjects" both women and men undergraduate and graduat~
students were choosing), the following information was revealed:
OPTIONAL SUBJECTS CHOSEN BY APPLICANTS FOR THE
JUNIOR PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANT EXAMINATIONS HELD
DURING 1941 AND THE EARLY PART OF 1942
EXAMINATION ANNOUNCED JAN. 6, 1941
Applied
Passed
Optional Subject
Men
Junior administrative technician .
Junior aS!onomist . . . •
. • •
unior in animal nutrition • • • •
Junior biologist (wildlife)
Junior business analyst . •
junior chemist • . • •
unior economist • . .
Junior engineer . • . .
Junior forester . • .•
n!or feologist . . . . .
unior ome economist .
unior ·horticulturist . .
Junior legal assistant • .
unior meteorologist . .
nnior physicist . . . •
Junior range conservationist. . .
Junior soil scientist. . . . . . . .
Junior writing and editin! assistant
Junior zoologist (parasito ogy) • .
Women
2,815
634
234
1,314
2,488
3,341
2,792
3,894
983
1,071
. • . • .
• • • • •
• • • • .
r
6
282
3,560
1,133
743
447
466
2,372
200
3
.
• • • •
• . . •
• . . •
Men
Women
913
546
1
85
168
33
255
825
908
976
3,754
326
456
1,821
2
26
38
1,077
428
280
········
419
313
454
725
6
........
304
135
57
3
3
2,536
46
111
........
15
57
38
192
3
. .......
23
285
········
57
9
19
164
. ........
193
760
28
478
2
3
EXAMINATION ANNOUNCED OCT. 20, 1941
Applied
Passed
Optional Subject
Men
f
Junior administrative technician. . • • •
~or business_ analyst . . . . • • . • •
,umor econollllst. • • • • • • • • • • .
..
.
2,968
2,406
2,280
Women
1,105
456
686
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Men
2,071
1,891
1,653
Women
742
309
491
EXAMINATION ANNOUNCED JAN. 12, 1942
PUied
.Applie4
·•
~
Optional Subjc:ct
Men
Junior agricultural economist • .
Junior agronomist . • . • •
Junior aquatic biologist. • . • •
Junior archivist • . . • • • • •
junior bacteriolotsc . . • . • .
un!or biolo11ist wildlile) • • .
un1or chem1St. . . . • • • . •
fm!or entomologist .
untor forester. . . •
Junior 11eologist . . . • . . •
Junior m household equipment •
Junior plericulturist . . • . • .
J,mior pomologist . . . . . • •
jun~or public welfare 2:5si~tant .•
uruor range conservat1001st. • •
Junior soil scientist. . , . . • .
iun!or Stat~ J?t:partment assistant
U010r stat1St1oan • . • . . • .
..
.
126
257
184
561
344
2,163
268
21
433
383
20
54
89
500
199
.
•
•
•
•
.
.
6
2
106
459
267
184
416
408
•
Women
248
1,206
991
Men
Women
2
47
85
95
249
124
117
1,968
129
1
34
113
73
15
373
~
96
258
11
57
92
4
2
1,160
2
4
472
814
8
23
250
67
96
613
873
18
.
.35
603
l
'
170
626
Data are not available on the number of appointments whicli
ha'\Te been made from the lists of those persons who qual_ified
in the various options under each examination announced'.
Following a survey by the American Council on Education
to determine the approximate number of undergraduate women
students with training in the fields listed below who graduated
from the colleges, universities, professional and technologic~l
schools and teachers colleges between February (or March)
1942 and December 1942 (or January 1943), the following
estimates were made:
w_,. t,rt1atlillil
FuM
Management and administration.
Agriculture and biology . . . .
Medicine and related fields . . •
2,974
3,000
5,558
Engineering and physical sciences
2,545
Social sciences . . .
Arts and languages . .
24,139
9,036
ToTAL • • • • • • • •
47,252
In addition, it was estimated that 8,000 women graduate
student.s would become available for full-time employment
during the same period.
