30 Rare and Amazing Color Photographs of U.S. Male Workers During World War II

From 1939-1944 the Office of War Information (OWI) sent a few photographers, armed with 35mm Kodachrome slides, to capture in brilliant color the work these men and women were doing. These photographs, some of the only color shots taken during World War II, were then documented and preserved by the Library of Congress.

From the outset of the war, it was clear that enormous quantities of airplanes, tanks, warships, rifles and other armaments would be essential to beating America’s aggressors. U.S. workers played a vital role in the production of such war-related materials. Many of these workers were women. Indeed, with tens of thousands of American men joining the armed forces and heading into training and into battle, women began securing jobs as welders, electricians and riveters in defense plants. Until that time, such positions had been strictly for men only.

During the war years, the decrease in the availability of men in the work force also led to an upsurge in the number of women holding non-war-related factory jobs. By the mid-1940s, the percentage of women in the American work force had expanded from 25 percent to 36 percent.

(Photos via Library of Congress)