an image worth remembering.

the woman who served as the
"rosie the riveter" model
for the famously feminist image above
passed last sunday.

her name was geraldine doyle.
she was 86.

she was 17 in 1942, when she worked
at a michigan metal-pressing plant
& a united press international photographer
visited the factory while covering
women's contributions to the war effort.

[& when the above shot was snapped of her.]

later, a graphic artist used one of the photos
of geraldine for the "we can do it!" poster.

she never knew the photo/poster existed
until 1982, when she came across
a picture of it in a magazine.

it was during the '80s when the poster
began being used by the feminist movement
as a symbol of women's empowerment.

geraldine was happy to help women,
but quick to correct two misconceptions
about the poster:

1) the strong arm held up in a fist
was definitely not hers; &

2) she was not the original rosie the riveter;
rose will monroe, also from michigan, was the
well-known riveting wonder who inspired
the 1942 song by the same name.

geraldine called herself the "we can do it!" girl.
& even though unwittingly, she did.


image sources: wikipedia.org, yahoo.com