30 amazing historic photos of Detroit wartime women at work

By on Tue, Mar 8, 2016 at 3:32 pm

March 8 is International Women's Day and to celebrate we've combed the archives of Virtual Motor City and come up with these 30 empowering images. The photos span the first and second world wars and show women who went to work in crucial manufacturing jobs in factories and plants to aid in the war effort. Rosie the Riveter may be the go-to feminist symbol for women's employment, but these real photos of Detroit women hard at work are even more inspiring today.

All photos are courtesy of Detroit News Collection, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University.

Scroll down to view images
Page 2 of 2
1940s
1940s
21 of 30
1940s
1940s
22 of 30
1940s
1940s
23 of 30
1940s
1940s
24 of 30
1940s
1940s
25 of 30
1940s
1940s
26 of 30
1940s
1940s
27 of 30
1940s
1940s
28 of 30
Group of women cutting fabric, sewing on sewing machines and hand sewing.
Group of women cutting fabric, sewing on sewing machines and hand sewing.
29 of 30
Posed picture of group of women in Red Cross uniforms hand sewing garments.
Posed picture of group of women in Red Cross uniforms hand sewing garments.
30 of 30
Page 2 of 2
Previous Page
Start Over
News & Views

20 reasons for Tigers fans to reign optimistic in 2025

Although friends and family who lived and died with the sad-sack Lions for more than a half-century might not be too sympathetic,…

By Gary Gillette

11. Wunderkind Scott Harris When Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch in September 2022 tabbed 35-year-old San Francisco GM Scott Harris to lead his disappointing club into the future, he was going against the grain of Detroit history. The Tigers have been one of the most successful American League franchises in their 125-year existence, but they have mostly hewed to the conservative side when making major decisions. Therefore, hiring a young executive who had never led an MLB front office — Harris served underneath a president of baseball operations with the Giants, just as Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg now serves under Harris — was the kind of risk that Detroit ownership would normally pass over. Detroit’s previous general manager, Al Avila, was 57 when he succeeded Dave Dombrowski late in 2015. As evident now, the risk was well worth it, and it was a master stroke on Ilitch’s part to hire someone who looks, sounds, and acts like a certified genius. Not only has Harris revived the flagging fortunes of the tortuously slow rebuilding process, but the attractive young squad the Tigers put on the field has also revived badly flagging enthusiasm in Detroit’s loyal but recently skeptical fanbase. Perhaps it was the bitter memory of the last time Detroit took a flier on a rising young executive that led ownership to go for an experienced executive in Dombrowski in 2002, and for a safe but uninspired internal hire in 2015. Harris is the Tigers’ first young general manager since ill-fated 29-year-old Randy Smith was brought in from San Diego in 1996 — but Smith was merely a legacy who had risen to his level of incompetence. (Smith’s father, Tal Smith, was a longtime executive with the Yankees and Astros.) Smith quickly earned a good reputation with the Padres by carrying out a fire sale of expensive veterans after he took over in 1993, acquiring a pile of young prospects in return. After taking over the Tigers, he followed a similar blueprint in preparation for the opening of Comerica Park in 2000. Stocking the larder with prospects acquired via trades and the premium draft picks Detroit’s lowly finishes bestowed on him, Smith was named AL Executive of the Year for 1997 by Baseball America, which simultaneously named the Tigers Organization of the Year. Stockpiling largely untested talent for the future is not the same as winning in the major leagues, as Smith — like many other GMs who quite easily could dump veteran salaries for inexpensive youngsters — would soon find out. None of the prospects Smith acquired would prove to be stars of the first order, and few could be considered stars of the second order. Smith cemented his doom by gambling on the acquisition of two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez to lead the Tigers in the inaugural season at their new home. It was a bad gamble that turned into a disaster. Gonzalez was a slow-footed slugger who had already peaked before he was traded. His brief tenure in Tigertown was marked by surliness, injury, and underperformance. Tigers fans were only too happy to watch him spurn an insanely generous long-term contract offer from Smith in order to test free agency after 2000. While Gonzo rebounded nicely in Cleveland in 2001, it proved to be his last good season. Proof that everyone else in baseball understood that Smith was an abject failure in Detroit can be found in the fact that he was never given another chance to lead an MLB club after being fired six games into the 2002 season. Dombrowski, at 31, became the youngest GM ever in AL/NL history when he was appointed to lead the Montreal Expos in midseason 1988. When he arrived to Detroit in 2002, he was only 45, yet he already had 14 years of experience running MLB organizations.
20 slides
News & Views

Urban explorer makes disturbing discovery inside vacant Ypsilanti funeral home

An urban explorer found what he says appears to be human remains and bodily fluids, along with urns and caskets inside a…

By Steve Neavling

A casket inside O’Neil Swanson Funeral Home in Ypsilanti.
5 slides
News & Views

Ten years of the Foilies: The Electronic Frontier Foundation looks back at the games governments played to avoid transparency

In the year 2015, we witnessed the launch of OpenAI, a debate over the color of a dress going viral, and a…

By Dave Maass, the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Ain’t no party like a [redacted] party!
6 slides
News & Views

The 2025 Foilies: Recognizing the worst in government transparency

The public’s right to access government information is constantly under siege across the United States, from both sides of the political aisle.…

By By the Electronic Frontier Foundation and MuckRock News

The Exorbitant FOIA Fee of the Year: Rapides Parish School District After a church distributed a religious tract at Lessie Moore Elementary School School in Pineville, Louisiana, young students quickly dubbed its frank discussion of mature themes as “the sex book.” Hirsh M. Joshi from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a lawyer representing a parent, filed a request with the Rapides Parish School District to try to get some basic information: How much did the school coordinate with the church distributing the material? Did other parents complain? What was the internal reaction? Joshi was stunned when the school district responded with an initial estimate of $2 million to cover the cost of processing the request. After local media picked up the story and a bit of negotiating, the school ultimately waived the charges and responded with a mere nine pages of responsive material.While Rapides Parish’s sky-high estimate ultimately took home the gold this year, there was fierce competition. The Massachusetts State Police wanted $176,431 just to review — and potentially not even release — materials about recruits who leave the state’s training program early. Back in Louisiana, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s office insisted on charging a grieving father more than $5,000 for records on the suspicious death of his own son.
6 slides
More »

Child welfare workers sued over death of 3-year-old Detroit boy found in freezer

By Steve Neavling

Azuradee France (left) was convicted of killing her 3-year-old boy Chayce Allen.

McMorrow launches Senate bid, denouncing Republican and Democratic establishments

By Steve Neavling

Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow is running for a seat on the U.S. Senate.

Trump’s pause on refugee resettlement could cost Michigan $416M, study finds

By Steve Neavling

Image: Trump’s pause on refugee resettlement could cost Michigan $416M, study finds

All material © 2025 Detroit Metro Times, Ferndale, MI. All rights reserved.

Powered By Foundation
Subscribe