National Spirit of ’45 Day

In 2010, Congress passed a joint resolution in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the day President Truman announced the end of World War II.

Rosie the Riveter was part of a campaign and became the symbol of women in the workforce during World War II. The U.S. Office of the War produced a variety of materials designed to encourage women to enter into war production jobs as part of their patriotic duty.

This Iconic image certainly reflects the remarkable contribution of women to the war effort. The real Rosie the Riveter was a California waitress named Naomi Parker Fraley.

Over the years, a welter of American women have been identified as the model for Rosie, the war worker of 1940s popular culture who became a feminist touchstone in the late 20th century.

The 1942 photograph of Naomi Parker Fraley pictured here was the likely inspiration for the Rosie the Riveter poster. The first image now considered to be Rosie the Riveter was created by the American artist J. Howard Miller in 1942. This drawing was part of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation’s wartime production campaign to recruit female workers.

Women during World War II assumed jobs traditionally held by men, factory workers, taxi drivers, and even soldiers to help with the war effort.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has claimed the lives of thousands of surviving members of the World War II generation.

Please take time to pause and reflect on these men and women who fought to preserve freedom during the most destructive war in human history and strove to ensure a better future for their children and their children’s children.