Yesterday a friend and I went to see the 'Rosie the Riveter' Women of World War II presentation at the Corson Poley Library of the Burlington County Historical Society in Burlington City, just off High Street.
It was BRILLIANT! The presenter, Stacy Roth, dressed exactly as Rosie the Riveter, in overhauls, denim shirt, bandana and work boots extrapolated from the one composite character into many fascinating areas of World War II war efforts in the civilian community such as recruitment of women to work in war industries, rationing, the participation of local folk in various incidents in the war such as a bomber pilot from Burlington who was a tail gunner who miraculously survived an attack from a German fighter plane that nearly severed the tail from the rest of the plane. The men on board used their parachutes to lash what they could reach of the tail to the plane until they made the 300 miles back to their field to do an emergency belly flop landing.
Weaving the stories of local people into the presentation and collecting local memories was a plus. People like to be a part of a presentation but I know as a presenter, that it can be tricky controlling participation. The presenter was a master at it. I have seen her portray Molly Pitcher at venues like Monmouth Battlefield as well as Rosie the Riveter, and by the way, there was a woman named Rosie who actually did train and work as a riveter at the New York Shipyard!
When you travel around from lecture to exhibit to presentation, you get such an interesting rich contextual view of history. I have attended talks on the New York Shipyard too, at Camden County Historical Society, and this added a whole new dimension to that. Also, I had attended a presentation by one or two of the women who had worked on the U. S. S. New Jersey, on the ship itself one summer some years back.
My engagement with local history may have been sparked when I was a teacher at M. E. Costello School and was a participant in a local history program. We were taken to various local history sites each week and we designed lessons to reflect what we learned there. As an Art teacher it was easy for me to incorporate these things. Once I took my summer enrichment students on a walking tour of our town, Gloucester City, and we took photos of our local history sites of interest, the Centennial Water Works, the Mill Blocks, Proprietor's Park, The Huggs Tavern monument, and others, then we made postcards based on the photographs and a color book which went on display at the local Gloucester Historical Society on King Street. The kids loved it and so did I and it branched in so many directions, including science and the study of where our water comes from after a tour of the water works, over a hundred years old!
Check out the events at the Burlington County Historical Society - I have always been both entertained and enlightened by presentations there.
Happy Trails,
Jo Ann
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