Betty Reid Soskin’s inspiring life, work and urgent mission is to restore critical missing chapters of America’s story. Betty illuminates the invisible histories of African Americans and other people of color. She had a multi-faceted career as a singer, activist, mother, legislative representative and park planner before her present role as park ranger.
Betty worked in a segregated Union hall, Boilermaker’s A-36, during World War II as a file clerk. In 1945 she and her husband, Mel Reid, founded one of the first black-owned music stores — Reid’s Records. In 2011, Betty became a permanent NPS employee and has been leading public programs and sharing her personal remembrances and observations at the park visitor center. In early 2019 a film produced by the Rosie the Riveter Trust, “No Time To Waste: The Urgent Mission of Betty Reid Soskin” was released.
In 1995 Betty was named “Woman of the Year” by the California State Legislature.
In 2005 she was named one of the nation’s ten outstanding women “Builders of communities and dreams” by the National Women’s History Project at ceremonies in both Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
In 2016 Betty received the Silver Medallion Award at the World War II Museum in New Orleans. There are only two women among 30 past recipients.
Visit Betty at: https://www.facebook.com/betty.soskin
