ASL Who Was Rosie the Riveter? for Kids

Do you know where the "We Can Do It!" poster came from? In Who Was Rosie the Riveter? for Kids, you'll learn about the history of the poster and its significance during World War II. You may be wondering what exactly a riveter is. Well, it's someone who job is to fasten or secure things using rivets. You can find rivets on the hulls of ships or on airplanes where the metal skin attaches to the wings.

Before the war, mostly men worked factory jobs doing mechanical work, including the job of riveting. Once the US joined the war, most of the factory workers went to fight in the war. That meant there were lots of jobs that needed to be filled, especially since many of the things the military needed were the things factories produced. So who was left to fill those rolls? Women!

A campaign to recruit female workers began, and Rosie the Riveter was born! Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb wrote the song entitled "Rosie the Riveter" in 1942, basing it off of a woman named Rosalind P. Walker. Rosalind was working at a factory that made fighter airplanes for the military. The famous poster was created in 1942 by J. Howard Miller to encourage people to work together to help the US win the war. It later became associated with the Rosie the Riveter campaign, which is why most people now associate the poster with Rosie the Riveter!

We hope you and your student(s) enjoyed learning about Rosie the Riveter! If you want to learn even more, head over to our website and download one of our many free lesson plans about famous women in history, full of activities, worksheets, and more!