The students sat quietly in the presentation room, eyes fixed on one of the last living Rosie the Riveters. Jeanne Gibson, who is approaching her 100th birthday later this month, spoke calmly and clearly, sharing stories from her time as a Rosie. Nearly a century separated her teenage years from theirs, yet her experiences felt immediate and alive, transforming a familiar historical image into a living, breathing person before them.

Last Friday, Mid-Pen students in the Gender Studies class visited the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. The trip had been long-anticipated and delayed by the recent government shutdown, as the museum operates as a national park. This semester, students were finally able to visit the powerful, immersive space. Stepping back into the early 1940s, they glimpsed what Richmond was like when it was a booming industrial hub, drawing workers from across the country to support the war effort.

As students moved through the museum, they learned how Richmond’s shipyards and factories operated around the clock and how that unprecedented production would not have been possible without the women who filled roles once reserved almost exclusively for men. Clad in coveralls, thick gloves, and polka-dot bandanas, the “Rosie the Riveters” became enduring symbols of women’s capability, resilience, and skill during World War II.

The highlight of the day came when students met Jeanne Gibson. Soon after turning 18 in 1944, Jeanne left her home in Minnesota for Seattle, Washington, where she worked as a welder building WWII destroyers. She spoke candidly about the physical demands of the job, the skepticism she faced, and the pride she felt in proving—to herself and to the men around her—that she belonged in that space. After the war, Jeanne refused to accept unequal pay, quitting two jobs when she encountered gender-based discrimination. Undeterred, she went on to earn a PhD and a pilot’s license, continuing to challenge expectations and break barriers throughout her life. As Gender Studies teacher Tara Theobald-Anderson shared, Jeanne “prides herself on still being a teacher two times every Friday,” a reminder that her commitment to education and storytelling has never faded. 

The field trip directly supported a major unit in Tara’s Gender Studies curriculum, which traces the history and theories of feminism in the modern world. Earlier in the year, students studied the first wave of feminism, followed by the period between the first and second waves—a time shaped by women’s wartime labor and the postwar return to domestic expectations. In class, students examined wartime propaganda, including different depictions of Rosie the Riveter, analyzed primary sources, and explored movements like the Double V Campaign, which connected the fight against fascism abroad with the fight for racial justice at home. Seeing the museum exhibits and meeting someone who lived that history connects abstract concepts to lived experience. Students gained an understanding of how progress unfolds unevenly and often requires persistence.

As the presentation drew to a close, Jeanne left students with words she has shared countless times, lifting her arm in the iconic Rosie the Riveter pose saying, “If I can do it, you can do it. We can do it.” In that moment, the message behind the famous image felt clear. Not as a slogan from the past, but as a challenge and an invitation to the generations listening closely in the room.