Rosie
the Riveter
By
Connie
Palacioz
 I was a senior at
Newton
High School
and I would work after school at a laundry pressing Navy uniforms for
the
Hutchinson
Naval Base. I was making
$.25 per hour. One day in
April of 1943, I heard on the radio that Boeing needed help for the war
effort. Boeing was hiring
people to work on airplanes. They
were training people and paying $.50 per hour.
Once you worked your way to the plant, you would earn $.75 per
hour. I was due to graduate
in May 1943 so I went to the employment office and they gave me the
information. When I
graduated from high school, I went to
Wichita
from
Newton
to apply. I was hired
immediately. I told them I
would be back as I had to give notice to the laundry where I was a full
time employee. I quit my job
and went to work for Boeing.
Since
I had a brother, finance, and my uncle serving in the Navy, overseas, I
wanted to do my duty to help with the war effort.
Newton
had a bus that took employees from
Newton
to Boeing. This bus was also
taking people that were being trained.
I was very lucky that the bus pickup was only three houses from
where I lived. I would walk
there every morning to catch the bus to go to
Wichita
. The bus had several stops
in
Newton
to pick up employees.
In
Wichita
, the bus would drop off the trainees at the Orpheum Theatre and we
would walk to a building that was on
Waco Street, north
of the Broadview Hotel. I
was told on the first day that they needed riveters so I said that was
okay with me. I was at the
school for two weeks when my instructor told me: “Connie, you are
doing very good in riveting so I am sending you to the plant.
My first day at the plant was very disappointing.
Some of the male employees teased me and said things that made me
turn red. These males were
not drafted to go to war for some reason or other, but they worked hard.
On that first day, all I did was pick up trash and I would get
rivets for the workers that needed them.
On
my second day, a gentleman by the name of Pete Arteaga came to me and
said, “I am going to be your lead man.
I was told you are a riveter and we can sure use you in
Dept.
330
. The only thing is that we
need a bucker for you and we only have a black girl named, Jerry, but no
one is willing to work with her because she is black.”
I told him: “I’ll work with her as I am Mexican-American and
these guys have been teasing me and I want to get out of here.”
I met Jerry and we were assigned to the first B-29 that was being
built in
Wichita
. We were assigned to the
pilot section. Jerry and I
became a team and we were known as the best riveter and bucker of
Dept
330
. We were soon making $1.
per hour, which was the highest pay at that time?
Jerry and I worked together for two and one-half years.
The fellow employees that teased me became my very best friends
and helped me when I couldn’t get my ladder to the top of the nose
section. I still remember
the day we built the 1,000th B-29.
We celebrated and we put $1 bills on the plane.
I was only 18 at that time and we were laid off at the end of
World War II in 1945.
I
am now 81 years old and when I heard that they were restoring DOC, I
wanted
to volunteer. I am proud to
be helping with the restoration of DOC.
I am one of the original “Rosie the Riveters” of the DOC nose
sections. I came to
volunteer in August 2000 and I am still volunteering.
I am enjoying every minute of my time, especially spending time
with all my B-29 volunteer friends and treasuring the friendships that I
have made.
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