[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2035-S2036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO BETTY REID SOSKIN

  Mr. KING. Mr. President, as the chair of the Senate National Parks 
Subcommittee and on behalf of Senator Daines, the Ranking Member of the 
Senate National Parks Subcommittee, today, I wish to recognize Betty 
Reid Soskin, who recently retired as the National Park Service's oldest 
active ranger. Betty spent a decade and a half sharing her personal 
experiences as a ranger at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front 
National Park in Richmond, CA. I want to thank Betty for her service 
and wish her well in her much-deserved retirement.
  Betty had a long path before landing at the National Park Service. 
She grew up in a Cajun-Creole, African-American family in Oakland, CA. 
Her family was forced to leave their home in New Orleans after the 
``Great Flood'' in 1927, and they moved to Oakland to join Betty's 
maternal grandfather. After graduating from Castlemont High School, 
Betty went to work as a file clerk in a segregated union hall, 
Boilermaker's A-36, during World War II. Later, she and her husband, 
Mel Reid, opened Reid's Records, one of the first Black-owned music 
stores; the store remained open until fall of 2019. Betty also worked 
for a Berkley city council member and as a field representative in West 
Contra Costa County for two members of the California State Assembly.
  In the early 2000s, Betty was involved in the planning meetings with 
the city of Richmond and the National Park Service to develop the 
management plan for the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National 
Historic Park. She also worked with the National Park Service on a 
grant to cover untold stories of African-Americans on

[[Page S2036]]

the home front during WWII, which led to a temporary position working 
for the National Park Service at the age of 84. Betty became a 
permanent National Park Service employee in 2011 and has been leading 
public programs and sharing her personal stories and observations with 
park visitors ever since.
  Betty gained national fame in 2013, during the government shutdown, 
when media outlets wanted to interview her as the oldest National Park 
Service ranger, to get her take on the shutdown. Betty participated in 
numerous national television interviews but managed to stay out of the 
political fray, saying that she wanted to focus what little time she 
had left on getting back to work, sharing her stories of the WWII home 
front. In 2015, Betty was selected by the National Park Service to 
participate in the national tree-lighting ceremony at the White House 
and introduced President Barack Obama in the national telecast on the 
annual PBS special. In fall 2019, Betty suffered a stroke and spent 
months in therapy, returning to work just before the COVID-19 pandemic 
struck. Prior to her retirement, Betty started doing weekly virtual 
visits to continue to share her perspectives with visitors.
  Like many park rangers, Betty's path to the National Park Service may 
not have been the most direct, but we have all benefited from her 
decision to dedicate herself to public service. Her firsthand 
experiences on the home front during WWII help provide critical lessons 
for all Americans, regardless of their age, and we are so thankful that 
Betty chose to spend so many years of her life sharing her experiences 
with us all. We will certainly miss her insights and passion, but she 
has earned this retirement. On behalf of myself and Senator Daines, I 
extend our best wishes to Betty and thank her again her service.

                          ____________________