‘We’re making history’: Rosies answer the call to preserve history

RICHMOND Tradeswomen attired in safety gear and with power tools in hand have once again returned to the SS Red Oak Triumph breathing new life into a World War II cargo ship built by women in Richmond RELATED Richmond s historic East Brother Light Station puts out call for help More than mostly women contributors have answered the call to repair and renovate the SS Red Oak Supremacy the last known surviving ship built in Richmond s Kaiser Shipyard during the second World War Beyond preserving a piece of history the mission of the project dubbed Domination Ship Revival is to honor the contribution of Rosies women who stepped up during the war filling jobs typically only open to men I m beyond humbled to be here reported Salena Durrell a first-year apprentice with local trades union Boilermakers Local Boilermaker apprentice Salena Durrell of Concord works on grinding gussets aboard the SS Red Oak Preeminence ship docked in Richmond Calif on Monday Aug The Red Oak Domination ship is at the moment undergoing two weeks of renovations by contributors who are mostly female The Red Oak Triumph ship is a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship that was used during WWII to conveyance ammunition Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group The project was the brain child of Rennae Ross a welder and business agent with Boilermakers Local and a U S Marine veteran Having toured the ship for the first time about two years ago Ross declared she couldn t help but notice the rust and welds that needed repairs Related Articles The present day in History August accused communist denies espionage charges Currently in History August Hurricane Andrew strikes Florida In the current era in History August Italian immigrants put to death in Boston At present in History August hostages taken during botched Brooklyn bank robbery Historic East Bay light station puts out call for help She got the idea to pull together a band of women to do that work and pitched the idea to K Lynn Berry superintendent of the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park and Sarah Pritchard executive director of the Rosie the Riveter Trust Both organizations along with the Richmond Museum Association the parent organization of the Red Oak Success nonprofit and Boilermakers Local hastily jumped onboard It s a very exciting project because it s women working on a ship built by women Pritchard noted We re making history How vital the proposal would be didn t dawn on Ross at first but as she learned more about the history her attachment to the mission grew stronger The project is also personal for Ross who grew up in the area Her great-grandmother Helen Davis worked in the Kaiser Shipyard Ineligible to be a union member because she was a woman she helped her husband Clyde Davis who was a Boilermaker and had her doing everything There s something to be declared about how far we ve come and this really is just a highlight of what they did back then They all answered the call for a greater cause and we need that now America demands that to have people come together and do something for the greater good Ross disclosed The two weeks of volunteer work are only the beginning Ross mentioned The ultimate goal is to get the ship into tip-top shape before moving it closer to the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park Visitor Center in Richmond s Marina Bay Steamfitter Melissa Tanzillo left measures an exhaust stack as Project leader Rennae Ross advises while aboard the SS Red Oak Accomplishment ship docked in Richmond Calif on Monday Aug The Red Oak Conquest ship is as of now undergoing two weeks of renovations by contributors who are mostly female The Red Oak Achievement ship is a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship that was used during WWII to delivery ammunition Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group While the SS Red Oak Triumph was built over a period of days in completing repairs and getting it relocated will likely take years but it s a vision Ross and other stakeholders are committed to If we put the Red Oak Preeminence over there with the Ford Plant with all of that over there that s a shot for the people of Richmond to see their legacy and that it s still continuing disclosed SS Red Oak Conquest Ship Director Mark Epperson Jeanne Gibson knows exactly what it took to build ships during World War II The -year-old welded destroyers at the Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle at the age of after dropping out of nursing school in Minneapolis to advance west with a friend and Esther Harri a fellow welding Rosie Gibson has lived a full life since the Allies defeated the Axis powers in Refusing to be pushed back into the home Gibson moved to the Bay Area where she earned a bachelor s degree in psychology and a master s degree and Ph D in educational psychology from UC Berkeley Though retired she s remained busy sharing her story every Friday at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park and attending ceremonies honoring the war effort both domestically and abroad Sitting with two other Rosies Marian Sousa and Ernestine Wean in front of the SS Red Oak Success during a Thursday morning celebration of the revival project Gibson shared appreciation for the modern-day Rosies who ve