In the middle of holiday celebrations, many may have missed that Geraldine Hoff Doyle, the inspiration for the famous poster of “Rosie the Riveter,” died on December 26 in Michigan. Doyle’s memorial service will be held this weekend on January 8, 2011. [2018 Update: See update at end of article about another woman credited with inspiring the famous poster.]
When Doyle was 17, a photographer took a photo that was apparently of her working at a metal-stamping machine in Ann Arbor. Artist J. Howard Miller used the United Press photo as the basis for a famous World War II poster that praised contributions made by working women. The poster, encouraging women to enter the work force, featured a strong independent woman flexing her muscle saying “We Can Do It!” Others named the woman in the poster “Rosie the Riveter,” after a popular song about women contributing to the war effort.
Norman Rockwell also created his own painting of Rosie the Riveter used for a 1943 cover of the Saturday Evening Post. The Four Vagabonds sang the song “Rosie the Riveter.”
A little-known fact about the woman in the poster is that Doyle only worked at the plant for a couple of weeks. She quit the job after she learned that her predecessor injured her hand in the metal press machine. So, the woman who inspired the poster with the flexing muscle was not flexing her muscle in the job for long.
Still, her brief work at the plant inspired other women to do the work. She contributed to the continuing long journey toward obtaining equal rights for women as well as to helping defeat the Nazis. And that’s pretty cool. “Making history, working for victory,” just like in the song. Thanks Rosie, and thanks Geraldine. Rest in peace.
2018 Update: New research indicates that it probably was not Doyle in that original photo that inspired the Rosie the Riveter poster. A researcher concluded that the woman in the original photo was Naomi Parker Fraley. Fraley died at the age of 96 in January 2018. Either way, Fraley and Doyle both did important work for the war effort and womens’ rights.
Bonus Song Information: Although Doyle became associated with “Rosie the Riveter,” another woman, Rosalind P. Walter, inspired the song. Walter worked a night shift building fighter planes. Another woman, Rose Will Monroe, who worked as a riveter in Michigan during WWII, appeared in a promotional film during the war. Many at the time saw Monroe as the real Rosie the Riveter icon.
Bonus New Video: Pink’s new video for her song, “Raise Your Glass,” features her impression of the Geraldine Doyle poster.