'Rosie the Riveter' of colour, in colour.

[kevyn]

Ganked from pocketlama, by way of debunkingwhite:



This colour photo was taken in 1943 at a Tennessee bomber factory, and has recently been released by the Library of Congress as part of their public domain photo release on Flickr.

'Rosie the Riveter' is such an iconic image for WWII, and this photo -- featuring a woman of colour in the role of 'Rosie' -- turns a previously "white" icon on her head.

I think it's stunningly beautiful. I especially love the painted nails and ring she's wearing while riveting.

Comments

[porthos74.livejournal.com]

I don't know how this would look on my computer at home, but here at work, the sheen of her skin versus the gradient reflection in the steel is visual poetry. Most excellent.

Good eye, my boy! Many should be happy that you took the time to post this.

[that-dang-otter.livejournal.com]

Huh, at first glance I figured she was the "real" Rosie. That she was black, I didn't even notice.

[leighton.livejournal.com]

The differently-worded BB post tries to skew the "herstory" of the "real" Rosie actually being African-American:

"It turns that WWII icon, 'Rosie the Riveter,' on her head, by presenting her as she really was: African-American. "

The model for the posters was from Ypsilanti, MI. Though the town and workforce is/ was very racially mixed, the actual model wasn't "really" African-American. The 1950's propaganda of the time was biased towards with the Kentucky transplant's pigment, but there really were a lot of white ladies working on (and flying) planes back then too.

[arador.livejournal.com]

This photograph was in my history textbook back when I was in high school, I think. It looks really really really familiar.

[kadyg.livejournal.com]

You know, I never thought of Rosie as a "white" icon, but as a female icon. Still, a really beautiful photo, thanks for posting it and congrats on the boingboing mention.