Richmond highlight
Historic Rosie the Riveter / WWII home-front history
The Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, established in 2000, honors the civilian workers who built 747 ships in Richmond's Kaiser shipyards during World War II.
During World War II, Richmond transformed into one of the nation's critical industrial centers. The Kaiser Company built four shipyards along the Richmond waterfront, where workers—many of them women taking on industrial roles for the first time—constructed 747 Victory-class and Liberty-class cargo ships, more than any other shipyard in the United States. The workforce swelled from 23,000 residents in 1940 to approximately 120,000 by 1945, drawn by steady work and patriotic duty.
The Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park was officially designated on October 25, 2000, and is operated by the National Park Service. The park spans over 20 historic sites throughout Richmond, including a Visitor Education Center on the waterfront with exhibits about how American civilians mobilized for the war, and the SS Red Oak Victory, a Victory-class ship built at Permanente Metals Richmond shipyard in 1944 and now preserved as a museum ship. Visitors walk the same ground where shipyard workers shaped the course of a global conflict.
The legacy of that era shapes how Richmond families think about security and planning. Wartime workers understood that their effort had consequences for people far away; today's households face a similar calculus about income and dependents. A life insurance policy sized to cover mortgage, children's needs and years of lost income is how a family honors that same sense of obligation.