Perhaps the most unusual of the public lands administered by the National Park Service is the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historic Park.
Created on October 24, 2000, the site is located in Richmond, California, and includes portions of the Kaiser shipyards where many of the women worked. Exhibits include the SS Red Oak Victory, one of 747 ships built in the four Kaiser shipyards; visitors can also
follow a new roadway that winds around current shipbuilding operations to encompass views of the historic electric shop, machine shop, forge and cafeteria. Restoration of two child-care centers built by Henry Kaiser for his workers — the “Rosies” of WWII helped make outside child care acceptable — is under development, as is a visitor center.
For now, many of the thousands of exhibits donated by women who worked in the shipyards during the war is housed in a special area of the Richmond City Hall. There’s also a Rosie the Riveter Memorial landscape sculpture, contributed by the city of Richmond.
For more information, contact the park at (510) 232-5050, or visit nps.gov/rori.
