First Lady of the United States and provided elite women with opportunities to play backstage political roles. Both Martha Washington and Abigail Adams were treated as if they were "ladies" of the British royal court. Dolley Madison popularized the First Ladyship by engaging in efforts to assist orphans and women, by dressing in elegant fashions and attracting newspaper coverage, and by risking her life to save iconic treasures during the War of 1812. Madison set the standard for the ladyship and her actions were the model for nearly every First Lady until Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1930s. She traveled widely and spoke to many groups, often
Women in the United States labor force from 1945 to 1950 until 1963. In 1940, 28% of women over 14 participated in the labor force while men over the age of 10 had a 96% workforce participation rate. The war caused the mobilization of 16 million Americans, mostly white men who were not farmers or German. But the states’ contribution to America’s mobilization varied between 40% (Georgia) and 53.6% (Maine) of eligible men, hence the impact on subgroups varied. In 1945, 37% of women were employed, encouraged by factors such as war time propaganda or the positive income effect of husbands in the military earning less. Real wages did not increase