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'{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Use American English|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Betty Reid Soskin | image = Betty Reid Soskin.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Betty Charbonnet | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1921|9|22|mf=yes}} | birth_place = [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], [[United States|U.S.]] | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = American | employer = [[National Park Service]] | occupation = [[National Park Service Ranger]] | years_active = | residence = [[Richmond, California|Richmond]], [[California]], U.S. | alma_mater = | spouse = {{marriage|Melvin Reid|1943|1972|reason=divorce}}<br /> {{marriage|William Soskin|1978|1988|reason=death }} }} '''Betty Reid Soskin''' ({{nee}} Charbonnet; born September 22, 1921) is a [[National Park Ranger|Ranger]] with the [[National Park Service]], assigned to the [[Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park]] in [[Richmond, California]].<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/26/MNFUSA80E.DTL&hw=Betty+Reid+Soskin&sn=003&sc=552 WWII meant opportunity for many women, oppression for others], by Caroline Zynco, ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', September 26, 2007, retrieved March 23, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/31/PKL91BL53V.DTL#ixzz0eDQsu0bc Ranger's voice spans East Bay history], by Lee Hildebrand, ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', January 31, 2010, retrieved March 23, 2011</ref> At age {{Age|1921|9|22}}, she is the oldest [[National Park Ranger]] serving the United States.<ref>{{cite news |last = Jones |first = Carolyn |title = Federal shutdown puts Betty Reid Soskin on hold |newspaper = [[San Francisco Chronicle]] |location = |pages = |language = |publisher = |date = October 16, 2013 |url = http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Federal-shutdown-puts-Betty-Reid-Soskin-on-hold-4901916.php |accessdate = April 26, 2014 }}</ref> In February, 2018, she released a memoir, ''Sign My Name to Freedom''. == Early life == Betty Charbonnet was born in 1921 in [[Detroit]] to Dorson Louis Charbonnet and Lottie Breaux Allen, both natives of [[Louisiana]]. Her father came from a [[Louisiana Creole people|Creole]] background, and her mother from a [[Cajun]] background. Her great-grandmother had been born into slavery in 1846. She spent her early childhood living in [[New Orleans]], until a hurricane and flood destroyed her family's home and business in 1927, when her family then relocated to [[Oakland, California]].<ref name="NPR-Soskin">"Oldest National Park Ranger Shares 'What Gets Remembered'," NPR Wisdom Watch, May 15, 2014.[https://www.npr.org/2014/05/15/312707926/oldest-national-park-ranger-shares-what-gets-remembered]</ref> During [[World War II]] she worked as a file clerk for [[International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers|Boilermakers Union A-36]], a [[Jim Crow]] all-black [[Trade union|union auxiliary]].<ref name="NPR-Soskin" /> Her main job was filing change of address cards for the workers, who moved frequently.<ref name="honor ranger" /> In June 1945, she and her then husband, Mel Reid, founded Reid's Records in [[Berkeley, California]], a small black-owned business specializing in [[Gospel music]]. They moved to [[Walnut Creek, California]] in the 1950s, where their children attended better public schools and an alternative private elementary and middle school called Pinel. The family encountered considerable [[racism]], and she and her husband were subject to death threats after they built a home in the white suburb.<ref name="NPR-Soskin" /> ==Career== She became active in the [[Mount Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church]] and the Black Caucus of the [[Unitarian Universalist Association]], and in the 1960s became a well-known songwriter in the [[Civil Rights Movement]].<ref name="NPR-Soskin" /> [[File:Reids Records 2015.jpg|thumb|left|'''Reid's Records''' in [[Berkeley, California]], 2014]] She was divorced from Mel Reid in 1972, and subsequently married William Soskin, a psychology professor at the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. In 1978, after Mel Reid's health and finances had declined, she took over management of the music store, which led to her becoming active in area civic matters and a prominent [[community activist]].<ref>{{cite book |last = Frankel |first = Bruce |authorlink = |title = What Should I Do With the Rest of My Life?: True Stories of Finding Success, Passion, and New Meaning in the Second Half of Life |publisher = [[Penguin Books]] |series = |volume = |edition = |date = 2010 |location = |pages = |language = |url = https://books.google.com/?id=_oQZG6VFzFoC&pg=PT196&dq=Betty+Reid+Soskin#v=onepage&q=Betty%20Reid%20Soskin&f=false |doi = |id = |isbn = 978-1-101-18596-4 |mr = |zbl = |jfm = }}</ref> Reid's Records is still in business {{as of|2018|05|10|df=US|lc=yes}}. She later served as a field representative for [[State Assembly|California State Assemblywomen]] [[Dion Aroner]] and [[Loni Hancock]], and in those positions became actively involved in the early planning stages and development of a park to memorialize the role of women on the [[Home Front during World War II]]. Those efforts came to fruition when [[Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park]] was established in 2000, to provide a site where future generations could remember the contributions women made to the war effort. [[File:Richmond - Marina Bay - Rosie the Riveter monument 01.jpg|thumb|right|'''The Rosie Memorial''' in [[Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park]], [[Richmond, California]]]] Reflecting on her own role in planning for the park's creation, and on how she brought her personal recollections of the conditions for African American women working in that still [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregated]] environment to bear on the planning efforts, she has said that, often, she "was the only person in the room who had any reason to remember that … what gets remembered is a function of who's in the room doing the remembering."