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Undercover Heroines: The Role Of Women In The Oss, Alexander Pearson

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Women played significant roles in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. Aline Griffith’s memoir The Spy Wore Red: My Adventures as an Undercover Agent in World War II recounts her work in preparation for the southern invasion of France following D-day, known as Operation Dragoon. Other written accounts from other female agents indicate that the leadership in Washington wanted women to fulfill traditional gender roles. For example, William J. Donovan stated that women in the OSS should be “behind desks and filing cases in Washington, invisible apron strings of an organization which touched every theater of …

African American Women In The Domestic Service Industry During Reconstruction. An Intersectional Analysis, Kathryn Small

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

African American Women in the Domestic Service Industry during Reconstruction. An Intersectional Analysis.

My paper focuses on the experiences of African American women, within the workplace, during Reconstruction. Whilst the Civil War resulted in the emancipation of the African American population, the day-to-day attainment of freedom posed a very different reality, most notably in respect of limited opportunities for economic advancement. All working women of this time were subjected to discrimination. However, black women were especially discriminated against due to their race. Most markedly, this can be seen in the fact that work opportunities available to black women were restricted …