ROSIE THE RIVETER
By Shannon Robinson
Who is Rosie?
Americans are surely familiar with the iconic image that portrays a woman, sporting her coveralls and signature red, polka-dotted bandana, rolling a sleeve over her flexed bicep, proudly standing beneath the words “We Can Do It!” The propaganda poster was originally drawn by artist J. Howard Miller for the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1942.
However, there has been much speculation over the years about who inspired him. Some claim our “Rosie” is Geraldine Hoff Doyle, who worked in a Navy Machine shop in Michigan; others name her Rose Will Monroe, a riveter at the Willow Run Bomber Plant near Detroit. However, the most notable and credible identification belongs to Naomi Parker Fraley.
In a photograph, Fraley is at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, CA, working tirelessly in the machine shop, red polka-dotted bandana tied tight around her head.
While most people will recognize the poster with the can-do slogan, Rosie appeared in a few other places as well. In 1943, Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb debuted their song “Rosie the Riveter,” performed by Allen Miller and His Orchestra. This patriotic tune was inspired by Rosalind P. Walter, a riveter from Long Island, New York, who worked on Corsair fighter planes. As the song goes, “She’s making history, working for victory, Rosie… the Riveter.”
Fa m o u s A m e r i c a n a artist Norman Rockwell immortalized Rosie on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 29, 1943. Rosie sits atop a post, the American flag flying behind her. She casually eats a sandwich with her tool laying across her lap and a copy of Mein Kampf under her feet. Rosie is the American woman who got work done and easily crushed the threat of Nazi Socialism— all with a full face of makeup.
The fact of the matter is, all of the 350,000 women who joined the Armed Services during World War II were Rosie. The 5 million female civilians who served in the defense and commercial industries were Rosie. The Women’s Army Corps, the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots, the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, the Army Nurse Corps—the 1 in 4 married women who stepped up to serve our nation when their husbands, brothers, fathers, and sons were called overseas—they were Rosie.
We can all recognize the poster, but we must also recognize the generation it represents. These strong women played a crucial role in the preservation of our American freedoms, forever
“All the day long,
whether rain or shine
She’s a part of the assembly line
She’s making history,
working for victory
Rosie, brrrrrrrrrrr, the riveter
Keeps a sharp lookout for sabotage
Sitting up there on the fuselage
That little frail can do more than a
male can do
Rosie, brrrrrrrrrrr, the riveter
Rosie’s got a boyfriend, Charlie
Charlie, he’s a Marine
Rosie is protecting Charlie
Workin’ overtime on the riveting
machine
When they gave her
a production ‘E’
She was as proud as a girl could be
There’s something true about, red,
white, and blue about
Rosie, brrrrrrrrrrr, the riveter”