09/01/2025
In honor of Labor Day, Girls Empowered would like to highlight the incredible contributions made by women in the workforce. Historically, the work of women was often uncompensated and unrecognized. During the World Wars, women’s participation in the paid workforce, outside of the home, significantly increased to support the war effort. During these wars, there were many campaigns that targeted recruitment of female workers for defense industries. Perhaps one of the most well-known today, was the Rosie the Riveter campaign. While there has been some debate over whom Rosie the Riveter was actually modeled after, it has been most widely accepted as Naomi Parker Fraley. Naomi Parker Fraley was a young woman who worked at a Naval Air Station in California, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Naomi was assigned to the machine shop, helping with aircraft assembly. A photo of Naomi wearing a polka dot headdress was published in a local newspaper in 1942, a year prior to the Rosie the Riveter campaign.
Happy Labor Day to all of the women making strides! “We Can Do It!”
