Despite language barriers and discrimination, thousands upon thousands of Latinas played an integral part in the support of the U.S. military effort throughout World War II.
“They gave me an outfit, I put it on and they said, ‘You need to get the gun.'” Mary Fierros, a former Latina “Rosie”, told Noticias Telemundo Los Angeles. The story was also published in English by NBC Los Angeles.
“I told them that I had never touched a gun and they said, “That’s a riveter machine Mary!” “I didn’t know the difference.”
The U.S. government launched an initiative encouraging women to help the war effort by accepting jobs previously held by men during World War II. This program was made famous by “Rosie the Riveter,” a well-known female factory worker who is featured on many propaganda posters. The women were then known as Rosies.
Fierros, a San Jose resident, shared her experiences working for Douglas Aircraft.
Fierros, who was designated as a riveter and her partner, a buckle, placed rivets on plane wings. However, they were told not to communicate with their colleagues while working on the military mission.
Fierros stated that she didn’t know her partner’s name because she couldn’t tell me her country. “I knew she could not speak English because she would need to communicate with me when she needed it so that I could translate her words.”
Women living in Mexico at the time could also apply for the program. Francisca Miranda, a Tijuana resident, was granted special permission to enter the U.S. labor force.
Miranda said that when she was 18 years old, the station accepted all the papers and everything. She said that it was different when you didn’t speak English and when you enter the workforce without the language.
Miranda and Fierros were two of thousands of women who took over male workers at shipyards and factories while the men fought in the war. The Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Park in Richmond, California preserves their experiences.
Miranda’s daughter Alice Ann Virchis said that Miranda doesn’t understand the importance of women during wartime. “All across the country, there were Mexican women in all those factories.”
Although Latina Rosies made important progresses in human rights and race relations after they learned of their ethnicity, they were also subject to discrimination and segregation at work.
Despite being subject to prejudice and racism, Latina Rosies’ role is still cherished in history.
“What women did in that era is unforgettable because who was going make the planes?” Virchis explained to the station who was going make the tanks or the jeeps.
