Rosie the Riveter is an allegorical cultural icon in the U.S. who represents the women who went to work in the factories and shipyards during WW II to keep the economy moving while also producing munitions and war supplies. The iconic “We can do it!” image of Rosie reminds Americans how an entire generation worked together during very turbulent times.

About Judy Winzell

Judy Winzell and husband Jim have been partners in promoting Rosie the Riveter in Durango. Judy grew up in Maryland and attended Johns Hopkins University where she earned a master's degree in organizational development. She worked for Westinghouse Defense in Maryland before moving to California where she worked 40 years for McDonnell Douglas, which was later absorbed into Boeing. She is now retired. She has three daughters through marriage and grandchildren. The Spirit of ’45 website is www.spiritof45.org.

The U.S. Senate approved the observance of National Rosie the Riveter Day on March 21, 2017. Durango Mayor Sweetie Marbury signed a proclamation in March of 2019 declaring March 21 Rosie the Riveter Day in Durango.

Judy Winzell of Durango is a great proponent of honoring and celebrating the spirit of Rosie and the associated Spirit of ’45 campaign in Durango. She agreed to sit down to a Q&A with The Durango Herald to share her views about the spirit of Rosie the Riveter.

DH: How did you become such a big supporter in keeping Rosie the Riveter alive in our collective consciousness?

JW: My mom was a Rosie in World War II. She worked in a munitions facility outside of Pittsburgh, and she was an inspector. She had an incredible instrument to measure each piece of munition that was produced in the factory. And so her job was critical because if it didn't fit inside wherever it was going, it wouldn't work. So that motivated me. Then I saw an article in Aviation Week in 2018 about Rosie the Riveter, about how Spirit of ’45 had started across the whole nation ... and I said, ‘Well, I'm all in. I want to honor my mom.’ And I’m called a ‘Rosebud.’ A direct descendant of a Rosie is called a Rosebud. (Also) my father was a colonel in the Air Force during WW II. And my husband’s mom was a Rosie and his father built aircraft at Bell Aircraft during WW II.

Have you done anything similar in your life to the work of the allegorical cultural icon that is Rosie the Riveter?

Yes. I worked at Boeing (which) produced hundreds and hundreds of airplanes for World War II. I was an organization development consultant helping leadership executives become more efficient and helping their employees become more efficient because happy employees mean stock value goes up ultimately. When I started it was called McDonnell Douglas and it had all the (signage) of the original airplane factories with all the planes that they produced. So that was ingrained in my blood along with being the daughter of a colonel and the wife of a colonel who served in Vietnam.

Did the women who joined the workforce to work in factories during World War II receive any recognition or gratitude from the military or from the men who worked in those factories and served in the war – or were the women tossed aside once the men returned home?

They did receive recognition. First of all, through the posters that were painted at the time by Norman Rockwell for the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. Rockwell did a painting called Rosie the Riveter, so there was the first tagline, her first title. Then, the poster we all know today is ‘We Can Do It!’ (which) was produced by Howard Miller in 1942. Everybody appreciated the fact that the women went to work. The soldiers in field would tout the new hero they had which was the women back home – the Rosies as they were was coined at that time. When the war was over it was a conundrum because the men came home. Some of the women were OK to go back to their previous lives. But it changed the persona of the workforce forever, the basic demographics. And yes they received recognition, particularly from the boots on the ground. Overseas, the men realized the economy had to keep going so the women supported the U.S. economy. And the men in the field called them heroes publicly and privately.

Why is Rosie the most popular image for the women's rights movement?

Because she paved the way. Without this Rosie the Riveter concept – these women who went to work – they were never the same again. And they opened the doors. They were pioneers for women in the workplace. By the end of 1943 there were 20 million women in the workforce and 6 million of them were in the factories. So they were pioneers and trailblazers for today's women.

How is Rosie the Riveter reflected in today's day and age?

As a very positive future icon for generations to come. She is regarded highly in everyone's mind knowing what happened. And we are working with the Girl Scouts to maintain that with STEM – science, technology engineering and math – jobs. The Future Rosie's of this country are the Girl Scouts. So my first approach to the whole project, the campaign was to contact Colorado Girl Scouts Association, and then bore in, zero down into who the leaders are in Durango for the Girl Scouts. We had a whole troop of them. The whole concept was to introduce Girl Scouts at this young formative age because they are the future. And nationally the Girl Scouts are called Rosie’ets.

This is Women's History Month – is Rosie being honored in any special way in Durango?

Right now there is a beautiful exhibit that is in the Animas Museum. So March 21 is a soft opening for national Rosie the Riveter Day and the grand opening is on March 25. There is also the Rosie the Riveter Memorial Rose Garden located in the Durango Botanic Gardens.

Do you see a way where women could advance or learn more or different skills in the present day that would be helpful for them to move into fields now held predominantly by men?

I'll go back to the STEM education. That would give them so much more input, notoriety and of course expands educational aspects for women to excel. And this particular campaign – the Spirit of ’45 and getting the Girl Scouts involved and the Rosie the Riveter memorial gardens. There is a campaign across the country to have a rose garden in every congressional district in the U.S., and through that each garden becomes an educational platform to draw in people, men and women to understand what history was made and what we envision for the future.

gjaros@durangoherald.com