Continuity in New Jersey Women's Activism from Suffrage Through World War II

This research demonstrates a continuity of New Jersey women's activism beginning after the suffrage victory and extending into World War II. With a long history of social reform organizations, community engagement and civic clubs, women's WWII activism in New Jersey was an extension of other aspects of civic responsibility traced back to suffrage activism and Progressive Era campaigns already in existence before the war. After the suffrage victory, the New Jersey League of Women Voters (NJLWV) and the Consumers League of New Jersey (CLNJ) emerged as the two most prominent women's activist groups in the Garden State.;The unprecedented nature of WWII on the home front and abroad did not suspend this pattern of social concern, but altered the ways these club women engaged in their activities. An examination of primary sources from prominent activist groups beginning in the early twentieth century shows parallels between Progressive Era networks of influence and the mobilization of women for wartime activism, including involvement in civilian defense and women's military branches. Early twentieth century activist networks provided the training ground for future generations of club women and helped lay the foundation for the enormous home front activism of WWII.