Honoring Contributions of Women, Symbolized by "Rosie the Riveter," Who Served on the Homefront During World War II

HONORING CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN, SYMBOLIZED BY "ROSIE THE RIVETER," WHO SERVED ON THE HOMEFRONT DURING WORLD WAR II -- (House of Representatives - June 02, 2004)

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding me this time and am pleased to rise as a member of the Women's Caucus and a cosponsor of House Resolution 413 to honor Rosie the Riveter, the millions of Rosie the Riveters, who helped the United States of America to win that great victory of liberty over tyranny a half century ago.

It is very rewarding to be able to stand here today and to say that the Veterans History Project that is a part of what our
Library of Congress is assembling will allow all people in our country who either served in the military or here on the home front, including women in our war industries, factories, as air-raid wardens, as cadet nurses, to tell their story on audio and video, and that as a part of this resolution I want to encourage all women or their families and loved ones to begin to put this down, and through your Member of Congress get the application blank so that your story can become part of America's permanent history, because, in fact, Rosie the Riveters changed America forever.
Today, nearly two-thirds of the women in this country work outside the home. At the time the war started, less than 25 percent did.

This happens to be a photo of Willys-Overland in Toledo, Ohio, that still makes the Jeep. Nowadays they call it Daimler Chrysler. But that particular company in 1940 received a $25 million contract from the Department of Defense, and in all our community received nearly $1 billion, pushing employment figures at that plant alone to the highest levels that they had been since the Great Depression. Other plants, like Acklin, went on 24-hour, 7-day-a-week production.

Our own mother, Cherie Rogowski Kaptur, worked at the Champion Spark Plug factory making spark plugs that she knew went into airplanes. She became a union leader, a member of the United Auto Workers local in that plant, so that they could make perfect plugs, so that no pilot would lose a life because a spark plug did not fire. I can remember her talking about that, even until her golden years.

Women were very responsible, just as they are in the home. When men began going to war, women began to work outside the home by the millions.

So today we honor those woman. Through their service, America changed forever as unprecedented numbers of women worked not just inside the home, but outside the home, and in many ways helped to educate the generation that now serves our Nation inside this Congress of the United States.

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The character of Rosie first appeared in the 1942 song "Rose the Riveter," written by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb and recorded by big-band leader Kay Kyser.

"All the day long,
Whether rain or shine,
She's a part of the assembly line.
She's making history,
Working for victory,
Rosie the Riveter

The number of women in the American workforce increased by more than 50 percent over the war years.
Some six million women joined the war effort on the homefront.

In about July 1940, Toledo's Willys-Overland Jeep factory announced a $25 million dollar contract. In all, Toledo received over $900 million dollars in defense orders, enough to put employment figures at the highest they'd been since 1929. Many plants, including Acklin, went to 24 hour, 7 day a week production.

With many men going to war, women began going to work outside the home by the thousands. In 1942 the first nursery opened in Toledo in order to meet the demands of mothers working in the factories. These women didn't only work in factories however. In fact, they filled a variety of positions from auto-mechanics and bus drivers to freight handlers for the Railway Express Agency.

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