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Rosie the Riveter was the star of a campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for defense industries during World War II, and she became perhaps the most iconic image of working women. American women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers during the war, as widespread male enlistment left gaping holes in the industrial labor force. Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home.

Rosies in the Workforce

While women during World War II worked in a variety of positions previously closed to them, the aviation industry saw the greatest increase in female workers.

More than 310,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry in 1943, making up 65 percent of the industry's total workforce (compared to just 1 percent in the pre-war years). The munitions industry also heavily recruited women workers, as illustrated by the U.S. government's Rosie the Riveter propaganda campaign.

Based in small part on a real-life munitions worker, but primarily a fictitious character, the strong, bandanna-clad Rosie became one of the most successful recruitment tools in American history, and the most iconic image of working women in the World War II era.

Did you know? Though women who entered the workforce during World War II were crucial to the war effort, their pay continued to lag far behind their male counterparts: Female workers rarely earned more than 50 percent of male wages.

In movies, newspapers, propaganda posters, photographs and articles, the Rosie the Riveter campaign stressed the patriotic need for women to enter the workforce. On May 29, 1943, The Saturday Evening Post published a cover image by the artist Norman Rockwell, portraying Rosie with a flag in the background and a copy of Adolf Hitler's racist tract "Mein Kampf" under her feet.

Though Rockwell's image may be a commonly known version of Rosie the Riveter, her prototype was actually created in 1942 by a Pittsburgh artist named J. Howard Miller, and was featured on a poster for Westinghouse Electric Corporation under the headline "We Can Do It!"

Early in 1943, a popular song debuted called "Rosie the Riveter," written by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, and the name went down in history.

Who Was Rosie the Riveter?

The true identity of Rosie the Riveter has been the subject of considerable debate. For years, the inspiration for the woman in the Westinghouse poster was believed to be Geraldine Hoff Doyle of Michigan, who worked in a Navy machine shop during World War II.

Other sources claim that Rosie was actually Rose Will Monroe, who worked as a riveter at the Willow Run Bomber Plant near Detroit. Monroe also was featured in a promotional film for war bonds.

And Rosalind P. Walter from Long Island, New York, is known to be the Rosie from the popular song by Evans and Loeb. Walter was, in fact, a riveter on Corsair fighter planes.

But the most credible claim on Rosie's legacy came from Naomi Parker Fraley, who was photographed working in the machine shop at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, California. In the 1942 photo, she is sporting a telltale polka-dotted bandana. Fraley passed away in January 2018.

WACs

In addition to factory work and other home front jobs, some 350,000 women joined the Armed Services, serving at home and abroad. At the urging of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and women's groups, and impressed by the British use of women in service, General George C. Marshall supported the idea of introducing a women's service branch into the Army.

In May 1942, Congress instituted the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, later upgraded to the Women's Army Corps, which had full military status. Its members, known as WACs, worked in more than 200 non-combatant jobs stateside and in every theater of the war.

By 1945, there were more than 100,000 WACs and 6,000 female officers. In the Navy, members of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) held the same status as naval reservists and provided support stateside. The Coast Guard and Marine Corps soon followed suit, though in smaller numbers.

WASPs

One of the lesser-known roles women played in the war effort was provided by the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs. These women, each of whom had already obtained their pilot's license prior to service, became the first women to fly American military aircraft.

They ferried planes from factories to bases, transporting cargo and participating in simulation strafing and target missions, accumulating more than 60 million miles in flight distances and freeing thousands of male U.S. pilots for active duty in World War II.

More than 1,000 WASPs served, and 38 of them lost their lives during the war. Considered civil service employees and without official military status, these fallen WASPs were granted no military honors or benefits, and it wasn't until 1977 that the WASPs received full military status.

