When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, over 6 million women joined the workforce for the very first time. This bracelet and ring, which descended in the family of a female defense worker, were made from scraps of sheet metal at one of Long Island’s aviation plants. The belt buckle motif often symbolizes strength and eternal memory, suggesting these pieces may have been made to mourn a fallen solider. As men left their jobs to fight for democracy abroad, women temporarily replaced them on the factory floor. Long Island became a hub for aircraft production, and thousands of women found new jobs at the region’s largest aviation firms: Grumman Aircraft in Bethpage and Republic Aviation in East Farmingdale. By the end of 1943, roughly 30 percent of Grumman’s 25,400 employees were women. Although the majority of this workforce was white, President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8802—signed in June of 1941—made it illegal for government contractors to racially discriminate when hiring, opening the door to African American women as well. The gains women made towards social and economic equality, however, proved to be short lived. Female workers were expected to give up their roles for returning male veterans, and the government’s wartime interventions failed to unravel discriminatory policies across the country. Nevertheless, these experiences laid the groundwork for future debates over gender and racial equality.