RIP, Rosie the Riveter

USPS Postal Stamp,1999

Geraldine Doyle, also known as “Rosie the Riveter” died this week. Seemingly, a myth continually in the making. Never mind that her name was not Rosie, that she was not a riveter, and that she lasted barely two weeks at her factory job – she made a lasting impact on American culture.

From The Washington Post:

Geraldine Doyle, 86, who as a 17-year-old factory worker became the inspiration for a popular World War II recruitment poster that evoked female power and independence under the slogan "We Can Do It!," died Dec. 26 at a hospice in Lansing, Mich.

Her daughter, Stephanie Gregg, said the cause of death was complications from severe arthritis.

For millions of Americans throughout the decades since World War II, the stunning brunette in the red and white polka-dot bandanna was Rosie the Riveter.

Rosie's rolled-up sleeves and flexed right arm came to represent the newfound strength of the 18 million women who worked during the war and later made her a figure of the feminist movement.

And a bit more history:

In the early 1940s, Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb composed the song "Rosie the Riveter."

Simple lyrics helped the tune become a rotation staple on radio stations coast-to-coast: "All day long whether rain or shine, she's part of the assembly line. She's making history, working for victory, Rosie the Riveter."

After the song had become popular, the May 29, 1943, edition of the Saturday Evening Post cover featured a Norman Rockwell illustration of a muscular, red-headed riveter with the name Rosie painted on her lunch pail.

The history of my (present-day) hometown, Richmond, California is integrally tied into the story of Rosie the Riveter. So much so, that it is home to the Rosie the Riveter Memorial: Honoring American Women’s Labor During WW II. The memorial is designed to commemorate the contributions of the estimated 18 million women who worked in WWII defense industries and allied services. Additionally, the City of Richmond and the National Park Service are presently collaborating to add a National Park Visitor Center and Museum to honor this piece of American history. And best of all, an oral history project has been underway since 1998 to document the stories of the “Rosies” through interviews, photography and collecting historical documents.

It’s hard to argue that Richmond is not the perfect place for this memorial. In January 1941, one of the biggest wartime shipping building operations on the West Coast – the Kaiser Shipyards, opened for operations. The City’s population went from 23,2600 to 93,700, with floods of new arrivals from economically depressed parts of the country. Go to any bar in Richmond, and you can still overhear guys – a very diverse lot – talking and exchanging stories about those days.

So if you are around, pay homage to Rosie the Riveter and all the women she represents! Pay a visit to the Memorial.