This site provides information on the various efforts taking place in Long Beach, California to honor the thousands of women who served on the home front in World War II and who significantly changed the City of Long Beach.

These women were affectionately and collectively called “Rosie the Riveter” following the release of the popular song (click here to hear it) performed by the African-American group “The Four Vagabonds.”

When Norman Rockwell illustrated the cover of the Saturday Evening Post with a drawing of a strong, red-head woman in overalls, with a riveting gun on her lap and a lunch pail at her side with “Rosie” written on it — the image was complete.

In 2000, the U.S. Congress established the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond,California, as part of the national park system. This park contains a memorial to the women who worked in the Richmond-area Kaiser shipyards.

Four years later, Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 413 honoring the contributions of women symbolized by “Rosie the Riveter.”

The Long Beach Rosie the Riveter Park and Interpretive Center is the first of its kind in Southern California and only the second site in the U.S.to honor the women who worked on the home front.

To learn a little more about the Rosie the Riveter Park and Interpretive Center, please watch this snapshot video.