Geraldine Doyle, inspiration for 'Rosie the Riveter,' dies at 86

“With a red and white bandana in her hair and factory worker uniform sleeves rolled up to reveal her bulging biceps, Rosie the Riveter was painted on a World War II recruitment poster in 1942.

But for four decades, the real Rosie the Riveter had no idea she was the woman who inspired it.

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Perhaps it was because Geraldine Doyle left her factory job after two weeks – or because she didn’t actually have bulging biceps – that Doyle, who died at 86 years old on Sunday in Lansing, Mich., didn’t know for so long that she was the model for what would became a symbol of women’s empowerment.”

One day, a United Press International photographer came to the steelworks factory and took a picture of Doyle leaning over machinery (right), a red and white polka-dot bandana covering her hair.