Rosie the Riveter
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Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States, representing the six million women who worked in the manufacturing plants which produced munitions and material during World War II while the men (who traditionally performed this work) were off fighting the war. This "character" is now considered a feminist icon in the US, and a herald of women's economic power to come. Rosie and her slogan were featured on newspapers, magazines and posters.
Rosie the riveter was inspired by a real person Ms. Rose Will Monroe, she was born in Kentucky in 1922. During World War II she moved to Michigan. She worked as a riveter at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory in Ypsilanti, Michigan, building B-29 and B-24 bombers for the Air Force.
She was asked to star in a promotional film about the war effort at home. She was also featured in a poster campaign. She became known as Rosie the Riveter, perhaps the most widely recognized icon of that era. The films and posters she appeared in were used by the U.S. government to encourage women to go to work in support of the war effort.
Ms. Monroe died at the age of 77 on May 31, 1997 in Clarksville, Indiana.
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[edit] Origin
In 1940, only 11% of women who worked were employed by factories, but by 1944, the figure was up to 30%. Although pay was not always equal (the average man working in a wartime plant was paid $54.65 per week, while women on average were paid $31.21 per week), and conditions were sometimes very poor, women quickly responded to Rosie the Riveter, who convinced them they had a patriotic duty to enter the workforce. Some claim that she forever opened up the work force for women, but others dispute that point, noting that many women were discharged after the war and the jobs given to returning servicemen.
After the war the "Rosies" and the generations that followed them knew that working in the factories was in fact a possibility for women, even though they did not reenter the job market in such large proportions again until the 1970s, and by that time factory employment was in decline all over the country.
The image most iconically associated with Rosie is J. Howard Miller's famous poster for Westinghouse, entitled We Can Do It! (above right), which was modeled on Michigan factory worker Geraldine Doyle in 1942.
But the woman in the painting bore no name. In fact, this picture is not a meant to be true Rosie the Riveter at all. Penny Colman comments on this picture in her book Rosie the Riveter writing that "Since the 1970s, this poster has been mistakenly labeled Rosie the Riveter and has been reprinted on posters, magazine covers, and many other items." It wasn't until early 1943 that a song by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, Rosie the Riveter, was released. [1] The final connection between the name of Rosie and the character was made by Norman Rockwell for his eponymous cover for the May 29, 1943 Saturday Evening Post, which depicted a different Rosie (model Mary Doyle Keefe). See the original painting and the magazine cover. [2] Note the copy of Mein Kampf under her feet. It is not clear whether Rockwell had seen the Miller poster but he admitted that "I made a mistake in the detail that people will be calling me down for. The cover shows Rosie with goggles on and an risinglass protective shield. I don't think riveters use both. It was silly of me."
On October 14, 2000, the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park was opened in Richmond, California, site of four Kaiser shipyards, where thousands of "Rosies" from around the country worked. Over 200 former Rosies attended the ceremony.
According to Colman's Rosie the Riveter, there was also, very briefly, a "Wendy the Welder" based on Janet Doyle, a worker at the Kaiser Richmond Liberty Shipyards in California. In the 1960's, Hollywood actress Jane Withers gained fame as "Josephine the Plumber," a character in a long-running and popular series of television commercials for "Comet" cleansing powder that lasted into the 1970s. This character is obviously based on the original "Rosie" character and thus owes much to exemplary women's efforts in the traditional male workplace.
[edit] Statistics
- In 1942, just between the months of January and July, the estimates of the proportion of jobs that would be 'acceptable' for women was raised by employers from 29 to 85 percent.
- About half of the working women were married.
[edit] References
- UAW Local 602 Newsletter - March 24, 2003 (PDF file)
- Michigan History for Kids magazine - Spring 2003 (PDF file)[3]
- Bornstein, Anna 'Dolly' Gillan. Woman Welder/ Shipbuilder in World War II. Winnie the Welder History Project. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. February 16, 2005.
- Bourke-White, Margaret. "Women In Steel: They are Handling Tough Jobs In Heavy Industry". Life. August 9, 1943.
- Bowman, Constance. Slacks and Calluses - Our Summer in a Bomber Factory. Smithsonian Institution. Washington D.C. 1999.
- Cabanis, Helen. Woman Riveter in World War II. Rosie the Riveter Collection, Rose State College, Eastern Oklahoma Country Regional History. Center. [4] March 16, 2003.
- Colman, Penny. Rosie the Riveter: Women Workers on the Home Front in World War II. Crown Publishers, Inc. New York. 1995.
- Hresko, Mary and Mary Vincher Shiner. Women Workers in World War II. [5] May 21, 2001.
- Meacham, Clarice. Woman Welder and Riveter during World War II. Personal Interview. December 13, 2004.
![[2]](http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/at0071.2s.jpg){kind=link}