Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Taylor grew up in Upland, California, located in the Inland Empire area. Her husband’s work as a technical representative in the aircraft industry brought her to Northwest Florida.
She first came to Tallahassee and later moved to the greater-Pensacola area. For the past few years, she has called the Beacon home.
A little over a year ago, Navarre Press reported on Taylor, then 99, and her time as a factory worker during World War II. In 2024, Taylor was recognized as one of the last ‘Rosie the Riveters’ still alive.
The Congressional Gold Medal, the oldest and highest civilian award in the U.S., was given to the remaining Rosie the Riveters in 2024.
Rosie the Riveter was considered the female version of Uncle Sam— popular artwork calling upon Americans to get involved in the war effort. For Taylor’s part, she went to work at a Douglas Aircraft facility in Long Beach, California.
At the facility, Taylor and her coworkers assembled over 6,500 B-17 Flying Fortresses. While Rosie the Riveter was a symbol for Americans working in factories across the U.S. during the war effort, Taylor genuinely was a riveter.
The job of a riveter is to join metal parts together with rivets, a type of mechanical fastener.
At her particular factory, Taylor was a part of an assembly line and worked on the aircraft tails. Each shift, she completed around seven planes. The factory basically worked on a 24-hour schedule with three shifts.
One of the things that inspired her work in the Douglas Aircraft facility was her brother, who flew B-17s during the war.
After she was recognized, Taylor said it was an honor to be celebrated.
“I was really excited (to learn about the recognition),” Taylor said. “I never asked for it, it just came to me. It’s a gift.”