Jump to content

Rosie the Riveter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by UnwashedMeme (talk | contribs) at 05:01, 19 January 2008 (→External links: adding link to LOC image of a worker.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

J. Howard Miller's "We Can Do It!" - Many women first found economic strength in World War II-era manufacturing jobs.

Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States, representing the six million[1] women who worked in the manufacturing plants that produced munitions and materiel during World War II. These women took the places of the male workers who were absent fighting in the Pacific and European theaters. The 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 posters, magazines, and more.

History

A real "Rosie" at work.

Rosie the Riveter was most closely associated with a real woman, Rose Will Monroe, who was born in Pulaski County, Kentucky, in 1920 and moved to Michigan during World War II. She worked as a riveter at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory in Ypsilanti, Michigan, building B-29 and B-24 bombers for the U.S. Army Air Forces. Monroe was asked to star in a promotional film about the war effort at home and was featured in a poster campaign. The song "Rosie the Riveter" by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb was released in early 1943,[1] and Monroe happened to best fit the description of the worker depicted in the song.[2] Rose went on to become 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.

According to the Encyclopedia of American Economic History, the "Rosie the Riveter" movement increased the number of working American women to 20 million by 1944, a 57% increase from 1940.[2] (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%.)[citation needed] Conditions were sometimes very poor and pay was not always equal—the average man working in a wartime plant was paid $54.65 per week, while women were paid $31.21 per week.[3] Nonetheless, 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 their jobs given to returning servicemen.[citation needed]

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—by that time factory employment was in decline all over the country.[citation needed]

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 (although ships at the Kaiser yards were not riveted, but rather welded).[4] Over 200 former Rosies attended the ceremony.[5][6]

The documentary film The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter addresses the history of Rosie.

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.[7][8]

But the woman in the painting bore no name. In fact, this picture was not meant to represent Rosie the Riveter at all. Penny Colman writes 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."[9] It wasn't until several years later that the connection was made between the name "Rosie" and the image. Finally, Norman Rockwell used the name for his cover for the May 29, 1943 Saturday Evening Post, which depicted a different Rosie (model Mary Doyle Keefe).[10] [11] 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 a risinglass protective shield." For two mornings, Keefe was paid $5 a day for the two sittings. On May 22, 2002, Rockwell's painting of Rosie the Riveter was auctioned by Sotheby's for $4,959,500.

Homages

A "Wendy the Welder" at the Richmond Shipyards

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.[9]

In the 1960s, 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 was based on the original "Rosie" character and thus owes much to exemplary women's efforts in the traditional male workplace.[12]

More recent cultural references include a portrayal by Christina Aguilera in the World War II–themed Candyman music video, and a Rosie character in the video game BioShock armed with a rivet gun.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Sheridan Harvey (August 1, 2006). ""Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War II" (Transcript of video presentation)". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2007-08-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b "`Rosie the Riveter' star dead at 77". Associated Press. June 2 1997. Retrieved 2007-08-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Boxer, Barbara. "Women's History Timeline 1900-1949". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  4. ^ "Richmond Shipyards". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  5. ^ Brown, Patricia Leigh (October 22, 2000). "'Rosie the Riveter' Honored in California Memorial". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "About the Rosie the Riveter Memorial Design". Rosie the Riveter Trust. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  7. ^ "UAW Local 602 Newsletter" (PDF). United Auto Workers Local 602. March 24, 2003. Retrieved 2007-08-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "The Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame" (PDF). Michigan History for Kids magazine. Spring 2003. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  9. ^ a b Colman, Penny (1995). Rosie the Riveter: Women Workers on the Home Front in World War II. Crown Publishers, Inc. New York. ISBN 0517885670.
  10. ^ Norman Rockwell. "Rosie the Riveter". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |note= ignored (help)
  11. ^ "Saturday Evening Post cover".
  12. ^ "Josephine the Plumber". I Remember JFK. July 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  • 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. [Rosie the Riveter Collection, Rose State College] March 16, 2003.
  • Hresko, Mary and Mary Vincher Shiner. Women Workers in World War II. [1] May 21, 2001.
  • Meacham, Clarice. Woman Welder and Riveter during World War II. Personal Interview. December 13, 2004.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rosie_the_Riveter&oldid=185363566"