Women, Work, and Bombs: 1918

JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

I came across an interesting little story in Nature (March 28, 1918) about women munitions workers.  It is a note based on a report written by Miss O.E. Monkhouse--and as it was noted in the Monkhouse piece that it was the first paper read by a woman before the British Institute of Mechanical Engineers--and summarizes the work of a million women workers in wartime bomb  factories.  It is probably a valuable report for its telling of the number and nuts and bolts, and of course for the history of the introduction of women into a work environment where they had never been before, and in great numbers,  but it still must suffer through the painful prejudices and opinions of the times. Ms. Monkhouse though is an elegant spokesperson and proponent for equality, and makes several arguments for the abilities of women being equal to that of men, which makes this short article well worth the read.