#30 "Black women during and after World War II"
- Podcast Teaser Trailer
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Episode Preview -- "Black women during and after World War II"
- Link to Podcast
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Episode Recording -- "Black women during and after World War II"
- Episode Number
- Students Podcasting History Episode #30
- Episode Title
- #30 "Black women during and after World War II"
- Episode Date
- April 24, 2025
- Key Words
- Rosie the Riveter, World War Two, Civil Rights, Women of Color, Women
- Episode Introduction
- This Podcast will discuss the contributions of African American women during and after World War II. During 1942-1945, The United States was entrenched in WW2. 16.4 million men, 12% of the population at the time, were conscripted into the armed forces and shipped to Europe. A vast majority of able-bodied men were unable to work because of this. At first white women were asked to fill in for these jobs, then black men were allowed to work in factories. Finally, black women were hired close to the end of the war. Most black women saw this progress as a much-needed win for women of color. This was the first time black women had been allowed to work somewhere other than domestic or agricultural spheres. However, this progress did not last, after the war a lot of the black women working in military factories were fired. There was a lot of progress during World War Two in terms of civil rights and women’s rights, but black women were often neglected and left behind by their own movements. Most women’s organizations were all-white and barred black women from entering and a lot of black organizations were male-dominated and focused on the struggles of black men. This podcast will discuss World War II, the Civil Rights Era, and black women’s roles during that time.
- Hosted By
- Madeline Johnson
- Host Biography
- • The host of this episode of Students Podcasting History is Maddy Johnson, Class of 2028. They attend Sewanee: The University of the South just like their parents Gwen and Tallman Johnson did. They plan on choosing Art History as a major during their sophomore year. When they’re not living on The Domain, they live in McLean, Virginia about 20 minutes outside of Washington D.C. with their two younger sisters and dog Ripley.
- The Show
- Students Podcasting History is an educational resource developed by students in Dr. Andrew Maginn’s History of the United States II course to highlight crucial movements in American History through podcasting. The students research and interpret primary and secondary sources to discuss pivotal themes, people, and events in the United States' history from 1865 through the present. Through creatively sharing these narratives and learning digital tools, these students hope to make history more accessible and exciting for the general public.
- Source
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Anderson, Karen Tucker. “Last Hired, First Fired: Black Women Workers during World War II.” The Journal of American History 69, no. 1 (1982): 82–97. https://doi.org/10.2307/1887753.
Diane Nash. Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer, comps., “Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the 1980s” (New York: Bantam, 1990), 57-59, 82-83.
Dr. Andrew Maginn, “The Long Civil Rights Movement” History 202: American History II, The New Deal & WWII, Sewanee, The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, February 28th, 2025
American Yawp. Chapter 24, Section VIII. Women in WW2
Hortense Johnson, What My Job Means to Me Opportunity, April 1943, in Maureen Honey, ed., Bitter Fruit: African American Women in World War II (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999), 71-75.
Sherna Berger Gluck, “Rosie the Riveter revisited” (Boston: Twayne Publishers 1987)
Betty Reid Soskin, “Rosie Colored Glasses” , Backstory, written by Eli Wirtschafter, Virginia Humanities, podcast, 6:18, https://soundcloud.com/va-humanities/rosie-colored-glasses-from
A. Philip Randolph to Walter White, March 18, 1941. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. and Executive Order 8802 dated June 25, 1941, General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. American Yawp Reader. - Contact Information
- https://www.andrewwyattmaginn.org/Digital_Humanities/s/studentspodcastinghistory/page/home