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Women of World War II

By the end of World War II, more than 19 million women were in the workforce and 350,000 women had served in the US Armed Forces.

Women experienced the war and contributed to American victory in World War II in countless ways. American women entered the work force in large numbers, enabling the production of the “Arsenal of Democracy.” They volunteered in the United States and abroad with the American Red Cross, the USO, and hundreds of other organizations. 

 

Women joined the service and wore military uniforms

Women navigated a home front landscape altered by the war with blackouts, shortages, and rationing

 

These experiences were not universally shared by American women. For Japanese American women, wartime also meant forcible internment with their families. 

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High School Life at Rohwer War Relocation Center

Rohwer War Relocation Center in McGehee, Arkansas, was created to educate the children of Japanese American descent who were forced from their homes along the West Coast of the United States and required to live behind barbed wire for the duration of WWII, far from the homes they knew.

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In order to be a part of the war effort, African American women had to challenge the law—and still faced opposition. 

Whatever the experience, American women lived through the war while caring for and worrying about loved ones far from home. By the end of the World War II, more than 19 million women were in the workforce and 350,000 women had served in the US Armed Forces.

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