"What'll Happen When they Quit Building Ships;" Reception, Depiction and Rejection of Women Shipbuilders on the Oregon Coast

When the U.S. entered World War II, the need for ships was critical, and at the mouth of Columbia River three massive shipyards were hurriedly built. Under the leadership of industrialist Henry Kaiser, the yards became famous for producing ships faster than the Axis could sink them, and many credit the shipbuilding program with turning the tide in 1943.

            In this sparsely populated region, however, there were few industrial workers, even before the call-up of men.  The answer to the problem would be, in large part, women; eventually the Oregon shipyards hired a higher percentage of women than any facility in the nation with childcare centers and take-home meals, both unheard of at the time, instituted to facilitate their employment.

            Using primary texts, this paper examines the evolving public reception, depiction and experience of women workers in Oregon World War II shipyards. My study includes the survey Portland clubwomen made of women statewide, the first such project in the nation; the efforts of the all-male shipbuilders to keep women out; the icy reception of the first women in the yards; the ongoing eroticization of women workers; the eventual acceptance and approval of the women and their work; the easing of ideas about gender roles; the drastic shift in attitudes as it became clear the war would be won; the proclaimed certainty that, despite polling to the contrary, what every woman  wanted now was family and marriage; the complete collapse of jobs in the region for women with VJ Day.