Exhibition Script - Museum on Main Street

The Way We Worked scriptWomen working on Great Northern Railway locomotive, Great Falls,Montana, ca. March 1918.--National Archives, Records of the Women’s BureauTO SERVE THEIR COUNTRYMore than 400,000 women served in the American military during World War II,but were discouraged from pursuing military careers when it ended. However,cultural views began to change during the 1970s and 1980s. Women advancedin every level and branch of the military, comprising roughly 16 percent of totalarmed forces personnel by 2009.U.S. Navy WAVES recruitment poster, ca. 1941–45.--National Archives, Records of the Office of Government ReportsU.S. Army recruitment poster, 1990.--National Archives,Records of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command[Interactive military hat]Katie Brinn decided to carry on the Brinn family military legacy, followingthe service of her grandfather (Navy), father (Army), and mother (ArmyNurse Corps). She joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 2006.“Serving the country is something that my family has always been big on .. . and they impressed that upon me from a young age.”--Interview, <strong>Museum</strong> on Main Street, 2009MULTITASKINGIn the 1970s, debates raged about how and if women should balance work andfamily responsibilities. But for women working on the farm, this issue was nothingnew.Jean Schnelle works on her family farm while caring for her sonDwight, Lockwood, Missouri,--by Michelle Bogre, ca. 1978.National Archives, Records of the U.S. Information Agency“Something which we think is impossible now is not impossible inanother decade.”--Constance Baker Motley, first female African American federal judgeSMASHING THE GLASS CEILINGEarly in the 20th century, women entering the white-collar workforce foundmostly clerical work. Their limited advancement up the career ladder was termeda “glass ceiling”: You could see the upper levels, but you couldn’t get there.Breaking that ceiling to managerial and executive ranks took activism, legislation,and women proving themselves as equals day-in and day-out since the 1960s.29