Post #2 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story - Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

March is National Women’s History Month. We have so many accomplished women to celebrate, and one jewel is Rosie the Riveter–an icon for courage, grace and strength during WWII. It took a world war and the government’s desperate need for a workforce to first empower Rosie, but she didn’t disappoint. She changed the question of women’s roles from “What work can women do?” to “Is there any work women can’t do?” By war’s end, the answer was loud and clear: “No!”

In late 1945, Rosie went home, but her story was just beginning. To use the vernacular, “she was out there.” Women had shown their mettle, and the millions of individual Rosie stories serve as a legacy of empowerment. They forever changed women’s sense of opportunity, self-esteem and potential. Women knew they could do it. Most important was the message they shared with their daughters. They may have left the overalls behind, but figuratively they passed their red-and-white, polka-dot bandanas to their daughters. [click to continue...]

Post #1 - Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story - Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

It’s February 2008 and I’m still going through my favorite Christmas presents — books. Alice Waters’ new book, The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution is now on top of one of the many tempting piles that fill my desk, my bedside table, and the kitchen counter.

In researching Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story, I investigated numerous sources to compile a list of prominent women born during World War II. Imagine my delight to find that my idol, Alice Waters, is a Rosie’s Daughter. Of course, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Waters, like so many “First Woman To” Generation women brought about change and continues to do so.

[click to continue...]