Betty Reid Soskin wasn’t just a National Park Service ranger—she was a trailblazer, a storyteller, and an unstoppable force for truth. On December 21, 2025, the world said goodbye to this remarkable woman at the age of 104, but her legacy is timeless.
Soskin retired from the National Park Service in 2022 at 100, making her the oldest active ranger in history. But her impact went far beyond titles. She reshaped how America remembers the WWII home front, spotlighting the often-overlooked stories of African Americans and people of color at Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond. Her programs brought history alive, turning forgotten voices into essential chapters of the American story.
Born Betty Charbonnet in Detroit in 1921, Soskin’s life spanned a century of change. Her family moved west after the Great Flood of 1927, seeking freedom from Jim Crow oppression. She witnessed the Bay before bridges, Amelia Earhart’s final flight, and the Port Chicago explosion of 1944. During WWII, she worked in a segregated union hall and, in 1945, co-founded Reid’s Records, one of the first Black-owned music stores in the country—a cultural landmark that thrived for over 70 years.
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