Recruiting Women for the War

This handbook was published by Portland Public Schools to recruit women for work in Portland-area shipyards during World War II. With working men enlisted in the armed services and increased demands for production, the war years brought an unprecedented number of women into traditionally male-dominated occupations, particularly shipbuilding. Shipbuilding plants, such as Kaiser's Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, produced "Liberty Ships," which were used to transport troops and supplies.

Women employed in the shipyards reported that they valued their work because the jobs expressed their patriotism, were challenging, respected, and they were paid very well. "It was an unbelievable amount of money, just unbelievable," said shipyard worker Betty Cleator. While secretaries might earn $70 a month, skilled shipyard workers could make $230 for the same period.

Shipyards initially heeded the U.S. government's official position of not hiring women with children. The great demand for workers, however, ultimately led firms to abandon this policy. By March 1943, approximately one-third of the 14,000 women workers in the Kaiser shipyards had children between the ages of one and six. The high percentage of working mothers contributed to absenteeism and job turnover, so yard counselors—positions mentioned in the brochure—were hired to help women arrange child care, medical and dental appointments and leaves of absence. In the Portland area, there was little child care available off-site, so in May 1943, the Kaiser Corporation constructed on-site nurseries at each of its three shipyards.