[Vision2020] Rosalind P. Walter, 95, First ‘Rosie the Riveter’ and a PBS Funder, Dies

[Moscow Cares]

Courtesy of th New York Times at:

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Rosalind P. Walter, 95, First ‘Rosie the Riveter’ and a PBS Funder, Dies
A daughter of privilege who worked on an assembly line during World War II, she became a principal benefactor of public 


Rosalind P. Walter grew up in a wealthy and genteel Long Island home. Yet when the United States entered World War II, she chose to join millions of other women in the home-front crusade to arm the troops with munitions, warships and aircraft.
 
She worked the night shift driving rivets into the metal bodies of Corsair fighter planes at a plant in Connecticut — a job that had almost always been reserved for men. A newspaper column about her inspired a morale-boosting 1942 song that turned her into the legendary Rosie the Riveter, the archetype of the hard-working women in overalls and bandanna-wrapped hair who kept the military factories humming.
 
Written by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb and popularized by the Four Vagabonds, the bandleader Kay Kyser and others, “Rosie the Riveter” captured a historical moment that helped sow the seeds of the women’s movement of the last half of the 20th century. It began:
 
All the day long whether rain or shine
she’s a part of the assembly line
She’s making history,
working for victory —
Rosie, brrrrr, the Riveter
Keeps a sharp lookout for sabotage
Sitting up there on the fuselage
That little frail can do, more than a male can do —
Rosie, brrrrr, the Riveter
 
Other women went on to become models for Rosie posters and magazine covers as well.
 
But Rosie was just Ms. Walter’s first celebrated act. At her death on Wednesday at 95, she remained something of a public presence as a major philanthropist and one of PBS’s principal benefactors, her name intoned with others on programming like “Great Performances,” “American Masters,” “PBS NewsHour,” “Nature” and documentaries by Ken and Ric Burns.

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Photo. . .

http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Photos/Rosie_the_Riveter_2020.jpg
Rosalind P. Walter in an undated photo. A model for “Rosie the Riveter” during World War II, she made her own name ubiquitous on PBS as a major benefactor of programming.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
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Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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