Post #6 – Women’s Memoirs, Rosie the Riveter – Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett
Women’s History Month
We usually focus on memoir and memoir writing. But sometimes, it takes a person with vision to put together the stories of the lives of others — stories that we would not know about otherwise.
Since Kendra and I wrote the collective memoir Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story, you might think I’m talking about stories of Rosie the Riveters. Well, sort of. I recently saw that a new documentary reveals still one more area where women excelled during the war. The video, Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of World War II, was produced and directed by LeAnn Erickson. It chronicles the stories of some of the female mathematicians who helped win the war — and launch the computer age.
The documentary is being shown in several locations around the US. One of my favorite locations — Computer History Museum in Sunnyvale, CA — is showing the video. Unfortunately, I now live in Oregon instead of the Bay Area so I’ll miss it. However, if it comes to Portland or another place in Oregon, I’ll definitely go. I understand the video is available through Netflix and I’ll check that out as well. And, of course, it is also available through Amazon.
On the website for the documentary — http:topsecretrosies.com — I read brief profiles of a few of the women in the documentary. Here’s one:
Betty Jean Jennings (Bartik)
The Great Depression had hit Missouri hard, with farm families struggling mightily to make ends meet. Born the sixth of seven children, Betty Jean was determined to escape farm life and her path out lead through higher education. Thanks to a $400 loan from a beloved aunt, Betty Jean studied mathematics at the local Teacher’s College. Upon graduation in spring 1945, she seized the opportunity to come to Philadelphia, where she joined Doris, Shirley and Marlyn as a ballistics ‘computer’. Little did she know that this trip east would also lead to an unprecedented future as one of the first programmers of ENIAC.
— Quoted From: http:topsecretrosies.com
Here’s a brief introduction to the story.
Top Secret Rosies Trailer from LeAnn Erickson on Vimeo.
