By Sophia Hilmer
Introduction
World War II marked a significant change in how things in general society ran in the United States–an expected outcome in total war. From large-scale to small-scale, the ongoing war permeated almost every aspect of people’s lives. This included unique changes to the lives of women in particular, with those at Carleton being no exception. Some of these changes can be seen in direct relation to the Women’s League Cabin, serving as a reflection of changing gender norms.
Methodology
In order to get specific information on activities of women and at the cabin during the wartime period, I went to the Carleton archives to look for data related to the Women’s League from the 1940s. Doing this, I found photos of various women doing activities at the cabin during that period, as well as several documents alluding to roles of women during that period; additionally, I recognized that since the “Women’s League” automatically included every woman on campus, activities outside of the cabin would be hard to track. However, going off of a mention in one document of a scrap drive the League was involved in, I was able to go into the Carletonian Archives to find drives that had women’s involvement, giving insight on the roles of women during that time.
World War II and the Cabin
After the United States got involved in World War II, the campus of Carleton saw a very significant change. With the draft occurring across the country, what would have been a normal wave of incoming male students was drastically cut down as a result, creating a massive gender disparity as seen below:
Fig. 1: Graph of Carleton Student Enrollment Data by Gender, 1915-1968
Oddly enough, there was little explicit mention of this massive disparity in archival documents, but the effect of this can be seen both on a larger and smaller scale. On a larger scale, across the country, with men being gone women took up traditionally “masculine” jobs in droves, which included factory work. With this, it became far more normalized for women to wear pants and in general to perform more “masculine” activities. On a smaller scale, in regards to the lack of men on campus, it can be inferred that this was allowing women to adjust to the new gender norms mentioned, as well as the separation of the cabin from the rest of campus allowing this to flourish. Photos of the cabin during this time showcase this, with women wearing pants and doing activities like carrying and chopping firewood.
Fig. 2: Sophomore Sydney Goodrich carrying firewood, 1943-1944.
Fig. 3: Water girls using the water pump by the cabin, 1941-1942.
Additionally, standard wartime practices seen across the campus and in general also applied to the Cabin. Ration applications from the Women’s League Cabin during WWII were found, showing how they were working to adapt to the war in the same ways others were.
Wartime Activities
Although the Women’s League tended to be separate from campus due to the frequent use of the cabin, the involvement in wartime activities still did occur. One Women’s League annual report mentions such:
“A threefold war effort plan was started…at the beginning of the second semester…such ideas as SMOKE RINGS (A cave party forrthe [sic] collection of fags [cigarettes] for the armed services.) [sic] other scrap drives, the sale of war stamps in the tea-room entrance, etc. …The League joined in giving help to entire campus war efforts wherever possible.”
As mentioned in the methodology, these mentioned war efforts were difficult to track down elsewhere due to every woman automatically being in the Women’s League. However, wartime efforts led by women were able to be found, showcasing the involvement of women at the time, including a campus-wide scrap drive headed by women Charlotte Dodds and David Liang in 1943.
Conclusion
During the Second World War, life on Carleton’s campus went through changes in order to adapt to the times. The Women’s League Cabin stands as a place that was set apart from the rest of campus in many ways, yet still went through related changes that reflected the shifts in gender norms–shifts that were possibly only accelerated by the war. The Cabin was a relic of these times, and the records that exist preserve its legacy as a haven for women even in war.
Bibliography
Geise, Lee. “WOMEN’S LEAGUE REPORT 1942-1943.” 1942-1943. Carleton College Archives. Box 1, Collection 162, Series 3.
Hall, Fran. “Women’s League Cabin use.” 1941-1942. Carleton College Archives. Series 4, Sub-series 1941/1942, Folder 15, Item 5.
Hyland, Veronique. “We Had to Fight for Our Right…to Wear Pants.” The M Dash, 11 March 2022, https://mdash.mmlafleur.com/history-of-women-and-pants.
“SWIC salvage drive to be launched Monday: Dodds, Liang top campaign workers; war relief to benefit from scrap sale.” The Carletonian, Vol. LXII, No. 25 ed., 30 April 1943, p. 1, https://archive.carleton.edu/Detail/collections/145724.
Unspecified. “Women’s League Cabin use – firewood.” 1943-1944. Carleton College Archives. Collection 3, Series 4, Sub-Series 1943/1944, Folder 10, Item 2.