More than 80 years after millions of women took to factory floors and shipyards across the country to support the WWII war effort, the original ‘Rosie the Riveters’ had their day in Washington on Wednesday.
Members of Congress celebrated two dozen original “Rosie the Riveters” at the Capital, honoring the women with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest national medal bestowed upon a civilian.
The award is in accordance with Rosie the Riveter Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019, which recognizes the many women who helped manufacture aircraft, vehicles, weaponry, ammunition and other materials during World War II.
Approximately 5 million women worked in the defense industry and commercial sector, which freed up men to fight in the war, the Department of Defense said in 2019. Between 1940 and 1945, the number of women in the workforce increased from 28% to 34%, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
“The expansion of female employment in manufacturing was so marked that in four areas more women were employed in manufacturing alone in 1944 than in all industries combined in 1940,” according to a 1946 Women’s Bureau survey.
“This medal represents the women that went to work during World War Two,” Mae Krier, an original Rosie, said at the ceremony on Wednesday. “Up until 1941, it was a man’s world. They didn’t know how capable us women were, did they?”
Krier and fellow original “Rosie” Phyllis Gould helped design the front and back of the medal, according to the Rosie the Riveter Trust website. Krier worked at a Boeing factory in Seattle, while Gould was a welder at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California. Krier accepted the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of the Rosies.
Gould and Krier also campaigned for years to establish a federal “Rosie the Riveter” day. Congress passed a resolution in 2017 to observe the day during Women’s History Month on March 21, which also happens to be Krier’s birthday.
Gould passed away in 2021 at the age of 99.
The original Rosies dealt with an issue many women around the world still face — pay inequity. When women took over factory roles during World War II, they were rarely paid even 50% of men’s wages for the same jobs, according to the nonprofit National Memorial to the Women Who Worked on the Home Front Foundation.
Despite this inequity, the 1946 Women’s Bureau survey reported 75% of women planned to continue working after the war and 84% of women in manufacturing favored keeping their jobs. However, when the war ended in 1945, women were expected to give up their jobs and let the returning men take over.
Still, their efforts opened doors for women in the workforce, particularly in manufacturing. Women make up 29% of the manufacturing workforce at 3.77 million, a historical high, the National Association of Manufacturers reported last year.
“We're so proud of the women and young girls who are following in our lead,” Krier said. “I think one of the greatest things we left behind is what we've done for women.”
The medal will be displayed at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
