The major event that occurred during the 1940s which created a drastic change in women's lives was World War II. As husbands and fathers, sons and brothers shipped out to fight in Europe and the Pacific, millions of women marched into factories, offices, and military bases to work in paying jobs and in roles deserved for men in peacetime. For the first time, women were coming out of their typical role involving staying at home, cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the family, and started to be more involved in societal issues. Many things started to be accomplished, such as:
1943 - Cornelia Fort becomes the first American woman pilot to die flying a military aircraft.
1943 - The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is formed.
1945 - Harvard Medical School admits women for the first time.
1948 - Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman elected to both houses of Congress.
1949 - Burnita Shelton Matthews is named Federal District Court judge for the District of Columbia.
These changes resulted in permanently evolving women's roles in the United States. Now that women had entered the working and educational society, nothing could make them go back to their old, housewive lives.
1943 - Cornelia Fort becomes the first American woman pilot to die flying a military aircraft.
1943 - The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is formed.
1945 - Harvard Medical School admits women for the first time.
1948 - Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman elected to both houses of Congress.
1949 - Burnita Shelton Matthews is named Federal District Court judge for the District of Columbia.
These changes resulted in permanently evolving women's roles in the United States. Now that women had entered the working and educational society, nothing could make them go back to their old, housewive lives.
