Humhle Women at War: The Case of Humhle's Baytown Refinery, 1942-1945 By Gary J. Rabalais aI-h. growth of war-related manuFacrur- construction ofnew ones. The giant new ation fuel and many other products from I ing Fed an economic boom in rhe shipbuilding facilities on the ship channel the massive complex of refineries from area during \7orld \Var II. Tens were the largest new employers, but the New Orleans to Corpus Christi, and plant ofthousands ofworkers flooded rhe region region's oil and petrochemical plants also owners all along the Houston Ship in search ofopportunities opened by the grew faster than at any time in their histo- Channel from Houston to Texas City had expansion ofexisting factories and the ries. The war effort needed 1O0-octane avi- to search far and wide for the workforce needed to operate their plants. As in other industries around the country the search for workers led to the hiring of women on a scale never before seen. In the giant 8r Refining Companys (Humble) Baytown refinery, women war workers shared similar experi- ences of other women war workers in other parts of the United States. The experiences of Baytowns women war workers, howeve! were also unique because of the refineryt southern region location. Their story is a reminder of the great contributions made by women workers on the home front-and of the tensions that they encountered as they into jobs traditionallv closed to ;H:TO The entry of more and more men into the military during the war resulted in a manpower crisis that one group attributed to "poor distribution, rather than an actual shortage of workers," with "many war plants still [refusingl to hire Negroes, women, aged, or physically-handicapped workers, despite the fact that serious labor shortages exisr in the same localities." On October 19, 1942, the lWar Manpower Commission issued its first statement of poliry about women workers, urging the "removal of all barriers against women workers, that they be hired and trained 'on a basis of equality with men and that they be given 'free access to forement superviso- ry, and technical jobs."" The Commission's

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cary J. Rabalais has a M.Ed. in Cuidance & Counseling and plans to graduate from the University of Houston- in Fall 2005 with a master's degree in History. He retired from The Jaiiary 194i issue a/The Humble Bee highlighted Humble:s femalr workforce, ttitlt woman Corporation in 2003 and presently owns war worker Mrs. Gene "Humble Edu,ards on the couex The original caption read: wzmen dt udr... a manufacturing and wholesale business. a strange-at the moment-but pleasant scene in certain shops at Baltown refinery u,here uomen are aking up duties as assistants in limited qtpes of mechanical worb." Courtesy Boyiown Museum

l"l*. 1::'1t.*":ttttt t tr;1:;,;1r:1./--ir;rt*t*.'2. ry:. ).- y,;.t;t ?t :) chairman, Paul McNutt, later testified Humble's refinery. The number of women the paper took note of "the first feminine about the need for women workers before employees grew more rapidly as the war pro- members to serve" on the board of directors the Senate Military Affairs Committee, gressed and women were recruited to fill for the Baytown Humble Club and which was investigating all phases of the many of the .iobs in the newly constructed announced that the Club would sponsor manpower situation. He predicted "woman- synthetic rubber plants.t monthly USO dances for servicemen.'3 The power will be required to solve the man- During the year 1942, Tbe Humble ones who actually gave the dances were the power problem . . . because 5,000,000 Ref nery Bre, a monthly magazine written Baytown refinery women employees and the workers must enter the labor force by the for employees of Humblet Baytown wives and daughters of refinery personnel.'n erd of 1943;" works, presented a variety of messages con- A significant change in the role of Before the war, Humblet Bay,town cerning the identity and the role of women Baytown refinery women workers occurred refinery which had begun operations in workers on and off the job. E arly in 1942 in November 1942, when Humble 1.921., employed very few women, with announced "[glirls and women will be most assigned to clerical positions.3 This employed at once in the instrument depart- giant refining complex "was one of the ment at the Baytown Refinery." The largest and most advanced in the country, announcement was made "following a con- and in its equipment for manufacturing ference between officials of the company high-quality products for war ranked and members of the executive committee of above. . . large refineries abroad."aThe the Employees' Federation, the bargaining operation of such a huge refinery was tra- agenry for the Baytown plant." The hiring ditionally regarded as a "mant job." This plan, however, was not to the woment full perception began to change by early advantage. The plan included giving women 1942 as more women entered the refin- the lower regular labor rate in effect at the ery workforce. \While many women time instead of the higher regular apprentice empioyed at the refinery continued to instrument rate. The lower regular labor rate work in conventional clerical positions, was equal to the rate advertised by the refin- women also began to work in mechani- ery for laborers in the Goose Creek Daily Sun cal shops and in area plants as laborers.s on July 15,1943. As the United States mobilized to The use of the lower rate by the refin- supply the war needs of its allies prior ery was consistent with the new categories of to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the "womenk work" supported by trade unions Baytown refinery by l94l produced in the United States to ensure that women 100-octane aviation fuel and syntheric workers did not receive equal pay to men.15 toluene, one ofthe ingredients in the The lower labor rate would continue at the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT). companyt option for a three to six month Toluene was produced at the period during which the women had to Baytown Humble Employees Buy Bombers Baltown Ordinance \7orks (B.O.\(4), demonstrate "sufficient capabiliry in the Framed in the propelbr bladzi V-for-Victory, is was which owned by the United States gov- Miss MargaretJohnson of the Ba1town Refnery work" in order to be placed on the higher ernment, leased to Humble, and operated laboratory, uho is shown atop a motor of a regular apprentice instrument rate. by Bal,town refinery personnel.6 After the Liberator bomber. Courtesy Exxon Boylown Even as women were lured into a better U.S. entered the war, a combination of paying jobs, some men doubted their abiliry investments by business and government the Humble Bee depicted a woman's role as to handle the work. According to Clifford expanded these facilities at Baytown, as well caregiveq housewife and a mother, and M. Bond, the public relations director for as at most other refining centefs on the bridge player.'At the same time, it put for- the Employees' Federation, "'{/hen a Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. In addition, the ward the perception of women workers at woman is hired for this rype of work, the demands of war encouraged the consuuc- Baytown as simply "refinery girls."'o The company has no assurance that she will tion ofnew plants to produce synthedc rub- announcement of the first class in Home prove capable or adapt herself readily to the ber and other products, and in September Defense training for Baytown refinery duties."'6 \7omen who entered the refinery 1944 the Buryl rubber plant at Bay,town women employees reinforced the image of workforce clearly faced a significant chal- made its first satisfactory production of women as caregivers: "The introductory lenge in convincing both their employers Buryl rubber.' course, [is] devoted principally to first aid and their co-workers that they should be \7ith plant expansion and growth, . . . All women employes [sic] at the accorded equal treatment. increased production, and loss of men to the Baltown refinery who have not taken the For Baytown refinery women workers, armed forces, Baltown was confronted with first aid training are urged to register."" 1943 was a watershed year for improved the need for additional labor. The inclusion In January, the Humble Bee annornced job opportunities and better pay. The engi- of women in the plantt labor force outside that the storehouse had its first woman neering department had its first ofclerical positions, however, occurred only employee. On September 28, 1942, "the draftswoman.'7 Two women started work gradually as women replaced some of the first girls began to work as testers in the in the carpenter shop." Eight women were men called into the armed forces in Baltown Laboratory."'' Also in September, brought into the machinist department.''

