January 18, 2009

Bertha Belle The Riveter


A few days ago, I stumbled upon these amazing WWII era photographs from the Library of Congress' photostream on Flickr. I instantly though of my great grandmother, Bertha Belle, who worked at a foundry here during the war, building planes. In her downtime at the foundry, she crafted beautiful silver and turquoise jewelry. This was a couple of years before she built the little house I grew up in, almost single-handedly, wiring the electrical systems herself, with automotive wiring. She was a tough broad, and far ahead of her time, having been married and divorced several times in the 1940s and 50s, when such behavior was unheard of. Unfortunately, she left this world by her own hand, years before I entered it.







Grandma Bertha Belle, I wish I could have known you.

7 comments:

Autumn said...

Isn't it awesome that these are out there? Also, try shorpy.com for Life magazine and various other contributer pre-1960 photos.

Eartha Kitsch said...

She sounds incredible. I think you got some of her spunk and industriousness though so maybe...no absolutely...she lives through you.

Holly Hall said...

And her ability to cuss like a sailor. So I hear. :)

Heather said...

Wow, these photos are amazing. Can you believe all they did, and with such beautiful hair?
Your granny sounds like she was an amazing lady, she had skills!
Also-- saw your crafter profile on deluxe's website! Congrats!~

{Tara} said...

Awww...this post brought tears to my eyes. My grandmother, Juanita, was also a riveter. She lost 3 husbands to the war!! Luckily the 4th one made it through (my grandfather). She never gave up -- She was also a tough broad. Great photos!!

Pony and Foxy said...

Those are great photos. The ladies look amazing, of course. But what really got me was the colors. Great stuff.

Holly Abston said...

These are amazing photographs. Your grandmother sounds amazing too.