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winter december 2016

News from Rosie the Riveter Trust supporting the Rosie the Riveter / WWII Home Front National Historical Park

F R O M T H E E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R

They’re known as the VIPs of the National Parks, and without them there might be no National Parks. No, we’re not talking about

the Washington, DC staff at the National Park Service, or the hundreds of park superintendents, or even the many thousands of uniformed park rangers who are the most conspicuous among the more than 20,000 NPS employees – though they’re all pretty important people.

When the NPS talks about its VIPs, it means the more than 2 million Volunteers In Parks who do everything from cleaning the restrooms to leading interpretive tours to staffing the parks’ visitor centers

and museums. And they do it out of pure love for the parks and dedication to the natural, environmental, historical, and cultural missions of the NPS.

At our Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, Lead Ranger Elizabeth Tucker, a 20-year veteran of the NPS who started out as a volunteer and intern at Yosemite, declares flatly, “We couldn’t run the parks without our volunteers. They’re the reason we’re open to the public seven days a week.”

Any day of the week, guests at the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center are greeted and offered interpretive mini-tours, films, literature, and other historical information by a rotating handful of volunteer docents who support the uniformed rangers. Currently, no fewer than 85 Visitor Center docents volunteer for weekly or biweekly shifts.

Why do they do it? Docent Ann Nutt, a retired attorney for the regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency, is a history buff and wanted to

share her enthusiasm about the story of the local WWII home front with young people who knew little or nothing about it as well as the generation of folks who had lived through it. “When I learned about the park, I wanted to become a part of it.” Besides working the Visitor Center, she also supports special events sponsored by the Rosie the Riveter Trust.

Her fellow docent, Miriam Joscelyn, signed on to the first training for volunteers when the Visitor Center opened in early 2012 “because I love the park and wanted to support it. And I love telling stories and hearing stories, and many of the visitors have wonderful stories to tell about their own wartime

experiences or those of their parents.”

Another reason: “Vol-unteering is a pathway to careers in the NPS,” says Tucker. “The two most common questions we are asked by the public are “Where is the bathroom?” and “How can I become a park ranger?”

In fact, a number of the park’s current rangers, like Armand Johnson, from Richmond, began as volunteers. He started at age 18. Raphael Allen, an Oakland native, became an interpretive ranger at both the Port Chicago and the Rosie the Riveter park sites after volunteering for three years after a long career in book publishing. And the NPS’ oldest and probably best known park ranger, Betty Reid Soskin, now age 95, began volunteering for the park in its earliest days.

Would-be volunteers undergo three separate 3-hour training sessions, covering the park’s history and mission, customer service at the Visitor Center, and the nuts and bolts of interpretation and how to develop unique programs for visitors. Ranger Tucker expects the next annual training to begin in April 2017. She encourages anyone interested in volunteering to check out the park’s website at http://www.rosietheriveter.org/join-us/volunteer.

This last year has been a whirlwind of compelling new programs we’ve begun at the park, thanks to supporters like you. And yet, when we thought we had done all we could with existing resources, thanks to a new grant, the park staff began an

exciting new project to engage college bound and high school students in exploring the untold stories of many Japanese Americans. After pilot work developing the curriculum with a team of teachers, consultants and the Bancroft library, this new project will have

hosted its first group of 48 Middle College students (high school students in a program at Contra Costa College) by the time you read this. These students will “test drive” the new curriculum, which expands the story we’ve told previously to include the larger story of Japanese Americans from Richmond and beyond – those who were relocated outside California, those who chose not to return to properties they previously owned, and those who faced post-war forces to extract “loyalty oaths” and other concessions. We hope you will be as excited as we are about our expanding educational mission, and we will have more to report when new high school classes take part in this program in the spring of 2017.

D O C E N T F E A T U R E

—Marsha Mather-Thrift

Volunteer docents Randy Wright (center, left photo); Ann Nutt (seated, center photo); Dee Amaden (right, right photo). Left photo by Dorothy Brown.

Volunteers – The VIPs of the NPS

Thank you, Donors!

