Oldest NPS Ranger, 100-Year-Old Betty Reid Soskin Retires After Extraordinary Career
This news story about the retirement of Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest National Park Service ranger, is based on a March 31, 2022, NPS press release. You can read the original release here.
Thursday, March 31, 2022, was the last day in the extraordinary career of Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest active ranger in the National Park Service (NPS).
A legendary park ranger, Soskin celebrated her 100th birthday in September 2021. Now, she will enjoy a well-deserved retirement after a decade and a half in the NPS.
Betty Reid Soskin’s career was marked by her enthusiast sharing of personal experiences and the efforts of women from diverse backgrounds who worked on the World War II Home Front.
Oldest NPS Ranger Betty Reid Soskin Retires At 100 Years Old
Soskin spent her last day providing an interpretive program to the public and visiting with coworkers at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park.
“To be a part of helping to mark the place where that dramatic trajectory of my own life, combined with others of my generation, will influence the future by the footprints we’ve left behind has been incredible,” said Betty Reid Soskin.
In 2011, Soskin became a permanent NPS employee and has been leading public programs and sharing her personal remembrances and observations at the park visitor center.
“Betty has made a profound impact on the National Park Service and the way we carry out our mission,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams.
Sams added that he is “grateful for her lifelong dedication to sharing her story and wish her all the best in retirement. Her efforts remind us that we must seek out and give space for all perspectives so that we can tell a more full and inclusive history of our nation. Congratulations, Betty!”
A Remarkable Career in the National Park Service
Before joining the NPS, Soskin participated in scoping meetings with the City of Richmond and the NPS to develop the general management plan for Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park.
She worked with the NPS on a grant funded by PG&E to uncover untold stories of African Americans on the Home Front during WWII, which led to a temporary position working with the NPS at the age of 84.
”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.”
Naomi Torres, the acting superintendent of Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, expressed her gratitude for Soskin’s work in the Park Service: “The National Park Service is grateful to Ranger Betty for sharing her thoughts and first-person accounts in ways that span across generations.”
“She has used stories of her life on the Home Front, drawing meaning from those experiences in ways that make that history truly impactful for those of us living today,” Torres said.
Soskin’s interpretive programs at Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park have illuminated the histories of African Americans and other people of color, and her efforts demonstrate how her work has impacted the way the NPS conveys such history to audiences across the United States.
Learn more about Betty’s story here and watch one of her recorded programs.
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park will celebrate Betty’s retirement on Saturday, April 16 in Richmond, California. Details of the event can be found on the park’s website.
