Historical Society to Host Home Front Hero of WWII Presentation
The Muncy Historical Society’s event on Sunday, September 21, at 7 p.m. will be held in the Muncy High School auditorium. The event will begin with the Vintage Gatherers Quilters presenting comforting quilts to veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam Era, and the War on Terrorism. The Society partners with the Vintage Gatherers Quilters, who, together, have become a group under the auspices of the Quilts of Valor Foundation®. The Quilt of Valor effort involves local quilters who provide quilts to honor veterans and service members who have been touched by war with comforting and healing quilts.
Modecraft, a beauty parlor furniture manufacturer in Muncy, shifted its industry to supply life rafts for US Navy ships serving in the Pacific Theater.
Quilts of Valor began in 2003 and has evolved to include giving quilts to all veterans touched by war – those who served in various times, wars, and conflicts. Eligible individuals include active-duty National Guard and Reserve members of the US armed forces, as well as living veterans of the armed forces who served during declared wars, conflicts, peacekeeping missions, and counter-terrorism operations. This would include, but not necessarily be limited to, veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Beirut, Grenada, Bosnia, Desert Storm, Desert Shield, Iraq, Afghanistan, anti-terrorism operations, and terrorism attacks against armed forces personnel.
Pat Jordan of Heritage Theatre Guild’s Famous American Women Programs will portray Rosie the Riveter: Home Front Hero of WWII.
Immediately following the quilt presentation, Pat Jordan will perform her dramatic portrayal of Rosie the Riveter, homefront hero of World War II. During World War II, millions of men enlisted in the armed services, creating a labor shortage. To meet the demand for labor, millions of people who were not working at the time, including retired people, students, and women, entered the workforce. Factories were retooled to produce military goods instead of consumer products. For instance, Modecraft, Muncy’s beauty parlor furniture manufacturer, began making life rafts for US Navy ships serving in the Pacific Theater, and the Brewer Brothers’ car dealership was converted into a wire rope facility.
Pat Jordan’s Rosie the Riveter: Home Front Hero of WWII is an entertaining and highly researched one-woman play about the multitude of ‘Rosies’ who worked on the home front during the Second World War.
This story, performed by Pat Jordan of Heritage Theatre Guild’s Famous American Women Programs, represents not only riveters but also engaging examples of the incredible variety of ways women contributed to the war effort, from riveters and welders to pin-up girls, codebreakers, and much in between. Along with the women, mention should be made of the contributions made by wartime industries, where these women took on the jobs left behind by the soldiers of WWII during the war years, from December 7, 1941, through September 2, 1945, the war’s official end.
Join us on Sunday, September 21, to honor our Nation’s veterans and to meet Rosie, a gal from small-town Pennsylvania who will introduce you to her compatriots whose loyalty and dedication have led to the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to those intrepid homefront heroes!
The Society’s meetings and events are always open to the public. Call (570) 546-5917 for more information or visit the website www.MuncyHistoricalSociety.org.
