Post #28 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

Although many women enjoy wearing their Rosie the Riveter red and white polka dot bandana throughout the year, Halloween in a special time to show it off. Today we are beginning a series
of posts that tell you the story behind the decision that some women made to wear our Rosie the Riveter Legacy Bandana. We were impressed and think you will find them interesting.

I had heard about Rosie as I grew up, but I was introduced to her on a much more personal level when I took a group to visit the USS BATFISH SUBMARINE in Muskogee, OK.  It was then that I had a real understanding of the demand that was laid upon our American ladies and the results we provided…it was a moment that gave me true pleasure to be a woman. It was good to see, when our nation was at a vulnerable point, it was the women of America that put the strength in our feet, our legs, our muscle and in our backbone.  

My generation, and my daughters’ generation, did not have the demands Rosie faced. We actually had an overflow of convenience. But I can still relate to her image and how important it is to work hard, with our mind and bodies, supporting our men, our children, our nation to be the best it can be from the very inside out.

From the days of old, even back in the Old Testament, a woman of virtue was not one who just looked pretty and kept house, but one who was in the work force on various levels, supporting all who were around her, with her wisdom and with her skills. In my world, I work alongside my husband doing whatever it takes to make our dreams, our lives, and our world a better place.

I’d like to think there’s a bit of Rosie in me, and in my three daughters as well. WE CAN DO IT!!

Grace to you always,
Rebecca Olstroem

Post #27 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

Whenever I read about a Rosie’s Daughter, a woman born between 1940 and 1945, I tuck the article into a file folder. I like the longevity of the careers and aspirations and contributions of these amazing women. Recently, I read an article in The Wall Street Journal about the void left by Oprah Winfrey’s departure from daytime television. It seems there are several who want to grab that audience — Dr. Phil, Regis and Kelly, Ellen Degeneres, Anderson Cooper and Katie Couric.

But who has actually increased in viewership? None of the names I just mentioned. Instead, it is Judge Judy who continues to gain viewers and who has the largest number of daytime viewers in the 25-54 age range. She has more than 2.75 million.

Judge Judy is an example of so many of Rosie’s Daughters, those women born during World War II, who continue to excel at what they do. I have now interviewed more women from this generation that Kendra and I call “The First Woman To” Generation to look at the decade of their 60s and their goals for their 70s. We’ll soon release a new version of Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation that will continue the new chapter about these women’s lives.

NOTE: Some of you have sent us emails about our Rosie the Riveter Legacy Bandana. Yes, we still have some and are shipping Priority Mail so that you can have one for your Halloween costume. Show the world you’re an empowered woman. To order, just click here.

Post #26 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

While conducting research for our collective memoir, Rosie’s Daughters, I read the story of Bernadine Healy and even mentioned her in our book. Bernadine Healy was one of the “First Woman To” generation of women — born during World War II.

A renowned cardiologist, Healy earned her degree from the Harvard School of Medicine. Like many other women in the Rosie’s Daughters generation, she had few role models and had to make it in a man’s world. For example, she was one of only ten women out of 120 students in her class.

Healy eventually became the first woman to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health. During her tenure there, she was responsible for the first serious focus on women’s health, looking into health concerns of women from mid-life on. Known as the Women’s Health Initiative, this $500 million program that extended over 10 years did much to bring attention to women’s health issues that researchers had previously ignored.

On August 6, Bernadine Healy died at the age of 67. Click here to read more her life story.

Post #25 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

Who are these women and why are they wearing Rosie the Riveter bandanas? This is one of two great photos that we received a few days ago. Want to know more? Just click here. We’ve written the full story on our Women’s Memoirs website.

Post #24 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

What have Rosie’s Daughters been doing? That’s the question that Kendra Bonnett and I have been investigating. I’ve just finished interviews with a number of Rosie’s Daughters in order to look at the decade of their 60s, the decade between the initial interviews in 2000 and 2010. We’ve been eager to examine both the ten years that have just passed as well as the expectations and aspirations for the coming decade.

While doing my research, I noted the loss of one special Rosie Daughter mentioned in the first edition of this book — Jill Clayburgh. She died November 5 last year. You may have noticed the news story. But if you didn’t, she had chronic leukemia for 21 years before dying of complications of the disease. This means she must have been diagnosed about ten years after starring in the 1978 Oscar-nominated An Unmarried Woman, a movie that meant a lot to many of us in the Rosie’s Daughters generation.

I found a quote from Clayburgh that seems particularly appropriate for all of us to consider, independent of our age. She said, “Happiness is, as Freud said, love and work.”

Clayburgh loved her work as an actor and strove to perfection, a state we never achieve but a goal worth pursuing. She also had a close family and found much love there. I’m glad she found happiness and wish all our readers success in both love and work.

Want to know more about memoir writing? Kendra and I took our experiences from writing a memoir and teaching memoir writing and have created a website designed for women who are interested in creating their own life legacy for their family. To visit that site, click here.

Post #23 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

Rosie the Riveter has inspired women for decades. Young women. Older women. Her children. Her grandchildren. Even men. She is our reminder — that quiet voice telling us that indeed, We Can Do It!

There was a real face behind J. Howard Miller’s now-famous World War II. That was the face of Geraldine Hoff (later Doyle). Her photograph was taken by a news wire cameraman while she was working and later chosen by Miller as the inspiration for the poster he created.

