Symbol of 'Rosie the Riveter' perseveres in Levittown's Mae Krier's empowerment crusade
In March, she was Bucks County’s woman of the year. In April, she received the Congressional Gold Medal. In June, she’ll be a V.I.P. at D-Day ceremonies in France. In July, she’ll be on national TV in the annual “A Capitol Fourth” celebration on PBS.
Bucks County is still abuzz over Levittown’s Mae Krier who turned 98 on March 21. I caught up with her again recently at her home just as a PBS crew was putting the wraps on its interview. Larger-than-life replicas of the gold medal and other memorabilia decorated the house.
As a 17-year-old teenager, Mae was among 5 million women who replaced men in factories during World War II to build ships, tanks, planes, and ammunition needed to win the war. Mae became a riveter at Boeing Aircraft in Seattle and came to symbolize “Rosie the Riveter” as women in the defense industry came to be called. After the war, they lost their jobs and their service faded from memory. Mae in the 1980s led an effort to change that. It culminated this year when Congress on April 10 honored Mae and other surviving “Rosies with its highest civilian award. She accepted the medal on behalf of all Rosies. It was then conveyed to the Smithsonian Institution for permanent exhibition.
A voice for women's empowerment: Bucks County's Rosie the Riveter: Mae Krier receives Congressional medal of honor April 10
In my most recent visit, I found Mae as indefatigable as ever amid klieg lights, a videographer, photographer and reporter from PBS. They were in town producing a documentary that will feature Mae and be shown at the concert in D.C. Mae and other surviving Rosies will be seated front and center at the event.
After the PBS crew departed, Mae stood beside giant mockups of the Congressional Gold Medal designed by her and the late Phyllis Gould, co-leader of the “Rosie” effort from Richmond, Calif. The whirlwind of recognition leaves Mae grateful and amazed. “I can hardly believe it,” she told me of the nation’s long overdue acknowledgment of what women accomplished in the war. She remains a strident voice for women’s rights and empowerment in her many speaking engagements.
One of her latest fans is Kathleen Meyer, an organizer of the celebration of Mae as Bucks woman of the year. “Mae is absolutely amazing,” Kathy told me. “The Doylestown event went extremely well. There were TV news spots about it. She has been visited by all kinds of press. One crew using a drone rode around her home in Dogwood in Mae’s red truck. You might have seen them and wondered....What? Then she drove the crew back to the Trenton train station to go back to NYC. She is something!”
Advocate for 80 years: Bucks County's Mae Krier, advocate for 'Rosie the Riveters', honored by Congress April 10
Gravity Hill for real?
Last July, I wrote of my attempt to experience “gravity hill” in Buckingham Township. According to “Weird U.S.”, you can drive to a specific location on Buckingham Mountain, put your car in neutral and it starts rolling uphill not down. Whoa!
Under the category “Racing with the Devil on Gravity Hill”, the authors of “Weird U.S.” describe our local reverse gravity this way: “On maps, this Gravity Hill is Buckingham Mountain near Mount Gilead African Methodist Episcopal Church. There, with a blatant disregard for the laws of nature and physics, things are said to roll uphill—cars, water, you name it. And dark legends say black magic and other evils are behind these amazing powers.”
The authors note Gravity Hill “is on the other side of the hill” from mountain-top Mount Gilead. Which other side? There are a variety of roads, some paved, some not, two with steep grades. The book claims the weirdness is “a half mile from the church.” I tried several roads at that distance. Each time my SUV rolled downhill not up in defiance of Newton’s Law. I didn’t notice any water pouring up the mountain.
My column caught Carole Cribb’s eye in Montgomery County. “Hello!” she began. “I went to Gravity Hill as long ago as 1970. It worked. Since then, my husband and I have taken several friends for the fun of it. Never failed. You must have been in the wrong place. Try again. Have a great day!”
Getting to bottom of silo mystery: Getting to the bottom of the mystery of Hilltop Silo in Buckingham
Sources include “Weird, U.S.” by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman found on the web at http://weirdus.com/states/pennsylvania/roadside_oddities/gravity_hill/
Carl LaVO can be reached at carllavo0@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County's Rosie the Riveter continues crusade for women's equality
