Museum hoping to identify ‘Rosie the Riveter,’ woman who likely built a P-47 in Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - A museum in Massachusetts is restoring a World War II-era fighter plane, and found an 80-year-signature from a woman who helped build it in Evansville about 80 years ago.

The Evansville Wartime Museum is dedicated to preserving the area’s impact on America’s military history. This includes the contributions of those on the home front during World War II.

Evansville produced many important items for the war effort, including the P-47 Thunderbolt. The plane was made by Republic Aviation, and during the war about half of their workforce was women.

“Without them, we wouldn’t have won the war,” said Evansville Wartime Museum docent Homer Nestrick. “It’s very simple. If we hadn’t produced 3.25 billion bullets, 6,600 airplanes, and 167 LST’s, the war would not have been won.”

The American Heritage Museum in Massachusetts is restoring a Thunderbolt which was built in Evansville, and in the course of their work found a signature from one of the women who built it around 80 years ago.

The name is “Sue Thorp” or maybe “Tharp,” with a middle initial of “V.”

Museum officials say their museum has one of the greatest displays of vehicles in the country, and the plane will fit in perfectly once it’s ready, especially with that signature.

“To have that connection to one of these ‘Rosies’ who built the airplane is special,” said American Heritage Museum President Rob Collings. “The artifacts are amazing, but they’re there to tell the human story.”

Those who give tours at the Wartime Museum say they’re always hearing stories from the families of women who joined the war effort. This gives them hope they might one day find Sue.

“If anyone in this area knows of her, is related to her, maybe she’s still around, who knows? We would love to find her,” said Nestrick. “We would absolutely love to find her or a family member.”

If you’d like to learn more about World War II history, whether local or otherwise, a museum isn’t a bad place to start. For more information on the the Evansville Wartime Museum, visit evansvillewartimemuseum.org. For more on the American Heritage Museum, visit americanheritagemuseum.org.

The American Heritage Museum shared the following information on social media in hopes of connecting with Sue or her family. Anyone with leads is urged to email them at ahm@collingsfoundation.org.