On November 13, 2014, Anne Montague and three former Rosie the Riveters will present “The West Virginia Rosie the Riveter Program: A Model for America” at the Thursday evening lecture in the Archives and History Library of the Culture Center in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
The West Virginia Rosie the Riveter Program was begun by Thanks! Plain and Simple, Inc. During World War II, six million women worked on the home front, but very little had been done to capture these women’s stories so that the public would know who they are and honor them.
The Rosie Program has achieved solid success. In Phase I, the emphasis was on West Virginia Rosies. Fifteen projects have been created with Rosies, including locating and interviewing Rosies, creating parks, and designing quilts. Earlier this year, a building in Cabell County was named “The Rosie the Riveter Building.” National media and communities see the West Virginia Rosie the Riveter Project as a model for America, and Phase II will launch a National Rosie the Riveter Movement by Memorial Day, 2015—seventy years after the end of World War II.
On Novovember 13, the program will focus on knowing real Rosies. Three Rosies are expected to tell their stories, and a photographic summary of all projects done in West Virginia with the help of Rosies will be available. In addition, parts of the documentary film sponsored by Thanks! Plain and Simple, “We Pull Together,” Rosie the Riveters Then and Now, which features 31 West Virginia Rosies, will be shown.
For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
