Records of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor; Part II : Women in World War II ; Series B. Subjects and Correspondence Files on War Industries on Microfilm, 1918-1965
Collection Number: 5946 mf

The Women's Bureau was created in the Department of Labor by Public Law No. 259 of June 5, 1920. The law gave the Bureau the authority to investigate and report to the U.S. Dept. of Labor upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of women in industry.

Throughout its history the Bureau has been concerned not only with women's ability to obtain profitable employment, but also their contribution to family income and how they could be assisted to balance work and family, a concern that continues to this day. The Department of Labor set an example in the 1960s by establishing a demonstration child care center in a nearby building for children of their low-income employees. In 1982, the Bureau was proud to announce the launch of a major initiative to encourage employer-sponsored child care. In 1993 they pressured the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

Between 2000-2010, Shinae Chun became the Women's Bureau first Asian-American Director and the highest-ranking Korean American in the Administration. Initiatves during the first half of the decad included Girls E-Mentoring in Science, Engineering, and Technology (GEM-SET); Group E-Mentoring in Nursing (GEM-Nursing); Women with Disabilities Entrepreneurship; Working Women in Transition; an Employer-Driven Older Women Workers project; Wi$eUp, a web-based electronic mentoring curriculum for Generations X and Y women;

financial security conferences for Hispanic women; Flex-Options for Women, bringing together corporate mentors and women business owners interested in developing flexible workplace policies; and a series of women's leadership forums in each of the Women's Bureau's 10 regions.

From 2010-2012, Sara Manzano-Diaz served as the 16th Director of the Women's Bureau.

Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

Records of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor; Part II : Women in World War II ; Series B. Subjects and Correspondence Files on War Industries on Microfilm #5946 mf. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

The container list for this collecion can be found in the University Publications of America finding aid and is available here.