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Studer, Helen (audio interview #3 of 4)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - By the time of this third interview, Studer was less nervous and seemed to be more comfortable sharing her experiences with the interviewer. 6/18/1980
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- 2021-05-24
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- SUBJECT BIO - Helen Studer was older than many of the other defense workers who came out of the home to do war work. Although she had worked out of the home for short spells after she married, these were always part-time or temporary jobs. Born in Kansas in 1898, Studer was raised first by her grandfather and eventually adopted by an older couple. After high school, she went into nurses' training and then to business school, and worked until she married in 1918. Her three children were born between 1918 and 1928. The family was hit hard by the Depression, beginning with the farm depression in the early 1920s, and for a while lived in a tent in a city park in Colorado. They were beckoned west by the promise of war good paying war jobs, and she went to work at the newly opened Douglas Aircraft plant in Long beach in 1942. Studer's primary identification was always as a housewife and mother, and she made a direct connection between her war work and the well being of her son, who was in the service. When the war ended, she was forty seven years old and tired and was ready to return to full-time homemaking. She kept all the tools she had used on her Douglas job and regularly used them for home repairs. After almost forty years, she was still proud to ply her mechanical skills. The four interviews with Studer, totaling six hours, were conducted by Cindy Cleary in Studer's bright kitchen in the small and compact home that she shared with her husband from 1948 until his death in 1972. At the time of the interview, she was already much less robust looking than she appeared in the 1978 photograph, but she seemed to be in good health and spirits. However, by 1981, when her oral history was reviewed with her, she was frail and bedridden and was enraged at the humiliation of being helpless and dying a slow, painful death. She died a few months later. TOPICS - Douglas employment process; job training; work tools; work processes; working conditions; occupational hazards; work assignments; and gender differences;initial work experiences; working conditions; gender relations; and rationing; economic status; workforce demographics; work clothing; and on-the-job training;work hours; wages; unionization; work skills; working conditions; gender relations; work force demographics;
- *** File: rrrhstuder6.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-1:55)... Studer and her family moved to Long Beach, California in July 1942. They lived with her uncle for a few days before finding an apartment of their own. Her uncle was employed at Douglas Aircraft and encouraged Studer and her husband to apply for a job at the company. Both were hired at Douglas and her husband was immediately sent to work in the plant. Studer, however, was required to attend a paid training program for one month before being assigned to work in the plant. (1:55-5:28)... Studer applied at the Douglas plant for an "industrial" position at the company. She was interviewed by personnel, which involved determining her citizenship and previous work experience. She was informed about the type of work she would be doing and the amount of wages she would receive. She recalls averaging around forty-five dollars a week with automatic raises. After the interview was over, she was sent to the medical examiner at which time she received a physical examination. The group of women she applied with all went through the same training program together. (5:28-7:57)... She received training at a separate facility, during which time she attended classes and was familiarized with the production process at the plant. After about three weeks, she went to the plant and received on-the-job training. She was assigned to work on the wing section as a riveter. She very rarely did bucking work because she was not strong enough for that particular skill. She purchased her tools from a tool shed at the plant. (7:57-9:22)... Studer's position at Douglas was assigned by plant supervisors based on her abilities. She worked on the wing section of C47s. She was paired with another woman and they worked on a section of the wing together. (9:22-13:23)... When Studer applied at Douglas, she did not have any expectations about the company or the work she would be doing. She found the operations to be exciting when she first started working at the plant. During training, she mainly took notes about production procedures and work rules. She also learned how to drill and rivet. Once assigned to the wing section, she worked with about fifty other employees. She describes her leadman as a "useless" man whose young age and inexperience offered very little guidance to the rest of the team. While the women worked hard all day, he sat around playing games. (13:23-18:43)... Studer worked as a riveter for two and a half years. When she developed a growth on her arm, she visited the in-house