By Rachel Treisman from NPR
Thanks to Bob P.
“Rosies” — including Jeanne Gibson and Marian Sousa — are pictured at the Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park’s “Riveter Days” in Richmond, Calif., in March 2023.
Rosie the Riveter Trust
A downtown Washington, D.C., hotel was buzzing with excited energy on Wednesday morning, as dozens of women wearing red and white polka-dotted shirts and scarves, many joined by caregivers, assembled in the lobby to greet each other and confirm the day’s plans.
A table downstairs displayed signs of Rosie the Riveter, the headscarf-clad, muscle-flexing icon who has come to represent the millions of women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, filling positions previously held only by men and helping power the U.S. to victory.
But the speech bubble above her head didn’t read “We Can Do It!” as it does in most reproductions of the recruitment poster. Instead, it said, “We Did It!”
Enlarge this image
A triumphant image of the Rosie the Riveter is displayed at the Hamilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Rachel Treisman/NPR
“Today’s the big day,” explains 98-year-old Jeanne Gibson, who, like many of the women in the room, has a copy of her wartime ID badge — photo, name and location included — pinned to her shirt.
“I am a Rosie, and the Rosies — at long, long last, after many, many tries — are going to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.”
Eight decades after their wartime efforts, real-life Rosie the Riveters are receiving the nation’s highest civilian honor from Congress — the Congressional Gold Medal.
Twenty seven “Rosies” traveled from across the country to attend Wednesday’s award ceremony, says K. Lynn Berry, the superintendent of the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. Its nonprofit partner, the Rosie the Riveter Trust, raised funds to support their trips.
“It says something that nearly 30 women in their 90s and even up to 106 are traveling to D.C. to receive this honor,” Berry told NPR on Tuesday.
The journey itself was a celebration for many. Several of the women, flying together from San Francisco on Monday, were greeted with cheers and a water cannon salute upon their arrival in D.C.
One of them, Marian Sousa, 98, said female mechanics and machinists, wearing Rosie headwear, sent them off with a ceremony in San Francisco. On the plane, flight attendants wore red headscarves and played the Rosie the Riveter song over the speakers. (continued)