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Hundreds of women worked as
“Winnies,” welding for Uncle Sam during WWII. These women had to deal
with more than just welding on the job. If you think sexism persists in the
welding world today (and it does) try imagining what it was like for the women
welders working in the industry during the male-dominated 1940s.
This is Vera Anderson she was 19 when she competed against female welding champions from Oregon and California. In 1944 she won the title in the first Women's National Welding Championships, along with $350 in war bonds and a trip to the White House.
One of the fastest and most efficient welders at Kaiser Company Permanent Metals Corporation yards near Oakland California, was sticking to her job until victory was won 1945.
This is Florence “Woo Woo” DiTullio Joyce. She was the first woman hired by the Fore River Shipyard in 1942. She was hired when the shipyard lost most of their male employees to enlistment during WW2.
This was before women were generally hired for defense industries. She was accepted because she had a local reputation as an excellent oxy-acetylene welder. At the time, some congressmen had sworn women would never be hired for such jobs.
Her moniker (“Woo-woo”) was what the shipbuilders shouted when she arrived on site the first day. She kept the nick name, and owned it, painting it across the back of her welding jacket.
Her success was part of what led to the later hiring of tens of thousands of women.
