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Women Serving the
Military
Prior to the war, government offices were for the most part staffed only with men. Women were crammed together in the available office space. Dress codes and rules for personal conduct were adopted to transition to the new work environment.
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Washington D.C. was a small city that lacked adequate housing for the flood of new government workers. Women shared rooms in hotel and boarding houses. |
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Mary Ruth Hunter (left) was working at the Alcoa Plant in Pennsylvania when Army Recruiters came to town looking for civilian workers. Ruth worked in Army Intelligence (also known as G2) at the Pentagon collecting historical information about WWII missions. She served with male professors of history from prestigious East Coast Universities. Ruth remained with the Defense Department until her retirement in 1979. She said, "You were needed and you served. |
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Photo Credits (L to R): #1 & 2: National Cryptologic Museum, #3 & 4: the Library of Congress, #5: Courtesy of Ruth Hunter
(c) Copyright National Women's History Museum 2007