Rosie the Riveter Oral History Project

The Regional Oral History Office at the University of California, Berkeley

In collaboration with the City of Richmond and the National Park Service, the Regional Oral History Office is interviewing residents of the Bay Area about their wartime experiences during World War II. We are uncovering how and why people from different backgrounds came to the Bay Area, what they did when they arrived, and what they learned from the fluidity and flux of wartime life that affected decisions they made after the war ended. We are interested in a broad range of topics: What did women learn about the relationships between work and family life? How did attitudes change toward education? How did war affect race relations and reshape civil rights struggles? Did new ideas about sexuality take root, and if so, why and where? What happened to entertainment? To what degree did religious organizations provide people with a new sense of community? Interviews collected are used in the National Park Service's visitor center at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Homefront National Historic Park and the Richmond Central Library in Richmond, California. Participating narrators with transcripts are listed below.