Long Island's Rosie the Riveters honored
by Carolyn James

Marjorie E. Steele Smith, Virginia Collins and Doris Tabron of Amityville are shown at the event honoring them and hundreds of others who served in defense plants across America during WW II. At right, poster recognizing America's Rosie the Riveters.

Their names are Mary and Betty, Susan and Joan, Cora and Alice, but for one day last week they were all Rosie again. The women, all of whom worked in defense plants during World War II were honored at the American Air Power Museum at Republic Airport, at a ceremony sponsored by Long Island's New York State Assembly minority delegation.

"You are the women who built the planes that saved the world," stated New York State Assemblyman James D. Conte (R-Huntington), in addressing the dozens of women being honored for their part in the war effort as Rosie the Riveters.

"It was a great time for us," reminisced Virginia Collins of Amityville who said her work at Grumman following her graduation from Amityville High School in 1943 was a life altering event. "It changed all of us forever."

Marjorie E. Steele Smith, also from Amityville agreed. "It did something to everyone," said Smith, who graduated with Collins from Amityville High School. "It made you adventurous; it made you want to do something else, other than housework, for the rest of your lives."

For Smith that meant taking a job following the war as a bus driver and then at a day care center. For Collins meant it taking a job outside of the home as a "domestic engineer" until her retirement at 62. For Doris Tabron, another Amityville High School graduate, it also meant working for a local bus company.

"We love the work," said Tabron who recalled that on Friday nights the single women would go to Camp Upton here on Long Island where there were dances for the soldiers.

With the onset of World War II, the country faced a depletion in the maledominated work force. That was coupled by a demand for large numbers of military planes, ammunition and other materials needed for the war effort. That took women out of America's kitchens and into the plants where they became part of the homefront's war machine.

To entice women into the work force, the government ran an ad campaign showing a woman with her hair tied up in a kerchief and dressed in military work jumpsuits flexing her muscles under the headline, 'We Can Do It!.'

The fictional Rosie was inspired by a real-life Rosie whose name was Ms. Rose Will Monroe, born in Uplaski County, Kentucky in 1922. During the war, Rose moved to Michigan where she worked as a riveter at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory building B- 29 and B-24 bombers. She was eventually asked to star in a promotional film and was the model for the poster. The campaign was featured on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1943 and women in the work force during that era quickly became known as Rosie the Riveters.

Rosie the Riveter helped to recruit more than 6 million women to join the American war effort between December 1941 and early 1944. Rosie became a cultural and feminist icon, the result of the most successful advertising recruitment in American history.

These women helped build planes and ships as welders, drillers and of course riveters, building B- 17 flyers, P-47 Thunderbolt's and A-10s. They worked long hours and then went home, many to attend to children and family needs.

"You are models for many women of my generation," said N.C. Clerk Maureen O'Connell. "It was women like you who taught my generation how to juggle all things at one time and to do a good job at it."

Locally, the women hired by Grumman Aircraft during the war got up to six weeks training. They were outfitted with two sets of denim coveralls, complete with a drop seat, according to Collins. It was the first time for many that they wore pants. The work uniform was completed with a scarf to protect their hair and ensure they did not get it entangled in any of the machines and a pair of tie up shoes.

"We were happy to be doing something for our country," said Elizabeth Larberg, sister of Jimmy Walter of Massapequa and a longtime resident of Bacon La., Babylon. "And of course being around all of those young, good looking guys wasn't bad either," she said. "I was single, so it was great." Mary Quince of West Babylon and Josephine Rachiele of Lindenhurst also recalled those times with a sense of fondness and pride. "It was an important thing we were doing," said Rachiele.

"We also worried about the men and hoped they would come home safely," said Quince who worked at Republic on the P-47 in the cockpit working on the radio box, hydraulics, pumps, and gas tank in the tails. She worked 10 to 12 hours every night. "We loved it because we knew we were contributing to the war effort."

Rachiele recalls how on March 5, 1945, Tommy Dorsey orchestra did two shows in the hangar that is now the American Airpower Museum and more than 4,000 workers gathered there to enjoy the music. "We also spent many nights writing to our GI friends using V-mail folders," said Rachiele, who still has some samples of that World War II mail.

The name of each woman was announced and each received a plaque commemorating the event and honoring their work. At one end of the room, family members gathered, filled with an obvious pride and watching on, many with tears in their eyes.

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