In Their Own Words:
Documenting Richmond Women through Oral History

The Rosie the Riveter Memorial project, undertaken by the City of Richmond, worked to capture the memories of women who worked at the Kaiser Shipyards in several ways. In 1998-99, Project Director Donna Graves developed a collaborative educational program at Richmond's Kennedy High School with Community Works, a local non-profit organization dedicated to bringing multi-cultural arts programs to schools and community groups.

Students were able to interview "Rosies" and to study the historical context for their work on the Home Front. Excerpts from the interviews and photographs by Community Works' Executive Director, Ruth Morgan, were included in an exhibition on interpreting Richmond's war-time history at the Richmond Museum of History in Spring 2000.

In 2000 the Rosie the Riveter Project completed the first phase of an oral history project designed to capture the memories of a diverse group of women who worked in Richmond during the war. Eighteen women shared their recollections of day-to-day life and work during the war years in audiotaped and videotaped interviews. The range of stories and life experiences is remarkable - from women who migrated to work at the Kaiser Shipyards as young brides from Texas or Louisiana to others who joined the war effort while still in high school. Work histories ranged from welding, tool checking and drafting to the experience of one woman who started driving a truck at the Shipyards, then founded her own Richmond-based taxicab company.

We were fortunate to receive a great deal of donated labor on this project. UC Davis Professor Roger Rouse helped us to find a group of dedicated women who conducted the interviews: Cheryl Cherney, Amanda Littauer, Heather McCarty and Meredith McMonigle brought great enthusiasm to the task of helping women to recall people and events from over fifty years ago. They received training and the use of professional recording equipment through our partnership with the National Park Service.

In addition to overseeing the audio interviews, Donna Graves completed eight broadcast quality video interviews through a partnership with local filmmaker, Jon Plutte. Jon is a Richmond native and contacted us as he began to plan for a documentary film on wartime Richmond. He and photographer James Fortier brought considerable expertise to our efforts -- they recently completed the award-winning documentary "We Hold the Rock," about the Native American occupation of Alcatraz.

We are, of course, most grateful to the women who consented to share their memories: Lucy Cortes, Mabel Draxton, Phyllis Gould, Ollie M. Hawkins, Mary Lee Head, Vera Dean Lee, Ivaja Miller, Vera Minkner, Ludie Mitchell, Bethena Moore, Ruth Powers, Mary Ellen Rounseville, Mary Sisneros, Betty Reid Soskin, Marian Sousa, Willa Mae Thomas, Louisa Wilkerson and Arthur Lee Wilson.

We are currently seeking funding to take the raw material of these interviews and translate them into forms that can be accessible to the public. To donate artifacts or to tell your story of working in the shipyards and other wartime industries or as a public employee in the Richmond area during the war, please write to: Rosie the Riveter Trust, 117 Park Place, Richmond CA 94807 or email info@rosietheriveter.org.

ROSIE THE RIVETER PROJECT AT THE BANCROFT LIBRARY

Following the establishment of the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, the City of Richmond, National Park Service and the Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) at UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library, partnered to extend our previous oral history efforts. Under the guidance of ROHO Director Richard Candida Smith, National Park Superintendent Judy Hart and Chief of Interpretation Rick Smith, and Memorial Project Director Donna Graves, nearly fifty additional interviews were conducted with men and women about their lives and wartime experiences in Richmond. The project was generously funded by the California Coastal Conservancy. More information can be found at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/projects/rosie/

NOTE: Women who do not live in Richmond, California, please go to the Share Your Home Front Story Page. To donate memorabilia, please go to the Gift Form Page.