Last updated: February 19, 2025
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Women in World War II: Home, Family, and Community
During World War II, American women entered the workforce and the military in unprecedented numbers. These dramatic changes also altered the way they related to their homes, families, communities, and private lives. Women grappled with changes to their family structures, served their communities in novel ways, and struggled to balance war work, rationing, and wartime restrictions with the obligations of domestic labor.
Social injustice also impacted women in unequal ways. For example, Japanese and Japanese American women saw incarceration damage their relationships and communities. The government forcibly removed Unangax̂ (Aleut) people from their homes in the Aleutian Islands. Jewish refugee women sought to build new lives for their families after escaping persecution in Europe.
This page collects stories of women and their homes, families, communities, and private lives during World War II.
Voluntarism and Community Building
Article
Victory Gardens
Faced with feeding an expanded military and a hungry population during WWII, the US government encouraged people to plant Victory Gardens.
Lesson Plan
The USO in Wilmington, NC
This lesson plan explores the history of USO clubs for servicemen in Wilmington, NC, an American WWII Heritage City.
Person
Ruth Nomura Tanbara
Forced out of California by the US policy of Japanese incarceration, Ruth Tanbara and her family made a new home and community in Minnesota.
Person
Sallie Wyatt Stewart
During WWII, Sallie Wyatt Stewart organized a Colored Women’s Work Committee to promote the sale of war bonds and stamps in Evansville, IL.
Article
Material Drives
Government programs encouraged citizens to collect and donate metal, rubber, paper, and kitchen fats for the war effort.
Person
Haruko Takahashi
Haruko Takahashi was a Shintō priestess who spent part of World War II imprisoned at Honouliuli Internment Camp on O’ahu, Hawai’i.
Childcare & Domestic Work
Article
Childcare on the World War II Home Front
During WWII, the United States subsidized childcare for some of the many women workers who powered the war effort.
Article
Restrictions and Rationing
Wartime shortages meant people had to do without or make due. Nylons, canned dog food, and sugar were some of the goods in short supply.
Article
Food Rationing on the WWII Home Front
Supply issues, military needs, and economic factors drove food rationing during World War II.
Article
Nutrition on the Home Front
During World War II, nutrition and food became linked with the future of America and of democracy itself.
Article
Canning and Food Preservation
Planting Victory Gardens was only part of the work. Efficiently and safely preserving that bounty for later use was crucial.
Article
Meat Rationing
Meat was on the ration list from March 1943 through November 1945, spurring Meatless Tuesdays, a thriving black market, and new recipes.
Struggle and Injustice
Jewish Refugee Experience
(H)our History Lesson: Fort Ontario
This lesson plan about Jewish refugees at Ft. Ontario helps students understand religion, foreign policy, & refugee policy during WWII.
Article Series
The Munemitsu Family & Incarceration
This series introduces the Munemitsu family and shares some of their experiences with migration and Japanese American incarceration.
Oral History Interview
Eva Tcheripanoff Interview
This interview details the experiences of Eva Tcheripanoff (nee Kudrin), who was forcibly removed from her home in Kashega during WWII.
Family, Health, & Private Life
Article
LGB Histories From the WWII Home Front
WWII drew millions of servicemen and women and defense workers to the Bay Area, where many of them found queer community.
Oral History Interview
William & Bobbe Crooks
Longtime spouses William and Bobbe Crooks talk about their wartime life in Alaska.
Hour History Lesson
Women's Sexual Health & Safety in WWII
This lesson guides students through the important history of women's sexual health and safety on the American WWII home front.