"We can do it!" Rosie the Riveter poster from World War Two
“We can do it!” Rosie the Riveter poster from World War Two

For Family and Country:  “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter” by Patrick Harrigan

From June,1942 until war’s end, my mother Roseann Harrigan riveted bomber wings by day in Detroit and danced the Lindy Hop to the extreme to bands like Benny Goodman’s on weekends at the Grande Ballroom.

Growing up, I never heard my mother’s full story until the Covid lockdown when we both had lots of time to talk about the old days before and after I came along in 1950.

The best part? It is that my mother Rosie at 99 is still alive and well in Michigan while I do old-time dance down here in sunny Gainesville, Florida for the past ten years — without ever having known of my mother’s own history of dance — most especially the Lindy Hop!

In fact, I read this out to Mom slowly over the phone just yesterday — and she approves and affirms that everything in it is true. So this is the authorized account of Rosie Johnson during World War Two.

Rosie threw herself into whatever she did. And she did it for family and country.

For the full authorized account of Rose Ann Johnson during wartime, follow the link to visit the newly documented, published and illustrated “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter” by Patrick Harrigan. This is where it all began…

Mom was a Swing Dancer

Patrick Harrigan

An avid contra dancer, Patrick Harrigan is also a photographer, editor, and website publisher.