WVPA Sharing

Bell ringing for ‘Rosie The Riverters’ focuses on unifying social effort

Release from “Thanks! Plain and Simple”

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Across American and other nations people are starting to ring bells in recognition of Rosie the Riverters and as part of an effort to unify people in honor of the Rosies legacy of pulling together to do highest quality work to protect freedom.

Organizers said “Ring A Bell for Rosies” has started and will conclude with a unified ringing at I p.m., on Monday, Sept. 7, which is Labor Day in the United States.

“Many people will ring bells across America and other nations starting now and building to Sept. 7,” said Anne Montague, founding director of “Thanks! Plain and Simple,” which is a tribute to all Rosies and organizer of The America Rosies Moment.

Ada England, who worked on the home front
during World War II, was a true American Rosie the Riveter.
Photo courtesy of Thanks! Plain and Simple, Inc.

“The bells signify that people are ready to pull together. Rosie the Riveters are the focus.  Their legacy is to pull together to do highest quality work to protect freedom,” Montague said, adding that the effort comes as people around the world ask:“How can we unify to face new problems?”

Participants will photograph themselves as they ring a bell to recognize Rosies’ impact, Mongtague explained. “Bells of all sizes will be rung, from hand bells to carillons. The ringing will be greatest at precisely 1  p.m., Sept. 7th as people ring in a wave across many time zones.” 

Ruth Edwards, a 97-year-old Rosie in Greensboro, N.C,, who worked for Carnegie Illinois Steel, said, “We Rosies pulled together during the war.  Our task was to save lives and hold onto freedom for America and other countries. Today, the world needs to pull together again by doing quality work that has meaning to us all. After 12 years of helping Thanks! Plain and Simple, a sincere, highly productive American nonprofit organization, I ask people everywhere to ring a bell for Rosies as a wake-up call for unity.”     

Montague said, “Soon after I started to interview Rosies in 2008, I realized their real legacy is pulling together to do quality work for a higher cause.  So, in addition to recording Rosies’ fascinating stories, we started working with partners, communities, and Allied Nations to give people ways to work with Rosies and to build on their legacy.  Today, we have worked with more than 100 Rosies and countless helpers to create 18 projects that people can replicate and improve anywhere – a park, original art and music, naming bridges and a building, conducting interviews, and more. 

In short, Montague said, The American Rosie Movement guides people to pull together to do work that both tells the stories of Rosies and continues their legacy.  “The movement has three phases-past, present and future.  Clearly, people need to show that we can– and will-pull together to do quality work for freedom, and this will always be needed.”  

Partners in the “Ring a Bell for Rosies” event include, among others: The Chapel of the Four Chaplains, Philadelphia; The National Association of Manufacturing, Washington; West Virginia Department of Education; The Embassy of the Netherlands in Washington, D.C., and Monroe Publications, Fla.

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