spring
march 2015
News from Rosie the Riveter Trust supporting the Rosie the Riveter / WWII Home Front National Historical Park
Spring 2015
In their Honor • • •
In Honor of Agnes Moore
Judy Jentzen. In Honor of Clara Rose Boyer
Scott Tandy. In Honor of Lillian Tandy
Diane Hedler. In Honor of Billie Blanchard
Lucille Cole. In Honor of Cecilia Kotalik
Kathryn Davis. In Honor of Marie Davies
Lana Roderick. In Honor of Marie Paladino
Laura Klieves. In Honor of Hazel Bennett
Patricia Ann Wong. In Honor of “Rosie”
Rena Pearl Chung.
In Honor of Alma Taylor
Beverly and Alfred Granzella. In Honor of
Ann Spencer.
Shirley Rhead. In Memory of
Rose Wilson Lane.
Dave Seibert. In Honor of Phil Seibert Sr.
Pam Stello. In Honor of Jeanne Kortz
Meg Stockwell. In Honor of my aunt,
Millie Mucha!
Barbara Forsstrom. In Memory of Al Gong
Rosie the Riveter Trust
Annual Dinner
J
oin us for “You’ve Come a Long Way,
Rosie!” DON’T MISS THE FUN APRIL 11TH!
Enjoy champagne
and hors d’oeuvres,
dinner, a silent auction, and wonderful
historic displays at
yet another unique
historic location in
Richmond. Help us
kick off the 15th
anniversary year
for the Rosie the
Riveter/WWII Home Front
National Historical Park!
Sponsorships and full table purchases
are still available. Contact Marsha MatherThrift, Executive Director at mmather@
rosietheriveter.org to sponsor.
Individual tickets are $150. You can
purchase online at www.rosietheriveter.org,
or email [email protected] to receive
a printed invitation.
Questions? Call 510-507-2276.
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
S
even years ago, the Trust held one of its first
dinners to benefit park programs in the old
Machine Shop at the former Kaiser shipyards.
The building was industrial, unimproved, and an
unusual dinner locale. Talented Trust volunteers
turned a gritty venue into a fabulous one, suffused
with “We Can Do It spirit.” Guests wore 40’s attire
and celebrated the spirit of the Home Front.
Each year since, led by non-stop board member,
Jane Bartke, volunteers have transformed an array
of historic buildings, including the Craneway, the
auditorium at Atchison Village, the under-construction
new Visitor Center, and last year, a rustic warehouse at
the old Filice and Perrelli Cannery Building.
What makes each year’s event more exciting and
successful is the fun of meeting old friends and new
in an unusual historic setting. This year’s dinner will
be no exception! We expect more than 200 people to
join us for a fabulous dinner event in another unique
historic location. All funds raised benefit important
park programs. If you haven’t purchased a ticket, see
the inset below and don’t miss the fun!
—Marsha Mather-Thrift
The Struggle for Racial
and Gender Equality in
the WWII Shipyards
Even so, the vast majority of migrant black
women were employed as unskilled janitors and
laborers, with fewer than 10% of all women defense
workers in higher paid skilled positions, such as
welders and shipfitters, compared to nearly 50% of
all white male workers. Furthermore, women did
not qualify for union office-holding positions. And
most black men and women were admitted only
into the white-controlled “auxiliary” union locals
for blacks, with no right to vote in elections and no
grievance mechanisms.
Nonetheless, the work represented a big
improvement in both pay and social mobility for
many southern blacks. The employers’ worksites
were not segregated (officially, at least), and although
racial tensions were frequent, many black men and
women worked alongside men and women who
were white, Latino, Asian, and Native American.
As the migrant stream became a mighty river,
both migrant and local blacks organized themselves
in the battle against racist union policies. Notable
among them were the East Bay Shipyard Workers’
Committee against Discrimination, led by Ray
Thompson, a black shipfitter, and the San Francisco
Committee against Segregation and Discrimination,
representing black workers in the Sausalito yards.
As the war wound down, the economic gains for
women and blacks began to slip away, especially for
black women, who were the first to be laid off. As
historian Donna Graves notes, “Arguments against
female employment reached a deafening pitch as
government, labor unions and businesses worked
to grant returning vets priority status and to return
gender and familial roles to their prewar ‘norm’."
