Women--Employment

Rosalie Abney recounts her experiences working on airplanes at Curtiss-Wright, including the training she received at Ahrens Trade School. She discusses working conditions, women’s expectations with regard to the closing of the plant at the end of the war, and her perception of the influence these experiences had on women working outside home after the war.

Everylee Ashby discusses her employment, primarily with High Rock Bottling, DuPont and Reynolds, during the war. Ms. Ashby was one of the first two black women hired at the DuPont plant; she also describes an integrated workplace at Reynolds. She also describes her life after her husband returned from the war, and attitudes toward work during the war.

Virginia Bale shared her experiences as a working woman during World War II. Born in Larue County, Bales moved to Louisville in 1942, at the height of the war. She initially worked at Stewart's before securing a job at Curtiss-Wright, a defense company, through a connection. Bales worked in the maintenance department, checking tools in and out. She noted that while there were many women working in the plant, there were more men. After the war, she attended beauty school and worked as a manicurist for many years. Bales believes that the war gave women the idea that they could work and hold a job, leading to an increase in working women today.

Born in 1931, Mary Jane grew up in Madison, Indiana, moving between there and Corydon due to her father's job as a manager of various grocery stores. She recalls her childhood as innocent and normal, despite the war. Her family listened to the radio for news about the war and her father predicted the U.S. would join the war. When the U.S. did enter the war, Mary Jane's five male cousins and her brother-in-law enlisted. Her father also took a job at the Charleston powder plant, which manufactured ammunition powder. Mary Jane recalls the community of Madison becoming closer during the war and the town being considered a typical American town. She also mentions her uncle's involvement in the Manhattan Project, which he believed was for peaceful purposes until the atomic bomb was dropped.

Rosemary Block speaks about her experiences during World War II. Block was a child living in Louisville, Kentucky when the war began. She discusses her family's life during the war, including the drafting of her two older brothers and the death of her father in 1945. Block also talks about the impact of the war on her community, including rationing, collecting materials for the war effort, and changes in her neighborhood. She also reflects on the war's impact on race relations in her community.

Veterans History Project

Chaney relates events of her life as they relate to her involvement in the work force as a woman employee.

Ethel Koch worked at Curtiss-Wright during World War II. Born in Grayson County, she moved to Louisville at nineteen to find work. She initially worked at Axton-Fisher and then at a defense plant bag factory in Indiana. After a tornado killed her father and brother, she returned home to help her family before moving back to Louisville to work at Curtiss-Wright. She worked as a drill press operator, in tubing, and as a clerk in a time study. After the war, the plant closed and she worked at the American Tobacco Company, where she met her husband. They had two children and she chose not to return to work. She believes the number of women working during World War II influenced women working today.

This tape relates to the life of Louise Grady and her involvement in the work force as a woman employee.

Margaret Hayden tells of her work as an inspector and a riveter at Curtiss-Wright. She discusses her work, the social conditions, and the influence of women’s work during the war on women’s subsequent participation in the labor force.