Rosalind P. Walter – Original ‘Rosie The Riveter’ – Has Passed Away
on Mar 05, 2020
At 95 years of age, Rosalind P. Walter died on Wednesday (March 4).
Confirmed by her friend Richard Somerset-Ward to the New York Times, Walter was best known to the world as the original “Rosie The Riveter.”
In 1942, Rosalind was working at a plant in Connecticut drilling rivets into Corsair fighter planes during the night shift. Her job was usually done by a man. There was a newspaper article written about her, which inspired the 1942 song “Rosie The Riveter.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55NCElsbjeQ
Throughout the years, at least four women became “Rosie The Riveter.” Norman Rockwell drew “Rosie” for the May 29, 1943 Saturday Evening Post. His model was a woman named Mary Doyle Keefe.
This Day in Labor History: May 29, 1943. Norman Rockwell publishes his famous Rosie the Riveter image on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Let's talk about women workers in World War II and Rosie, myth and reality. pic.twitter.com/SmGOzN3Zi8
— Erik Loomis (@ErikLoomis) May 29, 2019
J. Howard Miller drew his own version of “Rosie” for Westinghouse war factories as an effort to recruit more women to work at military factories during World War II, like Rosalind. The model he used was named Naomi Parker Fralay, who passed away in 2018. His version featured “Rosie” in overall and a red bandana, while flexing her muscles with the speech bubble that read, “We can do it!”
Which company originally came up with this poster for boosting morale in factory in 1942 using a fictional woman -Rosie the Riveter ? pic.twitter.com/GJ5fXl15NF
— IndiaBusinessQuiz 🇮🇳 (@go_mohan) March 4, 2020
While she may have never actually been a “Rosie The Riveter” model, Rosalind was most-definitely the original.
https://www.facebook.com/glamour/photos/a.415642050478/10158016784810479/?type=3
Rosalind is survived by her son Henry S. Thompson, two grandchildren, four step-grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family as they mourn her loss.
