Hazel Hunkins grew up in Billings, Montana, and as a young girl, she was seen as “different” because she wanted to do what boys could do from climbing trees to becoming a doctor. After graduating valedictorian from Billings High School, Hunkins obtained her chemistry degree from Vassar College. However, when she applied to chemistry labs across the country they all replied that although she was qualified, they “don’t hire women.”  This response sparked a fire in her, and when she met Anne Louise Rowe of the National Women’s Party (NWP), Hunkins realized that she “was one of millions who had been shoved aside because of my sex” and she had to do something about the exclusion of women. Within six months of joining the NWP, she became the Montana State Chairman. When the NWP began their constant picketing of the White House in 1917, Hunkins participated in the demonstrations. The pickets were peaceful—holding purple, gold, and white suffrage banners and signs like “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?”  Hunkins led a protest at Lafayette Square, carrying the American flag and leading the way to the Park. Once at the statue, she made the simple statement: “Here, at the statue of Lafayette, who fought for the liberty of this country, and under the American flag, I am asking for the enfranchisement of American Women.” She was immediately arrested. Other women followed Hunkins’ lead, each suffragist making her own statement until 47 women were arrested. Lafayette Square confirmed the NWP efforts were unpopular; however, once World War started, they were scrutinized even more, as people thought the women needed to support the war effort rather than picket a wartime president. The NWP, instead of wavering in their resolve, started new demonstrations like the watchfires of freedom—where President Wilson’s speeches about democracy in Europe were read aloud and burned because American women did not have democracy at home. The arrests of NWP women continued, often being charged with newly fabricated crimes like “obstruction of a public sidewalk.” Rather than paying fines, they chose jail because as Hunkins stated, “Women cannot be law-breakers until they are law-makers.” The prison conditions were awful—cold, damp areas, without proper clothing, blankets, and food—so the suffragists would often go on hunger strikes to protest these conditions, and in some cases, they would be force-fed. After one such hunger strike, Hunkins left the prison hardly able to walk.  Despite all of the challenges they faced fighting public opinion and police officers’ efforts to stop their protests, in 1920 the 19th Amendment was finally ratified, giving American women the right to vote. After this triumph, Hazel Hunkins continued to push for women’s rights. When she moved to London with her husband, Charles Thomas Hallinan, she joined the British feminist Six Point Group. At age 87, Hunkins-Hallinan returned to America to participate in the March for Equal Rights. There she stated what she fought her whole life for, “Equal Rights is so clear cut; it’s fundamental—a basic change… For half a cent I would stay here and campaign.”

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They were among the only survivors: Chief Sagwitch and his Northwestern Band of Shoshone were destitute and hopeless after three quarters of their tribe were murdered in the 1863 Bear River Massacre. One decade later, Sagwitch made peace with the occupiers of his homeland by joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Through the help of the LDS church, the Shoshone began a homestead community away from Fort Hall where they felt they would be free to practice their new religion.

For the next eighty years, hundreds of Shoshone made their homes in Washakie. At its pinnacle in the 1920s, more than 300 worked there as farmers and ranchers. At first, they relied on subsistence agriculture, which they supplemented with deer meat. As their land base grew, the Northwestern Band began selling excess crops of wheat and potatoes to the LDS Church. Additionally, they raised purebred cattle and sheep, which they sold at premium prices in the local market.

After 1900, very few of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone returned to Fort Hall except for larger intertribal Shoshone gatherings, especially basketball games. At Washakie, they were allowed to speak Shoshone and perform traditional ceremonies—which the US government wanted to eliminate. The local grade school—established and maintained by the LDS Church—taught the students to speak, read, and write English but did not discourage the exploration of Shoshone culture. After elementary school, most students attended nearby high schools and a remarkably high percentage also attended college.

By World War II, Washakie was a relatively successful agricultural experiment, but the inhabitants still lived without electricity in small shacks and tents. Seeking better economic opportunities, many found employment at the nearby Hill Airforce Base. Drawn away by the allure of steady pay and higher education, few young people stayed in Washakie, and its population dwindled until the land was sold in the 1970s.

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Between the years 1940-1944, the percentage of Utah’s workforce made up of women more than doubled—but where did all those women find employment? Many inhabitants of Sanpete county and surrounding areas worked at the Manti parachute plant, which was built exclusively for World War II and employed hundreds of women.

The plant was created by the Standard Parachute Company of San Diego in 1942, and was converted into a factory from an old armory. Workers at the plant sewed and packaged parachutes for American soldiers overseas, carefully inspecting each one to ensure its reliability.

Whether it was to support their families financially, assert female independence, or support the war effort, many Utah women were employed for the first time at this factory. Some workers came straight out of high school; others came from homes where they were raising children.

One woman who worked there, Maurine Braithwaite Draper, lived on a farm with her husband. Her main reason for working there was “to have something to do.” Aside from a newfound pastime, Maurine left her factory job with increased confidence and independence as a woman. This was helpful when she later found herself divorced and caring for children on her own.

Another worker, Zola Anderson Ruesch, had a different reason for taking a job at the plant. She had previously been working for a family in Ephraim, UT, and discovered she could make better wages sewing parachutes. Aside from financial compensation, Zola felt a sense of patriotism through her contributions to the war effort. “I felt like I was doing some good for the men in the war. This way, we could help out too.”

