Items tagged Work (132 total)

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This World War II-era poster is from the "Jenny on the Job" series developed by the U.S. Public Health Service and aimed at women workers. The series offered safety tips and advice for thousands of women thrust into the workforce during World War II, often in jobs requiring strenuous manual labor (not to mention the coveralls, work gloves, safety…

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Item Type: Poster/Print
Date: 1943

In this rare color photograph taken for the Office of War Information, a "real life" Rosie drills on the side of a dive bomber plane. Nearly three million women worked in defense industries during World War II, including thousands of African Americans.

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Item Type: Photograph
Date: 1943

Beaumont, Texas, like many U.S. cities, became a boomtown during World War II, as new residents flooded in to take jobs at the city's shipyards and petroleum production facilities. Between 1940 and 1943, population rose by 35% and the city suffered from overcrowding, increased demand for city services, and even food shortages. While African…

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Item Type: Photograph
Date: 1943

Aaron Castañeda Gamez and thousands of other Mexican workers had to pass a series of examinations to enter the bracero program. Recruits reported to centers in Mexico where they were inspected for lice and disease. Braceros' hands were inspected to see if they had calluses, indicating they were familiar with manual labor. They were told to…

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Item Type: Artifact
Date: 1944

During World War II, the U.S. government produced a number of propaganda posters aimed at mobilizing women workers to contribute to the war effort, offering images that challenged traditional ideas about the role of women and the nature of their work while still maintaining traditional gender hierarchies.

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Item Type: Poster/Print
Date: 1944

Between 1942 and 1964, millions of Mexican agricultural workers entered the U.S. to work as surplus farm laborers during the government-sponsored Bracero Program. Working for lower wages than domestic farm workers, the Braceros were often victims of discrimination. While most were repatriated, many stayed in the United States where they remain the…

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Item Type: Artifact
Date: 1955

The unemployment rate rose sharply during the Great Depression and reached its peak at the moment Franklin D. Roosevelt took office. As New Deal programs were enacted, the unemployment rate gradually lowered. Virtually full employment was achieved during World War II. This graph does not indicate the numbers of people were…

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Item Type: Quantitative Data
Date: 1975

While government planners and factory owners assumed that women’s industrial work during World War II would last only as long as the war lasted, many of the women had other ideas. After the war ended, despite their new skills, they found themselves forced to accept the same low-paying positions that had been the only jobs available to them…

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Item Type: Oral History
Date: 1980

In this oral history conducted by historian Joan Morrison, Pauline Newman told of getting a job at the Triangle Company as a child, soon after arriving in the United States from Lithuania in 1901. Newman described her life as an immigrant and factory worker. Like many other young immigrant workers, she chafed at the strict regulations imposed by…

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Item Type: Oral History
Date: Circa 1980

White Californians complained that the new American government, which took over California after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in May 1848, was not doing enough to control and regulate Indian labor. In the chaos of the Mexican War, many Indian laborers had abandoned the farms and ranches where they worked as low-paid or unpaid…

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Item Type: Book (excerpt)
Date: 1984