The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led to an intensive war effort as Americans looked for ways to do their part, while taking advantage of employment opportunities not previously open to them. People from all regions of the country, ready to put years of depression behind them, began flocking to the various industrial centers of the country to get jobs in the burgeoning defense industry. Most large aircraft companies were on the coasts and the migration of workers to the staff the plants meant huge population growth for west coast cities like San Diego, Los Angeles and Seattle. However, these new workers were otfen a new kind, as large numbers of men were drafted into the armed services, while others volunteered. This shortage of young men led companies like San Diego's Consolidated Vultee to look for other sources of labor, making efforts to accommodate both female workers and disabled men.  

Recruitment poster for women workers, from the SDASM collection.

And almost no one was turned away, as Howard Cannon, a Convair foreman said in his speech, “They Want to Build Bombers:” “It is hard, now, to get workers. Often I get fellows who have handicaps, such as tumors or the loss of one arm, or nervous afflictions, or even partial paralysis.” He continues, “So when a man with handicaps is sent to me I try to find a job for him. I have never had to dismiss a man from the company’s employ.”

"A day that will live in infamy"

After Pearl Harbor and Americas entrance into the war, female employment ballooned, quickly coming to make up more than 40% of the workforce. By 1945, nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home. Approximately 350,000 women joined the Armed Services, serving at home and abroad.

WASPs ferried thousands of aircraft to the Front Lines.

Before the war, most women who did work outside the home, were employed as secretaries, nurses or teachers. After Pearl Harbor, that changed, and nowhere was this more obvious than in the aviation industry, which had the greatest increase in female workers. More than 310,000 women worked in the American aircraft industry in 1943, a massive 65 percent of the industry’s total workforce (compared to just one percent pre-war).  Though women were crucial to the war effort, they weren't always treated fairly. Female workers often faced discrimination and harassment in the workplace and their pay lagged far behind their male counterparts. A female worker rarely earned more than 50 percent of male wages.

Women working on the Home Front in 1942.

The call for working women was intended to apply only during the war. At the war’s end, even though many women wanted to keep their jobs, many were forced out because of the decrease in demand for wartime supplies and by government policies that dictated returning servicemen be able to return to their prewar positions. Although many women left their positions with new-found skills and confidence, those that remained were often demoted.  However, an interesting side effect that is often overlooked is what these women did with their wages. Since there was little to buy during the war years, many had saved a great portion of their income. It was this money that helped serve as a down payment for a new home and helped launch the prosperity of the 1950s.

The influx of workers at San Diego factories during the war caused a demand for housing, which led to the creation of neighborhoods like Kearney Mesa.

Still, the wartime shift into the workplace had offered women the opportunity to prove their capabilities. They finished the war with training, a sense of accomplishment and the drive to succeed. These women became a newly empowered segment of the population, and began a long, grinding struggle for equality in the workplace. 

Next: Women Workers in San Diego.