‘Rose the Riveter’ girl on iconic WWII poster dies at 86

Geraldine Hoff Doyle, who inspired the iconic 'Rose the Riveter' WWII poster, has passed away at the age 86 in Michigan.

The poster of a young woman in a factory uniform and red polka dot head kerchief, her arm flexed to show off her muscle with a speech balloon stating boldly, "We can do it!" was designed to encourage young women to volunteer for the war effort while men were serving overseas.

The image became iconic and was later adopted by the women's rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. A 1942 song called Rosie the Riveter also paid tribute to the women who worked during the war.

"Rosie the Riveter is the image of an independent woman who is in control of her own destiny," the New York Daily News quoted Gladys Beckwith, former director of the Michigan Women's Historical Center, as saying.

Reportedly, Doyle was unaware that her image that became the classic symbol of empowerment and equality of the sexes.

"She would say that she was the 'We Can Do It!' girl. She never wanted to take anything away from the other Rosies," said her daughter Stephanie Gregg of Eaton Rapids, assistant dean of admissions for Cooley Law School.