At war’s end, a survey found that although 70% of
Bay Area women workers wanted to keep their jobs,
most became unemployed.
The full story of the struggle for equality
by black and women workers in the homefront
shipyards constitutes one of the greatest chapters in
the history of American race and gender relations.
For an excellent overview, see the book “The
Second Gold Rush: Oakland and the East Bay in
World War II,” by Marilynn S. Johnson, University
of California Press, Berkeley, 1993.
O
ne of the key themes celebrated at Rosie
the Riveter / WWII Home Front National
Historical Park is the impact the wartime
defense industries – and especially the West Coast
shipbuilding industry– had on race and gender relations in America. The soaring need for labor in
the booming Kaiser and other West Coast shipyards opened up new worlds of opportunity for
previously disenfranchised African-Americans
and women of all races, leaving a legacy of fitful,
hard-won progress
toward
greater
equality that gradually helped reshape
American
society.
That
progress,
however, did not
come without a struggle by the hundreds of
thousands of migrant
and local homefront
workers confronting
a mainstream culture
of deep-set racial and
gender prejudices.
Left: Margaret Archie, Kaiser shipyard welder.
The opening of
Right: Boilermakers A-36 in Richmond, CA
the WWII shipbuilding and other defense industries to previously excluded minorities and women was due less to enlightened
social policies than to pressure by African-American
activists like A. Philip Randolph, president of the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. In the summer of
1941, they threatened a massive protest on the White
House lawn unless President Roosevelt issued an executive order ending racist Jim Crow policies that
excluded African-Americans from working in the defense industries.
Roosevelt responded with Executive Order 8802, the
first Presidential directive on race since Reconstruction,
which declared: “There shall be no discrimination in
the employment of workers in defense industries and
in government because of race, creed, color, or national
origin.” Nonetheless, the directive – not actually a law
– was largely ignored by most employers.
Similarly, it was largely the shortage of white
male workers and the large protest demonstrations
by women, both black and white, that forced the
Boilermakers Union, representing up to 70% of all
West Coast shipyard workers, to lift its prohibition
against hiring female yard workers. As a result of
their efforts, thousands of women, who made up
the majority of migrants, found jobs in the East
Bay shipyards beginning in 1942. At the shipyards’
peak employment, more than 30,000 women were
working in the East Bay yards, including more than
a quarter of Kaiser’s shipyard labor force in 1944.
H
istorian Marilynn S. Johnson referred
to the East Bay shipyards of WWII as
the “new frontier of race relations”
in America as millions of mostly southern
migrants came seeking greater economic and
social opportunity on the homefront. Between
1940 and 1945, the black population of the Bay
Area grew from 19,759 to 64,680, or 227%. In
Richmond, the black population swelled from
just 270 in 1940 to 13,374 in 1950, or from 1%
to 13% of the population. An estimated 85%
of black migrants to the Bay Area came from
the South, mostly from Louisiana and Texas.
To the surprise of many native residents, who
expected the migrants to return home after the
war, 85% stayed on permanently.
Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front
National Historical Park
about the recreational lifestyles of World
War II shipyard workers.
march/april 2015
Of Lost Conversations
3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28
at 2 PM (45 min.) Ranger Betty Soskin
discusses her experience as a young
African American woman during WWII.
SUNDAYS
Women, Get a War Job!
3/1, 3/8, 3/15, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 4/19 at 2 “Women on the Home Front…And
PM (45 minutes) Learn about the WWII
Beyond” Film Series
media campaign that called women
Heroic women play the leading roles
to “do their part.” Which women were
in these fi­lms, all made or set during
addressed? Which women answered?
WWII. All films will be shown aboard
the historic SS Red Oak Victory.