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' 1t*g* 1:{: {h; l ltwgr*t: {Zi:vt*v;^rr:1tutt* 2, *r:. 2 Humble Women at War wartime photo of a black woman was in the higher paying, nontraditional jobs nor the July 1945 issue; it depicts the woman stand- opportuniry for them to participate existed continued from page 36 ing next to a stove and holding a pie. There at the refinery.a In this era, black men in the is no article about her, but the caption of refineries sdll worked almost exclusively in been employed outside the home before dre picture described her as a recent annui- all-black labor gangs and black women working at the refinery. \Wlrile all of the tant who had worked as a maid from worked primarily as cooks and cleaners. women interviewed took pride in contribut- August 1927 to November 1933, when she Even the imperative of a world war fought ing to the war effort, they stressed that they became a cook at the refinery hospital until on two fronts did not bring a significant took their jobs at Baytown primarily because her retirement. change in the status of black workers in the pay and the working conditions were This limited number of photos of black Houston-area refi neries. better than other jobs available to them at women in the Humble -Bee reminds the This conclusion selves as a part of a the time. Many of the lab workers came ro reader of the realities of life in the Jim Crow broader observation about the women who Bay'town not as temporary workers, but South, even in the midst of a major war. worked at Humblet Baytown refinery dur- with the intention of staying on the job and ing \7orld \Var II. A making a career after the war. look inside this giant Many of them subsequently faciliry suggests that the spent long, productive careers image and mlthology of working for Humble.a' Rosie the Riveter has One of the problems expe- stood in the way of a rienced by women workers was more complex under- their lack of adequare rraining. standing of women in Given the fact that there was a needforthemtobeasproduc- iW the workplace during the , W war. Some of the women tive as quicklv as possible. rhe : m who worked at Humble lack o[rraining. especially in ,* ; W: were temporary workers who chose to substirute for their husbands or for other male workers knowing that they would fll.ffitf,f'''W leave their jobs when the fie Buryl lab recalled that,rhey ," WgW@ war ended. Others, such "were nol taught too much ; " "e as those in the saGry until afrer the Faral acci- i a dent."'' ^ "'-""'-'id Buryl lab, seized opportunities The small number of black women - created by the workers at Humblet Baytown refinery faced war boom to conditions starkiy different from those of create careers for the white women who worked in the labs. themselves where The first picture of a black woman in the none had previ- Humble Bee dwing the war was in the ously existed. The January 8, 1942 issue, which contains a opportunities of photo of an unnamed black woman identi- others remained fied only as a maid for the Humble Clubt starkly limited by 1941 New Yeart Eve program. The maga- their skin color, as zine included a "Colored Column' from the historical reali- January through March in 1942, but it con- ties ofJim Crow tained no items about black women. triumphed over rhe Likewise, the feature article "Humble Humble Refnery worhers were a close-knit family. Thq, ofun gathered together picnics and other temporary realities \7omen at \flar \7orli' in the January 1943 for actiuities, a simple but important act that helped of a world at war. publication of the Bee made no mention of keep a sense of normalry during the war. Thq, still All of the women workers at Ba),rown black women. The July i944 issue had a get together todqt conFronted tradirional biases against women photo of black men and women with a cap- Courlesy Mory Corson Eosley ond Gory Robo ois in industrial jobs. AII surmounted those tion about amareur night: "The Baytown biases and made important contributions to Humble Club presented all colored enter- Black women workers at Bal,town cerrainly the war effort. And all had their lives tainers among employees and their families. did not hold jobs comparable to that of the changed by their experiences during the war, This program featured folk music, spirituals, much-heralded mlthical Rosie the Riveter. as did almost every one in the Houston choral numbers and ballads by a talented Neither the participation of black women in region and the nation as a whole. * group of entertainers." The third and iast