On March 15, 2017, the United States Senate passed Senate Resolution 76 to designate March 21 as “Rosie the Riveter Day.”
This resolution was supported by the House of Representatives. The Rosie the Riveter Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019 became law on December 3, 2020, and one Gold Medal was awarded collectively to all the women who had worked in shipyards and factories during World War II. The medal is displayed at the National Museum of American History.
According to History.com, women went from being 27 percent of the American work force in 1940 to 37 percent in 1945. Women were needed to replace the men who left their factory jobs to enlist in the Armed Forces to fight in World War II. Many stories have attempted to identify the person who inspired the name “Rosie the Riveter.” Some say it was Geraldine Hoff Doyle who worked in a Navy machine shop in Michigan. Others say it was Rosie Will Monroe who worked in a Bomber Plant near Detroit.
In 1942, Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb wrote a song named “Rosie the Riveter” to recognize the efforts of their friend, Rosalind Walter, who worked as a riveter on Corsair fighter planes in Long Island, New York.
Still others say it referred to a 1942 photo of Naomi Parker Fraley wearing the polka dotted bandana as she worked in a machine shop at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, California.
The prototype for Rosie the Riveter was first created in 1942 by J. Howard Miller, a Pittsburgh artist, and was used on posters for Westinghouse Electric Corporation to encourage women to work in the factories to help the war effort.
Norman Rockwell used the image to create a cover for the May 29, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening Post.
The women were paid less than the men they had replaced. When the war was over, they were no longer needed to help build fighter planes or ships and they lost their jobs. Also, the male veterans returning home from war were given many of the positions the women had held.
While the prototype depicts a Caucasian woman, we should not forget the estimated 600,000 Black women who were part of the Rosie the Riveter workforce. Many of the Rosies needed the money to support their families while their husbands were serving overseas. The women who worked in the factories and shipyards left a legacy of always stepping up and proving that they could do all that was needed to support the war effort.
Their spirit continues as many women continue to show that “Can Do” attitude as they meet the demands of today’s world. On March 21, 2022, let’s celebrate all the women, both past and present, who have helped make this world a better place.