doctor at the plant. He did nothing for her except wrap her arm in an ace bandage and send her back to work. When she could no longer use her arm to handle a drill, she requested a different job. She wanted to work as an inspector; however, the plant typically only hired young, beautiful women for those positions. Studer was offered a position sweeping the floors. She refused to complete this task and left the plant. She was asked to return to the plant to negotiate her position with management, at which time she was denied an inspection position once again. On the second occasion she was beckoned by management, she went into the meeting with her "Irish" on and did not leave the office until she obtained an inspection position. (18:43-24:27)... In 1946, a year and a half after working as an inspector, Studer was injured when she fell from a platform while inspecting an engine. She could not walk and was rushed to the plant infirmary. She was sent home and spent a few days in bed recovering from her injuries. When Douglas refused to provide compensation for her injuries, she obtained a lawyer. Fighting the Douglas lawyers was like a "fly trying to swallow an elephant." The judge granted her about $700, but her health was never the same. She did not return to Douglas and was one of the first to be laid off at the end of the war. (24:27-27:30)... After receiving training, Studer felt that she had about as much ability to do the work at Douglas as the other women she worked with, most of whom were housewives like herself. She was dedicated to her job and rarely took advantage of the ten-minute breaks offered to employees each hour. The fact that men took more breaks than women illustrates that women worked just as hard if not harder than the men employed at Douglas. She received a few accolades for her work while on the job. End of tape. *** File: rrrhstuder7.mp3 (0:00-2:56)... While in training, Studer was issued an identification badge. In order to enter the plant, employees had to show their badge and open their lunch pails for inspection. The first few days on the job, Studer spent her time touring the plant and acclimating herself to her department (Building 11). She received a list of items issued by the company and a list of items that she had to purchase. Each employee was assigned a locker to store their tools and personal items. Even though the plant was equipped with a cafeteria, Studer very rarely ate there because she felt rushed. She could not recall whether employees received a thirty or sixty-minute lunch break. (2:56-4:37)... Studer was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the building when she first walked into the wing section of the plant. The fluorescent lights were very bright and it was extremely noisy. Even though she wore ear plugs, there were occasions when she had to stop working and go outside to escape the noise. (4:37-6:28)... Initially, men resented women's presence in the plant. When women proved they could handle the job, men treated them more fairly. Studer recalls working with one man who also worked part-time as a preacher in a small church. She did not respect this man because he viewed religious service as a profitable business. (6:28-10:03)... Although Studer and her husband arrived in California in debt, they were able to pay it off after working at Douglas for about a year. She recalls her memories of wartime conditions and food rationing. During breaks, Douglas employees purchased items, such as nylons and cigarettes, from street vendors selling goods outside the plant. (10:03-14:14)... Studer worked with many of the women she trained with before entering the plant. She discusses her friends and coworkers at Douglas, some of whom were part of Studer's carpool. Over the years, Studer lost contact with these women. She digresses regarding an incident when she forgot where she parked her car in the Douglas parking lot. (14:14-15:55)... When men realized that it was essential for women to work at Douglas during the war, their resentment faded. However, Studer felt that men believed it "wasn't their [women] place to be there." She got use to working around men but never felt comfortable in the environment. Like most women at Douglas, "You had to hold your head high and bat your eyes at them [men]" in hopes of being accepted. She even learned how to swear like the men even though she thought it was unladylike behavior. (15:55-17:19)... Two Mexican women worked in Studer's wing section. There were never any Black women hired to work in her department. However, she recalls seeing Black women enter the plant but never knew what types of work they were assigned. (17:19-19:40)... Studer requested that she work the graveyard shift so that she could be home with her teenage daughter during the day. A year and a half later, she transferred to the day shift because she thought it would be better for her health. Her hours were 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and she was home shortly after her daughter got home from school. (19:40-23:27)... On her first day of work, Studer acclimated herself to production tasks by watching others rivet and buck wing panels. She practiced on scrap metal for a short time in order to get a hang of the work. Certain tools