Phoenix Mill

Built in 1922 as one of Henry Ford's Village Industries, this small factory employed only women, who made electrical parts for Ford automobiles including voltage meters, light switches, and generator cutouts. During World War II in the 1940s, they also produced electrical wiring for M-7 machine gun directors and electrical parts for Universal Gun Carriers. As wartime work increased, the operation moved to the Willow Run Bomber Plant, and these workers became some of the first "Rosie the Riviters." Women working at the Phoenix Plant had to be single or widowed, wear dresses to work, and could not smoke.

Michigan · United States