<ref name="NPR-Soskin" /> {{As of|2019||df=|since=}}, Soskin is employed at the park as a [[National Park Ranger|park ranger]] with the [[National Park Service]], and conducts [[tour guide|park tours]] and serves as an [[Heritage interpretation|interpreter]], explaining the park's purpose, history, various sites, and museum collections to park visitors. She has been celebrated as "a tireless voice for making sure the African-American wartime experience{{snds}}both the positive steps toward [[Racial integration|integration]] and the presence of [[Racial discrimination in America|discrimination]]{{snds}}has a prominent place in the Park's history."<ref>{{cite news |last = Geluardi |first = John |title = Park celebrates women's war effort: 'Rosie the Riveter' symbol of those who transcended traditional roles |newspaper = [[Oakland Tribune]] |location = |pages = |language = |publisher = |date = July 30, 2007 |url = http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_6498461 |accessdate = April 26, 2014 }}</ref> Park Ranger Soskin has said, commenting on her life in 2015 at the age of 93: "Wish I'd had [the] confidence when the young Betty needed it to navigate through the hazards of everyday life on the planet. But maybe I'm better able to benefit from having it now{{snds}}when I have the maturity to value it and the audacity to wield it for those things held dear."<ref>[http://cbreaux.blogspot.com/ Personal blog], May 26, 2015.</ref> Soskin suffered a stroke while working at the park in September 2019 and returned to work in January 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last = Sanchez |first = Tatiana |title = Betty Reid Soskin, 98-year-old park ranger, recovering from stroke | newspaper = [[San Francisco Chronicle]] | date = September 22, 2019 | url = https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Betty-Reid-Soskin-98-year-old-park-ranger-14459677.php | accessdate=October 22, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Tyska |first1=Jane |title=Betty Reid Soskin back at work at Rosie the Riveter park after stroke |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/01/16/video-betty-reid-soskin-back-at-work-at-rosie-the-riveter-park-after-stroke/ |work=East Bay Times |date=January 16, 2020}}</ref> '''ljokmdoklsmdslmdslsmdmflsmfsmfsmflmdflmfmlksdfmlfmsdlkmsdmfmflmsldmfdmfsmdfmsmskmsdklkm kfnf fwwnfwoinjdbwfowifsbnwnenvnkoemjvinerhveuinieufirhiheriheriuhfehfiuhfiehfuierhfhderihfuhfeuhfheifueriuhfeiufheihfierhfiehifuehr ifuck everyone enfehueiruregiheiguregerhgihguhrhriuhruhefuckm u'''== Honors == * California Woman of the Year, [[California Legislature]], 1995 * Builders of Communities and Dreams, National Women’s History Project, 2006 * Cited in "Wherever there's a fight{{snds}}the history of the [[ACLU]] in California" - Elaine Elinson and Stan Yogi, 2007 * Attended [[First inauguration of Barack Obama|President Obama's Inauguration]] as a guest of [[Rep. George Miller (D)|Rep. George Miller]], 2009 * Proclamation honoring her by [[Richmond, California|Richmond]] [[Gayle McLaughlin|Mayor Gayle McLaughlin]] on behalf of [[Richmond, California|Richmond City Council]], 2009 * Received [[honorary doctorate]] at [[California College of the Arts]] at Spring Commencement, 2010 * Received the WAVE award as one of three "Women of Achievement" by GirlSource of San Francisco, 2010 * [[The National WWII Museum]] Silver Service Medallion, at the American Spirit Awards gala, 2016<ref name="honor ranger">http://www.nola.com/living/index.ssf/2016/05/museum_to_honor_ranger_for_tel.html</ref> * Received [[Honorary degree|honorary doctorate]] of arts and letters at [[Mills College]], 2017 * Received the [[Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks]] from the [[National Parks Conservation Association]]<ref>https://www.npca.org/resources/3286-awards-and-recognition</ref>, 2018 {{clear}} ufihfjenejofehrfiejriofjijefoiderjfoejfieofjoeijfjifjejfeoijfojefjrjorejf * [http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2015/07/28/betty-reid-soskin-oldest-park-ranger/?SiteID=cbaolcompromotion_july_102&icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl18%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D299040507 Rachel Gillett - "Meet the 93-Year-Old Woman Who Still Works 5 Days a Week and Never Wants to Retire: Betty Reid Soskin is the oldest active ranger in the National Park Service", AOL Jobs, July 28, 2015.] Retrieved 2015-08-09 == External links == {{Portal|Biography|Geography|History|Music|San Francisco Bay Area|War}} * {{official website}}{{snds}}Personal blog * [http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/Soskin.pdf Betty Reid Soskin: Rosie the Riveter World War II American Homefront Oral History Project] * [http://www.reidsrecords.com/ Reid's Records] *[https://www.signmynamebook.com Official website for Soskin's memoir] {{History of Richmond, California}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Soskin, Betty}} [[Category:1921 births]] [[Category:Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area]] [[Category:African-American activists]] [[Category:African-American history in the San Francisco Bay Area]] [[Category:American Unitarian Universalists]] [[Category:American community activists]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:National Park Service personnel]] [[Category:People from Berkeley, California]] [[Category:People from Oakland, California]] [[Category:People from Richmond, California]]'