Zola wasn’t the only one who was financially motivated to begin work at the factory—the Great Depression had left many families destitute, and jobs were so scarce that many Utah inhabitants jumped at the new employment opportunities provided by the war. Alice Frederickson Clark, who hadn’t finished her high school education, was excited at the opportunity for work. She recalled, “I needed the money. We didn’t have lights, water, a bathroom, or anything. I was anxious to get to work.”

Alice didn’t just do the minimum to get a little extra cash—she would spend time on weekends repairing parachutes that hadn’t been sent out due to minor defects. She remembered, “I’d go in on my own time [on Saturday] and catch up on those repairs because it made me sick to see them all piled up.”

In addition to financial benefits and sense of patriotism, these women also enjoyed strong friendships with their coworkers. Alice stated, “I never worked at a place where people got along as well. It just was kind of a happy family.” While most of the young men were off at war, the young women working at the plant would spend weekends and evenings socializing together. Many of them remained friends throughout their lives.

Whether they worked somewhere else after the war ended and the factory closed, or whether they opted to be stay-home mothers, these working women and this factory made an important contribution to the USA’s involvement in World War II.

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Heading South on Interstate 15 towards Orem, UT, it’s hard to miss the massive, industrial-themed Harley-Davidson dealership, situated just across the street from where the colossal Geneva Steel Plant once stood. Much of the exterior material used to build the dealership was salvaged from the rubble of Geneva—one of Utah’s largest employers for decades—in an effort to preserve its memory. Since demolition in 2002, Geneva’s smokestacks no longer dominate the horizon, but its impact on Utah Valley’s fate remains profound.

In 1940, Orem had 2,914 inhabitants, most of whom lived on farms. Geneva Steel would drastically change Orem’s demographics within only a few years. As the United States’ involvement in World War II escalated, the US Federal government began sponsoring new steel mills to accelerate production. Orem was considered the perfect location, because not only was it far enough inland to be safe from foreign invasion, but it was also situated near deposits of coal and other natural resources essential for steel-making.

Columbia Steel constructed the plant and began operation in 1944, bringing thousands to the valley. By the end of the war, Orem’s population had more than doubled; the 1945 US Census reported a population of 8,351. The Great Depression had hit hard in Utah, and the prospect of over 4,000 new jobs at Geneva was a powerful beckoning call. One former Geneva worker, Ken Jolley, who was a young man at the time, recalls expanding his paper route to hundreds of people camped out in trailer homes, as there wasn’t enough permanent housing available to accommodate the dramatic influx of families to the valley.

Geneva’s operation continued long after the war, though it wouldn’t last forever. In 1946, U.S. Steel bought Geneva, and after 40 years, sold it to Utah investors. Many factors worked against Geneva—newer and more cost-effective technology was being used elsewhere, foreign competition was replacing American-made steel consumption, and heightened environmental awareness was lowering public approval of the plant. Eventually, Geneva was sold for the last time. Between 2002-2004, some of the equipment was shipped overseas to other steel mills, and the rest of the factory was demolished.

Today, all that physically remains of what was once an operation stretching over 1,750 acres is a motorcycle dealership using Geneva’s remains as its exterior. However, the impacts of Geneva’s steel production, both negative and positive, are still visible. Decades of air pollution and discharge of heavy metals into Utah Lake have been cause for scrutiny, and whether Geneva was detrimental to Utahns’ health has been a pivotal public debate. However, the thousands of people who migrated to Utah Valley and stayed there have made it what it is today. Orem’s rapid shift from agricultural to residential, as well as much of its economic success, is attributable to the plant—born out of wartime necessity and years of labor by thousands of hard-working individuals.

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Geneva Steel was a wartime steel plant built for World War II that continued operation until 2002. After more than doubling the population of Orem in the 1940s, Geneva remained an important part of Utah Valley’s silhouette for decades. It replaced agriculture with industry and farmland with subdivisions. Most of all, it was appreciated as a much-needed source of employment in a Depression-ravaged country. Over the years, Geneva provided jobs to tens of thousands of people. While steel-working was traditionally a male-dominated industry, many women were employed at the plant as well in its 60 years of operation.

Women were employed at the plant during World War II simply because there was such high demand for workers. Many of them didn’t stay in their positions after the war, and went back to more traditionally accepted women’s roles. However, several women did stay working there and many others would follow in coming years. Patty Ivie is one former worker who is still in close contact with the other female laborers that worked beside her. She was raised doing hard work on a ranch, and it wasn’t hard for her to prove herself as an equal to the men working at the plant. “Once the guys knew that we were going to do the job, they were fine with us.” One of her former coworkers reflected, “We might have done things a little differently, but we got them done.”

While Geneva would always be a male-dominated environment, the women who worked there played a valuable role, both inside and outside the factory. Many of them were single mothers or helping support their families, and were glad to find a job that paid more than traditionally female-dominated positions. One woman reflects on her time as a young, single mother—she would commute to Salt Lake City from Orem to get to her minimum wage job in a restaurant. Once she found the much higher wages available to her if she took a job at Geneva, “I just couldn’t pass it up.”

The reasons for taking jobs at Geneva in the 40s and afterward are varied. Some just wanted the experience of working while abundant openings arose during the war; for others, it was a matter of supporting their families. Just as these women forged strong steel behind Geneva’s walls, Geneva forged these individuals into strong, hard-working women.

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