$10,000 & ABOVE

Anonymous Fund of the East Bay Community Foundation

Chevron RichmondInternational

Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers & Helpers, AFL-CIO

Kaiser PermanenteMarguerite FundWells Fargo Foundation

$5,000 TO $9,999

City of RichmondDean & Margaret

Lesher FoundationKaiser Permanente

East BayNational Park

FoundationNorthern California

Carpenters Regional Council

Outdoor FoundationThe Permanente

FederationWestern States

Boilermakers Industry Fund

$1,000 TO $4,999

Alice AgoginoDr. Ron & Sue

BachmanJane & Richard BartkeAlide Chase

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

Tom DebleyEdward & Donna

DeckardEkso BionicsEast Creek Fund of

the Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Robert EricksonFluke CorporationDr. Erica GoodeDr. Jeffrey GriceWarren & Sheryl HarberDiane HedlerHolland & Knight LLPIBEW, Local 595IBEW, Local 302IBEW, Local 332Interactive ResourcesInternational Union

of Elevator Constructors, Local 8

Levin Richmond Terminal Corporation

Mechanics BankMiller Starr RegaliaJamie MillerRosie O'DonnellOPEIU InternationalRoberta PeoplesPacific Gas & ElectricPlumbers & Steamfitters,

Local 159Republic ServicesRichmond Development

Co., LLCThe Richmond StandardSheet Metal Workers,

Local 104

State Building & Trades Council of California

Terminal 1 Development, LLC

Wareham DevelopmentWells Fargo Bank

$500 TO $999

Anita & Anson Moran Fund

Association of Marine Underwriters of San Francisco

Joan & Richard BecktelMarc BenoitMartha & Christopher

ConnerLarry CrooksFleet Reserve

AssociationElizabeth HillChiyo HoriuchiPaul HunterLinda Stanley & A.

Steven JonesKaiser Foundation

Health Plan, IncKim KaiserMarcia Rodgers &

Garrett LoubeMarina Bay

Neighborhood Council

Steve Miller & Pat Meyer

OPEIU, Local 30Ellen PechmanKori RaeCharles McKinley &

Martha SchafferBarbara Smith

Listed are all $100+ donors from 11-7-2015 to 11-6-2016. We are grateful to ALL of our generous supporters.

$100 TO $499

John AllenDeanne AmadenAmerican Rosie the

Riveter Association, Sun Cities

Kay & Gary AndersonJean E. AtkinsonAuto WarehousingNancy BardachRay BarnettRobin BarrettJames BasingerGordon & Gayle

BehrensKate Sibley & Cindy

BeitmanBench & Honeyman

Insurance AgencyElspeth BentonHelen BeyerLinda BibblerBruce BishopNan BlackledgeAmy BlasenheimAngela BoldingJudy BonacicLisa BonerCarolyn BotellCarolyn BowdenChristoper BowenMeg BowermanCarla BowmanBarry BradenDonald & Marianne

BradleyMargaret BradyRuth BrentariElizabeth BreslinErle & Phyllis BrownJan & Byron BrownTammy BrumleyMargaret BurgettAlf BurtlesonRan BushCalifornia Nurses

AssociationHugh & Sonia CallahanMark & Sandy CameronMarva CanadaSharon Fisher CarpenterCarpenters, Local 2236Cement Masons, Local

600Garrett ChanMargaret ClarkeClorox CompanySimon & Janet CohnKathleen Cole-SmykArlene CollopyMary Jo & Thomas

ComptonPaul CooleyGilberto CooperWilliam CopeCedith CopenhaverRosemary &

Doug CorbinEthan CovenCiara CoxAlan & Ellen

CunninghamShari DaggDiane DavidsonMarie DaviesBarbara DavisLynn DavisMauren & Jean-Michel

DecombeAlan Del SimoneDave Della ZoppaMarc DispensaLisa DowneySandy Drew

Joanne DunecMike DunnFrances DupontGeorge DurgerianSteve EarlyEast Bay Automotive

