Estelle Long, Chicago's real-life 'Rosie the Riveter,' celebrates 104th birthday

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago's Estelle Long, affectionally known as "Mama Long," turned 104 years old on Tuesday.

Born in 1920, she has a lengthy list of accomplishments.

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Sit down with Long for a minute, and she will share with you one of her secrets to a long, happy life.

"I like to dance," she said.

ABC7 first met the grandmother of seven and great grandmother of 17 six years ago.

Long shared with us why many call her the "real" Rosie the Riveter, an iconic symbol of women who worked in factories and shipyards to support the country during World War II. Hard work, feminism and patriotism are all things that Long embodied as she worked on Douglas c54 cargo planes in Chicago.

"What I did was seal to keep it from leaking," Long said.

She also worked in secret on what we now know as radar.

"We didn't tell anybody we worked there. It was just a known fact during that era. Everything was hush-hush," Long said.

As one of only eight Black students in her graduating class from John Marshall High School in 1937, she has long fought for civil rights, eventually earning a master's degree in public administration, and retiring from the comptroller's office after a 40-year career with the city.

So, on her 104th birthday, Chicago is celebrating Estelle Long.