Rosie the Riveter was a popular war propaganda symbol. Rosie was also a potent symbol for a generation of women: a patriotic description of legions of homemakers that traded in their baking pans and vacuum cleaners for blow torches and assembly lines. The U.S. government propaganda machine was hard at work, convincing women to enter the workplace and take over for their husbands, fathers, brothers, and boyfriends who were overseas fighting the enemy.

For most women, working outside the home was a new experience. Accustomed to the diligent work of keeping house, they made the transition beautifully. The defense industry alone hired two million female workers during the war. These maverick women quickly learned how to build huge airplanes and ships, put together machine guns, and wire electrical equipment. Altogether, six million women entered the labor force, including a large number of mothers and wives.

Many of these women found working outside the home to be glamorous and rewarding. Some even planned to carry on a career after the war. But after the fighting ended, the machine that had so aggressively recruited women for jobs suddenly turned them away. Still, Rosie the Riveter's legacy was a new generation of women who knew they could make a living as well as any man. And did. Rosie had started a revolution.

Excerpted from the book Cool Women with permission of publisher, Girl Press.

Learn More About Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter Organization
http://www.rosietheriveter.org/
This organization documents the stories and pictures of women who were "Rosie the Riveter."

What Did You Do in the War, Grandma?
http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/tocCS.html
Read and listen to interviews conducted by high school students with Rhode Island women who reflected on their lives before, during and after the Second World War.

A Real Rosie the Riveter
http://www.thirdage.com/news/archive/970606-04.html?hnav
Read about the real life Rosie who played Rosie the Riveter in films and ads.

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