The Port Chicago Disaster & Aftermath
Boarding begins at 6:30, films begin at
3/1, 3/8, 3/15, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 4/19 at 3
7 PM. For information and directions
PM (45 min.) What kinds of questions
to the ship, call 510-237-2933. 3/17:
were sailors and civilians asking after 1
Shining Through (1992) Starring
million pounds of explosives blew up in
Michael Douglas, and Melanie Griffith as
Concord in 1944?
a brave woman who goes undercover
Shoreline History On Your Bike (or
in Germany for the Allies to discover
Rollerblades or Skateboard)!
the secrets of the V2 rocket. This film
3/22, 4/26, 10 AM to 12:30 PM (2 ½
is rated R; no one under 17 admitted
hrs.) Explore Richmond’s WWII-era
without a parent. 4/14: Force of Arms
history along the Bay Trail. Join the
(1951): William Holden, a soldier, and
world’s slowest bike tour for 2.5 miles
Nancy Olson, a nurse, find love during war.
on a flat, shoreline path. Bring bike/
5/12: The Josephine Baker Story (1991):
skateboard/ skates and meet park rangers
Ingénue and ex-pat Josephine Baker stays
at the Visitor Center. (Helmets required.
in France during WWII and helps Jews
Rain cancels.) RSVP to Raphael_allen@
escape the Nazis. This film is rated R; no
nps.gov or (510) 232-5050 x6628.
one under 17 admitted without a parent.
MONDAYS
WEDNESDAYS
Women, Get a War Job!
3/9, 3/16, 3/23, 3/30, 4/6, 4/13, 4/20 at
11 AM (45 minutes) See SUNDAY des.
Richmond Bus Tour with Ranger Betty
Soskin (RESERVATION ONLY)
3/4, 3/18, 4/1, 4/15 from 10:00am to
12:30pm (2 ½ hours) Board the bus
with ranger Betty Soskin to visit key park
sites while reflecting on African American
home front experiences. Space is limited,
reservations required: call 510-232-5050
x0 for start time and location.
TUESDAYS
Play Hard in the Shipyard
3/10, 3/24, 3/31, 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28 at
11 AM (30 minutes) Wondering how the
shipyard workers spent their free time?
From friendly competitions, to intramural
sports, home front workers knew how to
have a good time! Join us to learn more
Women, Get a War Job!
3/18, 3/25, 4/8, 4/15, 4/22 at 2 PM (45
minutes) See SUNDAY description.
THURSDAYS
Of Lost Conversations
3/5, 3/12, 3/19, 3/26, 4/2, 4/9, 4/30 at
11 AM (45 minutes)
See TUESDAY description.
Blossoms and Thorns
3/5, 3/12, 3/19, 3/26, 4/2, 4/9, 4/16,
4/23, 4/30 at 2 PM (1 hr) A docent from
the Japanese American Citizens’ League
screens the documentary, Blossoms
and Thorns, about Richmond’s pre-and
post-war community of flower growers
and nursery owners, and shares their
experiences from a WWII internment camp.
FRIDAYS
Rosie Meet and Greet!
3/6, 3/13, 3/20, 3/27, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17,
4/24 from 10 AM to 12 PM; 1 PM to 2
PM Most Fridays, a group of civilian
WWII docents share their stories in an
informal setting at the Visitor Center.
Here is your chance to ask the experts
about life and work on the WWII
American Home Front.
Rails through Richmond
3/27, 4/24 at 12 PM (45 min.) Railroads
opened the West, including the City of
Richmond, western terminus of the
Santa Fe. Join a ranger to explore the
railroad’s impact on WWII, & vice versa.
Rationing on the Home Front
3/20, 4/17 at 12 PM (1 hour) During
WWII, Americans were asked to
sacrifice in support of the troops, and
this was evident daily at the dinner table.
Learn about food rationing and share a
sweet treat invented by wartime bakers.
Warbling through the War Years
3/6, 3/13, 3/27, 4/17, 4/24 at 2 PM
(45 minutes) World War II produced
popular music from jitterbug to broken
hearts, which we’ll see and hear
through samples from radio, records,
and the movies.
The Children of the Camps
3/20 at 2 PM (1.5 hours) Children of the
Camps, a powerful documentary by Dr.
Satsuki Ina, which portrays the lingering
personal impact of the WWII internment
experience on Japanese Americans who
were children during their imprisonment.
