Current:Home > ScamsDecades after their service, "Rosie the Riveters" to be honored with Congressional Gold Medal-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Decades after their service, "Rosie the Riveters" to be honored with Congressional Gold Medal
View Date:2024-12-23 15:11:46
This week, a long-overdue Congressional Gold Medal will be presented to the women who worked in factories during World War II and inspired "Rosie the Riveter."
The youngest workers who will be honored are in their 80s. Some are a century old. Of the millions of women who performed exceptional service during the war, just dozens have survived long enough to see their work recognized with one of the nation's highest honors.
One of those women is Susan King, who at the age of 99 is still wielding a rivet gun like she did when building war planes in Baltimore's Eastern Aircraft Factory. King was 18 when she first started at the factory. She was one of 20 million workers who were credentialed as defense workers and hired to fill the jobs men left behind once they were drafted into war.
"In my mind, I was not a factory worker," King said. "I was doing something so I wouldn't have to be a maid."
The can-do women were soon immortalized in an iconic image of a woman in a jumpsuit and red-spotted bandana. Soon, all the women working became known as "Rosie the Riveters." But after the war, as veterans received parades and metals, the Rosies were ignored. Many of them lost their jobs. It took decades for their service to become appreciated.
Gregory Cooke, a historian and the son of a Rosie, said that he believes most of the lack of appreciation is "because they're women."
"I don't think White women have ever gotten their just due as Rosies for the work they did on World War II, and then we go into Black women," said Cooke, who produced and directed "Invisible Warriors," a soon-to-be-released documentary shining light on the forgotten Rosies. "Mrs. King is the only Black woman I've met, who understood her role and significance as a Rosie. Most of these women have gone to their graves, including my mother, not understanding their historic significance."
King has spent her life educating the generations that followed about what her life looked like. That collective memory is also being preserved at the Glenn L. Martin Aviation Museum in Maryland and at Rosie the Riveter National Historic Park in Richmond, California, which sits on the shoreline where battleships were once made. Jeanne Gibson and Marian Sousa both worked at that site.
Sousa said the war work was a family effort: Her two sisters, Phyllis and Marge, were welders and her mother Mildred was a spray painter. "It gave me a backbone," Sousa said. "There was a lot of men who still were holding back on this. They didn't want women out of the kitchen."
Her sister, Phyllis Gould, was one of the loudest voices pushing to have the Rosies recognized. In 2014, she was among several Rosies invited to the White House after writing a letter to then-Vice President Joe Biden pushing for the observance of a National Rosie the Riveter Day. Gould also helped design the Congressional Gold Medal that will be issued. But Gould won't be in Washington, D.C. this week. She passed away in 2021, at the age of 99.
About 30 Riveters will be honored on Wednesday. King will be among them.
"I guess I've lived long enough to be Black and important in America," said King. "And that's the way I put it. If I were not near a hundred years old, if I were not Black, if I had not done these, I would never been gone to Washington."
- In:
- World War II
Michelle Miller is a co-host of "CBS Saturday Morning." Her work regularly appears on "CBS Mornings," "CBS Sunday Morning" and the "CBS Evening News." She also files reports for "48 Hours" and anchors Discovery's "48 Hours on ID" and "Hard Evidence."
TwitterveryGood! (3674)
Related
- Bohannan requests a recount in Iowa’s close congressional race as GOP wins control of House
- There is no clear path for women who want to be NFL coaches. Can new pipelines change that?
- Gulf oil lease sale postponed by court amid litigation over endangered whale protections
- This diet says it is good for Earth and your health. Here's what experts want you to eat.
- Dogecoin soars after Trump's Elon Musk announcement: What to know about the cryptocurrency
- Stolen bases, batting average are up in first postseason with MLB's new rules
- Powerball winning numbers from Oct. 25 drawing: Jackpot now at $125 million
- 'Fellow Travelers' is an 'incredibly sexy' gay love story. It also couldn't be timelier.
- 'Full House' star Dave Coulier diagnosed with stage 3 cancer
- Big bucks, bright GM, dugout legend: How Rangers' 'unbelievable year' reached World Series
Ranking
- OneTaste Founder Nicole Daedone Speaks Out on Sex Cult Allegations Against Orgasmic Meditation Company
- Jay-Z talks 'being a beacon,' settles $500K or lunch with him debate
- New labor rule could be a big deal for millions of franchise and contract workers. Here's why.
- Houston-area deputy indicted on murder charge after man fatally shot following shoplifting incident
- Michael Jordan and driver Tyler Reddick come up short in bid for NASCAR championship
- 5 people found shot to death in North Carolina home: This is not normal for our community
- AP Week in Pictures: Global | Oct. 20 - 26, 2023
- From Stalin to Putin, abortion has had a complicated history in Russia
Recommendation
-
Mariah Carey's Amazon Holiday Merch Is All I Want for Christmas—and It's Selling Out Fast!
-
Alexander Payne keeps real emotion at bay in the coyly comic 'Holdovers'
-
What happened during the Maine shootings last night? A timeline of the tragedy
-
UN chief appoints 39-member panel to advise on international governance of artificial intelligence
-
Georgia lawmaker proposes new gun safety policies after school shooting
-
Cost of repairs and renovations adds thousands of dollars to homeownership
-
Who is Robert Card? Confirmed details on Maine shooting suspect
-
Sudan’s army and rival paramilitary force resume peace talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia says