‘Work in the Housewives’ Service, like that of a household, seems never to be done’: the ‘practical politics’ of the Women’s Voluntary Service in the Second World War

Abstract

The Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) was established in 1938, to encourage women into civil defence ahead of the anticipated conflict. Once war began, it quickly expanded, with members engaging in a wide range of duties. Historians have characterised the WVS as an organisation dominated by middle-class women, but, while leadership was typically middle-class, at local level, membership was often more diverse. This article draws on the internal records of thirteen WVS Centres in the Black Country to suggest that the organisation was arguably more inclusive of a wider range of social classes than has previously been considered. It argues that working-class women were able to take on roles within the local public sphere through the very specific, localised and practical nature of the work the WVS undertook in this area. As such, it argues that the organisation played an important role in allowing women’s activism to flourish in the mid-twentieth century.