“What will happen then to the girls of the LipstickBrigade? Will they go back home and find jobs or husbands? Will a revived private industry absorb them? Or will the government create new agencies to deal with post-war problems and man them with women, so to speak?”
New York Times, December 1942
Lipstick Brigade is the first and only book to explore the the dynamic and inspiring story of Washington’s World War II “Government Girls.” Sometimes called white-collar Rosie the Riveters, this clerical corps of over 100,000 women- mostly young, single, and alone in a big city for the first time- migrated from across the country to become federal stenographers, typists, code breakers, analysts, and spies to join America’s war effort.
But there were so many more wonderful stories, photos, interviews, and videos that I could not fit into the book, I created a separate website to share them. Check it out!
I hope you enjoy these women’s stories as much as I did in uncovering them!
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- Government Girls working at the Office of War Information
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- Arlington Farms, the largest federal dorm, was often compared to a college dorm
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- Romance in wartime Washington
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- Newly arrived Government Girl meeting her boarding house roommates
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- Waiting for the bus at Arlington Farms
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- Federal dorms were designed for the beauty needs of the young Government Girls
CINDY GUELI 
Great presentation by author Cindy Gueli at Marymount University in Arlington, VA on April 13. Her stories made those women come alive! My mom was a code-breaker with the Navy WAVES in DC during WWII, and my dad was in the OSS. Loved the talk, reading the book!