 |
|
||||||
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Tammy Cavender (573)
751-7500
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2007
Missouri Department of Labor Honors Working Women During World War II
Jefferson City, MO – To celebrate Women’s History Month, the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has partnered with the National Archives-Central Plains Region to honor working women during World War II.
A temporary photo exhibit entitled, WOWs!: Women Ordnance Workers of the Cornhusker Ordnance Plant will be on display at the Missouri Department of Labor, 421 East Dunklin Street, Jefferson City, Missouri from April 4 through June 1, 2007. The display features over 50 photographs, as well as selected posters from World War II. A reception unveiling the exhibit will be held on April 4th at 2:30 p.m. at 421 East Dunklin Street and will include remarks by Governor Matt Blunt.
During World War II, over three million women worked in war plants across the United States. Working women were vital to the war effort, as the loss of men to military service left a workforce shortage in many areas. The U.S. Government launched a major public relations campaign to encourage women to work. The use of an invented character -- “Rosie the Riveter”—on a brightly colored poster was a powerful propaganda piece.
The Cornhusker Ordnance Plant (COP) located in Grand Island, Nebraska, was one of 60 ammunition plants built across the United States during World War II by the U.S. Army. The plant was responsible for building bombs and artillery shells. This photo exhibition depicts the type of work women did at the COP. The images presented represent a handful of the actual number taken and preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration-Central Plains Region.
In addition to these photographs, the Central Plains Region has records from two plants in Missouri: the Lake City Arsenal in Independence and the St. Louis Ordnance Plant.
The Central Plains Region is one of 14 facilities nationwide where the public has access to federal archival records. It is home to more than 43,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by nearly 100 federal agencies. To learn more about the National Archives-Central Plains Region visit www.archives.gov/central-plains/kansas-city/.
###
Information and Planning · 421 East Dunklin
· P.O. Box 504 · Jefferson City, MO
65102-0504
573-751-7500 · 573-751-6552 (Fax)
Relay Missouri: 1-800-735-2966 (TDD) 1-800-735-2466 (Voice)