The Boeing factory had large windows to allow light in. Good lighting was necessary for such close work. [Courtesy: The Boeing Company]
Key Takeaways:
Before the "Rosie the Riveter" era, women were integral to aircraft construction in the 1920s, often hired for their sewing skills by companies like Boeing and Douglas Aircraft.
These women meticulously hand-stitched fabric coverings onto aircraft wings, a crucial and tedious process vital for the planes' safety and efficiency.
The work was demanding, with repetitive hand-stitching often leading to physical discomfort, making advancement to sewing machines a sought-after promotion.
Their essential contributions helped enable significant aviation achievements, including the successful 1924 circumnavigation of the globe by two Douglas World Cruisers.
Most aviation aficionados have seen the black-and-white newsreel footage of women working in aircraft factories during World War II. They became known as “Rosie the Riveter,” or in California, the “Janes Who Made the Planes.” They were the women who took these factory jobs to free up men for fighting.
But this wasn’t the first time women were part of mass aircraft construction.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
