Photo by Erin Nelson.
Frances Carter, 97, founder of the American Rosie the Riveter Association, sits in her living room, dressed in the Rosie uniform worn during World War II, at her home in Homewood on Sept. 9.
Rosie the Riveter was an American icon during World War II. But to Frances Carter, being a Rosie was her American duty.
Carter is a 97-year old Homewood resident who during WWII worked to aid in the production of war supplies while the men fought overseas in Europe and Asia. Carter worked in Birmingham during the war fixing B-29 bomber aircrafts at the Bechtel-McCone-Parsons Airplane Modification Center.
Carter said being a Rosie was about doing her part in the war.
“We opened the door for women to work in almost any kind of profession,” Carter said. “That was one thing we didn’t know we were doing. We weren’t fighting for our rights. We were just trying to get the war over. We were just doing what we could to help out.”
Carter said any woman who worked during WWII while the men went off to war overseas was considered a Rosie the Riveter. Their jobs spanned from working on aircrafts and maintaining gardens to gathering supplies for the troops.
Carter grew up in Mississippi and then moved to Birmingham to work during the war. She did not come to Birmingham until 1943. Before that, she said she attended Blue Mountain Community College from 1940-42.
Carter was a school teacher before and after her service during WWII. Carter said many male teachers were called into war, pushing women into the role of educators. Carter was given a defense certificate to teach reading and literature.
After many of her teaching counterparts were called to action, Carter decided she could do more for her country. That prompted her to move to Birmingham and start working on aircraft modifications. Carter also volunteered with the United Service Organization by delivering food to the troops in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Carter eventually became a professor at Samford University and is now a professor emeritus at the school. She has continued to spread her knowledge and expertise of Rosie the Riveter.
The number of women who worked during WWII is not known, but Carter said there had to be at least 10 to 12 million female workers in the United States. Carter said almost anyone will know someone who is classified as a Rosie the Riveter.
A children’s book titled “R is for Rosie the Riveter,” left, written by Frances Carter, and “Free-Falling for Freedom,” written by Carter’s late husband John, are displayed at Carter’s Homewood home. The American Rosie the Riveter Association is working on book number seven.
“We’re more than a group,” Carter said. “We don’t know how many Rosies there were during the war. We have to go back and, when we see a young person, we tell them to go back and find out who was living during World War II and see what your mom and grandmother did.”
Carter continued to carry on the Rosie legacy after her service in WWII. She and her late husband, John Carter, started the American Rosie the Riveter Association in 1998 to keep up with the Rosies that worked in WWII and to educate people about them. Frances Carter serves as executive director of the organization.
Carter and her husband also went on speaking tours, where they talked about WWII, showed off their books and even dressed up, with John wearing his original paratrooper suit and Frances sporting the classic Rosie the Riveter look.
The Carters’ program was called Rosie and Her Paratrooper, and it went to many different states. Carter said there were around 400 programs that she and John conducted. They talked to senior citizen groups, community groups, chamber of commerce meetings and schools. Carter and her daughter, Nell Branum, still go and speak to groups about Rosie the Riveter.
Aside from the speaking programs that Carter and Branum do, the duo has started to produce books about stories from the Rosies during WWII, children’s books and a collection of war stories from John Carter. Branum said the American Rosie the Riveter Association has compiled stories for six books. The stories are from all over the country, with nearly 30 states contributing to the books.
Carter said she had plans for the books before the duo even started working on them.
“We told them the first 100 stories we get, we will publish a book,” Carter said.
Some of the books that have been published are “Rosie the Riveter Stories: The Legacy Lives On!,” “103 Rosie the Riveter Stories” and a children’s book called “Manners For Me.”
Frances Carter eventually became a professor at Samford University and is now a professor emeritus at the school as Dr. Frances Tunnell Carter. She hascontinued to spread her knowledge and expertise of Rosie the Riveter.
John Carter suffered a stroke in 2013, but in the time after his stroke, he compiled his stories into a book. Branum said her father put his stories together for a meeting in Washington D.C. Branum combined the stories into a book.
John Carter, who passed away in 2014, fought in the invasion of southern France and the Battle of the Bulge. Frances Carter said her husband had shrapnel in his neck when he came home that he did not know about until after the war.
In honor of her husband, Frances Carter founded the John T. Carter Agricultural College, which opened this fall in the African nation of Liberia. There are currently 16 students and two professors there.
The American Rosie the Riveter Association is working on book number seven. As of now, Branum and Carter are working on a book detailing Carter’s stories, her time as a Rosie the Riveter in WWII and more.
Carter said it meant everything to her to be a Rosie during her lifetime.
“We found we could do things we didn’t know we could do,” Carter said. “It changed our life completely.”
