A Fine Literary Testament to the ‘Rosies’ That Kept Detroit Running During World War II

‘The Shipyard Agent: Augusta Clawson and the Women Welders of World War II’By Beverly Lionberger HodginsLyons Press, 246 pages‘Daughters of Daring’By Chris EnssLyons Press, 264 pagesSometime in 1958, my mother took me to the official closing of the Packard Motor Company Plant, a 3.5-million-square-foot complex designed by the famous architect Albert Kahn. I was only ten and hardly understood why this visit was important to her. There we met a man who treated my mother as an important person. Eventually I realized he had been her foreman, and that she been one of the so-called “Rosies” that helped to make Detroit the arsenal of democracy during World War II.This long buried memory revived as I read about Augusta Clawson, special agent for the U. S. Office of Education, who worked under cover for six weeks as a welder in Henry Kaiser’s shipyard complex in Portland, Oregon. She was there to understand why it was that women doing the jobs of men off at war had both high productivity rates that won awards and yet were dropping out of the work force in alarming numbers.In the Oregon Historical Research Library, Beverly Lionberger Hodgins saw a photograph of her grandaunt in a welder’s outfit. This was news to Ms. Hodgins that led her to discovering the extraordinary life of Augusta Clawson, who figured out what was troubling those women leaving the work force. The problem, in the main, was poor training and work conditions.Henry Kaiser’s shipyard, where she worked, welcomed women but some of their male co-workers doubted they could do the heavy work, including climbing high to weld on twelve hour shifts that demanded stamina in poorly ventilated factories that exposed employees to toxic chemicals. An expert in putting together training manuals, Clausen showed, step by step, how within a matter of weeks well trained women mastered the toughest jobs that often led to increased rates of employee retention. Her investigation resulted in a book, “Shipyard Diary of a Woman Welder.”After the war, Clawson, a hands-on labor expert authored several journal publications about vocational training and continued to work in both the government and the private sector. She never minimized the daunting tasks women had to master, but all her work was devoted to show how they could be made fit for service.Ms. Hodgins portrays a vivid personality who caught the attention of poet Carl Sandburg at an event Clawson helped to organize in Elizabeth, New Jersey. When she offered to drive him to his next event in New York City, he accepted with the proviso that she should not be offended if he remained silent during the trip. Well, with the spirited Clawson, he could not help himself and talked all the way.Then, Clawson recalled, Sandburg suggested they go to a “red and white-checked tablecloth place on Canal Street”:“In the middle of the conversation he stopped dead, looked at me with a twinkle, and said, “I have to.” I said, “Then do.” He said, “I can’t do it alone.” I said, “Then don’t do it alone.” He stood up. The familiar shock of white hair hung down to his eyes. He said, “I have to waltz.” So, we joined the gay group of dancers, and I waltzed with Carl Sandburg.By the time they arrived at his hotel, it was after 2 a.m. Sandburg saluted her: “Goddess of youth and laughter, I thank you. Goodnight.”What such episodes show is just how much fun Augusta Clawson, called Gus by her fellow workers, could be. She seemed able to fit into any community. Ms. Hodgins’s deftly documented book provides plenty of evidence of just how happily she was received.‘Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women’ by Chris Enns. Lyons PressSo far as I know, neither Augusta Clawson nor my mother did stunts on horses — although I have to do more research — still they had much in common with the cowgirls of early Hollywood, who are now no longer forgotten because of Chris Enss’s lively group biography of women stunt riders. They inspired stars like Barbara Stanwyck and Dale Evans who learned how to act with the same breakneck speed that drove the Rosies to achieve their award winning production achievements in World War II.Mr. Rollyson, a native Detroiter, is working on a book about his time in the city and the parallel lives of two families, white and black, from the 1920s to the 1970s.

A Fine Literary Testament to the ‘Rosies’ That Kept Detroit Running During World War II

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