Frank J. Taylor …72

Sybil Lewis …84

Peggy Terry …91

Florence Hall …100

At the beginning of World War II (1939–45) approximately 50 million women over the age of fourteen lived in the United States. Ninety percent were white, 9 percent were black, and the other 1 percent included American Indians, Japanese Americans, Hispanic Americans, and other ethnic minority groups. Between 12 million and 14 million of these adult women were part of the U.S. labor force; they made up roughly 25 percent of the nation's total workforce. Most white working women were relatively young: They generally had just graduated from high school and would work only a year or two as retail salespeople, clerks, or typists until they married. College-educated women worked as teachers, secretaries, nurses, and librarians. Working black women of all ages took jobs in domestic services—the only jobs available to them at that time—serving as maids, cooks, and...