Powder Girls at Sunflower Ordnance Works near DeSoto in Johnson County needed thousands of workers to make rocket powder for ammunition. The Sunflower plant made desperate pleas for all able-bodied workers, including women. People came from as far away as Texas and Oklahoma to work at Sunflower.

The female workers hired to work with the jet propulsion powder were nicknamed "Powder Girls, " based on their blue-cotton uniform overalls made of fire-retardant material (supervisors wore white), a head turban and eye goggles. Öthey wore safety shoes with rubber or leather soles. … Most worked eight hour shifts, six days a week. Every two weeks their shifts changed causing a disruption in sleep and eating schedules for the workers and their families. Ö

Eventually, 60% of the operating personnel of the plant were women. Minority women came forward in record numbers to fill labor needsÖparticularly Native American women from Haskell Institute.

At the same time the working women continued to perform "womenís work": cooking, cleaning, sewing, shopping and other chores involved in running a household. When mom went to work, many factories instituted child care facilities within the plant, but this was not universal. Women moved in with each other and shared child-rearing responsibilities. … In Kansas City a Child Care Committee sponsored day nurseries and care centers for working mothersÖBy summer of 1944, Kansas City had 16 daycare centers and 9 nurseries, all receiving financial assistance from the government.