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There is every indication in these data that (11) women in
large numbers are not specializing in those professions in
which the more critical shortages of workers are found and
(h) those who have specialized in such professions have not
applied for examination under the options in the junior professional assistant examinations which relate to the jobs in
which workers are needed in the greatest numbers.
Perhaps the most valuable single step which has been taken
to inform college and university students of war jobs in the
Federal service is the publication of "Civilian War Service
Opportunities for College and University Students.'' Prepared
by the United States Civil Service Commission and distributed
by the American Council on Education, it lists those examinations requiring college education, and the remarks which
have been made on the need for women in some of the professions covered by the examinations are not only of current but
of historic importance. Notable ones follow:
Chemist(Junior), $2,000.
Women have special opportunities as a result of the war demand for
technically trained persons in chemistry in navy yards, arsenals, and
other Government laboratories. More women should be encouraged
to enter the various fields of chemistry.
Economist (any specialized branch), $2,600 to $6,500.
Womm to a much greater extent may well be encouraged to enter all
fields of economics.
Engineer(Junior), all branches, $2,000.
Womm.-More women should be induced to enter the engineering
fields. This is a big opportunity for women interested in engineering.
Engineering Aid (photogrammetric, geodetic, hydrographic, topographic),
$1,440 to $2,600.
Womm to a much greater extent should be encouraged to go into this
field. Women are now being appointed in considerable numbers.
Engineering Draftsman (20 options), $1,440 to $2,600 a year.
Womm can well fill positions in all these options. Women are now
readily accepted for all drafting positions.
Inspector, Engineering Materials (steel hulls, mechanical, electrical, radio),
$1,800 to $2,600.
Wom,n can qualify. War demands are increasing opportunities for
the appointment of women.
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Inspector, Ordnance Material, $1,620 to $2,600.
Womm are being appointed to the lower positions in increasing nwnbers. Greater use of women in inspection work depends on the scarcity
of manpower.
Medical Officer, $3,200 to $4,600.
Women who definitely desire a career in medicine can well be advised
to consider opportunities in the Federal civil service.
Metallurgist, $2,000 to $5,600.
Women are eligible. War demands are increasing their opportunities
in metallurgy.
Meteorologist, $2,000 to $5,600.
Women should be encouraged to enter this field.
Naval Architect, $2,600 to $5,600.
Womm may well be encouraged to enter this field of engineering.
Qualified women are readily accepted now.
Physicist Qunior), $2,000.
Women to a much greater extent should be encouraged to enter the field
of physics. Special opportunities are now open to women in the lower
grades.
Physiotherapy Aid, $1,620 to $1,800.
Women can be used more extensively than ever in this position. Men
are still being accepted but in limited number because of the need for
men in the armed forces.
Radio Mechanic-Technician, $1,440 to $2,600 a year.
Women may be accepted. War demands are increasing opportunities
for women appointees.
Radio Monitoring Officer, $2,600 to $3,200.
Women may be accepted.
Shipyard Inspector (hull, outfitting, machinery, electrical, joiner), $2,300
to $3,500.
Women may be accepted.
Technical and Scientific Aid, $1~620 to $2,600.
Women are urgently needed who have completed 2 years of college work
with courses in mathematics, at least through trigonometry.
Technologist, $2,000 to $5,600,
W omm to a much greater extent should be encouraged to enter the vari•
ous technological fields. Women are readily accepted for appoint'ment.
Training Specialist, $2,600 to $5,600.
Women are eligible. Certain phases of Government work offer exceptional opportunities.
Veterinarian, $2,000 to $2,600.
Women to a greater extent can well be advised to consider this field of
medical science.
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The Search lor
The Stenographer-Typist
T
work of total war has created a. n unprecedented
demand in Government establishments everywhere for
the services of the typist and the stenographer. One of the
most spectacular and stirring phases of the behind-the-lines
activity of the second year of the emergency is the Civil
Service Commission's recruitment of these workers. By the
t~ns of thousands, they have been recruited, examined, and
placed in Federal war agencies.
