We Can Do It!

J. Howard Miller Poster “We Can Do It!”

" We Can Do It! "(" We can do it! ") Is an American propaganda poster from the Second World War , created in 1943 by J. Howard Miller for Westinghouse Electric and is designed to enhance the morale of workers. It was believed that the poster was based on a black and white photograph of a Michigan worker named Geraldine Doyle . However, in 2015 it turned out that the prototype of the poster was 20-year-old Naomi Parker ^[1] .

During the war, the poster was distributed very little, but in the early 1980s it was rediscovered and widely reproduced in many forms, often under the name “We Can Do It!”, But also under the name “ Rosie the Riveter ” based on the cult figure of a strong worker military production. Since the 1980s, the image “We Can Do It!” Has been used in feminism and other political movements ^[2] . In 1994, the image hit the cover of the Smithsonian Institution magazine and in 1999 appeared on a US postage stamp . In 2008, the poster was used in campaign materials by some American politicians and in 2010 was redesigned by the artist in honor of the first woman to become Australian Prime Minister . The poster is one of the ten most sought after images in the National Archives and Records Administration ^[2] .

Initially, the image was used only inside Westinghouse, it was posted in February 1943 and was not intended for the recruitment of female workers, but in order to urge already employed women to work hard ^[3] .

History

For a long time, it was mistakenly believed that the factory worker Geraldine Doyle from Michigan , who worked at the plant for only a few weeks, was used as a model for creating the image ^[4] . Finally, the image of Rosie was formed by the famous artist Norman Rockwell . His drawing first appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 29, 1943 (in 2002, this issue was auctioned for $ 5 million).

On December 26, 2010, Geraldine Doyle died at the age of 86 in Lansing , Michigan. The model of the famous poster denied that she and the poster with her image became the prototype for the song “Rosie the Riveter”, which really had nothing to do with it. However, in the mass consciousness, these two images merged into a single one and the poster “We Can Do It!” Became known as “Rosie the Riveter”. ^[5] .

January 23, 2018, at the age of 96, the American Naomi Parker Freilly died, who became the prototype of the poster “We Can Do It!” ^[6] .

Notes