Today marks the one hundredth birthday of the National Parks Service's oldest active park ranger, Betty Reid Soskin. One hundred years old and still working to share her wisdom with the community! What a woman!
In honor of Betty Reid Soskin's milestone birthday, I figured today would be a good day to finally get around to sharing our visit to the national park where she works. Do you know which one it is? You can probably tell from the title of this post! It's Rosie the River WWII Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond, California.
Did you know that there are National Historic Parks as part of the National Parks Service? While many national parks serve to preserve natural landscapes for generations to enjoy, the historic parks serve to share important historical locations and moments in our history. We've been to a few different National Historic Parks including Rosie the River WWII Home Front, San Francisco Maritime, Boston National Historic Park which includes Paul Revere House and the Freedom Trail, and Klondike Goldrush National Historic Park, which contrary to the name, is in Seattle.
Rosie the River WWII Home Front National Historic Park pays tribute to the civilians who worked tirelessly on the home front to support America's troops during World War 2. With men going off to fight in the war it was up to women to keep the industries that supported America's war efforts afloat. Over the course of World War 2, some six million women joined the workforce, many of them coming to work at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond where 747 ships were built during the war years. It was here that the iconic Rosie the Riveter character came about. There was no one particular Rosie, rather the character represents the resilience and can do attitude of the women who took on the work in the shipyards and surrounds. Betty Reid Soskin was one of these women who went to work at the Kaiser Shipyards, although due to segregation, as a black woman she was give menial tasks like filing index cards, and never worked on the warships with the white women. Along with other "Rosies" Betty Reid Soskin shares her story of working on the home front with visitors to the National Park.
