Betty Reid Soskin: The Heart of History

Añadido: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]With deep sorrow, we say farewell to the oldest serving National Park Service Ranger in the country, Betty Reid Soskin, who has passed away at the extraordinary age of 104. A fearless storyteller, trailblazer, and guardian of history, >> [music] >> Betty devoted her life to preserving the voices too often forgotten, ensuring that future generations would remember not only the past, but the people who shaped it. Her courage, wisdom, and unwavering dedication transformed history into something deeply human. Her uniform represented far more than service. It symbolized resilience, truth, and hope. Her impact will echo through every story she fought to tell and every life she inspired.

[00:00:43]A legendary figure in the National [music] Park Service (NPS), a civil rights activist, and a historian whose life spanned more than a century of American history, she became a national icon for her work in ensuring that the stories of African Americans and women of color during World War II were preserved and told with honesty.

[00:01:02]Born in Detroit in 1921, she grew up in New Orleans before her family relocated to Oakland, California following the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

[00:01:13]Her great-grandmother had been born into slavery in 1846.

[00:01:17]During the war, she worked as a file clerk for [music] a segregated union hall, Boilermakers Auxiliary 36, in Richmond, California. This experience [music] later informed her critiques of the Rosie the Riveter myth, which often excluded the stories of black women. In 1945, she and her first husband, Mel Reid, founded Reid's Records in Berkeley, one of the first black-owned record stores in the country. It remained a community staple for 74 years. Before joining the NPS, she worked as a field representative for the California State Legislature [music] and was instrumental in the early planning of the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park. She began working with the NPS in her 80s and became a permanent ranger at the age of 85. As a ranger at the Rosie the Riveter Park in Richmond, CA, she was known for her interpretive programs.

[00:02:09]She didn't just recite facts, she shared her lived experience of the segregation and discrimination that existed alongside the war effort.

[00:02:18]She held the title of the oldest active NPS ranger until her retirement on March 31st, 2022 at the age of 100. She authored a memoir titled Sign My Name to Freedom, 2018, which detailed her journey through the 20th century. She forced the National [music] Park Service to broaden its scope and include the heroic and inspiring, as well as the painful and sometimes shameful parts of American history. Rest peacefully, Ranger Betty. Your legacy will stand forever.