The Model For ‘Rosie The Riveter’ Dies At Age 92 [Photos]

Mary Doyle Keefe, the woman who became Norman Rockwell’s Rosie The Riveter– the sandwich-eating, machine-carrying powerful woman who became the symbol of American working women while men served during World War Two, has passed away. She was 92.

Keefe died Tuesday in Connecticut after what her daughter called a brief illness. Keefe was just 19-years-old when she met Rockwell. She was working as a telephone operator and was paid ten bucks to pose for Rockwell’s painting, which showed her with her sleeves rolled up, a rivet gun on her lap, and eating a sandwich during a break.

The image ran on the Saturday Evening Post in May 1943, and was later used to sell war bonds. Keefe wasn’t big and muscular as Rockwell portrayed her in the painting. He actually apologized to her for the portrayal, saying he needed to make her “sort of a giant.”

The image was later changed to a streamlined woman flexing her bicep and became part of the nationwide campaign to raise money for the war effort via war bonds. Later, the image became a symbol of empowered women.

The original remains the more interesting version. Rockwell used a woman who resembled the average American, but still gave her a grace, beauty and charm that is undeniable. Thank you, Mary, for becoming such a wonderful slice of Americana.