'A legend': Oldest active ranger at National Park Service celebrates 100th birthday

WASHINGTON (7News) — The oldest active ranger in the National Park Service (NPS), Betty Reid Soskin, is celebrating her 100th birthday.

Over the past decade and a half, Ranger Betty has shared her experiences as well as the efforts and sacrifices of women from diverse backgrounds living and working on the WWII home front at Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, according to NPS.

The Park Service stated that the East Bay civil rights activist was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 22, 1921.

An article by NPS said she's known to be a musician and pioneering businesswoman and through her work at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park, she has also become a leading spokesperson for the diverse experiences of domestic war-effort workers during World War II.

According to the National Park Service, she believed she has a responsibility to share with park visitors what she and other Black women had experienced during World War II.

NPS said Soskin quickly became a legend at the park. President Barack Obama presented Soskin with a presidential commemorative coin at the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in 2015, and the following year she was honored with entry into the Congressional Record, the park service stated.

America's National Parks said it will be celebrating Ranger Soskin’s 100th Birthday by allowing people to travel back in time with Betty by watching her ranger-led program, where she discusses her experience as a young African American woman working on the Home Front during WWII, and her perspectives on how we interpret our history.

There is also a special NPS passport stamp in her honor.

According to NPS, you can join on most Thursdays for a virtual hangout with the ranger.