Men’s conscription into the war led to a shortage of workers in the male-dominated labor market.
While 19 million women held jobs during World War II, only 3 million new female workers entered the workforce during that period. To give women incentive to join the workforce, the iconic “Rosie the Riveter” image was created, depicting a feminine woman, with sleeves rolled up and a look of determination, ready to take on the factory work to supply the military with needed equipment like planes, tanks and guns.
The women worked as lathe and punch-press operators, grinders, riveting-machine and crane operators, assemblers and other similar positions. Though less common, women also helped design planes in engineering departments, built on the production line and operated machines such as rivet guns and stamp presses. Once women accepted the challenge of this type of work, they continued to make strong advances toward equal rights well after the end of World War II.
Ninety-six-year-old Elsie Price Stone, a Union County native who now lives in Crayne, was one of the so-called “Rosie the Riveters” who played a critical role in World War II. A woman whose philosophy is “don’t get old, it’s no fun,” does all she can to maintain her youth and believes her positive attitude and gratefulness to God is the reason for her good mental and physical health.
Stone can work a computer with ease, does most of her own housework with the help of her daughter, former Crittenden County educator Paula Porter, and was still doing some of her own gardening up until recently.
Stone was just 20 when the U.S. went to war against the Axis Powers in 1941. Soon after, she was transferred to work night shift at Briggs Manufacturing in Evansville, Ind., where her coworkers gave her the name of “K-tuck.”
It was after she joined the workforce that her first husband, Byron Nunn, was drafted. Stone worked in Evansville until her husband began training in Texas. She relocated there some time later so they could be together before his shipment overseas.
At Briggs Manufacturing, the women made 75 cents an hour, which is the equivalent of about $11 today.
“We felt rich!” Stone said. “Up until that point, I hadn’t a dime to my name, and that was the case for a lot of us. I worked at Briggs for two years, maybe a little longer. We worked hard but also had lots of fun. One fun thing we liked to do was whistle at some of the male visitors!”
Stone and a dear friend and coworker, Martha Martin, were tasked with assembling and riveting together plane wing sections for the U.S. Navy. The wings were put together in segments, and the two women riveted them to a panel to be connected to the fuselage. They completed segments before they were shipped to Detroit, where the wings were fastened to the fuselage.
Stone and her friend stayed in contact throughout the years until Martin passed recently, and Stone remains one of the few women still living in Crittenden County who worked in the factory during the war. She believes women joining the workforce not only aided the military in such a difficult time, but also helped to break down social barriers and prove what working women were capable if given the chance.
“It was a very liberating experience. We were at the forefront of all of it, I think,” Stone said. “The trend followed, as you can see.”
