‘America’s Oldest Park Ranger’ Is Only Her Latest Chapter |
‘America’s Oldest Park Ranger’ Is Only Her Latest Chapter
The New York Times
2021-09-20
Chanell Stone for The New York Times
Betty Reid Soskin has fought to ensure that American history includes the stories that get overlooked. As she turns 100, few stories have been more remarkable than hers.
The Rosie the Riveter / World War II Home Front National Historical Park, which sprawls across the former shipyards in Richmond, Calif., on the northeast edge of San Francisco Bay, tells the enormous story of the largest wartime mobilization in American history and the sweeping social changes it sparked.
Visitors can climb aboard an enormous Victory ship, one of more than 700 vessels produced in Richmond — and, in the gift shop, pick up swag emblazoned with the iconic image of the red-kerchiefed Rosie herself, arm flexed up with “We Can Do It!” bravado.
But for many, the park is synonymous with another woman: Betty.
Betty Reid Soskin, who turns 100 on Sept. 22, is the oldest active ranger in the National Park Service. Over the past decade and a half, she has become both an icon of the service and an unlikely celebrity, drawing overflow crowds to talks and a steady stream of media interviewers eager for the eloquent words of an indomitable 5 feet 3 inch great-grandmother once described by a colleague as “sort of like Bette Davis, Angela Davis and Yoda all rolled into one.”…
Read the entire article here.
Tags: Betty Charbonnet, Betty Reid Soskin, California, Jennifer Schuessler, National Park Service, New York Times, Richmond, The New York Times