Woman's Place In War - Radio Repairing

A diligent member of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) burns the midnight oil repairing an important radio in this 1944 WWII poster by Michael Ramus. Her focus is intense; her job clearly paramount to the winning of the War. The Women's Army Corps was founded in 1942 in order to supplement stateside production for the American Armed Forces. WAC members initially served as switchboard operators, mechanics/arms repairpeople, and bakers. Later positions expanded to office oriented assignments and drivers. The WAC program encountered a strong critical reaction, painting the women as, at best, taking jobs from men, and, at worst, as lesbians or consorts to servicemen. This necessitated a wide promotional campaign, which sought to portray the women as patriotic and to show them involved in the war effort. Clothing designers produced outfits based on the WAC uniform for commercial sale. About 150,000 American women served during World War II. The WAC division lasted until 1978, when female s