Wichita’s own ‘Rosie the Riveter’ celebrates 99th birthday
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH/Gray News) - A woman known as “Rosie the Riveter” in her Kansas hometown celebrated her 99th birthday on Tuesday.
KWCH reports Connie Palacioz was 18 years old in 1944 when she began to work at Boeing as a riveter on the B-29 Superfortress.
Palacioz, who lived in Wichita, was part of the team that manufactured the plane known as “DOC.”
“Rosie the Riveter” became an iconic character during World War II and was used in a campaign to recruit women for factory jobs to replace men who had gone off to combat.
The real identity behind the “Rosie the Riveter” character in dispute for decades following World War II.
For many years, people believed a woman named Geraldine Hoff Doyle was the model for the original “Rosie” poster. Eventually, it was discovered that Naomi Parker Fraley, who died in 2018 at 96 years old, was most likely the original inspiration behind the design.
Copyright 2024 KWCH via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
