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Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

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Page 1: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Women in Baseball

The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Page 2: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Before WW2, women were in traditional roles – wife, mother, homemaker

Page 3: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Women’s roles in the workforce were often limited to nurses, teachers or domestic work

Page 4: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Then an event occurred on Dec 7, 1941 that changed everything

Page 5: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

This event signaled the United States’ entry into WW2

President Roosevelt addresses Congress after the attack on Pearl Harbor

Page 6: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2
Page 7: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Thousands of young men

volunteered or were drafted

into the service

Page 8: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

As time went by, more and more men went into the service

• But this meant that the men were leaving their jobs to go fight.

• This started to affect the war industries’ production

Page 9: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

FDR encouraged the nation to increase the output for the war effort in his Arsenal for

Democracy speech

He said we must “discard the notion of “business as usual”

Page 10: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2
Page 11: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Posters like these helped to encourage women to work- and slowly change

the negative attitude towards women working

Page 12: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Women began to enter the workforce in greater numbers, especially in heavy industries

Page 13: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Women soon were working in many different fields

Pilots

Page 14: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

As more and more men joined the war, women were needed to fill every kind of job

From driving taxicabs

To driving milk trucks

Page 15: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

By 1942, the draft had forced many minor league baseball teams to fold

• Soon, major league baseball was affected by the numbers of men being drafted

Page 16: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

In 1943, Philip K Wrigley was able to get enough backers to start the All American Girls’ Baseball

League

Page 17: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Women from highly skilled softball teams from Canada and the US were recruited

Page 18: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Not only did the players have to be highly skilled, their femininity was of utmost

importance

The players were required to attend charm school and etiquette classes

Page 19: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

The players’ uniforms were designed to be ultra-feminine and modeled after figure

skaters’ outfits

Page 20: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

The league’s popularity peaked in 1948

Ten teams attracted 910,000 paying fans.

Page 21: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Many of the more popular players attracted large followings

Dottie Schroeder was the only player to play in the league in all of its seasons

Page 22: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

Mary “Bonnie” Baker was featured in Life Magazine

Page 23: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

However, the league’s popularity began to decline in the following years

• Teams began to disband in 1950

• Part of the reason for this was the advent of televised Major League Baseball games

Page 24: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

The league was finally disbanded in 1954

• Organized baseball formally banned women from signing professional contracts with

men’s teams in 1952, and the prohibition is still in effect.

Page 25: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

• The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League gave over 600 women

athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball and to play it at a level never before attained. The League operated from 1943 to 1954 and represents one of the most unique

aspects of our nation's baseball history.

Page 26: Women in Baseball The Changing Roles of Women in WW2

• Created by:

Margaret Shields and Pamela Jane Leman TAH, Spring 2009