One iconic Americana image has a deep connection to the Commonwealth and the Hoosier State.

When most people picture Rosie the Riveter, their minds jump to a bright red bandana and a defiant bicep flex under the words "WE CAN DO IT!" But behind the iconic wartime image was a real woman with real roots in Kentucky and Indiana . Her name was Rose Will Monroe.

Rose Will Monroe Built Bombers Before She Became Rosie

Born in Kentucky in 1920, Monroe later moved north to Michigan at the age of 22. A soldier's widow with two young children, she took a factory job building B-29 and B-24 "Liberator" planes for the U.S. military at the Willow Run assembly plant during World War II . She was one of the millions of women who stepped in to fill industrial work roles while the men went off to

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