A real-life Rosie the Riveter, Jennifer McMullen, turns 100

For most Americans, Rosie the Riveter, the arm-flexing female factory worker in a World War II wartime poster, is a symbol of American strength and resiliency during one of history’s darkest periods.

But for Jennifer McMullen, a Los Angeles resident who this week turned 100 years old, the feminist icon is more than a historical artifact — it’s an emblem of her life story. 

McMullen was a factory worker during WWII at Lockheed Aircraft, predecessor to defense and aviation giant Lockheed Martin, in Burbank, California. That made her one of the roughly 5 million women recruited by U.S. defense manufacturers to fill factory jobs amid a shortage of workers while men were going war. 

The “Rosies,” as the women serving on the production lines were called, played a pivotal role in building tanks, ships, planes and other materiel essential to the war effort. Their impact on American society was perhaps even larger, advancing cultural acceptance of women in the workforce at a time that females holding a job was associated with being poor, according to the National Archives.

Among family and friends at her birthday celebration on October 20 at the Oakmont of Whittier assisted-living facility in Whittier, California, where she resides, McMullen shared her thoughts with CBS News Los Angeles’ Chris Holmstrom.

“It feels wonderful, it feels really good. I’m happy that they’re here,” she said.

Seated next to McMullen was her husband of nearly 80 years, a WWII veteran who is himself just a few months away from turning 100. The couple share three sons and four grandchildren.

“We’ve traveled all over the world during those years together. We’ve been married about 79 years,” she said. “So it feels good, good to have a companion.”

Also in attendance was McMullen’s granddaughter, who read from a letter sent by the American Rosie the Riveter Association in honor of her grandmother’s milestone.

“You were a Rosie Riveter, one of many hardworking and patriotic women who came forward during WWII to help ensure Allied victory,” the letter read.

As for what’s next, the sprightly centenarian, in true “We can do it!” fashion, said, “Looking forward to my 150.”