THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN WARTIME

Norman Rockwell: Four Freedoms Poster series FDR's Jan. 1941, "Four Freedoms"

speech inspired the series of paintings translated the abstract concepts of freedom

into four scenes of everyday American life publicly circulated when The Saturday

Evening Post commissioned and reproduced the paintings

served as the centerpiece of a massive U.S. war bond drive and a way to help explain the war's aims

“Rosie the Riveter” the icon “Rosie the Riveter” was

created to satisfy the shortage of workers in war industries created by WWII

the government created the Rosie the Riveter propaganda campaign to overcome the opposition by men and women to the idea of women in the workforce

The icon became a – tribute to the more than 6

million women who entered the work force during World War II.

– symbol of importance of female industrial workers

The image most iconically associated with Rosie is J. Howard Miller's famous poster for Westinghouse, entitled We Can Do It! (at right), which was modeled on Michigan factory worker Geraldine Doyle in 1942.

“Rosie the Riveter” Subsequently, a song

by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, entitled Rosie the Riveter, was released in early 1943.

“Rosie the Riveter” The final connection

between the name of Rosie and the character was made by Norman Rockwell for his cover for the May 29, 1943 Saturday Evening Post, which depicted a different Rosie (model Mary Doyle Keefe)

Note the copy of Hitler's autobiography under her feet.

It is not clear whether Rockwell had seen the Miller poster

(click here for Norman Rockwell's "Rosie" & historic background info on the topic)

Minorities in Wartime Blacks , Hispanics, Asians,

American Indians joined military and fought WWII– Blacks largely segregated in

armed forces• Segregation = discrimination

1943 Zoot Suit Riotshttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zootGrowth of minority neighborhoods

= tension , conflict 4-day riot in L.A. White sailors attacked

– nearby Mexican-American neighborhood

– young Mexican Americans = pachucos Police did nothing to stop the servicemen and

sometimes joined in When Hispanics fought back the police arrested

them LA passes law forbidding wearing “zoot suit”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot

See 1940s Los Angeles See Zoot Suit culture

The Interment of Japanese Americans

President Clinton presents Fred Korematsu with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony at the White House on January 15, 1998.

VIDEO : HOMEFRONT

REMINDER !!! Great Topics for Research Paper

- Security vs. Liberty(civil rights during wartime)

-Japanese Internment- Zoot Suit Riots

- Navajo Code Talkers(modern Native American

movement)