Rosie the Riveter: Are You One? Know One?

Post #13 – Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett

Thanks to the research we did for our collective memoir Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story, we’ve also learned a lot about Rosie the Riveter. Of course, Rosie is just the shorthand for all the women who worked did during World War II — in factories, in government agencies, in the military, in offices, on farms … well you get the idea. Many more women also did important work as volunteers with the Red Cross, USO, and many other organizations. 

My coauthor, Kendra Bonnett, and I now want to capture as many of Rosie’s stories as possible. They were the original We Can Do It generation. They were role models for other women and still serve as role models today. Without the contribution of these women, we could not have won the war. Their determination, strength, courage, and inventiveness provide lessons for the modern day Rosie the Riveters — women in today’s workforce.

Please help us record these stories. If you worked or volunteered during WWII, we’d like to receive your story. Perhaps your mother or grandmother was a Rosie. If so, we’d like you to write her story and send it to us. We’re looking for stories that are about 1200 words that talk about her experiences during WWII. We’d also love to have two photos — one from WWII and a more recent one. 

Help us preserve these important life stories. 

Our commitment. We’ll create a special area on our website and post all stories. You can share your story or the story of your mother or grandmother with so many other women. In addition, we will choose some stories — ones that reflect the wide variety of experiences of these women — and include them in a book we are planning to showcase these women. 

For now, please send us an email saying that you would like to submit a story — either of your experiences or of someone you know. We’ll send you additional details. You can just click on the CONTACT menu item above.

We look forward to hearing from you.