In 1941, as millions of men were called to military duty, the call was put out by the U.S. government for women to leave their homes and take jobs in defense plants and shipyards to perform the essential work necessary to keep the war effort going stateside. The women who responded to the call were embodied in the figure "Rosie the Riveter" whose recruitment posters proclaimed, "We Can Do It."

Long Beach played a key role in the war, both as the home of the Navy and the naval shipyards. Thousands of women also took jobs at the local Douglas Aircraft Plant that employed round-the-clock shifts producing military aircraft.

On Saturday, March 24th 2007, that contribution was acknowledged by renaming this small park adjacent to the former Douglas Aircraft plant to “Rosie the Riveter” Park.

Formerly known as Douglas Park for Donald Douglas, owner of the adjacent aircraft manufacturing plant, then the largest employer in Long Beach, this passive park was created from excess land from the development of Skylinks Golf Course in 1959. In 2006, the Boeing Corporation was redeveloping the 260 acres that was the original site of the Donald Douglas Aircraft Assembly Plant south and west of the corner of Lakewood Boulevard and Carson Street. As they intended to name the entire development Donald Douglas Park, and create a new park to be called Donald Douglas Plaza, Boeing requested that the name be transferred to the new site.

Upon approval of the request to relocate the Douglas Park name, the site was renamed Rosie the Riveter Park in honor of women who worked in defense construction plants during World War II. Long Beach’s Douglas Aircraft was one of the outstanding examples of women in defense manufacturing who were nicknamed “Rosie the Riveter.” Plans were completed in 2008 for the construction of a “Rosie the Riveter” memorial. Depending on privately raised funds, the memorial is will be constructed in phases. Phase 1, funded with a donation for Los Angeles County, will be constructed in 2009.

Green Space.

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