Women Working on a Bomber, 1942

Seventy-two years ago, a pair of real-life Rosies assemble a bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, Calif. Over 300,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry during World War II (with another 350,000 serving in the Armed Forces). Despite making up 65% of the factory workforce during this time, it probably doesn’t come as much surprise that these women’s wages were often 50% below those of their male peers.

For more on women in the 1940s aerospace industry, check out “American Women in World War II” from History.com

Photo credit: Library of Congress