Five months after suffering a stroke, resilient National Park Services (NPS) ranger, author, and civil rights activist Betty Reid Soskin is set to return to work at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, although in a more limited capacity than before her illness.
Soskin, 98, announced today on Facebook that, “if all goes well,” she’ll be working at the historic park she helped to establish “every Wednesday into the future.” Here’s the post she shared that received hundreds of positive reactions on Facebook within its first hour.
Community members responded in droves to congratulate Soskin in her recovery and welcome her back.
Soskin is nationally known for her sage and engaging historical tours of Rosie the Riveter park. She’s the author of the acclaimed Sign My Name To Freedom, which chronicles her eclectic experiences as a young worker in a WWII-segregated union hall, a singer, activist, mother, legislative representative, and park planner. And a new documentary about her, No Time to Waste, premiered last year and is set to play on Feb. 2 at the San Rafael Film Center, and on Feb. 22 at the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco.
Her wisdom routinely displays in social media and in interviews, including one which she did with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
“The knowledge that I’m doing the best work of my life at a time when the precesses of time, life and truth are most meaningful, every moment of every day, it was waiting for me to claim it, and claim it I have,” Soskin said. “I’m just hoping it’s not too late to allow me to leave tracks.”
For updates, visit www.rosietheriveter.org.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3n6RFxCw80&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1a4ubBAgktQqCqRH3eNy5Ebv2n69BAsztwE7nX72Y28wQsLpuTuKsZwbg
