‘Rosie The Riveter,’ Wwii Star, Dies At 77 Rose Will Monroe Symbolized Contribution Of Working Women

Rose Will Monroe, an employee of an aircraft factory who, through a chance meeting with a Hollywood star, became the celebrated “Rosie the Riveter” during World War II, died on Saturday in Clarksville, Ind. She was 77. The cause was kidney failure.

The Rosie in the poster by J. Howard Miller became a patriotic depiction of working women, but the image itself was fictional.

Monroe appeared in a promotional film for war bonds after Walter Pidgeon, the actor, discovered her at an aircraft parts factory in Ypsilanti, Mich., said Monroe’s daughter, Vicki Jarvis of Clarksville.

Pidgeon had gone to the factory to appear in the film and learned there was a woman named Rose who was a riveter, Jarvis said.

The song “Rosie the Riveter” by Kay Kyser was already a hit. And the poster, with the title “We Can Do It” above a painting of a muscle-flexing woman, was becoming a worldwide symbol of women in the defense industry during World War II. A real Rosie the Riveter, Jarvis said, proved too good for the film’s producers to resist.

“Mom happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Jarvis said.

Left with two young children after her husband was killed in a car accident, Monroe, like millions of other women nationwide, joined the work force both to fulfill a call to arms and to support her family.

“They couldn’t find a better role model, to be honest,” Jarvis said. “Everything she does, she does well.”

Despite her brief fame as Rosie the Riveter in the film, which was shown in theaters to encourage viewers to buy war bonds, Monroe never capitalized on the role, Jarvis said.

She remained a tireless worker after the war, driving a cab, operating a beauty shop and founding Rose Builders, a construction company that specialized in luxury homes.

“My mother was the type of person who never believed in government assistance,” Jarvis said.