Saturday was a busy day for Oxford Elementary teacher Barbara Johnston.
Not only did she help shatter a Guinness World Record, she also discovered a bit local history.
And she did it all dressed as the 1940s cultural icon known as Rosie the Riveter.
Johnston was one of 2,096 women and girls from 16 states and Canada who filled Hangar One of the Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti Township to set a new world record for the ‘largest gathering of people dressed as Rosie the Riveter.?
‘A friend of mine found out about it and she asked me if I wanted to do it,? she said. ‘I thought it sounded like fun. I love history. I always have.?
Featured prominently in songs, artwork, propaganda posters and promotional films, the fictional Rosie the Riveter character represented and inspired American women working in factories during World War II.
While all the able-bodied men were off fighting on foreign soil to save the world from the evils of fascism, it fell to the hard-working women on the home front to fill the depleted industrial ranks and build the endless supply of tanks, ships and planes needed to win the war.
‘A lot of people when they think of World War II, they think of the service members and they forget about the people back home (who rationed consumer goods and kept the factories going),? Johnston said.
The world record event was organized by the Save the Willow Run Bomber Plant campaign. During WWII, the Willow Run plant is where more than 40,000 workers, many of them women, built more than 8,600 B-24 Liberator bombers.
The original Rosie record was set in March 2014 when 776 Rosie look-alikes gathered at Willow Run Airport.
That record was broken in August 2015 when 1,084 Rosies met in California.
Now, the record is back where many feel it belongs.
‘It makes sense because Rosie the Riveter was from the (Willow Run) plant,? said Johnston, who’s lived in Oxford for 17 years and taught in the school district for 14 years.
Rose Will Monroe, who worked at Willow Run during WWII, is closely identified with Rosie the Riveter because she starred in a promotional film about the war effort at home.
To qualify as an official Rosie, Johnston, along with the other 2,095 ladies, had to wear a red bandanna with large white polka-dots; dark blue, long-sleeved coveralls or collared shirt and pants; red knee socks; and black or brown boots or work shoes. They also had to all stay in one place for at least 5 minutes.
While there, the participants were given the opportunity to represent real-life Rosies. Cards containing snippets of biographical information about various women who worked in factories all over the country during WWII were spread face down on tables.
‘I just closed my eyes, waved my hand over the table, put it down and picked one,? Johnston said. ‘I flipped it over and I was astounded to see it was someone from Oxford (Michigan) of all places. It just kind of spooked me. What are the chances of that (happening)??
‘The people I was with were flabbergasted,? she added. ‘They had (selected women from) Missouri and Oregon, and here I flip (a card) over and it says Oxford . . . My friends thought I should play the lottery.?
The Oxford Rosie’s name was Melba F. Dempsey Powers.
On the card, Powers told her story ? ‘I applied and was hired at the GMC Truck and Coach in Pontiac, Michigan. My job was to assemble carburetors which were to be installed on semi-trucks for the troops. Yes, it was difficult to work and raise three small children and also work on our farm. My employer chose me to sell the war bonds to fellow employees. This was an honor and personal achievement and my own contribution to our country to win the war.?
Johnston is planning to visit the Northeast Oakland Historical Museum in downtown Oxford to see if she can learn more about Powers.
‘I wonder if any of her family still lives in Oxford,? she said. ‘Maybe if they see it in the paper, they’ll write in.?