Geraldine Doyle - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Geraldine Hoff Doyle was the real-life model

Model (person)

A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

for the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

era "We Can Do It" posters, an embodiment of the iconic World War II character Rosie the Riveter

Rosie the Riveter

Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States, representing the American women who worked in factories during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies. These women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing the male workers who were in the military...

.

Geraldine Hoff was born in Inkster, Michigan

Inkster, Michigan

Inkster is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2010 census, the city population was 25,369. It is one of several suburbs in Metro Detroit whose population is majority or plurality African American.- History :...

. Her father Cornelious was an electrical contractor

Electrician

An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...

who died of pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

when she was 10 years old. Her mother, Augusta, was a composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

stricken with scoliosis

Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an X-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line...

. After graduating from high school in Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

, in 1942 Geraldine found work as a metal presser in the American Broach & Machine Co. of Ann Arbor, Michigan. (As men started enlisting and being drafted into military service for World War II, women began to support the war effort by taking on roles, including factory work, that were formerly considered "male only.")

Because she was a cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

player, Geraldine feared a hand injury from the metal pressing machines and soon left the factory. During the brief time she worked there a United Press International

United Press International

United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...

photographer took a picture of her. That image -- re-imagined by graphic artist J. Howard Miller

J. Howard Miller

J. Howard Miller was an American graphic artist. He painted posters during World War II in support of the war effort, among them the famous We Can Do It! poster, frequently misidentified as Rosie the Riveter.-Painting the poster:...

while working for the Westinghouse Company's

Westinghouse Electric Company

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...

War Production Coordinating Committee -- became the basis for the poster Miller created during a Westinghouse anti-absenteeism and anti-strike campaign.

Soon after quitting work as a metal presser, Geraldine Hoff met and married dentist Leo Doyle, to whom she remained married until his death in early 2010.

Because the "We Can Do It" poster was created for an internal Westinghouse project, it did not become widely known until the 1980s, when it began to be used by advocates of women's equality in the workplace.

Doyle didn't know she was the model for "We Can Do It" until 1984, when she came across an article in Modern Maturity
AARP The Magazine
AARP The Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine published by AARP, which focuses on aging issues. Established in 1958, it was known until 2002 as Modern Maturity. The editor is Nancy Perry Graham ; the managing editor is John Stoltenberg...

magazine which linked a photo of her to the poster, which she hadn’t seen before.

The Rosie the Riveter character, based on Doyle and other World War II-era women who worked in factories to support the war effort, remains an icon and appeared on a 1992 postage stamp as part of a World War II series produced by the U.S. Postal Service.

Geraldine Hoff Doyle died on December 26, 2010 in Lansing, Michigan

Lansing, Michigan

Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

, due to complications from arthritis

Arthritis

Arthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....

, aged 86. She is survived by her 5 children, 18 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

External links

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