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When we visited the Buffalo area this fall to delve into Anna Rosenberg’s groundbreaking “Buffalo Plan,” we were focused on finding images and stories of the women and Black workers who joined the WWII defense workforce. This gem was unearthed by the Niagara Aerospace Museum: a March 1942 message from President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed to the workers at the Curtiss-Wright aircraft plant in Buffalo. In it, FDR thanks the defense workers for their “pledge of loyalty” and

In the early 1940s, Anna Rosenberg was tasked by President Roosevelt to boost wartime preparedness in New York State. She launched a groundbreaking pilot project known as The Buffalo Plan. It was a bold effort to open the doors of the defense industry to Black and women workers during WWII. It was one of Anna's many behind-the-scenes contributions to the war effort and to American history that have too often been forgotten. We made a whirlwind research trip to Buffalo, NY to

Peter, Gail and Max were in Gaithersburg, MD to film a series of interviews with three insightful historians, who discussed Anna Rosenberg's impact on U.S. history. Joining them were Pamela Nadell (American University), an expert in American Jewish and women's history; Cornelius Bynum (Purdue University), a scholar of African American history and A. Philip Rondolph; and Robyn Muncy (University of Maryland), specializing in women's and labor history.

Gail Ablow was named a Cokie Roberts Women's History Commended Scholar for her research on Anna Rosenberg, the focus of her and Peter Bull's documentary Film, Lady Dynamo, about the first woman to serve as Assistant Secretary of Defense. She was one of two finalists honored by the National Archives Foundation, receiving $1,000 to support research at the National Archives.

Lady Dynamo received a $5,000 grant from the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, which supports research and artistic projects in Jewish women's and gender studies. The award, open to scholars at all career stages, is reviewed by members of HBI's distinguished Academic Advisory Committee and Research Awards Selection Committee and are funded by the HBI Board of Advisors.

Marc Altheim's generous contribution to Lady Dynamo made production of the sample reel possible and honored his admiration for Anna Rosenberg and her many public service accomplishments.