Women in Shipbuilding during World War II

Most people recognize the patriotic World War II campaign of “Rosie the Riveter,” which aimed to recruit female workers to patch the gaps in industrial labor left by male military enlistment. Shipyards, specifically, hired women into the war effort at an exponential rate as governmental demands for military vessels dramatically increased. Rapidly adapting to undertake tasks which had rarely been assigned to women before, they worked as testers, burners, shrinkers, electricians, small parts factory workers, porters, painters, stock clerks, drill press operators, shipfitters, and welders. National statistics from 1943 show that the average proportion of women in the total workforce increased from 6.48 to 13.3 percent in shipyards between March and September, and around two million women worked in and made significant contributions to war-related industries, so that American production far outpaced that of the Axis countries. As women joined the workforce to aid their country, they not only gained employment benefits and improved their quality of life, but earned self-sufficiency, a sense of personal accomplishment, and increased social worth from newly learned industrial skills.

Many Wisconsin women found industrial work in the shipyards of Sturgeon Bay, Superior, Manitowoc, and Marinette. Whether they had previously worked as teachers, secretaries, or stay-at-home mothers, the desperate need for shipyard workers encouraged women to seek new opportunities in manufacturing. While some filled clerical positions or managed security procedures, others undertook more hands-on roles as welders and the like. At the same time, these inspiring mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters balanced regular household duties with their strenuous shifts at the shipyards and navigated uncertain or negative attitudes about the presence of women in so-called “men’s work.”