LONGVIEW, Wash. — A woman identified by a scholar as the inspiration for Rosie the Riveter, the iconic female World War II factory worker, has died in Washington state.
The New York Times reports that Naomi Parker Fraley died Saturday in Longview. She was 96.
Rest in peace Naomi Parker Fraley aka the real "Rosie the Riveter." Thanks for reminding us for 76 years that we can do it. pic.twitter.com/zjjuwQd7X2
— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) January 23, 2018
RIP to a true icon Naomi Parker Frayley aka Rosie the Riveter. She passed away today at 96 #WeCanDoIt pic.twitter.com/Y2gROuUK46
— noelle nurmi (@noellemariee13) January 22, 2018
Multiple women have been identified over the years as possible models for Rosie, but a Seton Hall University professor in 2016 focused on Fraley as the true inspiration.
James J. Kimble published his findings in the journal Rhetoric & Public Affairs, saying a photo of Fraley at work was the basis for a widely seen poster of a woman flexing with the caption, “We can do it!”
In 1942, Pittsburgh artist J. Howard Miller was hired by the Westinghouse Company's War Production Coordinating Committee to create a series of posters for the war effort. One of these posters became the famous "We Can Do It!" pic.twitter.com/zzB3X2gUg8
— Navy_Man (@Submarine_Guy) January 22, 2018
The original inspiration for "Rosie the Riveter" has passed away Longview, WA at the age of 96. Glad she was around to see all the women empowerment she inspired and to know it will continue through the #MeToo era. RIP Naomi Parker Fraley. You changed a nation. pic.twitter.com/a2wi51UIym
— Kim Shepard (@SeattleShepard) January 23, 2018
Fraley was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she went to work at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, among the first women to do war work there.
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