At the start of World War II (1939–45) most Americans still held an old-fashioned notion of women's place in society; that is, they believed that a woman's proper role was in the home, working as a housewife, caring for her husband and children and handling the household chores. Husbands were expected to make the money on which a family lived; they controlled the household finances and held ultimate authority in the home. In U.S. society at large, men also controlled politics and the economy. World War II disrupted these patterns, thrusting men and women into new roles and activities related to the war. Between 1942 and 1945 about fifty million women over the age of fourteen lived in the United States. Roughly 90 percent of them were white, 9 percent were black, 0.3 percent were Native American, and 0.1 percent were Japanese American.

During the war women found new job...