#rosie-the-riveter

#rosie-the-riveter

Reid Soskin was the nation's oldest active park ranger when she retired in 2022 at 100 years old. She had also served more than 15 years at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond. She led tours at the park and museum, which honored women who worked in factories during wartime and shared her own experience as a Black woman during the conflict.

In a desolate corner of the Port of Richmond, dozens of women wearing polka-dot handkerchiefs and wielding blowtorches have spent the last two weeks volunteering their time to try to weld a piece of history back together. The SS Red Oak Victory is the last surviving ship of the 747 that were churned out at the Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond during World War II. Now a group of women, led by welders who know well what it is like to try to make their way in a male-dominated profession, are volunteering to restore the ship.