World War II was a vital time not only for the United States, but for the world. And when the hard-fought victory was won, it wasn’t by soldiers alone.

While men were called into combat in Europe and the Pacific, thousands of women in America took up jobs in the workplace that were formerly dominated by men. Their endeavors were poured into building and maintaining machinery for the war effort, as well as farming, law enforcement, public transportation jobs and many others.

Now, approximately 67 years after World War II officially ended, women workers are being remembered for their contributions. People like Kimberly resident Mabel Myrick work to make their stories live on long after they are gone.

“There was no list of women that worked like there was of men in the military,” said Myrick. “And so we don’t know who they are. We’re trying to locate as many as we can because we’re getting into our late 80s and 90s. We get their stories so that we can have an archives for people to draw from in the future.”

Myrick is the vice president of the American Rosie the Riveter Association (ARRA). In the 1940s she was among those women who took part in shaping American history.

ARRA is an organization dedicated to preserving the history of women who worked what was commonly referred to as men’s jobs during the war. It was founded by Dr. Fran Carter of Birmingham in June 1998 and has members from all across the nation.

ARRA is made up of former Rosies, who were workers during the war, and Rosebuds, who are descendants of the Rosies, as well as others such as Rivets who are male descendants or spouses of Rosies, and Twenty-First Century Rosies who are modern female workers. To date, there are more than 4,000 members.

“The ladies are so inspiring,” said Pam Belrose, who is Myrick’s daughter. “Because they came from a time that a lot of women didn’t work outside the home and then went out and worked when they were needed.”

As they association’s title implies, Rosie the Riveter is the mascot of ARRA. Her appearance in art and photography was popular during WWII and after, but she is generally remembered as the lady in the famous “We Can Do It!” poster that was introduced by artist Jay Howard Miller in 1942.

Since then the poster has continued to be a post WWII icon as well as a symbol for the efforts of women in the workplace.

“It represents the women that did the manual work,” said Myrick on what Rosie the Riveter means to her personally. “I was a secretary. I worked long hours in the Pentagon transcribing dictation that I had taken that day. But still, it was not like the hard work those women did, lifting, welding and all the mechanical things they had to do. I respect them greatly for that.”

With as many members as it now has, ARRA is still looking for more members, especially in the Jefferson County area.

“We have some but not enough, and that’s why we want to get this out in this area,” Myrick said. “Most ladies don’t even know we exist.”

The association has compiled several books based on experiences of Rosies. One is a cook book in which Rosies provided recipes from the 1940s.

Myrick expects a new book about Rosies to be published at the end of the year.

“Anything they can do to capture that is great because their stories are being lost.” said Belrose. “If we lose these ladies, a lot of people won’t know what they did.”