In February, Americans celebrate Black History Month in honor of African Americans across the nation. Beginning in 1915, historian Carter G. Woodson and Minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History to bring awareness to the forgotten African American contributors of this great nation. In 1926, the two men brought to life the Negro History Week, and it wasn’t until 1976 that then-President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month as a national month-long celebration during February. This year, The Feather will showcase historical African American figures from the Central Valley area who brought positive change to their communities.
Purpose, creativity, and the desire to speak about history truthfully have directed Betty Reid Soskin throughout her life. Born in 1921, Soskin has lived through 100 years of American events from her personal experiences. from working at the segregated unions during World War II to serving on government and cultural institution boards, documenting and sharing history.
She served as a file clerk in a segregated union hall at Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, CA, during World War II. Soskin learned how Black Americans were eliminated from society and what contributions they made toward the war effort from the home front through her personal experience. These early experiences formed her opinion that the entire national record must include all voices, regardless of whether or not those voices are found in history textbooks.
The most significant and rewarding chapter in Soskin’s life has been her efforts to help preserve histories that have been overlooked.
“Being a primary source in the sharing of that history – my history – and giving shape to a new national park has been exciting and fulfilling,” said Soskin. “It has proven to bring meaning to my final years.”
After World War II, Soskin turned to music and the community. A singer and songwriter in the folk genre, Soskin utilized her talents to express problems in society and shared human experience through song. Along with her husband, Melvin “Mel” Reid, Soskin opened Reid’s Records in 1945. Becoming the Bay Area’s first Black-owned record store, this business and couple brought the community together through music, records, stories, and shared cultural experiences.
As Soskin became more active in the community and civil rights activism during the 1960s and 70s, she worked with groups advocating for equal representation for housing, jobs, and racial justice. She later moved into government service as a Field Representative for a member of the California State Assembly, where she assisted community members with daily challenges.
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Soskin has worked in public service/history and has spoken and written on the topics of race, labor and WWII while highlighting the experiences of Black Americans that have traditionally been left out of the nation’s historical record. She pushed for telling untold stories in history. Her work on planning the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park before working for the National Park eventually led her to become a park ranger, where she interpreted untold stories in history.
At age 85, Soskin began working as a National Park Service Ranger at Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. She wanted to share stories of the home front beyond the image of Rosie the Riveter and include the experiences of African Americans, women, and others who were overlooked.
Soskin shared with The Washington Post why she believed every story deserves to be remembered.
“I think everyone’s story is very important. There is so much diversity,” Soskin said. “It’s in that mix that the great secret of a democracy exists.”
When she was 90, Soskin was named the oldest park ranger who was still employed at the National Park Service. She continued to entertain visitors by sharing stories throughout history along with her own experiences.
Soskin’s programs focused on offering history from a different perspective, presenting the homefront experience in different ways to get visitors to question why certain stories have been told and portrayed. Her work and perspective were shown in a documentary titled “No Time to Waste”, which documented her commitment to maintaining many undocumented histories while confronting the uncomfortable truths about the history of the United States.
Marne L Campbell, an Associate professor in African Studies at Loyola Marymount University, emphasizes the impact of Soskin’s work, confronting difficult aspects of American history.
“No Time to Waste, tells a valuable story of historic preservation and history-making,” Campbell said. “Betty Reid Soskin’s work in the National Parks Service exemplifies the ways we can learn about even the most uncomfortable parts of our own histories while empowering us to actively engage in not making the mistakes of our past.”
In 2022, Soskin retired from the National Park Service at age 100. Her retirement was celebrated at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, where colleagues, community members and park officials honored her legacy with speeches and tributes recognizing her impact on public history.
Working as a park ranger for over 15 years, Soskin inspired many people, along with fellow employees and longtime friends such as Martha Lee.
“Through most of our lives, she has inspired us, has challenged us; she has shown us that representation matters,” Lee said. “She has helped to ensure that the National Park Service continues on the path of preserving the sites in history that represent all of our nation’s citizens and all of our nation’s stories — the heroic and inspiring, as well as the painful and sometimes shameful.”
Though she passed away in December 2025 at age 104, Soskin’s legacy continues through the stories she preserved, the people she inspired and future historians she encouraged to look deeper into the past. Her life serves as a reminder that history has strength and meaning when all voices are heard.
For more Black History Month Spotlights, see Black History Month Spotlight: De Arthur Woodrow “Woody” Miller’s leaves legacy on community and Black History Month Spotlight: Jack Kelley leaves an inspirational legacy in the Central Valley
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