Release from “Thanks! Plain and Simple, Inc.”
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Constance Thompson, senior director of Women’s Engagement at the National Manufacturing Institute (NMI) in Washington, will visit Huntington on Monday, March 2, and Tuesday, March 3, to honor Rosie The Riveters’ encouraging women to enter manufacturing careers to improve American manufacturing and women’s economic security.
Thompson is visiting as guests of “Thanks! Plain and Simple, Inc. (“Thanks!”), a West Virginia-based organization that honors the women who helped the World War II effort by entering the workforce. They were recruited and honored nationally with “Rosie the Riveter” campaigns. “Thanks” has worked to honor and recognize the women and their legacy.
Thompson will visit the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Flexible Manufacturing (RCBI), and the Woodlands Retirement Center.
On Monday evening, at RCBI, Thompson will talk about the goals of manufacturing in America and workforce goals of the NMI. Time will be allowed for questions and answers.
On Tuesday morning at The Woodlands, Thompson will interview five ‘Rosie the Riveters’ to add to a video that “Thanks!” produced last fall. The video shows Huntington-area people thanking American “Rosies.” The resulting short film will help promote manufacturing as well as the American Rosie Movement (ARM), which is new kind of social movement that does not blame or protest, but focuses helping Americans learn to do quality work in a cooperative spirit.
The National Association of Manufacturing (NAM), the parent organization of the NMI, began working with “Thanks!” in April, 2017, when NAM invited Anna Hess, a WV Rosie, to speak at NAM’s annual STEP AHEAD event held at the Reagan Center in Washington.
Anne Montague, executive director and founder of “Thanks!”, said, “We’ve worked for 12 years to develop this region as an example of what Americans can if we represent the Rosie Legacy: To pull together to do quality work in a cooperative spirit.
“We won World War II by pulling together for freedom. The American Rosie Movement is our chance to show we have the freedom to pull together again through work for a higher goal, not blaming,” Montague said.
Col. Rosemary (“Rosie”) Smith, a board member for “Thanks!” and the Chief of the Aircraft Maintenance Division at the National Guard Readiness Centers, said, “I learned of the ‘Rosies’ at a very early age from an Aunt who was a Rosie. Not always having the “conventional female” military career path, I feel the Rosies paved my way. We need to honor and recognize the beautiful hometown heroes of WWII for their contributions of high quality work and pulling our Country together when our Nation called. This is the time for the American Rosie Movement. Americans want to pull together to do high-quality work. We need to encourage more Americans, particularly women, to work in manufacturing. We must do quality work that is meaningful and lasting-just like the Rosies”.
Additional Background:
NMI is the non-profit workforce and education affiliate of The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)-the nation’s largest industrial trade association. Thompson works with those who set strategic plans of The STEP Women’s Initiative which supports workforce diversity and inclusion in manufacturing. She is noted for her expertise in development, integration, measurement, and strategic-partnership initiatives.
“Thanks!” has initiated and completed numerous projects in Huntington that leave lasting evidence of the Rosie Legacy. Three examples are:
1) “Thanks!” worked with Rosies to name the only government building in America, “the Rosie the Riveter’ Building, which is on the line between Cabell and Wayne counties on the grounds of where Polan Industries produced lenses during WWII.
2) The Cabell County Library has a display of photos and faceted-glass art made of Blenko Glass that the library moves to its branch libraries regularly.
3) Huntington Middle School holds a Rosie the Riveter Day annually, with the help of teacher Stephen Riner.
The Woodlands has at least five resident Rosies, which is rare. ”Thanks!” first looked for Rosies in large cities where NAM could interview Rosies in one location. Fortunately, Huntington has as many Rosies at one address.
Montague is a native of Huntington, the daughter of a Huntington Rosie, Jessie Jacobs-Frazier, who inspected lenses at Polan Industries during World War II. She remembers the war years and has written short stories about the war from a child’s perspective. She graduated from Huntington East High School in ’57 as Valedictorian. She completed two M.A. degrees: one at the University of Colorado where she researched how to change negative images; and one from Harvard University in Human Development. Proof that she is both a scholar and doer, both graduate schools waived the need to finish a B.A. degree, based on her professional experiences, including having done significant research and writing for the school psychology proposal for the State of WV in 1975, which was accepted without revision by the State Legislature. She commercialized technology in Boston for 15 years before returning to West Virginia. She started “Rosie work” in 2008, when she interviewed Garnet Kozielec, a Rosie in Dunbar who will be 104 years old soon.
Huntington area residents have been exceptional helpers and even travelled to major cities with “Thanks!”. This community spirit is essential to the American Rosie Movement, and “Thanks!” hopes that Huntington will be more widely known for its “can do” spirit and work.
Space is limited at each event. Please contact “Thanks!” at 304/ 545-9818 for permission to attend.
