Women leaders in industry are celebrated at Slater Mill

While women across the country called out on Wednesday as part of the “A Day Without a Woman” protest, a cadre of female Pawtucket residents and employees showed their solidarity in a different way: by holding a Women’s History Month celebration.

Three years ago, Pawtucket City Councilor Sandra Cano approached Pawtucket School Committee member Kim Grant about starting a Pawtucket Women’s History Month celebration, and so the annual tradition was born.

“We have come a long way but we still face many inequities, but one thing we as women refuse to do is give up,” Cano said. She went on to say, “Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have our back. The question is not, ‘Who is going to let us?;’ it’s ‘Who is going to stop us?’”

Pawtucket’s 3rd Annual Women’s History Month Celebration was held on Wednesday morning at Slater Mill, with a focus on “honoring trailblazing women in business and labor.”

One such woman honored was Rosalia DaRosa, president of the Pawtucket-based elastics and webbing manufacturer North East Knitting, Inc.

Iris Haik, a senior at the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts, spoke to the crowd of several dozen women – and a handful of men – about the life of Rosalia DaRosa. Haik will be attending Stanford University in the fall and plans to study international relations.

DaRosa was born on the island of Brava in Cape Verde to sustenance farmers and was the third of 12 children.

When DaRosa was 18, her father got a visa to move to the United States, and both came to Pawtucket. DaRosa worked three jobs: operating machinery at International Stretch, packaging candy, and waitressing at Rocky Point Amusement Park.

In 1986, DaRosa established North East Knitting, Inc. with four men, and she was entirely in charge of production. At first, she only had a 5 percent stake in the company, but after three years, she confronted the other owners.

Today, DaRosa is the sole head of North East Knitting, which employs 100 people.

“Her life, work ethic and commitment to the city is genuinely inspiring,” Haik said.