and materials were checked out from a tool shed in the department. At the end of the day, these items had to be returned or else employees were required to purchase the items. On occasion, employees, either purposefully or unknowingly, failed to return items to the tool shed. Access to other departments in the plant was allowed unless it was a restricted area. There was one department staffed only by men who did not want any women coming into their work area. (23:27-28:09)... After the first day on the job, Studer was anxious to return to the plant. She wanted to do her job right so that it would pass inspection. Although riveting was tiring and caused her to shake because of the constant movement of the gun, she always recovered at the end of the day. The most difficult aspect of the job was trying to find comfortable shoes to wear while working. Women were required to wear slacks and a blouse. She had never worn pants before and it was awkward at first. She wore a bandana on her head to protect herself from the aluminum dust flying around in the plant. Even though women were not supposed to wear any jewelry, many refused to take off their wedding rings. (28:09-29:02)... Studer very rarely worked overtime and she resented having to work on the weekends. She felt her "duty was at home with her child" not at the plant. End of tape. *** File: rrrhstuder8.mp3 (0:00-1:05)... Douglas employees were pressured to work overtime especially when there were production deadlines. Although she did not mind working one day of overtime, she disliked having to work seven days a week, which she did once for a month. Her husband worked a lot of overtime while employed at the shipyards. He did not have a problem working extra hours, but it was more difficult for Studer because she had domestic and childcare responsibilities. (1:05-2:22)... Douglas automatically gave its employees raises about every six months. Not all departments received raises at the same time, but this did not cause resentment among the employees. Employees also were eligible for merit raises. Studer received several merit raises during her employment with Douglas. (2:22-6:08)... She recalls that there was a lot of pressure for people to join the union when she worked at Douglas. She did not think it was right to force anyone to join the union if they did not want to. She was not opposed to unionism, but believed that union leaders were corrupt and took advantage of the poor. Her husband did not join the union until the 1950s when he went back to work at the shipyard. (6:08-6:50)... Studer often read the newspaper published by Douglas. She recalls that the articles included information on the departments in the plant, production standards in war industries, and stories on individual acts of kindness. (6:50-10:34)... While at Douglas, Studer worked as a riveter and then as an inspector. She thought the quality of her work was perfect and she was never reprimanded by supervisors for doing a poor job. She was pleased with the skills she learned while at Douglas. Even though she completed metal work, she was able to apply her skills and knowledge of power tools when doing maintenance jobs around the house. She shuffles through her tool box and introduces a metal saw that she used while employed at Douglas. (10:34-13:47)... There were never any slow periods while Studer was at Douglas. Although she does not know if the plant set production quotas, employees were constantly working on airplanes to keep pace with the high demand. There were a large number of employees working in the wing section and it was impossible to know what each employee was working on at any given moment. (13:47-15:48)... There was a lot of whistling at women and flirting at the plant. Studer was so busy, however, that she rarely witnessed public displays of affection between employees. There were a few younger women who received better paychecks or promotions because of their looks or their relationship with the foreman. (15:48-19:58)... Most of the women Studer worked with were the same age as her and married. She got along well with all of her coworkers regardless of their age. She noticed that only young, single and pretty women were hired as inspectors. Some of these women worked very little and just walked around the plant wearing "tight pants and tight tops." Studer believes that her age was the main reason she was denied an inspector position. (19:58-21:03)... Like herself, many of the women she worked with migrated to California from different states. Californians knew that Studer was from the Midwest because of her accent. She did not have any problems interacting with people from different states and did not consider people's territorial or religious backgrounds when making friends. (21:03-25:30)... Studer describes the conditions in the plant relative to the temperature and safety features. Although she completed her work while standing on a wood platform, many employees stood directly on the cement floor and often complained about pain to their legs. Airborne particles in the plant were dangerous and may have led to spots on her lungs. In addition to aluminum dust, some women were exposed to fiberglass particles. End of tape.
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