Seating limited to 48 people, reservations
recommended. Please call 510-2325050 x0 and leave your name and phone
number, and specify which day and time.
Hidden Legacy: Traditional Japanese
Performing Arts in the WWII Internment
4/10 at 2 PM (1.5 hrs) For her film,
Hidden Legacy, koto player Shirley Kazuyo
Muramoto-Wong interviewed Japanese
American artists who were interned during
WWII to tell the story of how traditional
Japanese cultural arts were maintained
at a time when the War Relocation
Authority emphasized the importance
of assimilation and Americanization.
Seating is limited and reservations are
recommended. Please call 510-2325050 x0 and leave your name and phone
number and specify which day and time.
Cats of Mirikitani
5/1 at 11 AM (1 hour) Eighty-year-old
Jimmy Mirikitani survived the trauma of
WWII internment camps, Hiroshima, and
homelessness by creating art. But when
9/11 threatens his life on the New York
City streets and a local filmmaker brings
him to her home, the two embark on a
journey to confront Jimmy;s painful past.
An intimate exploration of the lingering
wounds of war and the healing power
of community and art, this film has won
awards at some 20 festivals, including
prizes at Tribeca, Tokyo, Quito, Bologna,
Durban, Galway, Seoul,& Lyon.
SATURDAYS
Volunteer Training
3/7, 3/14, 3/21 at 9 AM (4 hrs. on each
date) The Park is currently seeking
volunteers to assist with operations at our
Visitor Center. We are looking for people
18 years old or older, with a passion for
history, education, & public service, who
can commit to work at least 8 hrs/mo.
Volunteers must be available to attend all
training units listed. To apply, or for more
information, contact Lucien Sonder at
[email protected] or 510-2325050 x6622.
Dogs for Defense
3/7 at 3:30 PM (45 minutes) Learn
about how thousands of American
families not only lent a hand, but four
paws as well, by donating their family
dogs to assist soldiers on the front lines
and on the home front during WWII.
Of Lost Conversations
3/7, 3/14, 3/21, 3/28, 4/4, 4/18, 4/25 at
2 PM (45 mi.) See TUESDAY des.
Opposing the Good War:
Conscientious Objectors in WWII
3/14 at 3:30 PM (1 hour) For the first
time starting in 1940, conscientious
objectors were granted the right to do
“work of national importance” on the
home front, instead of fighting in a war
they did not support. Learn about the
many ways COs served their country
during WWII, and the profound impact
their service had on them, and the nation.
Children of the Camps
3/21 at 3 PM (1.5 hrs) Dr. Satsuki
Ina will be present to introduce her
film, Children of the Camps. Seating is
limited, reservations REQUIRED. See
FRIDAY description for film details.
Wagging Tails and War Tales
4/4 at 10 AM (2 hr. one-way walk) Join
National Park Service rangers from Rosie
the Riveter/WWII Home Front National
Historical Park for a dog-friendly walk
along Richmond’s Bay Trail. Bring your
furry friend on leash, and learn more
about how family dogs contributed to
war efforts during WWII. This program is
part of the Healthy Parks, Healthy People
Bay Area Initiative. NOTE: Space is
limited. To reserve your spot and find out
the starting location, call 510-232-5050
x6622 and leave your name and phone
number. Note: Rain cancels.
Documentary Film “Hidden Legacy”
and Koto Performance
4/11 at 2 PM (2 hours) This screening
(see FRIDAY description for film
details) will be preceded by a short
koto performance and introduction
by the director, and a Q&A will follow.
Seating is limited and reservations are
REQUIRED. Please call 510-232-5050
x0 and leave your name and phone
number and specify which day and time.
The Cat Who Chose to Dream
4/18 at 12 PM (1.5 hours) Child
psychologist and author Loriene Honda
will present a slideshow on her children’s
book, The Cat Who Chose to Dream.
This is the story of a cat’s choice to be
incarcerated at a World War II prison
camp as a gesture of loving support to
the Japanese American family to whom
he belongs. Through the beautiful artwork
of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, and the
inclusion of therapeutic relaxation and
visualization techniques, Ms. Honda
demonstrates how the imaginative mind
can prove to be one’s most powerful tool
in surpassing adversity. Seating is limited
and reservations REQUIRED. Please call
510-232-5050 x0 and leave your name
and phone number; specify which day
and time.
