Four “Rosies”, before their shift at the Brooklyn Navy yard, circa 1944. Lucille Gewertz Kolkin, right front, also saved a souvenir photo of a ship she worked on as a shipfitter.

The term “Rosie the Riveter” not only titled a popular song of the World War II period, but it also became the symbol for the millions of women workers who filled critical jobs in the country’s defense industries.

Image from the private collection of Al Kolkin.

See this image in the Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives exhibit.