Rosies of the North

Kelly Saxberg,
1999,
46 min 40 s

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Synopsis
Education

They raised children, baked cakes... and built world-class fighter planes. Sixty years ago, thousands of women from Thunder Bay and the Prairies donned trousers, packed lunch pails and took up rivet guns to participate in the greatest industrial war effort in Canadian history. Like many other factories across the country from 1939 to 1945, the shop floor at Fort William's Canadian Car and Foundry was transformed from an all-male workforce to one with forty percent female workers.

Grade 7 - 12

Social Studies / Social History

Ethics and Religious Culture / Ethical Values

History / World War II

Educational purpose:

This documentary traces the vital role played by Canadian women in the war effort , as they began replacing the men at war, in the building of the world's much-needed fighter planes. Several of the women who built the "Hurricanes" are interviewed and provide insight into their work at Canadian Car at Fort William, Ontario. The first female engineer and designer, Elsie MacGill, is included as a pioneer in aviation design.