- WWI Rivet-gang Workers, Navy Shipyards. Higher wages beckoned working women into war-related industries. Women who worked in WWI trades rarely found skilled positions open to them when they left traditionally female jobs for higher paying traditionally male occupations like shipbuilding. Pictured are laborers from 4 or 5 riveting gangs. The four women at the left were “heaters.” They plucked hot rivets from a portable furnace with tongs and threw them to the “passers,” who caught them in small buckets and then inserted them into holes to be driven. Because of segregation on the job, the two Black women probably worked with Black men. Black laborers were the mainstay of the shipyard, but their wages were less than those of whites. Their work was often more dangerous and strenuous. Although the sexes did work together, the women experienced harassment and discrimination. Women’s work during WWI never received support from unions or the government. Once the war ended most women returned to traditional female jobs.
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