Oregonian women tend to embody the “She Flies With Her Own Wings” (Alis Volat Propriis) State Motto. Although the “Rosie the Riveter” and “Wendy the Welder” days have not returned, we expect more hand-made metal and steel specialty welding products brought to the market by women fabricators. Since striking an arc in the welding fabrication business in 1993, Pro Weld has offered equal opportunity to women fabricators and welders; yet not one has applied for a welding job.
Pro Weld is women-owned and operated, and encourages women in entrepreneurship. “We are yet to have our first woman fabricator and welder,” Owner Penny Oberlander states. “The large welding and fabrication work-spaces combined with easy-access 5-ton overhead-cranes should draw women fabricators. Not to mention the unparalleled beautiful views of the Table Rock Mountains, and Mt. McLoughlin…what more could prospective women fabricators want?”
So is there a resurgence of women fabricators and welders in Southern Oregon? Not from what we can see at Pro Weld, just five minutes northeast of Medford, Oregon. Women fabricating and welding applicants continue to be non-existant in Southern Oregon steel fabrication shops.
But it will not be a surprise to see the trend change over-time in the Medford, Oregon region.
Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Not published in LIFE. Women welders, Gary, Ind., 1943.
According to the New York Post, there is a creative resurgence found in the socialization of fabricating and welding type projects.
To read more on the women fabricators, see the below.
History of women fabricators during WWII known as “Rosie the Riveter”