Considering how iconic the famous Rosie The Riveter character remains today, it's probably widely known that, as the United States entered World War II, women who would otherwise have been expected to be homemakers suddenly found themselves working in factories to support the war effort.
According to the Department of Defense, about 10 million men ended up in the Army, Navy and Marines throughout the course of the war, which meant that a great deal of essential jobs suddenly needed new workers to do them. But what may be less obvious was how America's national pastime was affected as well.
Baseball players were no more immune to the draft than anyone else, so Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley asked his general managers to cook up a solution. Their answer mirrored the responses of other industries, which gave rise to what would become the All-American Girls Professional Ball League.
Today, we honor one of the last women to have played in that league.
