By 1938, North America was emerging from the Great Depression, but three years later, it would be plunged into war. During World War II when the largely male forces were fighting overseas, women left the home to work in business and factories in growing numbers, a trend that continued into the 1950s. A New Deal for Women traces the expanding roles of women as they came into their own following the Great Depression in World War II, and how they were able to maintain some of those gains during the post-war era.