Getting Over There: A Social Analysis of Women’s Enlistment
Author(s)
Zeiger, Susan
Abstract
Women who enlisted with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) were, by and large, mature, single, working women who had already achieved a significant degree of autonomy in their work and personal lives. Altruism and patriotic self-sacrifice were part of the equation, but so was an assessment of the benefits and opportunities presented by the war. Drawing on data gleaned from personnel records, application files, and base hospital histories, as well as letters, memoirs and oral histories, this chapter examines the backgrounds and motivations of the nurses, auxiliary workers, telephone operators, and office workers who served with the AEF in the context of the larger transformations in women’s lives between 1890 and 1920.
