Dutch Embassy honors Rosie the Riveter in new tulip exhibit

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - In a season known for tulips here at the Dutch embassy, Thursday was all about the “Rosies.”

2025 marks 80 years since the end of World War II. Without the heroic efforts of millions both abroad and on the home front, the world would look a lot different. The Embassy of the Netherlands in Washington honored those who helped build and secure victory.

When World War II broke out, an estimated 6 million women answered the call of duty. They filled factory jobs, building nearly 300,000 planes, 100,000 tanks, and 88,000 warships.

“I was in high school. The boys were leaving in droves. And I felt the need to do something to help the war effort,” said June Rockland Robbins.

Now 98, she was 17 at the time. She begged her teachers to let her take an engineering course.

“I was the only girl there, and they pushed me through,” Rockland Robbins said.

Turns out she was pretty good at it. So good, they fast-tracked her to a ship assembly line where she worked alongside her mother.

Thursday, the Dutch Embassy honored her as one of the “Rosies.”

Rosie the Riveter was a cultural icon representing women who worked during World War II to the war. Their efforts helped end the German occupation of European countries including the Netherlands.

“Without Rosie the Riveter, we would not have been liberated,” said Birgitta Tazelaar, the Dutch Ambassador to the U.S.

Rockland Robbins said she’s carried the lessons learned at 17 her whole life.

“ed one another very carefully,” she said. “We watched out for each other.”

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