Rosie the Riveter
A 1943 Saturday Evening Post cover painting by Norman Rockwell depicts a muscular woman factory worker eating lunch with a rivet gun on her lap.
Norman Rockwell: An American illustrator known for paintings of everyday life and covers for the Saturday Evening Post. Rockwell painted this image for the magazine’s May 29, 1943 cover.
Riveting: A method of fastening materials by inserting a metal pin whose end is deformed to hold pieces together. The rivet gun on the worker’s lap identifies her industrial task.
Women in the United States during World War II: Women who entered military, industrial, agricultural, and other roles in the United States during World War II. The painting became an enduring image of women’s wartime industrial labor.
Rosie the Riveter (painting): Norman Rockwell’s 1943 painting of a muscular woman worker eating lunch with a rivet gun on her lap. This is the specific work meant by the concept, rather than the later poster association.
Saturday Evening Post: An American magazine founded in 1821, known for fiction, commentary, and illustrated covers. Its cover brought Rockwell’s worker portrait to a national audience.
Rivet gun: A tool that drives rivets through joined materials, commonly used in metal fabrication and aircraft assembly. Rockwell places the tool prominently across the figure’s lap.
Women in the workforce: The participation of women in paid employment across economic sectors. The painting’s later legacy is tied to debates about women’s work and opportunity.
Rosie the Riveter (1943 Saturday Evening Post cover): The May 29, 1943 Saturday Evening Post cover featuring Norman Rockwell’s Rosie painting. The cover was the painting’s original public presentation.
World War II: A global conflict fought from 1939 to 1945 between the Allied and Axis powers. The painting appeared amid wartime mobilization of American industry.
Isaiah 11:12: A biblical verse describing God gathering the dispersed people of Israel from the earth’s four corners. The verse appears on the badge attached to the worker’s lunch pail.