Machinists Lodge, Local 1546

Catherine ElliottGary ElliottTamea EnosSusan EnzleLinda ErkelensJanet EvansPaul & Michelle FadelliMonique Bricca &

Tom FairCandace Borland &

Carolyn FankWilliam FasbinderLinda FeldmanNadine FentnerJay FentonDavid FerminoVirginia FinlayMary FlaigConny FordRonald & Barbara

ForsstromGeorge & Cindy

FosseliusFriends of George

Miller PACSue FritzkeMarianne GagenMark GainesJim & Vi GallardoDonna GarskeLynn Maack & Sandi

Genser-MaackRobin & Paul GentzGerald GeorgeJennifer Giannini UptonJanet GlennAva GrailFred & Beverly

GranzellaJonee GrassiMarian & Roger GrayMaribel GrayMarc & Dana GrishamNaomi GroeschelAndrew GuntherToni HannaMarilee HanrahanDeborah HarrisPixie Hayward

SchickeleAllen HeathAutumn HeepPatrice HendersonLarry HendricksGlen & Mary HentgesMichael HibmaGerald HicksBlair HolbrookMarianne HookLynne HoriuchiScott HuntIFPTE, Local 20Melanie IngallsInternational

Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Local 92

International Longshore & Warehouse Union

Charles IversenJon IversonJoann JacksonJelly Belly Candy

CompanySondra Jensen

Lucille JohnsonMiriam JoscelynMargaret KaatzPatricia KatesDawn KeeneEllen KellyLeslie KelsayDebi KennedyJim & Janet KennedyRosalind KennedyDiane & John KernKathe KiehnRima KittnerJohn KnoxJane KrejciSusan C. LaskyJoan LautenbergerLinda LavelleToni Mayer & Alan

LazereMary LedezmaMartha LeeCharles & Liz LewisHarry LewisStephen LockhartPaul LortonCathie & John LoudenKaren LouisRonald Treleven &

William MacelroyMark & Christine

MalcolmDennis MarkhamSandi Potter & Phil

MartienMarsha Mather-ThriftSharon & Dan MayPatricia McAdooChristina McAlpinSamantha McClearyTracy McClendonClaire McCollochDonald McKayDarcie McNallyFran McNameeAlice MeadBarbara MeislinSusan MessinaKirk A. Pessner &

Russell MillerC. Merilee MitchellClint & Gail MoffittKim MojarroJames & Susan MooreLetitia MooreSandra MooreSharon MooreMorgan Family

FoundationMelinda MosesMSH GroupIan MyszenskiKuulei NaipoNaturebridgeLinda & Brad NeedhamNew Leaf SalonKaren NewmanBill & Barbara NexsenToni NiesNinomiya-Koda

FoundationNonprofits Insurance

Alliance of CaliforniaCarol NorbergBarbara NorrishManny & Debby

NosowskyAmanda NottkeAnn NuttOliver & CompanyNancy OliverRudell O'NealSusan & Felton Owens

Tom PadiaCorinne & Richard PattonCaroline PaulMartha PearsallHensley PetersonTynan PetersonJ. William PezickRegina PhelpsBarbara PhillipsSusan PollockRita PoppenikDale & Danielle PowerTom PowersQuesters Chapter 233

Todos SantosLinda RandallPeter RasmussenBonnie ReillyVincent & Cheryl ReshRichmond Convention &

Visitors BureauCatherine RidenourVirginia Rigney

Laurie & Keith RogersSusan RosenDamian RousonDavid & Vera RowseyKatrinka RukBarbara SacksCharlotte SakaiSan Francisco FoundationSan Francisco Labor CouncilSusan SanfordSusan SaundersBill SchmalzelEd SchmalzelCalynn SchuckJennifer SelbyErica SheltonNorma ShermanJames ShookPeggy SilvaLinda Gebroe &

Rebecca SilversteinLynn SmithEnoyse Sommer

Anita & Anson Moran FundStanislaus-Tuolumne

Central Labor CouncilJamuel StarkeyDaniel Drake &

Lee Steinback-DrakeAnn SteppanBarbara StokesFrank StrehlitzNina StrickerRoss StrombergMarilyn SwartzVictoria Jones &

