Rosie the Riveter Park keeps alive a pivotal chapter of Richmond’s history

Nearly a century ago, Richmond underwent a seismic shift, transforming from a sleepy town in the marshlands to a bustling city of more than 100,000 that produced battle ships for World War II. The story of this pivotal chapter in the city’s history is kept alive at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historic Park, which offers not only an excellent permanent exhibit, but all manner of docent talks, films and guided tours to many of the historic sites that make up the park.

The park is currently busy planning its 25th anniversary, with events that will be held over the next year. 

The park opened in 2000, but it wasn’t until 2014 that the permanent exhibit was put in place. Walking through the exhibits, the visitor is transported back in time to Richmond in the 1940s as it grappled with the swell of arrivals, including many African Americans from the South, in pursuit of both jobs and tolerance. The museum tells not only the story of mobilization of the homefront war effort but also touches on the struggle for the rights of women and Black Americans, and the revolutionary changes it unleashed such as employer-provided healthcare, free childcare for workers and women employed as electricians, carpenters and other jobs previously only available to men.

“We have something for everyone and can help tailor your visit to whatever interests you, whether it’s films or a direct connection to World War II because of a family member who served or worked in the shipyards,” said Armand Johnson, a spokesman for Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front park. 

The exhibits feature archival footage as well as reenactments of people talking about their lives, challenges and hopes for the future. Here visitors learn that, despite the veneer of equality and camaraderie for the war effort, prejudice and racism persisted. Black and white workers lived in segregated housing and most women were laid off at the conclusion of the war in 1945, and did not have similar opportunities for employment going forward, beyond work as a teacher or nurse. 

“The purpose of the museum is not purely celebratory, but to raise questions in the minds of the visitors and that’s incredibly important,” said Jim Davis, a retired history professor who gives lectures at the museum. “You question, you challenge, you dialogue; that’s how you learn history.” 

Although other sites around the country also produced ships, the Henry J. Kaiser Shipyards were the largest, employing 90,000 people at their peak. And when it came time to choosing a spot to commemorate the great ship-building effort, Richmond was selected because it has so many surviving historic sites connected to World War II. These include Craneway Pavilion, with its sawtooth roof and expanses of floor-to-ceiling glass, Atchison and Nystrom villages, where workers were housed, Japanese-American plant nurseries and Riggers Loft, where materials for rigging the ships were kept. But perhaps the crown jewel of the park is the SS Red Oak Victory, the last surviving Liberty ship of the 747 that were produced here. Visitors can see the naval ship and even climb aboard (Sundays only.) Inside the SS Red Oak Victory is a 90-person movie theater that screens films on World War II.

Every Friday, Rosies, the women who worked on the shipyards – represented by the iconic image of a woman in a red polka dot bandana flexing her arm – come into the museum to lead talks. Jeanne Gibson, 98, is one of them. On a recent guided tour, Gibson talked about growing up in Minnesota but leaving at the age of 18 and heading to Seattle to work at the Todd Shipyard as a welder to support her country and the war effort. And she said she wanted all young girls and women to know they can do things just as well (or even better) than any man, and to never settle for less.

A big component of the park’s work is education and docents visit schools to put on presentations and lead groups at the site, in partnership with Rosie the Riveter Trust, a local nonprofit. The trust also organizes programs for Richmond students to help them explore careers, prepare resumes and, in true Rosie fashion, learn how to use power tools.

One of the docents at the museum is retired educator Pat Dornan whose family has lived in Richmond since 1905.

“My goal is to engage the kids and help them feel proud of their community,” Dornan said. “When they learn who their school is named after, they’re surprised and love to learn about the connection. It gives them a different perspective.”

As the museum plans events around its 25th anniversary next year, park officials are aware that many of the Rosies are no longer around and others are in their 90s and beyond. That’s why they are thinking about best ways to preserve and maintain the vibrancy of the story once all the survivors are gone. But first they want to make sure Richmond residents know their city was once part of something historic and to feel pride and a connection to it. 

“For people working here, they weren’t just fighting Nazis or the Japanese,” said Davis. “They were also fighting for equality and justice, and that really affected people. They were pioneering a new world, something quite different than we had before.”