THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME The term “Rosie the Riveter” was first used in a 1942 song written by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb. The song describes Rosie as a worker on an assembly line, working hard even while other women were out at the bar. Rosie earns an award for her hard work and dedication to the American war effort. Rosie the Riveter isn’t a real person but the writers of the Rosie the Riveter song were inspired by a real woman — Rosalind P. Walters, a rich woman who worked in a factory building a fighter plane called the F4U Corsair Fighter. This song became a hit and the term “Rosie the Riveter” became known across the United States.

THE STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE
The iconic2 image that most people associate with Rosie the Riveter today is the “We Can Do It” poster created by J. Howard Miller in 1942. In this poster, a woman in a red bandanna is rolling up her sleeve with the slogan “We Can Do It!” above her. However, this poster was not actually very well known during World War II, and it was not used to recruit women to work. The “We Can Do It” poster was produced by Westinghouse Company's War Production Coordinating Committee and put up inside their factories to motivate both male and female employees to work harder. It wasn’t until after the war, in the 1980s, that the poster was rediscovered and became associated with the feminist movement.

In 1943, the famous visual artist Norman Rockwell created an image of Rosie the Riveter that was used as the cover of Saturday Evening Post. This image was widely distributed and very popular, and it was used during the war for war bond3 drives. In this image, a woman is holding a rivet gun and a lunch box that says “Rosie” on it. It is believed that Rockwell was inspired by the Rosie the Riveter song when creating this image.

3. Which of the following describes how the author introduces Rosie the Riveter in the text?

A. The author provides information on the person who inspired Rosie.

B. The author outlines the ideas that Rosie stands for.

C. The author describes what Rosie physically looks like.

D. The author emphasizes the lasting effects Rosie has had on women.