Winter 2021
News from Rosie the Riveter Trust supporting the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Park
Thank You to… All of our generous 2021 Annual Dinner sponsors BETTY THE BOILERMAKER $100,000+ International Brotherhood of Boilermakers AGNES THE ARCHITECT $50,000 Kaiser Permanente DONNA THE DIRECTOR $20,000 The Marguerite Fund ROSIE THE RIVETER $10,000 Accenture Bank of Labor The Chevron Richmond Refinery WENDY THE WELDER $5,000 California State Pipe Trades Council Deloitte The Honorable Barry Goode Microsoft Northern California Carpenters Regional Council Stephen Lockhart and Karen Bals Family Fund ELLIE THE ELECTRICIAN $3,000 Dennis Mar Marathon Petroleum IBEW Local 302 IBEW Local Union 595 BELLE THE BURNER $2,000 EBMUD Warren and Cheryl Harber Holland & Knight, LLP Interactive Resources Mechanics Bank Plumbers & Steamfitters, Local 159 Stanford University Nicholas Targ and Elise Feldman
NELLIE THE NURSE $1,000 Ron Bachman MD and Sue Bachman Jane and Richard Bartke Cheryl Buscaglia Carpet & Linoleum Layers Local 12 Alide Chase Columbia Sportswear Contra Costa Building & Construction Trades Council Rosemary Corbin Dignity Memorial Fenwick Aaron Gershenberg and Julia Massa Diane M. Hedler Mary Hentges IBEW Local 6 International Union of Elevator Constructors Local No. 8 Judy Jentzen Mike Kappus Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation Levin Richmond Terminal Corp Miller Starr Regalia Letitia D. Moore Ann and John Nutt Oliver & Company OPEIU Local 30 Plumbers, Steamfitters & Refrigeration Fitters UA 393 Republic Services Richert Lumber Company Sheet Metal Workers Local 104 Teamsters Local 315 Travis Credit Union Wareham Development Kyle Wichelmann Phil Young and Jennifer Scafe
The committee who made it all happen The co-chairs Tammy Brumley and Ann Nutt, ably assisted by Dee Amaden, Michelle Fadelli, and Debra Mipos.
Everyone involved who made this event possible With special thanks to our in-kind donors, volunteers, Carl Bidleman, the Craneway, Assemble, Little Village Foundation, Sonic Image, Pacific Auction Company, Savant Garde Events, the National Park Service, and Betty Reid Soskin’s family.
Year-End Gifts of Stock Making a donation of shares of stock can be a great way to support the work of Rosie the Riveter Trust. With a gift of stock, you put an asset that has increased in value to work for a cause you believe in, while avoiding capital gains tax. This might come as a surprise, but by donating stock, you don’t have to pay capital gains tax. A capital gain is the difference in the price you paid for your shares and the price they’re valued at now. When those shares are donated directly to the Trust, you don’t have to pay tax on the increased value. You are eligible for an income tax deduction for the full, fair market value of your contribution. You have the satisfaction of supporting Rosie the Riveter Trust in a tax-savvy way. To learn more, please contact Sarah Pritchard, Executive Director, at sarah@rosietheriveter.org or visit our website.
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Thank you! With the dedication and support of our volunteers, members, sponsors, and you, we succeeded in keeping Rosie the Riveter Trust programs on track through the last year and a half. I see this as a testament to the commitment and value people see in the work of the Trust. I am honored and incredibly grateful that you are part of the Park and Rosie community and I hope the work that we do continues to inspire you. The Trust’s gala was a celebratory success, and I am thankful to our volunteers for pulling the hybrid in-person and virtual event together. Another recent highlight was the Red Oak Victory
Ship’s Sunday pancake breakfast where blue skies, era-costumed sailors and Rosies, the Rossmoor big band and WWII enthusiasts really brought a smile to everyone's face. It has been wonderful to start meeting people in person versus online! As the end of the year approaches, I want to thank you for being part of this wonderful community of people who care about sharing the home front history and the myriad social innovations that still resonate today. To continue support for the National Park and our youth programs, I hope I can count on you to make a year-end gift. Any amount is appreciated, and I look forward to hearing from you! — Sarah Pritchard
Volunteer Spotlight: Tammy Brumley
T
he Riveter spoke with Tammy Brumley, informally known as the “Rosie Wrangler,” because she coordinates the schedules and transportation for our Rosie Ambassadors’ public appearances. How did you get started in this role of supporting the Rosie Ambassadors? My husband and I are really interested in the WWII period. When I heard the Visitor Education Center was opening and looking for docents, I decided to take the training. When I learned that living Rosies were involved with the Park, I knew I wanted to work with them. Soon I was overseeing the Rosie presentations at the Park, and my passion became letting the community know that we still have people with us who lived the WWII home front history. You’ve traveled a lot with the Rosies, from local appearances to some memorable trips farther away. Tell us about some of the experiences you’ve shared with them. As these ladies became ambassadors for the Rosie story locally, opportunities to speak to wider audiences came with a trip to the White House in 2014 and to the 75th commemoration of Pearl Harbor in 2016. We wouldn’t have dreamed of trying to go to the 75th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, but a lady named Celine from France really wanted to bring the Rosies there. Her grandfather had been a French resistance fighter and took Celine to their reunions, where she encountered the gratitude and appreciation for the Allies who helped liberate France. Celine wowed the Rosies when she visited them at the Park, saying, “If not for you, I’d either be speaking German or I wouldn’t have been born.” When Marian Wynn said that her brother was buried there, and that no one in the family had been able to visit the grave, Celine said, “You must come for the 75th!” Celine raised money in France while we raised money here in the U.S. Five Rosies—Phyllis Gould, Mae Krier, Agnes Moore, Marian Sousa, and Marian Wynn—made
Tammy Brumley at the 2015 Annual Dinner with (from left) Rosies Agnes Moore, Priscilla Elder, and Kay Morrison. Courtesy of Tammy Brumley
the trip in 2019. They were warmly welcomed at the ceremonies in Normandy, where their attendance underscored their contributions to the invasion through their work on the ships, planes, vehicles, and ammunition needed for this pivotal battle. What gives you the most satisfaction? Seeing the impact that the Rosies stories have on people at the Park and at other events. I especially enjoy watching younger girls listening to their stories. I hope what they hear will continue to resonate with them when they’re older, as a touchstone memory. I’m motivated to help more people understand the flesh and blood of this chapter of history, what it meant for the home front workers. They didn’t have a crystal ball. Times were uncertain—who knew what was going to happen? Many had family members in the military to worry about. After the war, even a lot of the Rosies’ kids or grandkids didn’t know what these women accomplished. Their stories are not just a dry page in a history book, and I’m determined to keep this chapter of history alive.
Representing the Rosies at Pearl Harbor Rosie Park Ambassador Marian Wynn, along with Rosie Mae Krier of Pennsylvania and Rosie Wrangler Tammy Brumley, will represent all Rosie the Riveters at the 80th observance of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7. Tom Leatherman, former Superintendent of the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, will be on hand to greet them in his role as the new Superintendent of Pearl Harbor National Memorial. We hope you will ‘tune in’ and watch the Rosies participate in the ceremonies by following us on social media via our pages on Facebook at RosietheRiveterTrust and Instagram at rosie_the_riveter_trust.