Plane Spotting With Her Parents, Growing A Victory Garden, And Supporting The War Effort: The Story Of An American Rosie The Riveter

During World War II, over six million American women took paid employment in defense industries, while another estimated ten million women volunteered to support the war effort. They worked in factories, shipyards, munitions plans, mills, on farms, and on railroads. They were welders, cutters, riveters, laborers, secretaries, drivers, nurses, pilots, and plane spotters, as well as USO, Red Cross, and Canteen volunteers. Many women were working for the first time, often doing jobs that had been typically reserved for men. After the war, many returned home, unceremoniously released from their jobs, their contributions being forgotten for generations. Over time, however, their wartime service began to change perceptions of the type of work that women could do. They did their bit for their country and the war effort, and without them the Arsenal of Democracy would have suffered. Ardeth Woods was born in January 1937 and grew up in Molalla, Oregon. She was an only child, and her family lived four miles outside of town on a 40-acre farm raising turkey and grains. She raised a runt pig and a calf, helped feed the turkeys, and picked walnuts and pears. She remembers learning to milk a cow. Her mother was an egg handler, and her father was a farmer and logger. Ardeth was a child volunteer Rosie. She and her parents were plane spotters who used binoculars to identify planes before calling in reports. She describes hearing a plane engine before her parents could over the roaring wood-stove fire. In her community, she helped the war effort by collecting and smashing tin cans. She also collected bacon grease to turn in at the drug store. They supplemented their ration cards with a Victory Garden, and she helped milk the family’s four cows to sell milk, cream, and butter. Her uncle grew hops and she helped pick them. She remembers playing “kick the can” and being warned not to wear out her shoes because leather was rationed. Sugar and coffee were also rationed and they practiced “meatless Tuesdays.” Her father helped out by hunting and fishing. She remembers her mom making a cake with Karo syrup icing. Coming out of the depression, people knew how to get by without much. She went to a one room school that had 30 to 45 students, but only 6 in her class. She remembers following news of the war, and her dad lost a friend at Pearl Harbor. She recalls the day the war ended. She and her grandmother were in the house and mom and dad were in the barn. When Willie King flew his flag, she knew the war was over. She later attended the University of Oregon and became a teacher. She taught for 35 years and met her husband teaching. He was a Korean War vet who had been drafted. She is proud of all the women who worked during the war, and even the children who volunteered, noting, “It’s just something we did.” We are grateful that Dr. Yvonne Fasold helped us connect with several “Rosies” in Oregon.