Modern Day Rosie the Riveters!

The daughter of one of my best friends is taking a welding class in high school. Isn’t that neat! The picture above is of Sarah McCranie in action in her classroom. Of course, it reminds me of Rosie the Riveter and all the many women who worked in the defense factories during World War II. It is good to see women welding again!

Women in the 1940s did many jobs previously only performed by men. They worked in aircraft plants, shipyards, and industrial factories, making all types of war materials. In fact, the US Department of Labor reported that women in the workplace increased from 14 million in 1940 to 19 million in 1945. My husband’s grandmother was one such woman. She worked at the Bell Bomber Plant in Marietta, GA. The plant built more than 600 B-29s during World War II. She rarely talked about it, but when she did, it was in a matter-of-fact way. To her, it was just what women were called to do during that pivotal time. The picture below of women at the Bell Bomber Plant inspecting plastic astrodomes for B-29 aircraft. I wonder if Lois Post ever did that job.

Without the millions of women who worked during World War II, we might not have won the war! After World War II, things changed again. The same women who were asked to work for their country were now asked to stay home so returning men from the battlefront would have jobs. Many of the factories also reverted to peacetime production and would no longer hire women. Despite this, many women wanted to continue working. It is hard to give up a paycheck! A survey by the US Department of Labor found that about 75% of war-time women workers wanted to keep working after the war.

I am thankful for the women who worked new jobs during World War II and for all the women who continue to make our country a better place in the workforce today. They are modern day Rosie the Riveters!

“James said you worked during the war at the Bell Bomber plant in Marietta, GA,” Carson spoke up. He loved his niece but didn’t want to talk about what she was or was not eating all evening.

“You are looking at a real-life Rosie the Riveter and welder! Tied back hair, slacks, muscles, and all!”

Song of Return, Chapter 1

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