Here’s another entry for my Labor Day photo series. I found this photograph in the Oakland Tribune [Oakland, Alameda Co., CA], 15 May 1942, Front Page. The article was titled “Women Now in War Plant in Emeryville.” The article documented local women who were moving into manufacturing jobs as men headed off to war.
This photograph was titled “War Planes Get That Feminine Touch.” The text reads “In uniforms to serve Uncle Sam as defense industry workers are girls and women of the Eastbay area. Efficient workers, they have taken over machinists jobs to replace men on the battlefront. Trimming warplane parts are (left to right) Helen Walters and Lorraine Algrava of Oakland; Ogla Moresi, Emeryville, and Lorraine Rizzo, Oakland.”
According to the article, the four women had recently earned a raise. They were making $30 a week. They worked 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. An interesting note…the article interviewed 23 women on the crew. Half were married and some were engaged. Yet, only one of the 23 was working in her first job outside the home.
Lorraine Algrava, shown in the photograph, is the daughter of Antonio Pacheco (aka Tony Algrava) and Georgiana Medeiros. Lorraine under the Pacheco surname in Oakland in 1923. Shortly after this article was published she married Winston Martin.
