Our Own Rosie the Riveter

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

Today is Monday....it's grocery day. After you get the kids off to school and do the daily household chores you head to the local market. On your way home you see a poster that catches your eye. It has a woman on it drilling and the slogan reads, “Do the job HE left behind. Apply US employment service.” You laugh at such a thing, “Apply for a job? You? Who has the time to work?” With all the chores to do and daily tasks that need to be accomplished: getting the kids ready in the morning, doing the daily and weekly chores, helping Mrs. Smith your elderly next door neighbor with her chores, getting supper ready, helping the kids with homework, getting them ready for bed. How could  you possibly add a job to that schedule? But then you remember that the electric bill is due on Thursday and you have absolutely no clue how it will get paid. Billy, your eldest son, does need a new pair of shoes. You look down and realize that you could use a new pair yourself. With all these things spinning around in your head you almost walk past your house. You go inside and unload the groceries. You sit down at the kitchen table and look at the stack of bills and wish that you had someone to help you. Then it hits you that the someone that used to help you is currently stationed across the world fighting a war that seems like it will never end. You start to cry but wipe away the tears angrily and refuse to give into self pity. You can do this, you have to for your kids, for your husband and for yourself. You start to write down a schedule of all of the things you do and decide that with a little help from the kids and Mrs. O’Neil down the street you can add a job to the schedule. You get up and grab your purse and go down to the employment office to see what jobs are available. During WWII this scenario was probably common. With a lot of the men away at war,  women had to step up and be a housewife as well as taking on a job. The poster that this lady saw was also a common sight. Rosie the Riveter was propaganda campaign by the government to get women to join the work force and support the war effort.    

For our Oral History Presentation my partner and I interviewed Mrs. P. She is a local resident and has lived here for twenty-four years. She has also been the village historian for thirteen years. Previous to working as the village historian she was a social worker for a local psychiatric center. As a women who lived during WWII, Mrs. P was effected by the war. She worked in three different industries: infrastructure, sales and agriculture. She said that she remembers the tough economic climate that followed the war. People were living in basements because housing was scarce. During the war houses stopped being built because everyone was focused on the war effort. 

During our research my partner and I learned three major lessons. First we learned to appreciate hard work. Today in our “I want it now and with no effort” world we find it hard to appreciate hard work, but during WWII people were willing to work hard. Sometimes they worked hard in their jobs in the factories but never got to see the end result because the tank they were building would only be used overseas. Second we realized the importance of spending time with the elderly and gaining knowledge through their life experiences. Today we look at the elderly like they have nothing to offer us but if we would just pay attention we would see that they have a lot to offer. They have wisdom that comes from experience and a lot of them have untold stories. As young American students we think that we should make more time to listen to them and enjoy their wisdom and untold stories...and maybe even a few good wholesome jokes. The third lesson we learned was the lesson of patriotism. Coming out of a long war that our generation got to see the beginning and the end of, I think that patriotism has been lost in the mix of life.  Patriotism was lost in politics. It doesn't matter what your political party or church says about the war-- to us, supporting our troops is so important.