·
In December 1938, only 53,000 stenographers, typists,· and
secretaries were on the Federal rolls; 45,000 were women;
By August 1941, the m~mber had increased to an estimated
total of 85,000. More than 150,000 stenographers, typists,
and secretaries were at work in the executive branch of the
Federal Government in June 1942; about 130,000 were women.
· · The upward trend in the number of appointments made from
the Federal civil-service registers (lists of eligibles) for stenog..
raphers and typists during the past 3 years clearly indicates
the phenomenal growth in the demand for such workers.
From June 1939 to June 1940, more than 2,800 appointments
were made from the stenographer registers, and more than
5,500 from the typist registers. During the next 12 months,
approximately 15,000 stenographers and 25,000 typists were
appointed. Figures on the number of appointments made
during the 12-month period ending June 30, 1942, are not
available; however, by subtracting the estimate of total
stenographer-typist employment in August 1941 from that
made for June 1942, it may be seen that the number of appointments to new positions alone was 65,000, without counting
appointments necessitated by the turnover inevitable to so
large a number as 150,000 positions. Even before the emerHE PAPER
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gency, women were receiving the vast majority of appointments to stenographer-typist positions and, of course, war
conditions have greatly augmented the percentage of women:
~ppointed.
The tremendous increase in the number of stenographers
and typists employed by Federal agencies was the most sen.sational part of a general expansion of personnel which was
required to take care of the vast projects of the defense and
:war programs. The recruiting facilities of the Civil Service
Commission were taxed to the extreme in the effort to meet
the demand. Every conceivable avenue through which
potential stenographers and typists might be quickly reached •
was explored. Examinations were held daily. Examining
procedures were simplified and requirements were lowered.
In preceding years, persons who applied for stenographer
and typist examinations were required to file their applications
by a specified date. Often applicants waited many months
before they were examined, and, if eligible, they sometimes
waited several more months before they were finally certified
for appointment and placed on the job. These delays were
caused by the staggering number of applications filed and the
resulting examination workload.
Early in May 1941, however, because of the enormous increase in the demand for qualified stenographer-typist eligibles~
the announcement of the stenographer and typist examination
for appointment· to the ·departmental service at Washington,
b. C., was amended to provide for (a) the continuous acceptance of applications, (b) the examination of persons whose
applications were received prior to May 28, 1941, within 2
weeks from that date, (c) the examination of groups of applicants at periodic intervals thereafter (the intervals depending
upon the number of applications received), and (J) the
acceptance of a subsequent application card from a person
who had previously failed in the examination, after a lapse
of only 3 months from the date of filing of the previous application.
On December 15, 1941, the passing grade in the typing part
of the junior typist examination was lowered from 70 to 60.
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In the amendment· effecting this change, it was also provided
that a subsequ.ent application card would'be accepted from a
person who had previously been rated ineligible after a lapse of
only 30 days from the date of filing of the previous application.
On January 26, 1942, the required rate of dictation for the
junior stenographer examination was lowered from 96 to 80
words per minute. The restriction that a person who had been
rated ineligible as a junior stenographer must wait 30 days
before a second application would be accepted was removed.
Subsequent amendments of the examination requirements
followed.
On April 13, 1942, the rate of dictation was reestablished at
96 words a minute. A rating of70 was reestablished as a minimum in each test in either of the examinations. The general
test ( designed to test mental alertness and understanding of the
. fundamentals of English) was now includod for qualifying purposes only-that is, contrary to long practice, it was no longer
an element which affected the final numerical rating of the competitor; the competitor either passed it (and won the right to be
rated in the other tests making up the examination) or failed
it (and lost the right to be rated in the other tests).
May 4, 1942: Applications from persons who had reached
their sixteenth birthday were accepted in the case of applicants
residing in Washington, D. C., or within a 50-mile radius.
June 15, 1942: Applications from all persons who had not
reached their eighteenth birthday, but would reach that birthday by October 1, 1942, were accepted.
