April 20, 2020 – From five to six million women of all ages and races went to work in factories during World War II to replace men who went off to war. It caused a seismic societal shift that affected every town, village and city in America. Housewives quickly learned how to assemble intricate electrical circuits, rivet airplanes, weld ships, sew 65 yards of silk into a parachute, and handle explosives to name a few. However, women in the industrial workforce did not wear red and white polka dot bandannas, matching blue shirts and pants, red socks, and black boots. Work boots for women weren’t even made during World War II. Oxfords or loafers were factory footwear. The iconic image of Rosie the Riveter known today dates to the 1980s, albeit with roots in the 1940s. But that doesn’t mean Rosie the Riveter was not real. Just ask an original “Rosie.”

Meet Helen Kushnir, Phyllis Gould and Mae Krier, original Rosies

On Oct. 14, 2017, Helen, Phyllis and Mae were at Eastern Michigan Uniersity in Ypsilanti, Michigan for a Rosie Rally. They were three of 3,755 women who were dressed as Rosie the Riveter with the iconic red and white polka dot bandana, blue overalls, and work boots. The gathering set a Guinness World Record for the “Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Rosie the Riveter.” They have competition from women in California who have also set records in the past. California and Michigan have been hosting rallies off and on so a friendly competition is ongoing!

At the 2017 rally, Redwood Learn had the honor of interviewing Helen, Phyllis and Mae who worked in Detroit, Richmond and Seattle, respectively.

Helen Kushnir

During high school, Helen volunteered to help the USO (United Service Organization), famous for entertaining troops deployed overseas and also providing support for traveling soldiers at airports on the Home Front.

Helen decided she wanted to continue helping the war effort after graduation. She was hired as a riveter at Chrysler’s DeSoto plant in Detroit. Her mother was not in favor of it at all because it meant Helen had to wear pants (slacks) outside of the home. The job was unladylike, she told Helen. But Helen reported for her riveter training and succeeded.

In a 2017 interview, Helen said she still has her riveting book. Looking back more than 75 years, Helen marvels at how she remembered all of the different sizes of rivets. She worked on the Curtiss SB2C, the Helldiver, also nicknamed the “Beast.” The days were long and exhausting. Because gas was rationed, she took a bus to work and after her 10 to 12 hour shift standing and riveting planes. Helen remembers returning home, collapsing in a chair on her front porch and immediately falling asleep.

It was worth it, she said. She believes the famous Rosie “We Can Do It” mantra should be changed to “We DID it!”

Phyllis Gould

Phyllis was one of the first six women hired as welders at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California. Her husband was a welder. Helen thought she could do it too.

At first the Kaiser Shipyards made ships for foreign countries under the Lend-Lease Act (March 1941) but after Pearl Harbor (December 1941), every shipyard in the United States was needed to make ships for the United States. The Kaiser Shipyards made a total of 747 ships from 1942-1945, primarily Liberty Ships, cargo ships that could also transport troops. To speed production, Liberty Ships were built in sections and then assembled. After demonstrating her welding skills were on par with men, Phyllis was on a team of welders welding Liberty Ship deck houses, three-story structures where the ship’s dining room and wheelhouse (bridge) were located.

During a 2017 in-person interview and a January 2020 phone interview, Phyllis said she never saw a completed ship, just her section that was welded vertically. Before World War II, ships took months and even years to complete.

During the Arsenal of Democracy period, ships were being manufactured in weeks after auto assembly line methods were applied to shipbuilding. And to show their skill to the enemy, one Liberty Ship was made in five days, Phyllis recalls. The message was that as fast as ships were destroyed by the enemy, replacements would be quickly on the seas. A total of 2,710 Liberty Ships were made from 1942-1945.

In 1944, the SS Cleveland Forbes, a Liberty Ship, was made in Richmond. Most likely, Phyllis welded its deck house. In early December 1945, Irene Hasenberg, 15, boarded the SS Cleveland Forbes at the port of Bougie, Algeria for her trip to America and freedom after 18 months living in two concentration camps in the Netherlands and Germany. Irene was alone without her family. Her mother (Mutti) and Werner, her brother, were too sick for the journey and remained in hospitals in Switzerland. Her father (Pappi) had died in Irene’s arms on their train to freedom in Switzerland after being released from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany on Jan. 21, 1945.

After 75 years, two women learn they are connected in a most unusual and unforeseen way. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 1945, Irene was told some Liberty Ships had broken apart. Stay near the engine to be safe, the passenger told Irene. That portion of the ship made it to shore. Irene was terrified.

During rough seas, Irene was told to sleep on benches in the dining room. She remembers hearing silverware crashing to the floor one night when a drawer came open. But the deck house held together. Irene arrived in Baltimore on Dec. 25, 1945.

When told of Irene’s journey on a ship she most likely had a hand in welding, Phyllis said of course the deck house did not come apart. Kaiser had high standards that she and her fellow welders, men and women, diligently followed.

By the end of 1943, 70 percent of the workforce at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond were women. (Freedom’s Forge by Arthur Herman, p. 263)

Mae Krier

Mae grew up in North Dakota during the Great Depression. During a 2017 interview, she said it was hard times. After graduating from high school during World War II, Mae, her sister, and a girlfriend thought it would be fun to go to Seattle for the summer to work at an airplane factory.

Mae said their adventure to Seattle was “on a lark” but once in Seattle, their work became serious and meaningful. She watched as women received word their husband or son had been killed overseas. In an instant, they became Gold Star women grieving their loss but coming to work to spare other women similar pain. She riveted hundreds of B-17 and B-29 bombers staying on the assembly line throughout the war, a true Rosie the Riveter.

National Rosie the Riveter Day, H.R.4912 and S.2500

In 2018, legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.4912 – the Rosie the Riveter Congressional Gold Medal Act) and the U.S. Senate (S.2500) to award one Congressional Gold Medal for the millions of Rosies who served on the Home Front. The bill has been referred to Committee in both chambers and is waiting further action. The Congressional Gold Medal is the nation’s highest honor awarded to civilians. Rosies by their nature are women of action so no doubt, there will be continued advocacy for the legislation.

And Mae and Phyllis have been advocating for many years to make March 21st National Rosie the Riveter Day. In 2017, that effort became a reality through a Senate resolution.

Bandannas off to Helen, Phyllis, and Mae who represent millions of brave women who left the comforts of home for the noisy, sometimes scary, factories to bring America’s boys home.

Review Questions

1. Where did Phyllis Gould work during World War II and what was her job?

2. Where did Helen Kushnir work during World War II and what was her job?

3. Where did Mae Krier work during World War II and what her her job?

4. Why did so many Rosies gather at Eastern Michigan University in 2017?

EXTRA! EXTRA! (Links and Inquiry Questions)

1. Rosie the Riveter World War II Home front National Historical Park in Richmond, California (National Park Service)

2. After watching the video, how did Helen, Phyllis and Mae describe their job? Was it an easy job?

3. What was the main reason women went to work at factories during World War II?

4. Why did the millions of “Rosies” who worked at factories during World War II cause a “seismic societal shift” as people looked back at that time in history?

5. Annotated Bibliography