World War I was the first opportunity

that American women really had to gain

a foothold in the occupations traditionally

dominated by men. As America's men left

to fight the war, it became necessary for

women to join the workforce in areas

where they had previously been unnaccepted.

The need for combat materials opened a

whole new world of jobs and also many

women filled the jobs that men had left

behind. Some employers found the work

done by women superior to that of the men

who had preceded them. The progress was

too good to be true. Men and unions resisted

women. They were not taken seriously and it

was assumed that when the war was over, they

would go back home where they "belonged."