Episode 441 - “We Can Do It!” Who Was the Real Woman Behind “Rosie the Riveter?”

Extreme Genes

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. The guys begin the show with a couple of amazing discoveries they each made in the past week. For Fisher, it was the secret marriage of his uncle in 1927, ten months before the couple publicly married, with no one any the wiser! For David, it was the employment records of his great grandfather in England which led him to the ancestor’s date of departure for North America. The two have a few other juicy details. David then reveals that many family history icons are moving to a new social media platform called Mastedon. Next, hear some good news for another great search source… WorldCat.org. They’re now funneling many family history sources, such as libraries and research centers, into their one searchable database. Did you ever think that the way we cook today may have been through methods passed down by our Neanderthal ancestors? One study says YES! And finally, DNA is showing the stress our grandparents and great grandparents experienced during the Depression. Those born between 1929 and 1939 show evidence of their parents’ stress in their cells today. David explains.

Next, Fisher begins his two part interview with Professor Jim Kimble of Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Jim spent five years analyzing the iconic “We Can Do It!” World War 2 poster, whose flexing factory working woman has traditionally been called “Rosie the Riveter.” Jim will tell you two things about the poster, that we all thought we knew, that are wrong! Then hear how Jim was able, after incredible effort, to identify the woman whose face we all know, and disprove the identity of another woman who was long believed to have been the model.

David then returns for Ask Us Anything, answering your questions.

That’s all this week on Extreme Genes, America’s Family History Show!