Mrs. Charles E. Simonson, President of a Support League

While men were fighting overseas during WWI to ensure that the world was “safe for democracy”, women were fighting on the home front for their own democratic ideologies, including the right to vote.  

Women’s roles in WWI were relatively limited to domestic responsibilities.  Images of women taking care of men as nurses or doing clerical work as telephone operators were common among U.S. propaganda for the war and in other images of the time period.  Despite the fact that the women’s suffrage movement was picking up steam, these were the images that permeated into American households and reinforced traditional gender roles within the family and society.

Additionally, women aided in the war effort by rationing their food, selling Liberty Bonds, fundraising for the Red Cross, and supplying other goods needed by soldiers.  In these ways women became crucial players in the war effort at home.  In order to successfully mobilize and organize these important volunteer efforts women’s support leagues developed.
 

How do women contribute to national issues?

 

Describe the woman in the photograph and explain her role during World War I.