Rebecca Naman | Interview 2 | May 21, 2012

Oral History Center, UC Berkeley
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00:00:00 - Reintroduction / Childhood growing up

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Keywords: Armenian; Christianity; Episcopalian; Fresno, California; Great Depression; Sacramento, California; church community; cooking; culture; entertainment; family; food; friends; grandmother; growing up; high school; junior high; language; letter writing; mother; radio; rice; school; uncle

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:10:02 - Meeting her husband / A plan to recruit women workers

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Keywords: 1941; McClellan Air Force Base; US Army; attack on Pearl Harbor; college; dating (relationships); education; husband; jobs; labor shortages; military; mother; recruitment; socialization; teaching; women workers

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:15:16 - Personal experience of discrimination at McClellan / Blackouts during the war

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Keywords: Bay Area; Japanese; Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; World War II; aircraft mechanic; attack on Pearl Harbor; blackouts; clerical work; consequences; day shifts; during war; gender discrimination; gender roles; graveyard shifts; military; money; recruitment; students; swing shift; wages; women workers; work assignments

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:24:08 - An increase in recruitment after the attack on Pearl Harbor

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Keywords: aircraft mechanic; attack on Pearl Harbor; clerical work; college; harassment; high school; infrastructure; interview; jobs; military; patriotism; racial discrimination; recruitment; skilled work; training; war; war effort; women workers; worker treatment

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:32:27 - Celebratory send-offs / Social scene at the air base

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Keywords: Doolittle raid; McClellan Air Force Base; baker; bands; baseball; boxing; celebration; civilians; clerical work; cooking; entertainment; layoffs; live music; military; musicians; overpopulation; social life; soldiers; war

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:40:54 - Weekend trips to San Francisco, California / War bonds

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Keywords: Air Force Base; Japanese; McClellan Air Force Base; San Francisco, California; Victory Gardens; attack on Pearl Harbor; blackouts; canning; carpenter; chain of command; church services; community engagement; during war; entertainment; family; friends; fund raising; gardening; home buying; live music; meetings; mother; movie theater; newsreels; radio; rationing; siblings; social life; socialization; training; trains; war bonds; war news; work

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:51:09 - Kaiser shipyards requesting advice about recruiting women workers

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Keywords: Berkeley, California; Kaiser shipyards; McClellan Air Force Base; World War II; advice; information; promotion; recruitment; skilled work; war; women workers; work detail

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:00:49 - Women’s views of war work

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Keywords: clerical work; gender roles; pioneers; promotion; skilled work; war effort; women workers

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:09:07 - Changes in women’s fashion

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Keywords: clothes; community; uniforms; women workers; women's fashion

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:13:48 - Treatment and perceptions of gays and lesbians during the war and after

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Keywords: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); UC Davis; dating (relationships); discrimination; during war; education; homosexuality; lesbians; military; payroll; religious community; reports

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:21:11 - Racial discrimination during the war

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Keywords: Air Force Base; American South; Armenians; Black community; Fresno, California; Sacramento, California; civilians; doctors; during war; high school; housing discrimination; husband; military; prejudice; racial discrimination; segregation; teaching

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:31:54 - Challenges she faced in being promoted

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Keywords: 1944; African American troops; Bay Area; Mare Island Naval Shipyard; McClellan Air Force Base; NAACP; Port Chicago Explosion; Thurgood Marshall; World War II; accusations; civil rights; desegregation; during war; military; mutiny; mutiny charge; news; payroll; promotion; working conditions

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:39:07 - Husband's career path

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Keywords: Fresno, California; McClellan Air Force Base; Work Projects Administration (WPA); civilians; college; death; education; family; farming; husband; jobs; pay scale; retirement; siblings; students; teaching; training; wages; women workers; workers

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:51:50 - McClellan workforce cutbacks at the end of the war

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Keywords: IBM; McClellan Air Force Base; V-E Day; V-J Day; layoffs; war end; war news; weather; work stoppage

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

02:02:35 - Her daughter's upcoming trip to Armenia

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Keywords: Armenia; arthritis; children; church community; doctors; marriage; missionary; nursing; travel

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

02:06:21 - McClellan Air Force Base workforce during the Korean and Vietnam Wars

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Keywords: Kool-Aid; McClellan Air Force Base; Vietnam War; World War II; aircraft mechanic; airplanes; clerical work; government; infrastructure; layoffs; original building; post-war; rationing; skilled work; training; women workers

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

02:12:43 - Her work experiences throughout the upcoming wars

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Keywords: Fresno, California; Korean War; McClellan Air Force Base; Sacramento, California; Vietnam War; World War II; civilians; clerical work; computer revolution; jobs; military; opportunity; patriotism; personnel department; protest; retirment; training; war; war effort; work assignments

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

02:21:39 - The progress of women workers

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Keywords: civil rights movement; civilians; college; government; meetings; military; opportunity; progress; recruitment; reports; women workers

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

02:31:50 - Experiences serving on the California Commission on Aging / Opinions on state funding

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Keywords: California; California Commission on Aging; Council on Aging; Jerry Brown; McClellan Air Force Base; Sacramento County Commission on Aging; World War II; career; community; federal funding; friendships; government; legislation; money; opportunity; photographs; political associations; politics; recognition; recruitment; reports; retirement; senior citizens; seniors; war effort

Subjects: Community and Identity; Politics, Law, and Policy; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front