R.I.P. Mary Doyle Keefe (aka Rosie The Riveter) ...and UConn WBB Fan

[JavaMan]

You know Mary Doyle Keefe, but maybe not by that name. In 1943, the then 19-year-old telephone operator had been called upon to provide a unique kind of service during the war effort: become the face of dedicated patriotism from the home front.

Norman Rockwell painted Keefe as "Rosie the Riveter," an image that graced an iconic Saturday Evening Post cover and "became a symbol for millions of American women who went to work during World War II," according to the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Keefe, 92, died in Connecticut this week after a brief illness, her family told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"Mary will be remembered as a loving, patient, and generous wife, mother and grandmother," the family's obituary reads. "Her personal interests included maintaining a daily interest in sporting teams, especially the Red Sox, Celtics, and UConn women's basketball teams..."

[LINK] to full article.

 

[geneticrex]

R.I.P.

Next season, you'll have the best seat in the house.

 

[DaddyChoc]

 

[BroadwayVa]

You know Mary Doyle Keefe, but maybe not by that name. In 1943, the then 19-year-old telephone operator had been called upon to provide a unique kind of service during the war effort: become the face of dedicated patriotism from the home front.

Norman Rockwell painted Keefe as "Rosie the Riveter," an image that graced an iconic Saturday Evening Post cover and "became a symbol for millions of American women who went to work during World War II," according to the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Keefe, 92, died in Connecticut this week after a brief illness, her family told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"Mary will be remembered as a loving, patient, and generous wife, mother and grandmother," the family's obituary reads. "Her personal interests included maintaining a daily interest in sporting teams, especially the Red Sox, Celtics, and UConn women's basketball teams..."

[LINK] to full article.

I know this from being there---Women like Mary Doyle Keefe created the vision of the Old view of Strong American Women who could and would do anything. The new belief that Women just started carrying the most load of FAMILY just don't know the facts--without STRONG women like Mary Doyle Keefe and millions of others the USA would not be the USA of today. God rest you Mary, you and your generation have earned the peace you how have. My sister in Killingworth is 94, and built bomb fuses during WWII in Thomaston.

 

[meyers7]

Interesting. There were actually 2 iconic pictures around that time. The "We Can Do It" poster and Rockwell's Rosie cover.
Mary Doyle Keefe was the model for Rockwell.
Geraldine Hoff Doyle was the purported model for the poster.

Both "Doyle's" became known as Rosie the Riveter.

 

[DobbsRover2]

The Huskies have certainly picked up the "We can do it" credo from her (or the general campaign), and it is no wonder especially as a CT native that she found a strong connection with them.

Didn't Nan have Rosie as an avatar at one point?

 

[Zorro]

"She's a sharp lookout for sabotage
Sittin up there on the fuselage!
She's making history
Working for victory,
Rosie, dadadadadadada (simulated rivet-gun sounds) the Riveter."

The whole purpose of the ad campaign, of course, was to get the idcea across that women were capable of doing jobs other than secretaries and sewing machine and typewriter operators, and that these jobs were "acceptable" for women, neither of which had, to that point, been the view. Seems to have worked pretty well.

The poster, not the painting, is the one I remember.

 

[meyers7]

"She's a sharp lookout for sabotage
Sittin up there on the fuselage!
She's making history
Working for victory,
Rosie, dadadadadadada (simulated rivet-gun sounds) the Riveter."

The whole purpose of the ad campaign, of course, was to get the idcea across that women were capable of doing jobs other than secretaries and sewing machine and typewriter operators, and that these jobs were "acceptable" for women, neither of which had, to that point, been the view. Seems to have worked pretty well.

The poster, not the painting, is the one I remember.

Reading up a little on this, Rockwell's painting got the name from the song.

The poster, which might (is) actually be better known nowadays, was an internal Westinghouse campaign to boost moral, and didn't get much publicity back in the 40's. Only used at Westinghouse internally. It didn't really get known until the 1980's when it was used for feminism and some other political causes.