Skip to content
Culture & Religion —

Women Working on a Bomber, 1942

Seventy-two years ago, a pair of real-life Rosies assemble a bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, Calif.
Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Seventy-two years ago, a pair of real-life Rosies assemble a bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, Calif. Over 300,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry during World War II (with another 350,000 serving in the Armed Forces). Despite making up 65% of the factory workforce during this time, it probably doesn’t come as much surprise that these women’s wages were often 50% below those of their male peers.

For more on women in the 1940s aerospace industry, check out “American Women in World War II” from History.com

Photo credit: Library of Congress

Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.
Related
A bearded man wearing glasses and a plaid shirt speaks with a microphone clipped to his collar in front of a purple background with white dots.
The Well
How Rainn Wilson discovered sacredness
The hospital where Rainn Wilson’s wife and son nearly died became his own personal holy site. There, he discovered that the sacred can exist in places we least expect it. During his talk at A Night of Awe and Wonder, he explained how the awe we feel in moments of courage and love is moral beauty — and following it might be the start of our spiritual revolution.
▸
13 min
—
with
Rainn Wilson
Up Next