Calvin SynigalGeorge TaggDiane TalbertScott TandyWilliam TarpeinLynne TherriaultTransdevelopment GroupTeamsters Joint Council 7Teamsters, Local 315Teamsters, Local 70

Theatrical Wardrobe Union, Local 769

Rosa Casazza & John Thiella

Jaqi ThompsonWill TravisUFCW, Local 1428UFCW, Local 7United Nurses Association

of CaliforniaMelinda VahediCindy ValentineVenus VelazquezAlexa VietsJudith VoigtEdward Von Der PortenMary WaisToni WalkerNancy WallsKaren Thompson &

Robert WardFrederick WassemDonald Weden

Barbara WhittonWilliam WickGail WiemannAnn Killebrew & Kevin

Killebrew-WiestCamille WilliamsEffie WilliamsFletcher WilliamsPamela WilsonWomen's West Side

Improvement ClubRoy WonderPatricia WongConstance WoodDon & Carole WoodrowJoy WrayElaine YamaguchiApril YamaichiCraig YatesCrystal Jang & Sydney YeongDenise YoungEmily ZellRobert & Lynne E. Zolli

In Their Honor WINTER 2016• • •

John Allen. In honor of Betty Reid Soskin.

Sarah Bossenbrock. In honor of Betty Reid Soskin.

Mercedes Bryant-Williams. In honor of Gladya Samuels.

Ethan Coven. In honor of Ida Pollack.

Cathy Gardner. In honor of Miriam Macdonald

Dr. Jeffrey Grice. In honor of Betty Reid Soskin.

Karen Huppertz. In honor of Geneva Smith Bell.

Karen Louis. In memory of Margaret Louis.

Melvin Rosenthal. For Mary and Elizabeth Tucker.

TRUSTRosie the Riveter TrustP.O. Box 71126Richmond, CA 94807-1126

Address Service Requested

We Can Do It…Today!NON-PROFIT ORG

U.S. PostagePAID

Permit NO. 1580Oakland, CA

FROM THE PARK SUPERINTENDENT

—Tom Leatherman

As 2016 comes to a close it is a wonderful time to reflect on all of the great

things we were able to accomplish in celebration of the National Park Service Centennial. Starting in March with the launch of our Every Kid in a Park program and another

moving naturalization ceremony, to the Rosie Rally and Home Front Festival in August, we should all be proud of the work we have done together to connect new audiences and share our compelling story with an increasing number of people. Our visitation is now over 6,000 people a month, on average, and we are excited about the opportunity to see this number grow in the years to come. Of course a recap on 2016 would not be complete without a mention of our superstar,

BOARD OF DIRECTORSDiane M. Hedler, PresidentVera Rowsey, Vice PresidentLynne Horiuchi, Secretary Cathy Durfee, Treasurer Jane A. BartkeTom ButtMark CameronWarren G. HarberLetitia D. Moore Nicholas Targ

ROSIE THE RIVETER TRUST STAFFMarsha Mather-Thrift, Executive DirectorPhilip B. Young, Pro Bono Legal Counsel Rosalyn Sternberg, Outgoing Development AssociateRachel Torrey, Development Associate Stephanie Imah, Membership & Gift Store AssistantJon Stewart, Volunteer Newsletter EditorTo sign up for our enews, email info@rosietheriveter.org or go to our website at www.rosietheriveter.org. For more information, call 510-507-2276 All photos by NPS unless otherwise noted. Newsletter Design by Spokewise. Printing by Autumn Press. Printed with soy-based inks on recycled paper.

