American Women in WWI

At the time of the First World War, most women were barred from voting or serving in military combat roles. Many saw the war as an opportunity to not only serve their countries but to gain more rights and independence. With millions of men away from home, women filled manufacturing and agricultural positions on the home front. Others provided support on the front lines as nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, translators and, in rare cases, on the battlefield. One observer wrote that American women “do anything they were given to do; that their hours are long; that their task is hard; that for them there is small hope of medals and citations and glittering homecoming parades.

African American Women

As women took traditional male jobs in the United States, African American women made their first major shift from domestic employment to work in offices and factories. Recent research also shows that a limited number of African American women served overseas as volunteers with the YMCA.

“The women worked as ammunition testers, switchboard operators, stock takers. They went into every kind of factory devoted to the production of war materials, from the most dangerous posts in munition plants to the delicate sewing in aeroplane factories.” Alice Dunbar Nelson, American Poet and Civil Rights Activist, on African American women’s efforts during the war, 1918.

Signing a Pledge Card

But even women in more traditional roles contributed to the war effort. Every housewife in the U.S. hopefully signed a pledge card stating that she would “carry out the directions and advice of the Food Administrator in the conduct of my household, in so far as my circumstances permit.” This meant canning food for future use, growing vegetables in the backyard and limiting consumption of meat, wheat and fats. Most of all, women bolstered the morale of their families at home and loved ones overseas.

Medical Care

The Salvation Army, the Red Cross and many other organizations depended on thousands of female volunteers. The American Red Cross operated hospitals to care for war casualties, staffed by nurses, hundreds of whom died in service during the war. Thousands of women also served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and the Navy Nurse Corps. While the American Expeditionary Forces, still preparing to go overseas, U.S. Army nurses traveled ahead and became part of the British Expeditionary Force. By June 1918, more than 3,000 American nurses assisted in over 750 in British-run hospitals in France 

Women in WWI | National WWI Museum and Memorial (theworldwar.org)