When we learned that the 2018 History Day theme would be “Conflict and Compromise,” we knew we wanted to select a topic regarding a conflict with women’s rights in history, as we have always supported the battle for equality. While searching for a topic, we encountered a site that described the introduction of Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers’ bill regarding a women’s corps, which immediately captured our attention. We had never learned of this conflict for women in the U.S. Army. We conducted more research, and learned that the “Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps” (WAAC), was the result of a compromise proposed to establish a female auxiliary unit to assist the Army. We found this intriguing and therefore decided to adopt the WAAC compromise as our 2018 History Day topic.
We began our research process by taking notes from secondary sources such as the Historical Army Foundation website. However, in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of our topic, we knew we needed primary sources. Hence, we went to the Gale Family Library in the Minnesota History Center, as it had many sources regarding women in World War II. Here, we discovered a scrapbook of two WAAC soldiers containing letters, newspaper clippings, images of WAACs, and personal diaries. Later, we obtained personal interviews with the George C. Marshall Foundation and the U.S. Army Women's Museum. The information we received from these resources were extremely useful in elevating our comprehension.
We decided to create a website because although we both write extensively, we wanted to utilize multimedia elements to convey our messages. Audio and video, as well as the organized navigation within a website, were valuable tools in creating our ideal project. Specifically, we wanted to add music to our title page to serve as an introduction to our topic. The 1943 Military March “We’re in The Army Now” worked appropriately, as its military tune delivers an army atmosphere to viewers of our website. As we continued to construct our project, our goal was to maximize the utilization of graphics to assist viewers with visualization of the context. For example, we included a video excerpt of General Marshall speaking about WAAC on our “Conflict in Congress” page. Furthermore, we attempted to maintain the military theme with a specific color scheme of beige, which represents WAAC uniforms, and complementing colors of black, white and army green.
Our topic strongly connects to the 2018 History Day theme of “Conflict and Compromise,” as there was extreme resistance from the nation and Congress regarding women serving in the military. The Congressional conflict concluded as a compromise was reached that allowed women to assist the military. This compromise was influential in emphasizing that women have a purpose outside the home, and challenged the gender roles of women as passive, obedient wives. Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers’ battle for the inclusion of women into the Army inspired millions to fight for women’s rights, and left behind a lasting legacy that paved the path for female soldiers today.
We began our research process by taking notes from secondary sources such as the Historical Army Foundation website. However, in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of our topic, we knew we needed primary sources. Hence, we went to the Gale Family Library in the Minnesota History Center, as it had many sources regarding women in World War II. Here, we discovered a scrapbook of two WAAC soldiers containing letters, newspaper clippings, images of WAACs, and personal diaries. Later, we obtained personal interviews with the George C. Marshall Foundation and the U.S. Army Women's Museum. The information we received from these resources were extremely useful in elevating our comprehension.
We decided to create a website because although we both write extensively, we wanted to utilize multimedia elements to convey our messages. Audio and video, as well as the organized navigation within a website, were valuable tools in creating our ideal project. Specifically, we wanted to add music to our title page to serve as an introduction to our topic. The 1943 Military March “We’re in The Army Now” worked appropriately, as its military tune delivers an army atmosphere to viewers of our website. As we continued to construct our project, our goal was to maximize the utilization of graphics to assist viewers with visualization of the context. For example, we included a video excerpt of General Marshall speaking about WAAC on our “Conflict in Congress” page. Furthermore, we attempted to maintain the military theme with a specific color scheme of beige, which represents WAAC uniforms, and complementing colors of black, white and army green.
Our topic strongly connects to the 2018 History Day theme of “Conflict and Compromise,” as there was extreme resistance from the nation and Congress regarding women serving in the military. The Congressional conflict concluded as a compromise was reached that allowed women to assist the military. This compromise was influential in emphasizing that women have a purpose outside the home, and challenged the gender roles of women as passive, obedient wives. Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers’ battle for the inclusion of women into the Army inspired millions to fight for women’s rights, and left behind a lasting legacy that paved the path for female soldiers today.