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Officials at event riveted by Rosie
RICHMOND: A convention for civic leaders from around the
nation offers chance to showcase historic exhibit
By John
Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Richmond's
Rosie the Riveter park was a featured centerpiece at
last week's National League of Cities convention in Reno.
More than 4,000 mayors, council members and city managers
from around the country attended the conference to learn
about recent trends in municipal issues such as redevelopment,
affordable housing and public transportation.
Hundreds of city officials asked questions about the Rosie
the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historic Park
exhibit, which was stationed in a prominent spot in the
Reno Convention Center
"People wanted information because they have Rosies in
their families or because they were interested in the unique
partnership between the city and the National Park Service," said
Richmond City Councilman Tom Butt, who was joined at the
convention by Councilmen Nat Bates and John Marquez.
Butt worked the Rosie booth with Park Service Chief of
Interpretation David Blackburn.
"I must have spoken to at least 300 people," Butt
said.
Richmond workers built 747 Victory and Liberty cargo ships
during the war, and the vestiges of the Kaiser Shipyards
form the foundation of the park.
A grass-roots effort of community members, business organizations
and elected officials developed the park idea as a way
to honor the thousands of American women who took wartime
jobs in the shipyards as welders, riveters and crane operators.
The park also celebrates workplace diversity, innovative
child care programs and the first company-based group health
insurance.
The National Park Service was impressed with the concept
and local enthusiasm for the project, and agreed to be
the park's managing partner.
The park opened to the public in 2003, though it is still
a work in progress. It consists of nine sites, including
the SS Red Oak Victory ship at Terminal 3; the original
Kaiser Field Hospital; the Ford Assembly Plant; and the
Rosie the Riveter Memorial, a stainless-steel sculpture
that evokes the hull of a ship.
Several sites, such as the Field Hospital and the Maritime
Child Development Center, still must be renovated and improved
for public access.
The WWII shipbuilding effort was the catalyst for a number
of social innovations that many now take for granted, including
a workforce that was among the first to successfully integrate
women and minorities who toiled on assembly lines to build
the cargo ships at an incredible rate.
Their achievements helped lay the groundwork for the Civil
Rights and women's movements of the 1960s and 1970s.
Contact John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or at jgeluardi@cctimes.com
TO LEARN more
The Rosie the Riveter Trust: www.rosietheriveter.org
The
Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Park: www.nps.gov/rori or
510-262-2787
Posted on Tue, Dec. 12, 2006
I just returned from the National
League of Cities Congress of Cities and Exhibition in
Reno attended by some 3,500 mayors, council members and
city managers. Richmond was provided an opportunity in
the “Showcase of Cities” for an exhibit
called “Turning Rust into Rosie” that told
the story of the public-private partnerships that make
up the Rosie the Riveter WW II Home Front National Historical
Park.
David
Blackburn, Chief of Interpretation for the national park,
and I manned the exhibit and talked to hundreds of attendees
about Richmond’s unique partnership park.
Also attending the conference were Councilmembers Nat Bates
and John Marquez. See attached photos. Many people who
stopped by had mothers or grandmothers who were “Rosies” and
were excited to hear that Rosie
the Riveter WW II Home Front National Historical Park is
collecting stories and memorabilia for posterity.
We collected hundreds of business cards and will pull
four at random at a city council meeting to win one of
the new t-shirts commemorating
the park.
Tom Butt E-Forum
