The Labor Force

The Labor Force. . , By the early 1800s, African American enslaved laborers were utilized at the Gosport Navy Yard. Their masters were paid 72 to 83 cents per day for their services, while the other shipyard workers were typically paid close to two dollars per day. The enslaved laborers worked as skilled hammerers and craftsmen as well as common laborers, and their skills were noted in numerous letters to the Navy's Board of Commissions., An epidemic of yellow fever paralyzed Portsmouth and the surrounding area in the summer and fall of 1855. After the hardship of the yellow fever epidemic, the Gosport Navy Yard recovered to enter a new period of expansion. The workforce, which stood at about 1,000 at the start of the 1850s, exceeded 1,500 by the end of the decade. Most of these workers were machinists, of whom Germans were particularly well-represented, and carpenters., World War I brought with it an influx of workers to the Navy Yard. Employment surged to a level higher than it had ever been, reaching 11,000 in 1919 as compared to 2,700 in 1914. By 1917 the Navy established the Yeoman (F) rating which allowed women to enlist as active service personnel; these women were assigned to administrative jobs throughout the shipyard.,

"… three women have been assigned positions in the Norfolk Navy Yard machine shops as helper-trainees, fore-runners of more than 1,000 others expected during the present year." , --Christian Science Monitor , March 30, 1942

, Employment at the shipyard fell to pre-war levels following the close of the first World War; however, the U.S. entry into World War II marked another sharp increase in personnel. The number of civilian employees at the Navy Yard more than doubled between 1941 (12,000) and 1942 (25,000). An additional 15,000 employees were expected by 1943, but the actual number far surpassed this expectation reaching a high of 42,893 in February 1943., With the need for workers in all areas of shipyard operations women were involved in physical labor as they had never been before. Poster campaigns showcasing 'Wendy th eWelder' and 'Rosie the Riveter' encouraged women to participate in these roles., [Captions:] , Photograph of workers aboard the USS Craven while it was under construction at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, circa 1918., Photograph of the Yeoman (F) Drill Team at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, circa 1918-1919., Throughout wartime, posters such as this were used to encourage the labor force. This poster is from World War I, 1917., Hammering a ship's plate, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 1941., Shipyard riveter, 1942., Poster campaigns encouraged women to join the war effort following the U.S. entry into World War II. "I'm Proud" (left), "Rosie the Riveter" (center), and "Soldiers Without Guns" posters (right), encouraged women into the workforce., Women shipyard welders, circa 1943., Women lathe operators, Building Shop 31, 1943.