Mary Newson

Women on Homefront Life During World War II: Ford Employee from from Texas

In collaboration with the City of Richmond and the National Park Service, the Regional Oral History Office is interviewing residents of the Bay Area about their wartime experiences during World War II. We are uncovering how and why people from different backgrounds came to the Bay Area, what they did when they arrived, and what they learned from the fluidity and flux of wartime life that affected decisions they made after the war ended. We are interested in a broad range of topics: What did women learn about the relationships between work and family life? How did attitudes towards education change? How did war affect race relations and reshape civil rights struggles? Did new ideas about sexuality take root and if so why and where? What happened to entertainment? To what degree did religious organizations provide people with a new sense of community? The project has been underway for the past three years. Interviews collected will be used in the National Park Service’s visitor center at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Homefront National Historic Park in Richmond, California.

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