Rosie the Riveter and Her Sisters: World War II Images

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Rosie the Riveter

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.

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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.

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Women Welders - 1943

Picture of two Black women welders at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant, New Britain, Connecticut.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Woman in Wartime Work - 1942

Hand Drill Operator - World War II and Women — 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.

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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

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Woman Sewing Parachute Harnesses, 1942

Woman Sewing Parachute Harnesses - World War II Homefront Factory — 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.

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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.

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Women Workers at Lunch

Women railway workers, 1943 — 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.

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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).