Rosie the Riveter park pauses celebration of 25th anniversary while government is shut down

Jeanne Gibson was 18 when she learned to weld massive warships known as destroyers in 1944. She was one of about 12 million women tending the homefront war effort, operating cranes, riveting and welding — work that earned them the nickname Rosie the Riveter. 

“ Being a Rosie kind of asserted my spine,” Gibson said, referring to the attitude it gave her. “We can do it!”

At 99 and half this month, Gibson is eager to get back to work. She volunteers as a tour guide at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year amid the federal government shutdown. The visitor education center remains shuttered. Tours have halted. 

The park had planned an anniversary celebration this month, but it was cancelled. “ We honestly don’t have the bandwidth,” said Sarah Pritchard,  executive director of the Rosie the Riveter Trust.

“Every day is another day of waiting to see whether the rangers can come back to work,” Pritchard said. 

The shutdown forced the park to cancel five school trips since the shutdown began Oct. 1, cutting opportunities for about 200 kids. Before that, Pritchard said her organization hosted numerous anniversary events,  including the Rosie Rally and the Rosie the Riveter Trust Gala, which was sold out. 

Influencing young girls

Bustling shipyards and war industry plants once lined Richmond’s coast, drawing more than 100,000 workers from across the nation in two years. Rosie the Riveter park sits on the grounds of a former Ford assembly plant that churned out tanks and cars. Congress designated it a national park in 2000, recognizing Richmond’s ties to the war effort. 

Over the past 25 years, the site has honored the legacy of the thousands of home-front workers, many of them women and people of color. It also connected generations of young girls and girl-inclusive youth, helping them gain confidence in fields still dominated by men.

Recently, tradeswomen from around the country, adorned in red and white polkadot handkerchiefs, offered their skills to restore the SS Red Oak Victory Ship, the last  of 747 warships made at the historic Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond. Parked at the Port of Richmond, the ship faced extreme weathering over the last 80 years, and the women are working in phases to fix it. 

Betty Reid Soskin joined the war effort in her 20s as a file clerk for a union representing Black wartime trade workers. Later, she became a ranger and worked at Rosie the Riveter park until 2022, becoming the oldest active national park ranger in the country. Soskin retired shortly after her 100th birthday. 

“I’m still jumping out of bed,” she told PBS in 2022. Soskin turned 104 in September. 

The park attracted nearly 50,000 visitors in 2024, according to Pritchard. The iconic poster adorned with a woman in a red bandana and a rolled up sleeve are stocked in the gift shop. Admission is free.

“ It is an incredible source of pride that Richmond has a national park,” Pritchard said.

Carrying the legacy

“Meet a Rosie” tours are among the park’s most popular attractions. In 2022, the park had five Rosies sharing stories and shepherding guests. That number is now two.

“One of the things we’ve been grappling with is, what happens when the first-person storytellers are no longer here with us?” Pritchard said. “How do we continue to bring the history to life? How do we carry the Rosie legacy on in their honor? And how do we keep this history relevant so people care and they can learn lessons?”

Gibson credits her experience as a Rosie with giving her a fierce independence and a belief that she deserved to be treated equal to men. These are lessons she carries forward to future generations in her tours. 

“Doing that work kind of changed our lives,” Gibson said. “Getting married and being a housewife, that didn’t appeal to me.” 

Gibson earned a doctorate at UC Berkeley in educational psychology. She taught in the Berkeley Unified School District for 30 years. 

“I couldn’t have done that without the experience of being a Rosie and just doing it,” she said. 

Volunteering on Fridays at the park is an extension of her love for teaching. Last year, Gibson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor alongside 27 other Rosies.

While the park remains closed, Gibson said she fills her Friday afternoons by getting lunch with her fellow Rosies. Three live at the same independent living home in Pinole, and the crew nicknamed a nearby park where they picnic “Rosie Park.” 

Gibson is looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday alongside another Rosie, who is also turning 100.

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