Women during World War I

1. Women during World War I Fifth Period

2. How did they become involved? • In 1901 and 1908, the Army and Navy Nurse Corps were established and allowed the door to open for women’s involvement in the war. • It wasn’t until the United States joined the war that some parts of government actually used women’s power and influence in the war.

3. Army Nurse Corps • ESTABLISHED IN 1901 • WOMEN LACKED MILITARY STATUS, BUT NURSING PAVED THE WAY FOR MILITARY PARTICIPATION • 34,000 WOMEN SERVED AS NURSES IN DIFFERENT BRANCHES • 200 DIED FROM DISEASE • NONE DIED FROM BEING ATTACKED BY ENEMY LINES BECAUSE NONE WERE STATIONED NEAR THE FRONT LINE. Navy Nurse Corps • ESTABLISHED IN 1908 • IN 1917, WOMEN COULD TAKE PART IN THE NAVAL RESERVE • NAVY DEPLOYED 5 BASE HOPSITALS IN IRELAND, SCOTLAND, & FRANCE. • SOME OF THE TEAMS WERE LOANED TO THE ARMY • 19 NAVY NURSES DIED ON ACTIVE DUTY.

4. What kind of roles did women play in the war? • Nurse the wounded • Provide food • Provide other supplies/resources to the military • “Hello girls” (telephone operators) • Entertained troops • Worked as journalists • Sewed on buttons • Handed out cigarettes • Handed out sweets • “keep boys straight”

5. Attitudes of the Women and the attitudes toward women • Most of the men treated the women with chivalry or respect. • Entertainers were not treated as sex objects. • Some women became blood thirsty afterhearing the horrifying stories of war. • Contradictory feelings (sadness/horror/pride)

6. Helen Fairchild • Sent to Casualty Clearing Station Number 4 as a nurse. • Exposed to mustard gas in November of 1917. Shortly began suffering from abdominal pains. • Continued to nurse until an x-ray revealed she had a gastric ulcer obstructing her pylorus. • Underwent gastro-enterostomy operation to remove the ulcer. • Although she began portraying some signs of progression, she initially went into a coma and died.

7. Elsie Janis Elsie Janis served as an entertainer to troops during World War One and is famous for it.

8. Women in the Workforce • Women began taking on jobs in factories • One million British women worked in munitions jobs during WWI. • 1918, women from Scotland raised enough money to buy a warplane for the air force. • Their motivations were money and the gained sense of patriotism.

9. Women’s Peace Party • Held an International Conference of Women at the Hague (Netherlands) nine months into the war. • Called for the end of the war • Chaired by Jane Addams (settlement houses) • 1,136 voting delegates from 150 organizations in 12 countries attended • Brought women together from enemy and neutral lines

10. "Helen Fairchild." Spartacus Educational. N.p., 29 Oct 2011. Web. 3 Nov 2011. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wfairchild.htm>. • "The Women of World War I ." War and Gender. Cambridge University Press, Sep 2001. Web. 3 Nov 2011. <http://www.warandgender.com/wgwomwwi.htm>. • "Thirty Thousand Women Were There." Captain Barbara A. Wilson, USAF (Ret) , 2004. Web. 3 Nov 2011. <http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets4.html>. • "Women in the Military." The Wac. Metropolitan State College of Denver, 2004. Web. 3 Nov 2011. <http://www.mscd.edu/history/camphale/wim_001.html>.