Truckey, Rose, 1992 May 13, Racine, Wisconsin:
Recorded interview and transcript available online.: Rose Truckey was born on December 29, 1924, in Racine, Wisconsin. She was one of three children born to parents who had immigrated to Wisconsin directly from Armenia. Mrs. Truckey's original name, Nazalie, was more traditionally Armenian than Rose, but her name was changed by an overzealous grade school teacher who could not spell or pronounce Nazalie. Her name has remained Rose ever since. Following grade school, she went on to St. Catherine's High School, a private Catholic school in Racine. Although she and her family were Armenian Orthodox, her mother admired the discipline of Catholic schools and wanted her daughter to have that experience. During World War II, Mrs. Truckey got a job at J. I. Case company in Racine, working on the production line that manufactured the doors that were fitted over airplane bomb bays. At the time, she worked as a riveter, which made her, in essence, the authentic “Rosie the Riveter.” While working at Case, she met her husband, who was on medical leave from the Army. They were married in June, 1944, and moved briefly to Rockford, Illinois, but she moved back to Racine when her husband was shipped back overseas. She had two children, one during the war and one just after the war was over. Following the war, she got a job in a Racine bank, and advanced as far as vice-president prior to her recent retirement. She continues to live in Racine and is the reigning Ms. Senior Wisconsin. She has also served on Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson's Committee on Aging.
: Rose Truckey discusses innumerable items of interest during her interview. She had many experiences during the war that make her story both unique and characteristic of women's experience at the time. She has a great deal to say about her job at J. I. Case, where she was a riveter. She is able to speak to her workplace experience in terms of her responsibilities, her relationships with other workers, the company's use of patriotism as a motivating tool, and her pride in helping America's wartime struggle. She also courted and was married during the war. This enables her to speak volumes on the social life of a young woman in Racine at this time. She mentions the things that she would do with her female as well as her male friends and how she and her friends would try to meet men. She also discusses the problems, both emotional and logistical, of trying to get married during the war. Later, she speaks of the experience of having a child during World War II. In another vein, she relates how her life was unique as a woman with strong Armenian heritage. There was a small but close Armenian community in Racine at the time, and Mrs. Truckey's interview is rich with her description of her cultural background. Other topics that she discusses include her feelings on the war in general, and her opinions on the declining state of patriotism in our country, the role of the Armenian Orthodox Church and later the Catholic Church, in her life, the economic ramifications of her work during and after the war, her place in the vanguard of working women, and her feelings on the role of the war in advancing the place of women in American society.
