A collection of reportage and essays documents how the Great World War propelled women into industrial labor, medical and legal professions, government positions, and commercial roles, profiling activists, nurses, physicians, lawyers, and organizers. The work traces changing wage patterns, expanding employment opportunities, and new public responsibilities, examines effects on marriage and childbearing, and highlights grassroots and organized movements that pressed for political and economic rights. Illustrated portraits and on-the-ground vignettes combine to show shifting social expectations and the emergence of new avenues toward women’s economic independence.