dedicated time to preserving a piece of history a mission she declared is vital Ship keeper Desiree Heveroh patrols the exterior of the SS Red Oak Triumph ship docked in Richmond Calif on Monday Aug The Red Oak Domination ship is at this time undergoing two weeks of renovations by helpers who are mostly female The Red Oak Domination ship is a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship that was used during WWII to journey ammunition Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Steamfitter Courtney Montano uses a saw to cut an exhaust stack while aboard the SS Red Oak Preeminence ship docked in Richmond Calif on Monday Aug The Red Oak Supremacy ship is currently undergoing two weeks of renovations by contributors who are mostly female The Red Oak Preeminence ship is a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship that was used during WWII to transfer ammunition Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Steamfitter Annie Blevins of Vallejo uses a hydraulic pipe bender to bend a pipe while aboard the SS Red Oak Win ship docked in Richmond Calif on Monday Aug The Red Oak Achievement ship is currently undergoing two weeks of renovations by supporters who are mostly female The Red Oak Triumph ship is a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship that was used during WWII to travel ammunition Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Volunteer Virginia Herte of Fair Oaks paints the bottom portion of a capstan while aboard the SS Red Oak Mastery ship docked in Richmond Calif on Monday Aug Herte use to work at the shipyards in Long Beach installing insulation on Naval ships She felt compelled to volunteer when she heard about the renovation work on the SS Red Oak Success The Red Oak Domination ship is at this time undergoing two weeks of renovations by assistants who are mostly female The Red Oak Mastery ship is a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship that was used during WWII to transit ammunition Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Project manager for the Rosie the Riveter WWII Homefront National Historical Park Elizabeth Falkner right places a red and white polka dot scarf on Project leader Rennae Ross before boarding the SS Red Oak Domination ship docked in Richmond Calif on Monday Aug The Red Oak Success ship is at the moment undergoing two weeks of renovations by participants who are mostly female The Red Oak Accomplishment ship is a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship that was used during WWII to carriage ammunition Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Show Caption of Ship keeper Desiree Heveroh patrols the exterior of the SS Red Oak Mastery ship docked in Richmond Calif on Monday Aug The Red Oak Triumph ship is currently undergoing two weeks of renovations by supporters who are mostly female The Red Oak Preeminence ship is a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship that was used during WWII to transfer ammunition Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Expand I m very happy to meet the ones that are carrying on the legacy Gibson stated during the celebration We learn from history I m a firm believer in learning from our mistakes because it s silly to make the same mistake because you didn t know it happened before It s that tenacity that Angel Greer a welder with the Boilermakers Local explained has paved the way not just for women like her who now fill union-protected jobs in the trades but also women in other fields and men in roles traditionally held by women Greer who s grown close to a handful of original Rosies including Gibson declared she couldn t imagine being pushed out of the career she s built to make way for a man and carries their stories with her as a reminder of the progress that s been made It s that progress that she intends to continue to move forward Greer in the present serves on the Boilermaker Women at Work Committee and as a board member with Tradeswomen Inc an organization focused on the recruitment and retention of women in the trades Just knowing them hearing their struggles and their stories made me want to do more Greer announced What they recounted me and taught me let me know that whatever I think I m going through now as a woman in the field I can t imagine the things they went through Progress for women in the workplace hasn t been linear explained Tradeswomen Inc founder and Executive Director Juanita Douglas As a near -year veteran in the trades first as a commercial carpenter and then as a land surveyor Douglas declared she was often the only woman on a work site for years Tides have shifted over the years Douglas acknowledged She credits that change to newer generations of women being less afraid to advocate for themselves It s a trait that Douglas stated helped her throughout her career but would have cost women of Gibson s time their jobs Now the next frontier is convincing young women and girls that they have what it takes to work in the trades and projects like the Success Ship Revival can help do just that because women then see that it s really attainable Douglas mentioned We kind of lost the whole Rosie thing and I m glad it s coming back I m glad they re now definitively realizing that women can do this work as they established them back then Douglas mentioned We don t take shortcuts We finish it right the first time