The History of the U.S. Working Class: Renois: Rosie the Riveter

Metsha A. Renois

March 29, 2013

Rosie the Riveter

“We Can Do It” is a phrase often used as a reassurance to others and oneself. It is also used as a way to encourage and motivate. This saying implies that someone is very much capable of overcoming an obstacle, doing what may not be expected of him or her and overall achieving great things. During World War Two, the use of this simple phrase unintentionally began a movement that would impact the lives of everyone during the war and for years to come.

Rosie the Riveter was originally used as a propaganda campaign in 1943 during World War Two to encourage women to enter the defense industry while men were away at war. The most commonly used image of Rosie the Riveter is a tough looking Caucasian woman with a red polka dotted bandana rolling up her sleeves as she flexes a muscle. A caption bubble coming from her reads in big white letters “We Can Do It!” Her purpose was to represent all American women telling them that they have to do their part while the men are away. Because of the success of the campaign many great contributions by women were made to the war. Rosie the Riveter eventually became an American icon and is still seen as a symbol of strength and feminism today.

This paper will discuss the role of women during World War Two, the Rosie the Riveter campaign, the real life Rosies and life after the War.

“For most Americans, World War II began on December 7, 1941. On this day, Japanese fighter planes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.”¹ However, there were several events that lead up to this. By the late 1930s, National Socialist leader Adolf Hitler had rule over Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. Concentrations camps were set up by Hitler in the attempt to get rid of who he felt was undesirable, people such as gypsies, communists, homosexuals, people with both mental and physical disabilities and Jewish people. In an effort to try and calm Hitler down, the leaders of France and Great Britain gave him some territory. On August 24, 1939 Russia and Germany signed a treaty agreeing to refrain from force aggression and attack against each other. On September 1, 1939, Hitler attacked Poland. Because he refused to withdraw his troops, on September 3 Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, which officially started World War Two.² Despite every effort made by the U.S. to remain neutral, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and it was ultimately decided by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to declare war on Japan.

Because of the draft, men were required to sign up for the military. After the bombing of Peal Harbor men were rapidly being sent off to war leaving nobody to work in the factories to produce war materials. Soldiers needed gas masks, guns and tanks to fight the war and the factories were desperate for workers so the War Department reached out to women. Factory employers rebuilding the factories to fit smaller women and classes being taught so that they were properly trained accommodated the women. Women ordnance workers (also known as WOWs) were gradually being hired but the interest in working eventually reached a stand still. The government became worried because with the lack of women workers, war materials would not get built and in result the U.S. can lose the war.³

At this point the government was bombarding the nation with propaganda in the hopes of women gaining the interest to work. Many posters were made reminding women that this was also their war, showing WOWs in an attractive light and telling them to do their part. Propaganda was shown in magazines, movie theatres and radio. “The title of a song, ‘Rosie the Riveter,’ quickly became the catchphrase that represented all women war workers. Written by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb in 1942 ‘Rosie the Riveter was first released in February 1943.”⁴ The song was sung by a male quartet called The Vagabonds praising Rosie for working while her husband Charlie is away at war:

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 riveter⁵

Several months after the release of the song on May 29, 1943 the Saturday Evening Post released an issue with the first image of Rosie the Riveter painted by Norman Rockwell. The popular song inspired Norman Rockwell and in his vision of Rosie one sees a very confident and muscular red head in overalls eating a sandwich, holding her lunch box that says “Rosie” on it, her rivet on her lap and her foot being supported by Adolf Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf. Behind Rosie is a larger than life flowing American flag. “It reminded all Americans-not just women-of the need for them to do their part to support the war effort.”⁶ Although Rockwell’s is the original image of Rosie the Riveter many confuse artist J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It!” poster as another image of Rosie the Riveter because of the similarities. Unlike much of the propaganda at that time Miller was not looking to recruit but looking encourage the current WOWs to keep up the good the work. Yes Miller’s is not the original or even meant to be Rosie at all, it still possesses the same overall message that women are valuable. All in all the campaign was a success the amount of wives doubled and by 1945 millions of women worked in the war industries and helped build half of the world’s defense products.⁷

During World War II, millions of women were working. Some of the jobs that women held were welders, electricians, mechanics, bus and tractor operators, engineers and chemists. Some women became police officers, taxicab drivers and lawyers.⁸ Many women worked for major companies such as Douglas Aircraft, Radioplane, and Ford. “The best known job in these factories was riveting. Riveting involved ‘shooting’ thousands of boltlike rods, or rivets, into each plane to hold its metal parts together.”⁹ The role of women during World War Two exceeded just working in factories. Programs such as Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES) took off. Like men, the women had intense training and boot camp however they were not trained for battle they instead freed men from their jobs on the home front so they could fight. Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) delivered supplies and new airplanes, tested aircraft and worked with engineers.¹⁰

By this time women working in the defense industries during the war were nicknamed Rosies. Their hard work and persistence embodied what the Rosie the Riveter movement was about. One Rosie at some point was thought to be the original and the inspiration behind the song, Rose Bonavita. Five months after the release of Rosie the Riveter, Bonavita along with her partner Jennie Fiorito set a record of driving 3,345 rivets into the wing of a plane one night. Bonavita’s hometown newspaper coined her “Peekskill’s Rosie”. However Bonavita set the record straight.¹¹ “…JoAnn Hudlicky, who recalled how she became a crane operator. ‘I saw the cranes, and so I grabbed my boss one day, and I said, ‘How do you get a job running a crane?’ And he said, ‘Do you think you can do that?’ And I said, ‘Well, I don’t see why I cant, other people are doing it.’… I put everything into it I could, ‘cause I really wanted to do it’. ”¹²

The war eventually ended as did the employment for women. Rosie the Riveter quickly ceased to exist and women were encouraged to go back to being housewives as the men needed their jobs back. Many women were okay with the sudden change while losing their jobs saddened others. Some women had to work because they lost their husbands and needed the financial stability. Though this was a setback, working during the war showed them how much they were worth. Working gave them new skills and a sense of independence.¹³

In conclusion, something positive came out of something negative. Out of desperation women were given the opportunity to do more than take care of a house. They learned to support themselves and when alone they will be just fine. Although the propaganda was used to encourage women to work while men were at war it is still very relevant today. A national park has been made to honor the Rosie the Riveter movement as well as a program called Rosie’s Girls made to empower younger girls. “This is an amazing story about a time when stereotypes about men’s work and women’s work were suspended. When traditional barriers that had blocked women workers were lowered. And when women had a chance to prove what they could do.”¹⁴

1 Christine Petersen, Rosie the Riveter, (New York: Children's