Rosie the Riveter’s Facebook hosts made this happy announcement after last year’s rally: “Official word is in: ‘We are thrilled to inform you that your application for Largest gathering of people dressed as Rosie the Riveter (1,084) has been successful and you are now the Guinness World Records Title Holder!'” (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service)

Richmond’s Rosie the Riveter World War II/ Homefront National Historic Park will celebrate the era of Rosie the Riveter with a rally and festival on Saturday, Aug. 13 from noon to 4 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to come in a Rosie costume, to help take back the World Record title that the park lost last year to a “rival” group of costumed attendees in Michigan. “We broke the Guinness World Record last year,” event fliers read, “only to have the Michigan Rosies break it again. Let’s take it back!”* The event commemorates Rosie the Riveter, an icon during World War II symbolizing women who took industrial jobs in factories and shipyards to produce supplies while men were largely fighting off in the war.
Check-in for costume registration begins at 10 a.m. at the Craneway Pavilion. Entries must be documented by 11 a.m. to be included the count for Guinness. Entrants should arrive before 10:30. Uniform requirements: A red bandanna with polka dots, worn in the traditional “Rosie” style; Dark blue collared shirt and dark blue pants OR dark blue coveralls; Closed-toed black or brown shoes or boots; and Red socks. A bandana and socks packet is available at the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Education Center, located at 1414 Harbour Way South, Suite #3000/Oil House at Richmond. For more information, call 510-232-5050, ext. 0.
The festival begins at noon in Marina Bay Park with live music and food. Benicia resident and event volunteer Randy Wright will be in attendance with his wife Linda, a Benicia Unified School District Second Step teacher, novelist and professional storyteller, along with Mr. Wright’s great-aunt, Willa Mae Thomas, who “was a Rosie” and worked at the shipyard during the war.
“The reason the park is in Richmond is that Richmond was one of the boom towns of the war effort,” Wright told the Herald Monday. “They built 747 ships in three-and-a-half years. Other Bay Area shipyards were working as well – Mare Island, Oakland, Treasure Island, Hunter’s Point – but none of them came close to the volume produced in Richmond.”
Like many cities with major military bases at that time, the Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond expanded quickly during the war, from about 23,000 employees to over 130,000, according to Wright.
The Rosie the Riveter rally will take place at the Craneway Pavilion, Ford Assembly Plant 1414, Harbour Way South, Richmond, next to the National Park Visitor Center. The festival will follow beginning at noon at Marina Bay Park, at the corner of Regatta Blvd and Mellville Square.
For more information visit rosietheriveter.org or call 510-232-5050, ext. 0. Also find “Rosie Rally 2016” on Facebook.

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