Rosie’s Revolution

Icon of wartime still inspires working women

In 1941, the United States had just experienced its first bitter taste of World War II at Pearl Harbor. Men from every industry and walk of life stripped off their coveralls and hardhats to don the uniforms and helmets of soldiers bound overseas.

Factories and shipyards suddenly went into overdrive, churning out massive quantities of combat aircraft, vessels, tanks and munitions. 

Their work forces depleted by the exodus of male soldiers, they soon cried for help to the U.S. government, declaring a national worker shortage. To meet their demands, the government defied the social norms of the era and actively recruited women for the industrial work force.

Above: Women and men worked together in wartime shipyards. Right : Norman Rockwell’s painting of Rosie the Riveter.

The U.S. government found its icon when a wire photographer snapped a picture of 17-year-old Geraldine Doyle pressing metal in a Michigan factory. Her blue jumpsuit and red kerchief soon became famous when J. Howard Miller painted her picture for the Westinghouse War Production Coordinating Committee.  

Rosie’s debut in a wartime poster.

monstrous ship yard rivet gun. The flag waves behind her and union buttons cross her chest like a bandolier. There is a halo above her head and a tattered copy of Mein Kampf is crushed un - der her feet.

Rosie became an important symbol for female Union  members. While proving their mettle in aircraft factories, auto plants and ship yards, many women came in contact with the Unions of those industries.

 Miller shows Doyle flexing her bicep and saying to the women and men of U.S. industry, “We Can Do It!” 

Ironically, Doyle never knew she was the inspiration for the poster until 1984. Both the image and the recruiting campaign had no real name until 1943, when a patriotic song by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb called “Rosie the Riveter” became a nationwide hit. The name stuck and female industrial workers would be known from then on as “Rosies.”

By 1945, the women of industrial America had earned the pride and thanks of a nation. At that time, one in three workers in America was a woman. While still inferior to male pay, wages for women had risen almost 40 percent since 1941.

The changing face of America’s work place inspired Norman Rockwell to paint his version of Rosie. She sits on an unfinished pipe, munching a sandwich and holding a

With the battle cry, “We Can Do It,” Rosie motivated many women to stay in the industries they had entered during the war and join the Unions to protect their jobs.

Wars have come and gone since 1945. Factories have risen and fallen. But even as the face of American industry continues to change, Rosie the Riveter continues to personify the power of women, the spirit of America and the courage of industry to keep fighting when the opposition is tough.

With the battle cry, “We Can Do It,” Rosie motivated many women to stay in the industries they had entered during the war and join the Unions to protect their jobs.

Official publication of UFCW 8-Golden State Jacques Loveall, President