With the declaration of war, the demand for qualified stenographers and typists became acute. In one instance, 670 stenographers were needed in Washington immediately. The Civil
Service Commission was given 8 days in which to bring them
to Washington and put them on the job. A press release issued
by the Commission on December 27, 1941, tells the story of the
speed attained in filling the positions:
By the closing hour on the date set, the 670 stenographers were on the
job and 48 more were ready for duty. The majority were recruited by the
Commission's regional staffs and the others were obtained from the lists of
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eligibles maintained in the Commission's central office. When they
arrived at the Nation's capital, they went direct to the Civil Service Commission, where they were fingerprinted and then sent at once to the jobs
waiting for them. More stenographers continue to arrive in Washington
by every train and bus to meet the continuing need.
A thousand stenographers were placed on war jobs in Washington during the week ending January 28, 1942.
It became apparent, however, that further "comer cutting"
would be necessary if recruiting was to keep pace with the
continually increasing demand for this class of war worker.
There was a growing uneasiness on the part of the press (an
uneasiness which was reflected in pubHc opinion) as the
number of Government employees continued to mount.
Were so many stenographers and typists really necessary to
carry on the war? Was it possible that the war could be lost
because of inability to recruit them? There were reports of
complaints that stenographers and typists were hurried to
Washington and assigned to "useless" stenographic pools;
that there were thousands upon thousands of stenographers
and typists already in the Government who were at work
on jobs not requiring stenographic skill; and that new stenographers and typists were being assigned to clerical positions.
In November 1941, the Civil Service Commission requested
the heads of the departments and independent establishments
of the Government immediately to examine their personnel
with a view to reassigning to stenographic positions any
persons serving in a clerical capacity who might be competent stenographers and whose ability in the stenographic
field was not being utilized. However, new appointees to
stenographic positions continued to complain that they were
being assigned to duties not requiring stenographic skill, and
early in 1942 the Commission made another effort to adjust
the matter, asking the heads of the agencies to submit the
names of all persons appointed as stenographers on or after
July 1, 1941, who were at the time devoting 50 percent or more
of their time to clerical duties.
In taking this action, it was not the intention of the Commission to disparage· the work being done by women in clerical
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(as distinguished. from typing and stenographic) po£>itipns~
The girls grading civil-service examination papers, the tele,,
phone operators, the fingerprinters, the :file clerks, are as
important to the war program as the stenographers ·and;
typists. But stenographers and typists were needed in large
numbers, and one way of increasing the supply was to see to it
~hat persons qualified to perform typing and stenographic
work were not placed in jobs for which recruits were more
easily obtainable.
· The'Civil Service Commission relied heavily on the Directors
of the 13 United States Civil Service Regions in the recruiting
of potential stenographers and typists for appointment to war
jobs in Washington.
.Quotas were assigned to each region according to the needs
of the service. The following quotas, assigned to the 1l
regions for the month of June 1942, are typical:
·
QUOTAS ASSIGNED TO EACH OF THE 13 CIVIL SERVICE
REGIONS IN RECRUITING STENOGRAPHERS AND TYPISTS
FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE 1942
Week ending
June 6, 1942
Week ending
June 13, 1942
Week ending
June 20, 1942
Week ending
June 27, 1942, ,
Region
Stenographer
1. ..............
2 •.•....•.....•.
? ................
85
105
80
60
80
80
100
Typist
Typist
Stcnog-
rapher
40
86
60
86
60
64
70
70
64
70
70
55
55
10 .......•.......
11. ..............
12 •.••••......•••
45
15
25
13 ...............
5
TarAL .....
790
1,150
T~
- -- - - - --. - -
60
45
8 ...............
6 ...............
Stenographer
155
9 ..........••...
.s ...............
Typist
120
105
70
115
115
150
105
110
60
15
20
10
3 ...............
4 ...............
Stenographer
60
65
45
75
40
25
25
5
10
- 500
-5
78
140
74
70
94
32
76
56
95
85
65
90
50
30
78
140
74
70
94
32
76
12
17
8
30
15
30
10
56
807
700
807
12
17
8
95
85
65
90
50
30
30
15
30
40
60
45
60
65
45
.75
40
25
25
5
10
10
.5
700
500
In sampling the data received from the various regional
offices on the number of persons examined in the stenographer
and typist examinations, and the number who passed, the
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WOM EN WAR WORKERS IN THE CLERICAL FORCES
OF THE GOVERNMENT
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following was considered noteworthy and typical of the successful manner in which the various regions met their quotas:
Fifth United St11tes Civil Service Region (Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi,
Alabama, Georgia, Florida):
'
·
iix,,,,,;,,,J
Ptni,J
Junior Typist. . . •
. 22,284
12,539
Junior Stenographer.
. 10,350
5,467
. 32,634
ToTAL • • • • . •
18,006
Sixth United St11tes Civil Service Region (Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky):
Ex,,,,,ineJ
Pt1S.t1l
Stenographer-Typist . . . • . • . • • . . . . . . 35,000
10,000
(Approximate)
Tmth United St11tes Civil Service Region (Texas, Louisiana):
Stenographer .
Typist . . . .
TOTAL • • • • • • • • • •
Ex11111ined
p_.,.,,tl.
. 10,648
. 18,861
3,062
8,445
. 29,509
11,507
Special representatives of the Commission "beat·the bushes"
of the countryside. "Itinerant" examiners went into schools,
factories, and homes in their search for available stenographers
and typists. Appeals were made through the press and over
the radio. Business colleges trained students day and night.
Patriotic posters set forth a vibrant appeal to girls-VICTORY
WAITS ON YOUR FINGERS: KEEP 'EM FLYING, MISS
U.S. A.
The result of this concerted action brought thousands of
war workers to the National Capital. The great majority
were girls and women-in fact, the number of girls was so
large that national attention became focused on the ''Government girl." Magazines and newspapers featured her. The
movies discovered her. Her work, her life in Washington,
her ambitions, became public property.
The "Government girl" continues to arrive in the National
Capital. Many more stories-feature and fiction-will be
told about her. Yet there is one unglamorous fact about her
that is in danger of being obscured: Her contribution to the
job of winning the war is of genuine importance.
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A Million
Women
in
The Federal Service-1943
end of the period covered in this study, that is to
say, June 30, 1942, about 14,000,000 women workers
were on jobs in the United States.
Out of this vast resource of womanpower (representing more
than one-fourth of the country's total employment), 2,000,000
women were at work in agriculture; 3,000,000 in manufacturing; 400,000 in transportation and public utilities; 800,000
in Government service (Federal, State, and local); 7,000,000
in the retail and wholesale trades, and in the personal, professional, and related services; and 700,000 in miscellaneous
employment (mining, construction, business services, amusement, finance, and insurance). Within these various classifications there were 2,500,000 women engaged in actual war
work. 1
Millions of additional women will yet find their way into
war work-women who, heretofore, have not found it necessary to work . . . married women with and without children . . . women who have retired because they thought
themselves too old to work, but now feel that they must
return to work in order to do their bit for their country.
It was estimated in 1942 that the number of women employed
in war industries (Government and private) would reach
3,500,000 by the end of that year, and that another 2,500,000
would be added in 1943, bringing the total number of women
in war production up to 6,000,000 by the end of 1943.
In the Federal service the total number of women employees
is increasing at the rate of 8,000 a week. At the end of 1942
the number of women on Government jobs reached the 600,000
AT THE
£1..
• Estimatc:s based on figures compiled by the Women's Bureau, United Statc:s Department
of Labor, from other Government sources.
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mark. June 30, 1943, the end ·of another Government fiscal
year, may find 1,000,000 women working for Uncle Sam.
There is little to wonder about in the fact that women have
risen in such large numbers to work, march, and even fight, if
necessary, with men against the common enemy; for this is a
new kind of war-a war so savagely waged on land, by sea,
and in the air that its uncertain geographical fronts leave no
peaceful hinterland, but expose all the people-men, women
and children-constant!y to the danger of sudden attack and
possible extermination.
In no other war has women's contribution to the freeing 0£
men for military duty, and their participation in the manufacture of munitions, in the planning of strategy, and in the
actual defense of our shores, been so widespread and so profound as it has been since the attack on Pearl Harbor.
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@FedFRASER