Women and Wartime

In the early- to mid-twentieth century, two World Wars changed the way the University of Michigan functioned. The University’s campus during wartime differed greatly from that of the peacetime campus: men often postponed their studies to fight for their country leaving many women behind in half-filled classrooms, while women actively participated in the war effort on the home front. The University housed soldiers in dorms, pushing women out of their spaces and into that of men, and eventually capped the number of women admitted to the institution. Selling war bonds, wrapping bandages, and taking care of children were not the only wartime activities Michigan women engaged in; the wartime women of Michigan dedicated much of their free time and sacrificed their opportunities at a “typical college experience” in order to assist America in the war effort.