Impact of Rosie the Riveter

The call for women to join the workforce during World War II was meant to be temporary and women were expected to leave their jobs after the war ended and men came home. The women who did stay in the workforce continued to be paid less than their male peers and were usually demoted. But after their selfless efforts during World War II, men could no longer claim superiority over women. Women had enjoyed and even thrived on a taste of financial and personal freedom-and many wanted more. The impact of World War II on women changed the workplace forever, and women's roles continued to expand in the postwar era.
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Rosie the Riveter was the star of a campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for defense industries during World War II. Artist Normal Rockwell's cover image of Rosie, made in 1943, became, perhaps the most iconic image of working women.

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Girls at a South Eastern Command munitions.jpg

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How America and my Literature book connect

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In 6th grade, January, my uncle was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He was living in Alaska at the time, with his girlfriend, my now aunt, Alex. He was complaining of a sore shoulder when he had a stroke. She brought him to the hospital and there they moved him to better care in Seattle Washington. My mom, dad, grandma, aunt and grandpa all rushed to Seattle to see him. After a week of Seattle my family decided it would be best to come back to Boston. Then here he was treated with chemotherapy and lots of medicine. He lost all of his hair, he shrank down to the size of a stick and didn’t even closely resemble the uncle I knew. By March he was dying and the doctors told us he wasn’t going to make it much longer. My mom told me and of course I needed to see him to say goodbye. My mom drove me to Boston and as the elevator went up and up my stomach started to turn. I felt sick I had never been to a hospital to visit anyone, I haven’t seen him in almost a year. What was I supposed to say to him? I stood outside his door, looked and my mom and walked in with a smile. His face lit up with excitement to see me. I didn’t know how to start a conversation, he looked so sick and weak. I gave him a hug and listened to his questions about school and life. I left there with a different mind set. I felt grown up and different. My mom and uncle trusted me to be strong and brave, trusted me to be able to hold it together and I did just that. Just a couple weeks later my uncle passed away in his sleep with his mom and sisters by his side.

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Rosie the Riveter was a figure for women who wanted to prove they could do what men could do. During WWII women joined the workforce taking over male jobs. They had to because the men were at war fighting for their country. Based on a real-life worker, but primarily a fictitious character, the strong, bandanna-clad Rosie became one of the most successful tools in American history, the most iconic image of working women during World War II.(“Rosie the Riveter.”) Over 350,000 women worked in factories and on farms during WWII, helping to produce bombs, bullets and guns. They helped with clothing and food and took over what the men would do as jobs if they weren’t at war. Rosie became the figure that helped to shape the idea of women being able to do whatever they put their minds to. After WWII America started to turn  into a less discriminated country. America started to realize that their past isn’t true and is not what America should be, they changed and gave women rights because your past doesn’t define your future.

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-History.com Staff. “Rosie the Riveter.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010
-Sajet, Kim. “Rosie the Riveter and Uncle Sam: Two Portraits, Two Methods of Persuasion.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 6 Feb. 2018
-History.com Staff. “American Women in World War II.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010
-Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. Penguin Books, 2002

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In A Secret Life of Bees the main character Lily Owens is abused by her father. Ever since she killed her own mother her dad has been punishing her. Lily leaves home and goes on a quest to uncover the real truth of her past. The sisters, June, May, and August were very welcoming to Rosaleen and Lily. After finding out shocking information Lily learns love isn’t always given from people who share DNA with you, but by people you can trust. Lily learned that she murdered her mother, she learned her mother came to August’s home to get away from her husband, Lily’s dad and Lily. She goes on an adventure with her maid Rosaleen, they fight segregation and persevere until they find the sisters. At the end of the story T-Ray, Lily’s dad, found Lily at August’s house and tries to take her back home, Lily refuses and stays with the sisters. After sharing Lily's past with her, Lily learned that your past doesn’t define your future and not all things done in the past have to have an effect on your life.

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A video of a real life Rosie the Riveter 

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A video of a real life Rosie the Riveter 

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The book A Secret Life of Bees and Rosie the Riveter connect because they both learned the lesson their past isn't their future.