Humanities › History & Culture Rosie the Riveter and Her Sisters Share Flipboard Email Print History & Culture Women's History Women & War History Of Feminism Important Figures Key Events Women's Suffrage Laws & Womens Rights Feminist Texts American History African American History African History Ancient History and Culture Asian History European History Genealogy Inventions Latin American History Medieval & Renaissance History Military History The 20th Century View More By Jone Johnson Lewis Jone Johnson Lewis Women's History Writer B.A., Mundelein College M.Div., Meadville/Lombard Theological School Jone Johnson Lewis is a women's history writer who has been involved with the women's movement since the late 1960s. She is a former faculty member of the Humanist Institute. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on November 05, 2019 01 of 13 Rosie the Riveter Poster of Rosie the Riveter - Woman Working in a Factory in World War II Rosie the Riveter Poster, produced by Westinghouse for the War Production Co-Ordinating Committee, created by J. Howard Miller. Image courtesy of US National Archives. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2001. Women Working in Factories During World War II During World War II, many more women went to work, to help with the growing war industry and to free up men to serve in the military. Here are some images of the women sometimes called "Rosie the Riveter." Rosie the Riveter was the name given the iconic image representing women in the homefront war effort, World War II. 02 of 13 World War II: Grinding Drill Points Midwestern Drill and Tool Plant Woman grinding drill points, 1942. Image courtesy of Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2001. 1942: a woman grinds the points on drills, and the drills will be used in the war effort. Location: an unnamed midwestern drill and tool plant. 03 of 13 Women Welders - 1943 African American Women at Connecticut Production Plant Women Welders, 1943, from the Office of War Information. Courtesy Library of Congress. Original creator: Gordon Parks. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2008. Picture of two Black women welders at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant, New Britain, Connecticut. 04 of 13 Fair Employment Practices at Work in World War II Women Sewing Parachutes Four multiethnic women sew parachutes for the World War II war effort, under a Fair Employment Practices Commission sign. Pacific Parachute Company, San Diego, California, 1942. Original made for Office of War Information. Courtesy Library of Congress. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2008. Four multiethnic women sewing parachutes at the Pacific Parachute Company, San Diego, California, 1942. 05 of 13 Shipyard Workers, Beaumont, Texas, 1943 Women Working in the War Effort Four women leaving the Pennsylvania Shipyard in Beaumont, Texas, 1943. Original image by John Vachon made for the Office of War Information. Courtesy Library of Congress. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2008. 06 of 13 Black and White Together Working in Production Plant, World War II Homefront War Effort Integrated workforce, production plant, World War II. Image courtesy of Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2001. Black woman and white woman working together in a production plant in World War II. 07 of 13 Working on B-17 Tail Fuselage, 1942 Women Working on Aircraft Assembly, World War II Homefront Effort Women assembling a B-17 heavy bomber, Long Beach, California, at the Douglas Aircraft plant. Courtesy of Library of Congress. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2008. Women workers are assembling a B-17, working on the tail fuselage, in a Douglas Aircraft plant in California, 1942. The B-17, a long-range heavy bomber, flew in the Pacific, Germany, and elsewhere. 08 of 13 Woman Finishing B-17 Nose, Douglas Aircraft Company, 1942 World War II Production Effort Woman Finishing Nose Section of B-17 Heavy Bomber, Douglas Aircraft, 1942. Courtesy Library of Congress. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2008. This woman is finishing the nose section of a B-17 heavy bomber at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, California. 09 of 13 Woman in Wartime Work - 1942 Woman Working on Plane Assembly A woman at North American Aviation, Inc., in 1942, operates a hand drill while working on a plane. From a public domain image, U.S. Office of War Information, Alfred T. Palmer, photographer, 1942. A woman at North American Aviation, Inc., in 1942, operates a hand drill while working on a plane, part of the home front wartime effort. 10 of 13 Another Rosie the Riveter Woman Operating a Hand Drill Woman Operating a Hand Drill, Vultee-Nashville, 1943. Courtesy Library of Congress More about this story: Women and World War II: Women at Work 11 of 13 Woman Sewing Parachute Harnesses, 1942 Pioneer Parachute Company Mills Mary Saverick sewing parachute harnesses, Manchester, Connecticut, 1944. Courtesy Library of Congress - Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information Collection Mary Saverick sews parachute harnesses at the Pioneer Parachute Company Mills in Manchester, Connecticut. Photographer: William M. Rittase. 12 of 13 Woman Operating a Machine at an Orange Packing Plant, 1943 Rosie the Riveter - Women at Work in World War II Woman operating a machine at an orange packing plant, March, 1943. Courtesy Library of Congress, from U.S. Office of War Information, 1944 Rosie the Riveter was a general name for women who took on jobs in factories during World War II when male workers were away at war. This woman operated a machine putting the tops on crates at a co-op orange packing plant in Redlands, California. "Keeping the home fires burning" during the absence of men fighting wars has been a woman's role. During World War II, that meant taking on jobs that had been men's jobs -- not only for the war industry itself, but in other factories and plants, like this orange packing plant in Redlands, California. The photograph, part of the U.S. Office of War Information collection at the Library of Congress, is dated March, 1943. 13 of 13 Women Workers at Lunch Working as Wipers in the Roundhouse, Chicago and Northwest Railway Co. Women working as wipers in the roundhouse having lunch, Clinton, Iowa, 1943. Courtesy Library of Congress. From Farm Services Administration. As part of the Farm Services Administration project to chronicle American life in the Depression into World War II, this photo was taken as a color slide. Photographer was Jack Delano. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Rosie the Riveter and Her Sisters." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/rosie-the-riveter-and-sisters-4123117. Lewis, Jone Johnson. (2023, April 5). Rosie the Riveter and Her Sisters. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/rosie-the-riveter-and-sisters-4123117 Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Rosie the Riveter and Her Sisters." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/rosie-the-riveter-and-sisters-4123117 (accessed May 30, 2023). copy citation