Colonel Thomas Robeson Chapter DAR

07/31/2026

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1033284002786059&id=100083134066477

It is with profound sorrow that we bid farewell to Jeanne Gibson, our beloved Rosie the Riveter, has passed away today, July 29, 2026, at the remarkable age of 100. With her passing, we don't simply mourn the loss of a beloved friend, we honor the life of an American hero whose courage, dedication, and unwavering spirit helped shape history, and will continue to inspire generations to come.🕊️🇺🇸

At just 18 years old, Jeanne left her home in Minnesota in the summer of 1944 and answered her nation's call, becoming a welder at Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle. With determination and grit, she helped build destroyers that strengthened the Allied war effort during World War II. She later continued her service with the Army Transportation Corps in Juneau, Alaska, embodying the resilience and patriotism of the Greatest Generation.

Yet Jeanne's legacy extended far beyond the war. She earned her Ph.D., dedicated three decades to teaching, earned her private pilot license, and spent the rest of her life proving that courage, determination, and purpose know no age.

In 2024, Jeanne and her fellow Rosies were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, one of our nation's highest civilian honors, recognizing the extraordinary women whose sacrifices and determination helped secure victory during World War II.

To all of us at Pacific Historic Parks, Jeanne was far more than a Rosie, she was family. She traveled to Hawaiʻi time and again to share her remarkable story with visitors, inspire local students, and ensure that the sacrifices of the Home Front would never be forgotten. Her radiant smile, generous heart, and boundless enthusiasm touched every life she encountered.

She had a special gift for encouraging young girls, reminding them that no dream was too big and no obstacle too great. Through her words and her example, she inspired generations to believe in themselves and pursue lives of courage, service, and purpose.

Jeanne remained a tireless advocate for preserving the legacy of the Rosies, volunteering at Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park on "Rosie Fridays" and ensuring the stories of the women who helped win the war would continue to inspire future generations.

In one of life's poignant moments, just days before her passing, Jeanne was celebrated with a Wall of Honor banner at the park she loved so dearly and recognized during a San Jose Earthquakes halftime ceremony honoring Bay Area heroes. It was a fitting tribute to a woman whose life was defined by selfless service, quiet strength, and extraordinary grace.

Though Jeanne has taken her final flight, her legacy will never fade. It lives on in every story she shared, every young person she inspired, every life she touched, and in the enduring example of courage she leaves behind.

Our hearts are with Jeanne's family, her fellow Rosies, and all who were blessed to know and love her.

Rest in peace, Jeanne Gibson.

Thank you for answering the call when your country needed you most. Thank you for showing generations what courage looks like. We will remember you always.

07/30/2026

07/27/2026

North Carolina was one of the original thirteen colonies, yet for a while it stubbornly refused to join the United States it had helped create. 🌾

When the new federal Constitution was sent to the states in 1788, North Carolina's convention meeting at Hillsborough did something remarkable. It declined to ratify, refusing to join the new government until a bill of rights was added to protect individual liberties against federal power. For about a year, North Carolina sat outside the Union as an independent state, watching to see whether those protections would come. 📜

Once a bill of rights was proposed in Congress, a second convention gathered at Fayetteville in November 1789 and voted to ratify, making North Carolina the twelfth state. That same convention also chartered the University of North Carolina. The state's early insistence on written guarantees of freedom reflected a deep and cautious streak that runs through its whole history. 🕯️ I find it fascinating that North Carolina was willing to stand alone rather than sign without those protections. Does it change how you see the state, knowing it held out for a bill of rights?

07/23/2026

07/15/2026

This story is connected to our chapter's patriot.

07/10/2026

In a candlelit Edenton courthouse in the 1780s, a young lawyer named James Iredell was quietly helping to shape what the United States would become. ⚖️ Born in England but North Carolina to the bone, he had settled in the little port town of Edenton, married into the Johnston family, and thrown himself into the fight over whether the new nation should have a strong federal government.

Iredell became North Carolina's most forceful voice for ratifying the Constitution, arguing point by point against those who feared a distant central power. When the debates finally settled, President George Washington rewarded that brilliance by naming him to the very first Supreme Court of the United States, one of the six original justices. He was barely in his late thirties. 🇺🇸

He rode thousands of miles on horseback across rough southern roads to hold court, a punishing life that likely shortened it, and he died at only 48. Yet his dissent in Chisholm v. Georgia helped inspire the Eleventh Amendment, a rare case of one judge's reasoning becoming part of the Constitution itself.

It always surprises me how much of the country's foundation was laid by people working in small towns like Edenton, far from Philadelphia. What do you think it took to see the shape of a whole nation from a place that size?