Oral history interview of Betty Webster Bishop

In this interview, Betty Webster Bishop recalls her experiences as a "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II. She remembers her childhood in rural West Virginia during the Great Depression, where she never lacked for love of family. Her father worked in the lumber business. She describes her training and her duties at the Bell Bomber plant near Niagara Falls, New York, first working on P-39 aircraft and later assembling struts, bleeding brakes, and performing other tasks on the P-63 Kingcobra fighter planes. She recalls working conditions there, several injuries she received, her living conditions, and the off-duty activities in which she and her friends engaged. Late in the war, when the P-63's were sold to the Russians, she worked applying armor to the aircraft so they could be used for target practice. She comments on the death of her sisters husband who was killed after the war had ended while working for General Patton and recalls her own husbands service in Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. She describes her post-war family and activities and reflects on her service as a "Rosie." CAF Airbase Georgia; Waffle Rock; Rosie the Riveter; Bell P-63; big bands; war bonds; catwalk; Woolworth's lunch counter Betty Bishop worked on P-39 and P-63 aircraft at the Bell Bomber plant in Wheatfield, New York, during World War II.