Calling all Rosies

St. Louis County Historical Society actively recruiting local veterans’ stories

By Andrea Busche

March

21 commemorated the third annual Rosie the Riveter Day. This nationally recognized event celebrates the contributions made by thousands of courageous American women during World War II.

The spirit of the Rosies is also being recognized at the local level. The stories of six outstanding women selected for embodying the tenacious spirit of Rosie the Riveter are profiled in this very issue of The Woman Today.

Additionally, the St. Louis County Historical Society is working hard to honor these brave women. They recently announced an initiative to seek out the stories of female veterans, and those who made other important contributions during WWII.

The search

Pippi Mayfield works at the St. Louis County Historical Society as its Veterans Memorial Hall Program Assistant. She is also the Oral History Program Coordinator. Mayfield has been employed with the Historical Society, which is based out

Mayfield shared that while this is the Historical Society has been collecting veterans’ stories for decades. The specific search for women’s stories has no end date, and will ultimately result in a collection to be shared with the public. Mayfield explained a bit about the search.

“Our callout to women is threefold, really — to help celebrate the contributions made by thousands of American women during World War II, to mark Women’s History Month, and to add to the St. Louis County Historical Society’s collection of stories. While I would absolutely love to have a woman who went to work during WWII come forward to share her story, our main goal is to get women veterans in general interested in having their stories recorded.”

Rosies – Across the nation and in our backyard Mayfield provided some important context and background on these women known as the “Rosies.”

“By historical standards, the Rosies are the ones who went to work during WWII while the men were off fighting the war,” she said. “Of course, they have always been portrayed as factory and industrial workers, but they actually filled many, many working roles. It was a huge social movement for women – then and since.”

“For us on a local level, if you look at our collection of stories, we are lacking in women veterans’ stories. Granted, many, many of the stories we have collected are from the Vietnam era and before, so there weren’t women serving in the military, but we do have some stories from nurses who served. They are just as amazing to read.”

“So, while we focus on collecting veterans’ stories, we also welcome stories from women closely involved with war, like the Rosies. I think everyone can agree on the importance of the Rosies and what they did for women being at least the start of equality.”

Oral histories

Any Rosies who are located will be interviewed the same way the Historical Society interviews any veteran – as a recorded oral history. Mayfield does the work of locating a trained volunteer to meet one-on-one with the veteran to audio-record their story.

The two sit and chat, and the Historical Society asks them to share stories about growing up, including: how and why they got into the military, where and when they served, any stories that stick out to them about their time in the military, and what they have done since leaving the military.

Once the stories are recorded, Mayfield sends the recordings to a transcriptionist who types up the conversations. Mayfield edits the conversations to clean up any errors and then sends a copy of the transcript to the veteran to check spelling and ensure accuracy.

Once the veteran approves the transcript, the Historical Society files a copy in the Albert J. Amatuzio Research Center, located at the Historical Society, and it becomes a part of their collection. If given permission, they also post a transcript of the interview on their Veterans Hall website (vets-hall.org) for the public to view. The public, for generations to come, can then search for veterans either online or in the research center.

“I’ve heard some really great stories in just the two years I’ve been a part of this program,” Mayfield said. “Some guys don’t think their story is that important or interesting, but I’m usually blown away by them. It’s certainly a humbling and gratifying experience to record these stories.”

The collections – online and in person

As previously noted, the Historical Society posts veterans’ stories online at vets-hall.org. There, the public can search for stories either by the conflict or the veteran’s last name.

They also maintain the Albert J. Amatuzio Research Center, which houses the physical files. If anyone is interested in researching a veteran, it’s often more worthwhile to visit the research center. More than likely, the Historical Society has more information on the veteran in the physical file than they do online.

Some veterans have pictures — though the Historical Society tries to include these online as well — while some have books, some have newspaper clippings, some have uniforms, and still others have an assortment of unique items associated with their time in the military. If you are interested in a tour, you are asked to contact the historical society at 218-733-7580 prior to your visit, to ensure a representative is around to help with your search.

Finally getting their due respect

Many years after WWII, it is important that these women continue to be acknowledged for their bravery and service. “Rosie is an historic icon that most people have heard of,” Mayfield said. “I would hope that shows the importance of all hard-working women. Rosies from the WWII era have amazing stories that deserve to be heard – for generations to come.” D

For further information, please visit vets-hall.org. Or to share your Rosie story, please contact Pippi Mayfield at pippi@thehistorypeople.org.

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