National Park Visitor CenterHours are EVERY DAY, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm(Closed Thanksgiving, December 25th, & New Years Day)1414 Harbour Way South, Ste. 3000 (Oil House)Richmond CA 94804 • 510-232-5050

Maritime Child Development Center 1014 Florida Ave, Richmond, CA 94804

Craneway Pavilion 1414 Harbour Way South, Richmond, CA 94804

News from Rosie the Riveter Trust supporting the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park • winter 2016

Betty Reid Soskin. Betty introduced the president at the National Christmas Tree lighting last December, shared a stage with Terry Tempest Williams at the Telluride Film Festival in May, received a medal of honor at the WWII Museum in New Orleans in June, and was the guest of the Secretary of the Interior at the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in September. Along the way Betty touched and inspired countless visitors, but probably more impressive is the number of NPS staff she was able to touch and inspire to explore the untold stories that exist in all of the sites the NPS is charged with protecting. The legacy of our park has spread far beyond the shores of the bay, and we are excited about the opportunities a new year

will bring. Working together I know we will keep the stories and lessons of the WWII Home Front alive for all time.

Rosie the Riveter Trust is the nonprofit membership organization dedicated to building a community to preserve Park historic sites and to honor the women and men of all

backgrounds who labored on the Home Front, inspiring some of the most profound social changes in our history.510-507-2276 www.rosietheriveter.org

OUR PUBLIC AGENCY PARTNER…The National Park Service was created in 1916 to preserve America’s natural, cultural and scenic treasures and to provide for their enjoyment by future generations.

The Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park was established in 2000 as the flagship Park to tell the World War II Home Front story.510-232-5050 ext 0 www.nps.gov/rori

New Rosie members get: •membership card •10% discount at the Visitor Center Gift Store•our quarterly print newsletter•invitations to members-only & park events•email updates & online resources •personalized holiday greeting card

Gift memberships of $50.00 or more include  a collectible Rosie Shipyard Badge!

For more information or to sign up online visit: http://www.rosietheriveter.org email: info@rosietheriveter.org.

Make sure we have new members' information by 12/12 to ensure a timely holiday delivery!

Spread the"We Can Do It!"spirit with a Rosie the Riveter Holiday Gift Membership!

JOSEPHINE LICO – EYEWITNESS TO MORE THAN A CENTURY OF LIFE IN RICHMOND

Proudly independent and glowing with an Italian zest for life, Josephine Lico, a 102-year-old veteran of the World War II Richmond shipyards and a proud member of Rosie the Riveter Trust, still lives in the Richmond home she and her husband Sam built almost 70 years ago. The neat, two-story house – like Josephine, herself – is a treasure trove of memories of more than a century in the life of an Italian immigrant family growing up in Richmond.

“Our neighborhood was all immigrants – Italians, Portuguese, Slovenians, Germans, Austrians, and one black family,” she recalls. “Everybody knew everybody and nobody ever locked their doors, because we felt safe.”

After graduation from Richmond High, Josephine worked for almost a decade at the old Caleb Cap Company (later Stauffer Chemical) filling blasting caps with an explosive mix of chemicals – one of the few jobs available to Richmond women in the 1930s. “We had no coffee breaks, no benefits, and we weren’t allowed to have any conversations while working. And when you married, you lost your job.”

During the war years, she was greatly relieved to be recruited into the safer environment of Kaiser’s Shipyard #3, where she worked in the IBM department and ran computers that, she recalls, “were as big as a grand piano.”

In 1947, Josephine married Sam Lico, the son of Calabrian immigrants, who had worked in Shipyard #2 overseeing incoming supplies.

Sam moonlighted as the leader of a popular Richmond swing band that played for local USO dances and performed for Kaiser ship launchings.

“On Fridays,” she says, “Mr. Kaiser would have his own chauffeur drive Sam home to get his accordion so he could entertain the workers during lunch hour.”

Laid off in 1946, she turned her energies to keeping the accounts for a grocery store that Sam owned on 47th Street. “He always had a day job, and the band would perform for local dances till 1 in the morning. Oh, how I loved to dance,” she fondly recalls.

Sam and Josephine raised a son and daughter, both of whom still live in the area with Josephine’s four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. In their retirement, the couple took to traveling, taking more than a hundred cruises – “money well spent,” says Josephine. In 2014, the Richmond City Council honored Josephine on the centenary of her birth.

Josephine Lico (far left) with fellow Shipyard 3 workers, 1943. Photo courtesy of Lico family