Making Herstory: Meet Helen, a 90-Year-Old Rosie the Riveter

On June 7, 2016, after the California primary polls closed, Hillary Clinton became the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, and this week the first female presidential candidate of a major party in the United States. Hillary is on her way to breaking the ultimate glass ceiling, and today girls live in a world where a woman can be president. But if you travel back in time to California, let’s say to 1943, opportunities for women were limited. In fact, they were quite rare — and a woman running for president would have seemed impossible. That’s the life Helen Bjerum remembers living.

At age 90, Helen is a former Rosie the Riveter, a Democrat, a decades-long fighter for women’s rights, a resident of Florida and a proud supporter of Hillary Clinton.

Originally from Tennessee, Helen’s family picked up their belongings when she was 17 years old and moved west to the Golden State the day after World War II was declared. As Helen remembers it, in those days it was like moving to the other side of the world. When her father and two brothers left home to serve in the armed forces, Helen and her mother, a homemaker, earned their living working in a war plant making parts for B-17 and B-29 bombers. Helen became a Rosie the Riveter, a symbol for the tens of thousands of women doing their part in the war effort, and one that now represents a sea change for women in the workplace.

But lasting change wouldn’t come so easily. When the war was over, women were let go from these factories so that men returning to civilian life could have employment, and women were returned to “their rightful place,” in the home. It was decades before women could find the kind of work that would lead to a meaningful career.

When Helen was young, woman lived under stringent social standards. Husbands and fathers usually decided where and how families lived. Women couldn’t get credit in their own name, so they couldn’t get mortgages to buy property. They didn’t have reliable access to reproductive health care, and had no access to birth control. Divorce was rare for women and considered by many to be shameful. Simply put, women were expected to live within a strict code of societal expectations which limited their lives in ways unacceptable to most of us today.

“I hope today’s women will learn how far we’ve come, will realize that today’s freedom and opportunities for women at home and in the workplace haven’t always been available, and will join the work of continuing that progress for coming generations,” says Helen with gusto and pride. She believes we need to remember that women fought for generations for the right to vote — and had won it a mere 23 years before, when in 1943, at age 17 she was trying to earn a living by working in a war plant.

For women like Helen, pioneers for women in the workplace, supporting Hillary Clinton for president is a natural and necessary step for continuing our struggle for equality and the strengthening of families. For Helen, it’s important to have a female president simply to represent a full half of the population which hasn’t been represented before — certainly not in the West Wing.

For years, Helen has supported Hillary Clinton because of her intellect, work ethic, and lifelong dedication to public service.

Helen also stands with Hillary because a Clinton presidency represents the most promising future, just as Rosie the Riveter has come to represent the freedom to do and be anything — even the President of the United States.

This November Helen will help elect Hillary Clinton as the first female president of this country. Will you join her? Add your name now and let’s build on the progress: http://hrc.io/2aevbnC