Post #1 – Women’s Memoirs, Rosie The Riveter – Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett
Today marks the first of a new series of blog posts on Women’s Memoirs. As you probably know, Kendra Bonnett and I wrote the award-winning collective memoir, Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story. Our book has earned four awards — IPPY National Book Award, Bronze Medal; Indie Excellence Award, Finalist; San Francisco Book Festival, Honorable Mention’ Beach Book Festival, Honorable Mention. Each was a thrill to receive.
Rosie’s Daughters chronicles the generation of women born during World War II, between 1940 and 1945, precursors of the Baby Boom generation. Their stories, obtained through in-depth interviews, inform, entertain, and surprise.
Rosie’s Daughters is the first collective memoir of an entire generation of women–and what a generation it is. … Rosie’s Daughters helps us understand the social contexts within which our stories have taken place. It is impressively conceived and vividly told. –Susan Wittig Albert, bestselling author of China Bayles mysteries and founder of the Story Circle Network.
Rosie the Riveter is a mythic figure in our culture, with good reason — she built ships, flew bombers and filled thousands of other essential wartime jobs, upending traditional views of “women’s work.” When the war was over, however, American industry thanked Rosie and sent her home.
Rosie’s Daughters flung wide the doors of employment opportunity that Rosie had unlocked. These women can claim more career “first” and greater socio-cultural change than any other generation.
Momentous events at eventful moments in their lives shaped their remarkable journeys — the post-war education boom, sexual revolution and the Pill, civil rights and gender equality, the Vietnam War, NOW and consciousness raising, Roe v. Wade, no-fault divorce, old fields to conquer and new ways to work.
Rosie’s Daughters is the story of a relatively unsung generation of women, a generation that has powerfully shaped our lives today. … The book is a unique combination of personal stories, research, history, art and the author’s own reflections, engagingly written and beautifully presented. This is social history without the turgid prose, a compilation of interviews without the annoying interruption of flow–even a motivational book without the saccharine–in the appealing voice of a perceptive author. –Geneva Overholser, director of USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism and past Editor, Des Moines Register
Until now, Kendra and I have maintained a website dedicated to information and stories about Rosie the Riveter and Rosie’s Daughters. As anyone who has tried to maintain multiple websites can attest, something gets short changed. Recently, we decided to include our blogs about Rosie on this site for two reasons. First, Rosie’s Daughters is a memoir and our thoughts on writing it and marketing it are quite relevant for Women’s Memoirs. Second, Rosie the Riveter is the symbol of strength, courage, and empowerment — traits important for women as they choose to write their memoirs.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, Kendra and I will announce a one-day sale celebrating the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. We think Rosie the Riveter would like this sale as it features her famous red and white polka-dot bandana. Be sure to check this website then.
If you have stories about women in your family who worked during World War II or if you are a Rosie’s Daughter, born between 1940 and 1945, be sure to let us know as we’d like to feature your stories here.
