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How Did American Women Act? Heroism on the Home Front

Public Program
Women attend an airplane construction class at a vocational school in DeLand, Florida, in April 1942. Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, DC

Women attend an airplane construction class at a vocational school in DeLand, Florida, in April 1942. Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, DC

Women’s roles changed significantly in World War II America. Many were conscripted to join the war effort and wielded new power through jobs outside the home.

But, their influence wasn’t limited to factory floors. Some women used their social and political positions to fight back against isolationism and sound the alarm about the plight of Europe’s Jews. A select few even put their lives at risk to organize acts of rescue.

Join us to explore the role of the everyday woman during this era, as well as the mindset and motivations of a few extraordinary individuals who dared to act, including Lois Gunden, Edith Rogers, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Speakers
Denise Kiernan, Writer and producer, as well as author of the New York Times bestsellers The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II and The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home
Gretchen Skidmore, Director, Education Initiatives, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Moderator
Dr. Lori Ann Terjesen, Director of Education, National Women’s History Museum

A public parking lot is located nearby at 555 California Street.

This program is free and open to the public, but reservations are required.

For more information, please contact the Western Regional Office at 310.556.3222 or western@ushmm.org.

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