Augusta Clawson

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Augusta Holmes Clawson (June 23, 1903[1] – May 13, 1997) was an American civil servant, and writer of Shipyard Diary of a Woman Welder, a diary about welding in World War II.

Clawson was a graduate of Vassar. In 1943, she was assigned by the United States Office of Education to work undercover as a welder at the Swan Island Shipyard in order to discover the difficulties faced by women workers and the reasons many women welders were leaving the job shortly after completing training.[2] Her book based on her experiences there, Shipyard Diary of a Woman Welder, was published in 1944 by Penguin Books. She retired from government service in 1973.[3]

Clawson gave a collection of items from her time as a welder, including her welding helmet, to the Smithsonian Institution.[4]

References

  1. ^ "United States Social Security Death Index". FamilySearch. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. ^ "The Price of Freedom Object Record Welding Mask". Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  3. ^ "Augusta H. Clawson Dies at 93", The Washington Post, May 17, 1997.
  4. ^ Steven Lubar, Peter Liebhold (1999). "What Do We Keep". AmericanHeritage.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-02-03.