The Woman Who Inspired Rosie The Riveter Has Died At Age 96!

Every day we lose more members of the Greatest Generation. We owe so much to these men and women who sacrificed everything to save our country, and our world, from the Nazis during World War II.

Over the weekend, we lost an American icon. Naomi Parker Fraley was the real-life Rosie the Riveter. She was originally a waitress, but after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Fraley began working in a machine shop at Naval Air Station in Alameda, California. She was one of the first women working on the factory floor. Fraley passed away in Longview, Washington at the age of 96.

In 1942, the 20-year-old was photographed at her job operating a turret lathe. She kept her hair back by wearing a red bandana with white polka dots. Along with her younger sister Ada, Naomi patched and drilled airplane wings. They also operated rivet machines. At the time, this was considered “men’s work,” but with men joining the military, women like Naomi stepped into their roles on the factory floors.

26 Mar 1942, Alameda, California, USA — Pretty Naomi Parker is as easy to look at as overtime pay on the week’s check. And she’s a good example of an old contention that glamor is what goes into the clothes, and not the clothes. Pre-war fashion frills are only a discord in war-time clothing for women. Naomi wears heavy shoes, black suit, and a turban to keep her hair out of harm’s way (we mean the machine, you dope). — Image by © Corbis All This and Overtime, Too © Corbis. All Rights Reserved.
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Naomi’s picture was printed in newspapers throughout the country. Then, it caught the attention of artist J. Howard Miller who created the iconic Rosie the Riveter poster in 1943. Naomi wasn’t aware that she was the inspiration for Rosie the Riveter since a Michigan woman had been misidentified as Rosie the Riveter for 30 years.

Video about Naomi Parker Fraley, the real-life Rosie the Riveter, is below.

Many women stepped up to help out during the war in a variety of different ways. Women worked in factories, while some joined the military. The whole country came together to defeat our enemies. Every American knew what needed to be done to defeat Hitler and his allies.

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Share this if you are grateful for all the Greatest Generation did for our country!

Source: People