Want to know more? Visit our blog on Women’s Memoirs.

Let’s all honor Geraldine Hoff Doyle by living the strength, courage, and empowerment that she represents.

Post #22 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

Click Here to visit our Rosie the Riveter’s Store for Rosie’s Bandanas, Rosie’s Mugs, and our collective memoir, Rosie’s Daughters.

Kendra and I hope you enjoy this delightful video with pictures — World War II and current — of women wearing their Rosie the Riveter bandanas. We’ve included posters from WWII and pictures of women who have bought our Rosie the Riveter bandanas. Click on the link below to go to our store where you can get your own Rosie’s Bandanas, Rosie’s Mugs, and even our award-winning collective memoir about Rosie the Riveter’s Daughters — Rosie’s Daughters, the generation of women born during WWII.

Click Here to visit our Rosie the Riveter’s Store for Rosie’s Bandanas, Rosie’s Mugs, and our collective memoir, Rosie’s Daughters.

Post #22 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

This has been an exciting week for us. My co-author, Kendra Bonnet and I have just received notification of two national literary book awards for our collective memoir: Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story.

First, we learned we had won:

2010 San Francisco Book Festival, Honorable Mention

We were still celebrating, when we received notification that we had won:

2010 Indie Excellence Book Award, Finalist

We are especially pleased to have these two new awards added to our 2008 National IPPY Award, Bronze Medal.

Want to know what has these judges so excited about our book? Click Here to read excerpts; Click Here to read reviews; and Click Here to order your autographed copy. And don’t forget, we are the only place where you can get an authentic Rosie the Riveter bandana. The book and bandana make a great gift and a perfect combo for summer reading.

Are you interested in writing your own memoir? Kendra and I have a website devoted to helping women write their own life story. Click here to visit: http://womensmemoirs.com On our site, we feature weekly memoir writing prompts, memoir book reviews, brief videos with memoir writing tips, contests, and information about book business to help you plan for and successfully launch your book. We invite you to become part of our community of women interested in memoir writing.

Post #21 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

Each life story is important. Those of you who follow me on http://womensmemoirs.com, the second website that Kendra Bonnett and I maintain, know that helping women tell their stories is our passion. This is a passion that grew out of the extensive interviews conducted for our book Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story. That was when I fully realized the value of looking back at our lives and sharing these stories.

Although most of the sharing of women’s stories takes place on our Women’s Memoirs website, we like to feature stories on this site as well. Last year, I received an email from Norma Horton Bryant who purchased our Rosie the Riveter Legacy bandana. She and her sister were on their way to England to participate in a World War II Memorial Weekend. They were going as Rosie the Riveters to celebrate their mother’s contribution to the war effort and to share her story with others.

When they returned, they wrote about their mother Marian Perkins Horton as well as their memorable trip to England. They even sent photos. With great pleasure, we published that story. Click Here to read it.

This morning, I received an email from Marian Perkins Horton’s granddaughter, Heather Fanguy. She wrote: “Our ‘Nanny’ Marian passed away from a heart attack yesterday afternoon. Thank you for including her story in your work. Sharing her life has given us great pride, peace and comfort during her struggle with Alzheimer’s and especially now during our time of loss.”

We extend our sympathy to the Horton family.

It is our hope that we all remember the value of our life stories and find ways to record and share them with others.

Post #20 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

UPDATE: Here's the promised photo of the book club gathering.

Tuesday evening I had a great experience. Kendra and I have met with book clubs before, but I’d never met with one via the telephone. This group of women arrived at Diana’s home in Arlington Heights, just outside Chicago. About 15 members gathered around 7 PM. That gave them time to say hi to each other, grab a cup of tea, and get settled. One person who couldn’t attend even managed to listen in via her own phone connection.

Meanwhile, I was in California getting ready. I had a fresh pot of my favorite lemon-ginger tea and a treasured Japanese teacup. I pulled a copy of Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation from the shelf by my desk. It turns out that I didn’t need it, but I like having it nearby for reference. Once I was ready, I resumed working on a chapter for a new book (Writing Alchemy: How to Turn Your Words into Gold) until the phone rang.

It only took a couple of minutes to get the connection made and the speaker phone in a good position. Let the fun began. I talked a little about the genesis of Rosie’s Daughters and the journey I’ve been on since 2000 when I got the idea for this book. My life path was changed by the more than 100 women I interviewed. I became aware of the need for women to tell and value their life stories. After the book was completed, I delved into the area of memoir writing, started a website called Women’s Memoirs, developed teaching materials, and began offering memoir writing workshops at colleges and privately.

The group was generous in letting me talk about my dual passions for the message of empowerment in Rosie’s Daughters and women’s memoir writing. Then I answered their questions. A really great one focused on the role of women in the work force today if there had not been a World War II. I’ve never been asked that before and found it a thought-provoking concept.

The book club has promised a picture of the group. If they send me a copy, I’ll post it on this blog.

Meanwhile, if you have a book club that would like to read Rosie’s Daughters, please let us know. We’d be delighted to use a conference call to discuss the book.

I’d like to give my thanks to Diana, who hosted the book club, and to Lara, who made all the arrangements with me. It was especially heartening to hear that the group, representing different ages, felt the content worked especially well across generations.