Four months before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Mildred McClellan Melville, a member of the Denver Woman’s Press Club, predicted that war would come for the United States and that its long arm would reach into the lives of all Americans. And reach it did. Colorado women from every corner of the state enlisted in the military, joined the workforce, and volunteered on the home front. As military women, they served as nurses and in hundreds of noncombat positions. In defense plants they riveted steel, made bullets, inspected bombs, operated cranes, and stored projectiles. They hosted USO canteens, nursed in civilian hospitals, donated blood, drove Red Cross vehicles, and led scrap drives; and they processed hundreds of thousands of forms and reports. Whether or not they worked outside the home, they wholeheartedly participated in a kaleidoscope of activities to support the war effort. In Colorado Women in World War II Gail M. Beaton interweaves nearly eighty oral histories—including interviews, historical studies, newspaper accounts, and organizational records—and historical photographs (many from the interviewees themselves) to shed light on women’s participation in the war, exploring the dangers and triumphs they felt, the nature of their work, and the lasting ways in which the war influenced their lives. Beaton offers a new perspective on World War II—views from field hospitals, small steel companies, ammunition plants, college classrooms, and sugar beet fields—giving a rare look at how the war profoundly transformed the women of this state and will be a compelling new resource for readers, scholars, and students interested in Colorado history and women’s roles in World War II.

In a time of changing technology and cultural shifts, it is difficult to measure some aspects of the workforce. Education and the American Workforce brings together a comprehensive collection of employment and education information from federal statistical agencies. This publicationis a compila­tion of data about employment and education from federal statistical agencies. The Census Bureau is the leading source of quality data about the nation’s people and economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the principal federal agency responsible for mea­suring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy. Together, these agencies produce a wealth of information about the American workforce. Education and the American Workforce includes information about the jobs that people hold—the occupations that they pur­sue and the industries where they work—and the edu­cation levels that people have attained. The geographic location of jobs is important. People often move to locations where jobs are plentiful, moving away from areas where jobs have decreased as technology and trends have changed. The education level of a local population can have an impact on the type of jobs avail­able, with employers establishing businesses where they expect to find employees with appropriate educational credentials. This book uses the American Community Survey (ACS) to pro­vide data on jobs and education in states, metropolitan areas, counties, cities, and congressional districts. The local area detail is necessarily less specific than the national data but the occupation categories use the same SOC categorization, grouped to protect the respondents’ privacy. These sections include ACS data about the labor force, educational attain­ment, and field of degree, often by age, gender, race, and Hispanic origin. Also included are some personal and household characteristics that are relevant to employ­ment and education, such as health insurance and com­puter access. Some examples of interesting data found inside Education and the American Workforce include: With no formal educational requirement and a median salary of $22,680, 4.5 million people are employed as retail salespersons, the most of any single occupation. Cashiers and food preparation/serving workers account for another 3.5 million each. There are 2.9 million registered nurses, the most numerous of occupations that require a bachelor’s degree. The biggest numeric decline is expected for Postal Service mail carriers, dropping by about 78,000 in ten years. When combined with other Postal Service occupations—such as clerks, sorters, postmasters, and others—a decline of 140,000 jobs is expected for the Postal Service. Among the 75 largest counties, Bronx County, NY had the highest number of residents age 25 and over with less than a high school diploma at 29.4 percent while Montgomery County, PA had the lowest percentage at 6.2 percent. Meanwhile, New York County, NY and Fairfax County, VA had the highest percentage of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher at 59.9 percent followed by Montgomery County, MD at 57.9 percent among the 75 largest counties. Nationally, between 2011 and 2015, 29.8 percent of the population had a bachelor’s degree or higher.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)