We Can Do It…Today!
NON-PROFIT ORG
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit NO. 1580
Oakland, CA
TRUST
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Diane M. Hedler, President
Vera Rowsey, Vice President
Lynne Horiuchi, Secretary
Cathy Durfee, Treasurer
Jane A. Bartke
Tom Butt
Mark Cameron
Conny Ford
Letitia D. Moore
Barbara Smith
Nicholas Targ
Rosie the Riveter Trust
P.O. Box 71126
Richmond, CA 94807-1126
Address Service Requested
ROSIE THE RIVETER TRUST STAFF
Marsha Mather-Thrift, Executive Director
Philip B. Young, Pro Bono Legal Counsel
Rosalyn Sternberg, Development Associate
Jon Stewart, Volunteer Newsletter Editor
To sign up for our enews, email [email protected] or go to our website
at www.rosietheriveter.org. For more information, call 510-507-2276
Photos courtesy of RORI to accompany Struggle for Racial and Gender
Equality in the WWII Shipyards Inside Left: Margaret Archie, Kaiser
shipyard welder. Right: Boilermakers A-36 in Richmond, CA;
Newsletter Design by Spokewise. Printing by Autumn Press. Printed with
soy-based inks on recycled paper.
National Park Visitor Center
Hours are EVERY DAY, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
(Closed Thanksgiving, December 25th, & New Years Day)
1414 Harbour Way South, Ste. 3000 (Oil House)
Richmond CA 94804 • 510-232-5050
Maritime Child Development Center
1014 Florida Ave, Richmond, CA 94804
Craneway Pavilion
1414 Harbour Way South, Richmond, CA 94804
News from Rosie the Riveter Trust supporting the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park • spring 2015
Rosie the Riveter Trust is the nonprofit
membership organization dedicated
to building a community to preserve
Park historic sites and to honor the
women and men of all backgrounds
who labored on the Home Front, inspiring some of the most
profound social changes in our history.
510-507-2276 www.rosietheriveter.org
OUR PUBLIC AGENCY PARTNER…
The National Park Service was
created in 1916 to preserve America’s
natural, cultural and scenic treasures
and to provide for their enjoyment by
future generations.
The Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home
Front National Historical Park was
established in 2000 as the flagship Park
to tell the World War II Home Front story.
510-232-5050 | www.nps.gov/rori
AVAILABLE AT THE
VISITOR CENTER!
Rosie the
Riveter cap
by Mountain
Hardwear…
F R O M T H E PA R K S U P E R I N T E N D E N T
A
s we gear up for all
of the activities in
the new year, 2015 is
also a time when we will be
reflecting on just how far we
have come. This year marks
the fifteenth anniversary of
the establishment of the park
and it is important to remember where we started.
When the park was established in October of 2000
the National Park Service was new to the city and
we did not have a home. The first superintendent
worked out of County Supervisor John Gioia’s
office and there were only a few locations where
people could experience the home front legacy –
the Rosie the Riveter Memorial in Marina Bay Park
and the SS Red Oak Victory in Shipyard no. 3. Over
the years we have been able to work closely with a
variety of partners to accomplish amazing things,
including: moving a whirley crane to Shipyard
no. 3, restoring the Maritime Child Development
Center, ensuring and enhancing access to Shipyard
no. 3 and the bay trail, restoring the Rigger’s Loft,
constructing a new visitor center with permanent
exhibits, producing two award winning films,
building a museum collection of over 19,000 items,
collecting over 250 oral histories, and providing
information along the bay trail and shoreline parks
as well as along Macdonald Avenue in downtown
Richmond. More importantly we have raised
awareness about the park not only locally, but
regionally and nationally. We continue to break
new ground in our efforts to preserve the stories
and share the legacy of the home front, and Rosie
the Riveter Trust has been there from the beginning,
and even before, to help make it possible. We look
forward to working with the Trust and all of our
partners in helping to chart an even more engaging
and exciting future for the park's next 15 years.
—Tom Leatherman