Riveting Women

by Kayla Reed, Research Support Officer

When the men went overseas during the Second World War, who was to keep the Powell River mill running? Well women of course! A group which started with just fifteen grew rapidly between 1942 and 1943, and soon, women were working in all areas of the mill.

In fact, they were doing more than just making paper, they were building airplanes. In 1943, a subassembly plant for Boeing aircraft parts opened within the Powell River mill, and the majority of its employees were women. Not all women were given the opportunity to work in the mill or its temporary subassembly plant though; for many years, the Powell River Company's (PR Co.) hiring policies were exclusive of minority groups, including Indigenous people, ethnic minorities, and women. With the lack of male labour available due to the Second World War, the PR Co. opened up employment opportunities for white, able bodied women.

In this photo (next page) is a group of young women sitting atop a PBY, the type of amphibious plane for which the PR Co. was contracted to assemble parts. On their faces are expressions of joy and excitement, and in this moment they are experiencing the finished product of their work. Each of these women were employed by the PR Co., and although not all of them worked in the Boeing plant, it was their combined efforts in many departments which kept the mill running throughout the Second World War.

No more than a year after this photo was taken, the war ended, Subassembly Plant #185 closed, and men returned to their jobs in the paper mill from overseas. This group of women who had clearly displayed their competence working in an industrial environment would now move aside, returning to the the role expected of them by society as caretakers and homemakers.

This is the life that most women returned to when the end of the war came. In the early 1950s, only about a quarter of Canadian women were part of the workforce, a number which would grow in the decades to come.

Now we have heard the story of the girls in the mill, the “Rosies of the North” , and the wartime effort, but the stories we do not so often hear are those of their accomplishments later in life. What did they go on to do? How this opportunity to work during the war shape their lives?

Boeing Workers on a float plane. l-r 1. Freda Mohr (nee Parsons) 2. Jean Northy (nee Thompson) 3. Mildred Ross (nee Dice) 4. Dodie Alderson (nee McGillvray) 5. Barbara Manwood 6. Lynette (Sis) Hayes (nee Toll) 7. Isobel Aubine Photo taken between 1942-45 (qMAS PH001114).

Sis Hayes Frances Lynette "Sis" Hayes nee Toll

After spending so much time building airplanes, one of the women pictured in the photograph: Frances Lynette "Sis" Hayes, nee Toll, decided that she would learn to fly one herself. She took her first solo flight in 1946, and by 1949 she was the first woman to be a licensed pilot in Powell River. Over the next four years a group of aviation enthusiasts came together to form the Westview Flying Club, and in 1953 Sis was elected as the group’s first president. Living on the corner of Manson Avenue and Field Street allowed her spend time at the newly built airport which officially opened in 1952. Head over to our website to read the full

stories of these incredible riveting women : www.powellrivermuseum.ca/riveting-women

Where does the term "rivet" come from? Rivets, used in the construction of the Boeing aircraft during the Second World War, were used in the Powell River Mill when they assembled the aircraft parts for Boeing's PBY. qMAS 1995.89.3990