Shortly after my interview with Dr. Carter, she passed at 98 years old.  Whether or not you’re a STEM enthusiast, I invite you to hear the remarkable story of a passionate woman who served her country well in the early days of WW II by working in a Birmingham B-29 aircraft factory.  She would later earn her doctorate in education and reflects on her lifelong journey ranging from growing up during the depression to her fiance proposing to her while he was serving in France during the war after landing in Normandy as a paratrooper.

Dr. Frances Carter is a real life Rosie the Riveter. In 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, Carter left her studies to become a teacher to work in a Birmingham B-29 refurbishing factory. Join The STEM Class Podcast host Anthony Arno, as he talks with Carter about not only her life as a Rosie the Riveter, but as an educator as well.

Highlights from the show include:

• Growing up during the Depression

• Remembering December 7, 1941

• Job responsibilities as a Rosie the Riveter

• Wearing pants and lipstick to work as a woman

• Opening up the STEM door for women in the workplace

• Meeting her husband, John Carter

• John proposes to Fran while serving in the US Army in France

• The American Rosie the Riveter Club

• Annual American Rosie the Riveter Conference. 

• A 4 year old Rosie the Riveter from 1941 

• Power Up promotes girls in construction careers

• Famous Rosie the Riveter posters

• Annual American Rosie the Riveter grant program for grades 6 – 12

• What todays generation can learn from the WW II generation

• Good advice for teachers today 

• Celebrity status as a Rosie the Riveter

• Website: American Rosie the Riveter Association

Link: American Rosie the Riveter Association