"No work, no woo" pledge, 1943

This Oregon Journal photo is captioned: "Albina Engine & Machine Works Employees Line up to Sign Pledge Not to Date Anyone w/out a Full Time Card." The women and men standing in line are identified as (left to right): Secretary Leona Dunphy, Teddy Wisted (in booth), Lee Jennings, Mildred Williams, Elizabeth Hahn, Pete Kraushaar, Louis Ross, Alice Kaufmann, Vernell Williamson, Dorothy Kinder, Ruth Cox, Stan Brown, Ruby Lepper, and Vivian Wallace.

In 1943, the Albina Engine & Machine Works, based in Portland, Oregon, came up with a plan to discourage absenteeism during World War II. The company asked employees to sign perfect attendance pledges, but with a twist: employees also promised not to date anyone who failed to turn in full timecards. The pledge was referred to as the "No Work--No Woo" pledge, and both men and women signed them. President Roosevelt, through Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, notified Albina Engine & Machine Works in March 1943 that the pledge would become a national movement. Chapters were formed at shipyards and at Camp Adair, Fort Lewis, Fort George Wright, and many other American army posts.  

Written by Mary Bryan Curd, 2015