Rosie The Riveter: Working Women During World War II
Research Proposal
Rosie the Riveter: Working Women during World War II
History 114
Prof. Jonathan Couser
April 3, 2012
While most American men were off fighting for their country during World War II, it was the women who brought home the bacon every night. Since males weren’t around to support their families, females had to step up. House-wives and many other females started working for the first time, and all because of the media and propaganda that the government used to persuade them. Rosie the Riveter, one piece of propaganda during World War II, was a major reason behind women joining the work force and proving, for a short time, what they were capable of. To research this subject further I would like to discover more …show more content…
information about women working during World War II. How did propaganda such as “Rosie the Riveter” affect women working in America during World War II? The most important primary sources would be the propaganda itself. I would first look at pictures that were printed of “Rosie the Riveter.” I would then interpret the pictures and try to figure out what they were trying to say through them. Other important primary sources would include articles and facts about working women before, during, and after the war. I will then use secondary sources about “Rosie the Riveter” and women working during the war to further explain the subject. There were many different sources I used to make this bibliography.
The first several sources I found were monographs in Southern New Hampshire University’s library. Once I found one book, I found many other similar to the topic in the same location. The scholarly articles were all found online from JSTOR and Academic Search Complete. The primary sources were somewhat harder to find. The “Rosie the Riveter” images and song were actual propaganda from the time. Primary sources such as these would be necessary because it is what the paper is based off of. Overall, it was relatively easy finding sources because almost every source had a bibliography and sources of its …show more content…
own.
Preliminary Bibliography
Primary Sources
Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, "Rosie the Riveter" (1943).
J. Howard Miller, “We Can Do It!” Westinghouse War Production Co-Ordinating Committee (1942).
Norman Rockwell, Cover illustration for the Saturday Evening Post (May 29, 1943).
Secondary Sources
*Karen Anderson, Wartime Women: Sex Roles, Family Relations, and the Status of Women during World War II (Westport, Conn., 1981).
*Gail Collins, America 's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines (New York, 2003).
Penny Colman, Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II (New York, 1995).
Not at SNHU – obtain by ILL, available from UNH.
*Connie Field, The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter [video recording] (Santa Monica, Cal., 2004).
*Sherna Berger Gluck, Rosie the Riveter Revisited: Women, the War, and Social Change (Boston, 1987).
*Chester W. Gregory, Women in Defense Work During World War II; An Analysis of the Labor Problem and Women 's Rights (New York, 1974).
*Susan M. Hartmann, The Home Front and Beyond: American Women in the 1940s (Boston, 1982).
*Maureen Honey, Creating Rosie the Riveter: Class, Gender, and Propaganda during World War II (Amherst, 1984).
James J. Kimble, and Lester C. Olson. "Visual Rhetoric Representing Rosie The Riveter: Myth And Misconception In J. Howard Miller 's "We Can Do It!" Poster." Rhetoric & Public Affairs vol. 9, no. 4 (2006) pp. 533-569.
*Brenda Ralph Lewis, Women at War: The Women of World War II- At Home, at Work, on the Front Line (Pleasantville, N.Y., 2002).
Paddy Quick, "Rosie the Riveter: Myths and Realities." Radical America vol. 9, no. 4/5 (1975) pp.
115-132.
Alecea Standlee, "Shifting Spheres: Gender, Labor and the Construction of National Identity in U.S. Propaganda during the Second World War." Minerva Journal of Women & War vol. 4, no. 1 (2010) pp. 43-62.
Katie Sutrina, "The "Rosies" of Rockford: Working Women in Two Rockford Companies in the Depression and World War II Eras." Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society vol. 102, no. 3/4 (2009) pp. 402-428.
Doris Weatherford, American Women and World War II (New York, 1990).
Not at SNHU – obtain by ILL, available from UNH.
Rosie the Riveter: Working Women during World War II
History 114
Prof. Jonathan Couser
April 3, 2012
While most American men were off fighting for their country during World War II, it was the women who brought home the bacon every night. Since males weren’t around to support their families, females had to step up. House-wives and many other females started working for the first time, and all because of the media and propaganda that the government used to persuade them. Rosie the Riveter, one piece of propaganda during World War II, was a major reason behind women joining the work force and proving, for a short time, what they were capable of. To research this subject further I would like to discover more …show more content…
information about women working during World War II. How did propaganda such as “Rosie the Riveter” affect women working in America during World War II? The most important primary sources would be the propaganda itself. I would first look at pictures that were printed of “Rosie the Riveter.” I would then interpret the pictures and try to figure out what they were trying to say through them. Other important primary sources would include articles and facts about working women before, during, and after the war. I will then use secondary sources about “Rosie the Riveter” and women working during the war to further explain the subject. There were many different sources I used to make this bibliography.
The first several sources I found were monographs in Southern New Hampshire University’s library. Once I found one book, I found many other similar to the topic in the same location. The scholarly articles were all found online from JSTOR and Academic Search Complete. The primary sources were somewhat harder to find. The “Rosie the Riveter” images and song were actual propaganda from the time. Primary sources such as these would be necessary because it is what the paper is based off of. Overall, it was relatively easy finding sources because almost every source had a bibliography and sources of its …show more content…
own.
Preliminary Bibliography
Primary Sources
Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, "Rosie the Riveter" (1943).
J. Howard Miller, “We Can Do It!” Westinghouse War Production Co-Ordinating Committee (1942).
Norman Rockwell, Cover illustration for the Saturday Evening Post (May 29, 1943).
Secondary Sources
*Karen Anderson, Wartime Women: Sex Roles, Family Relations, and the Status of Women during World War II (Westport, Conn., 1981).
*Gail Collins, America 's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines (New York, 2003).
Penny Colman, Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II (New York, 1995).
Not at SNHU – obtain by ILL, available from UNH.
*Connie Field, The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter [video recording] (Santa Monica, Cal., 2004).
*Sherna Berger Gluck, Rosie the Riveter Revisited: Women, the War, and Social Change (Boston, 1987).
*Chester W. Gregory, Women in Defense Work During World War II; An Analysis of the Labor Problem and Women 's Rights (New York, 1974).
*Susan M. Hartmann, The Home Front and Beyond: American Women in the 1940s (Boston, 1982).
*Maureen Honey, Creating Rosie the Riveter: Class, Gender, and Propaganda during World War II (Amherst, 1984).
James J. Kimble, and Lester C. Olson. "Visual Rhetoric Representing Rosie The Riveter: Myth And Misconception In J. Howard Miller 's "We Can Do It!" Poster." Rhetoric & Public Affairs vol. 9, no. 4 (2006) pp. 533-569.
*Brenda Ralph Lewis, Women at War: The Women of World War II- At Home, at Work, on the Front Line (Pleasantville, N.Y., 2002).
Paddy Quick, "Rosie the Riveter: Myths and Realities." Radical America vol. 9, no. 4/5 (1975) pp.
115-132.
Alecea Standlee, "Shifting Spheres: Gender, Labor and the Construction of National Identity in U.S. Propaganda during the Second World War." Minerva Journal of Women & War vol. 4, no. 1 (2010) pp. 43-62.
Katie Sutrina, "The "Rosies" of Rockford: Working Women in Two Rockford Companies in the Depression and World War II Eras." Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society vol. 102, no. 3/4 (2009) pp. 402-428.
Doris Weatherford, American Women and World War II (New York, 1990).
Not at SNHU – obtain by ILL, available from UNH.