International Women's Day/Rosie the Riveter

Today is International Women's Day, in what is Women's History Month. I would like to commemorate the day by honoring a group that is extremely meaningful to me. My Grandmother, Elizabeth Hurd, was a Rosie the Riveter at the Willow Run Bomber Plant and helped to make B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II. I am in awe of the efforts these women made to keep our country safe during a time of great hardship. 

Last March the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run held an event to raise money to keep the bomber plant open and asked females of all ages to dress like the iconic Rosie the Riveter poster and participate in a World Record attempt. Seven females from three generations in my family participated and helped to set a record (there were 778 Rosies in all). 

The day was so meaningful to me and I know my Grandma would've been so proud of us. The camaraderie I felt with the women there (some were genuine Rosies) must have been similar to the feeling in the plant during the early 1940s. The stories and laughter shared that day was something I will never forget. 

  


MLive article about World Record Event: http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2014/04/guinness_confirms_world_record.html


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Name That Executive Role!

Image
Students today learned about the many roles of the head of the Executive Branch, the President of the United States. I found several images of former Presidents in these roles--can you guess which is which? Post your answers below or email them to me. Choices: Commander-In-Chief Chief Executive Political Party Head Chief Diplomat 1.  President Eisenhower 2. President George HW Bush (on the right side of the picture) 3. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt  4. President Reagan meeting with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (this one's a bit of a giveaway!)
Read more

Historical Perspective and Peel the Fruit Thinking Routine

Image
Practicing historical perspective is an essential social studies skill. Historical perspective is being able to step into a historic situation and examine the motivations, biases, and beliefs of a person or group of people. Students have to revert to the beliefs of a group of people even if those beliefs completely contradict the views we have today. They must weigh decisions based on the situation of the time, not necessarily how situations are viewed today. The C3 Framework for Social Studies states that "Historical understanding requires recognizing this multiplicity of points of view in the past, which makes it important to seek out a range of sources on any historical question rather than simply use those that are easiest to find. It also requires recognizing that perspectives change over time, so that historical understanding requires developing a sense of empathy with people in the past whose perspectives might be very different from those of today." http://www.so...
Read more

Industrial Revolution Haiku

Students have been learning about the Industrial Revolution in the mid1800s and how it changed life in New England. Today students processed their learning by creating haiku poems on the subject. They were challenged to think about and evaluate this topic within the structure of a haiku, a 3 line poem with 17 total syllables--5 in the 1st and 3rd lines and 7 in the second line. The poems have been impressive and some will be posted here soon.
Read more