Kelsey:  Where were you born and raised?

Doniloski:  Actually, Mine Hill, and raised in Mt. Hope, New Jersey.

Kelsey:  Which is part of Rockaway?

Doniloski:  Rockaway Township.

Kelsey:  When the war started, were you married or single?

Doniloski:  Single.

Kelsey:  Where did you live during the war?

Kelsey:  During the war I lived on Mt. Hope Road, Rockaway.  It used to be called Middletown.

Kelsey:  How did you get into working in the defense industry, and where did you work?

Doniloski:  Carpooled.  We used to live on the—going to the arsenal, I used to get a ride from carpools.

Kelsey:  Okay, so you worked at Picatinny?

Doniloski:  I worked at Picatinny, yes.

Kelsey:  And what did you do there?

Doniloski:  I was working in the loading department.

Kelsey:  And what did that involve, what did you do?

Doniloski:  Well, I worked on various components, on the conveyor belts.  And I worked on some machines on crimping

             and drilling and stuff, and inspection.

Kelsey:  And what were you making, what was the drilling and crimping?

Doniloski:  Ammunition—relays and delays, primers, stuff like that.

Kelsey:  That went into ordnance?

Doniloski:  Yes, fuzes—went into fuzes.

Kelsey:  And when did you start working there?

Doniloski:  July 19, 1941.

Kelsey:  And what had you been doing before that?

Doniloski:  I got out of high school at seventeen, and couldn’t get a job, so I had to wait until I was eighteen.  I was

             eighteen in April, and I went in July to Picatinny.

Kelsey:  And then how long did you work there?

Doniloski:  Until the war was over, and I got laid off during the month of October, 1945.

Kelsey:  And did you do the same type of job the whole time you were there, or did you move to different things?

Doniloski:  In the loading.  Yeah, different buildings, and different jobs.

Kelsey:  And what other kinds of jobs did you do?

Doniloski:  Clerical work also.  Well, mostly inspection and clerical work and working on the line, and testing.

Kelsey:  What things did you test?

Doniloski:  Delays.  And I carried powder from the building to the building for the operation of the project.

Kelsey:  So you carried black powder?

Doniloski:  Yes.

Kelsey:  And how did you carry it, what did you carry it in?

Doniloski:  Safety containers.

Kelsey:  Did you just carry them in your hands?

Doniloski:  In the container.

Kelsey:  But you carried it in your hands, or did you pull it in a….

Doniloski:  No, no.

Kelsey:  So you would carry one at a time?

Doniloski:  Well, the powder would be in containers.

Kelsey:  And one container of powder at a time?

Doniloski:  Well, yeah, samples—just samples.

Kelsey:  How big were the containers?

Doniloski:  Very small.

Kelsey:  Okay, like a canned good?

Doniloski:  Yes.  Yeah, something.

Kelsey:  Did you think that was dangerous?  Did you think about it being dangerous?

Doniloski:  Well, being young, you didn’t really have any fear.

Kelsey:  Did anybody get hurt doing that?

Doniloski:  No.  Well, there were people on the lines that got hurt, but I mean accidents happened all over.  No, there

              was no fear when you were young—there was no fear.

Kelsey:  I know, you’re “immortal”.  So when you were laid off in 1945, then what did you do?

Doniloski:  Had to get another job, and I went into McGregor’s factory, that was right in Dover.

Kelsey:  And what did you do there?

Doniloski:  I was working in the prep department, at clerical work, doing purchasing orders.

Kelsey:  And how long did you work there?

Doniloski:  A couple of months, and then I got called back to the arsenal.

Kelsey:  Oh, you did?!

Doniloski:  Yes, just for six months when the boys were comin’ back.  And then they would get laid off, and I went back

             there again in ’51, and I stayed there a couple of years, and then I was pregnant.  I had a premature baby—

             worked Friday and he was born Sunday.  So that was it, and I was home for ten years, and then I got called

             back again.

Kelsey:  Back to Picatinny?

Doniloski:  Yes.  That was years and years after, but I wound up with thirty years of service.

Kelsey:  I see.

Doniloski:  I retired in 1988

Kelsey:  So you worked at Picatinny for how many….

Doniloski:  Thirty years.

Kelsey:  Thirty continuous years?

Doniloski:  Well, no.

Kelsey:  Or thirty years from 1941…

Doniloski:  Altogether, yes.  Well, continuous was twenty-three.

Kelsey:  What did you do when you went back and then worked the twenty-three years, what did you do there?

Doniloski:  I was working in the machine shop at that time, working on the punch press.  Then I was working, drilling delays and stuff.  And then I got into the clerical work when Frankford Arsenal came up.  And then I went into large caliber and small caliber, and I wound up with internal review.

Kelsey:  So Picatinny kept contacting you to come back to work?

Doniloski:  Yeah.  Well, they didn’t contact me—the board was open and I went back.

Kelsey:  I see.

Doniloski:  They had an opening.

Kelsey:  You went back and reapplied?

Doniloski:  Yes.

Kelsey:  Did a lot of women do that?

Doniloski:  Oh, yes.  They worked for a while, and then they raised their children.  That’s what I did.  I mean, I raised three children—with working and raising the kids.

Kelsey:  That’s very interesting, that you had a career, really, at Picatinny, spaced out over a number of years.  That’s

            actually fascinating.  All right, well, thank you very much.  I think that’s a good first interview.  There’ll be more. 

           (laughs) You’re actually the first woman I’ve talked to, who has mentioned that they were laid off and then went

            back.

Doniloski:  Oh, yeah?  Well, I had to.  There’s nothing going to go against me here, is it?

Kelsey:  Oh, no!  I think it’s wonderful.  Absolutely not—I think it’s wonderful!

Doniloski:  I’m scared to even say anything.

Kelsey:  Oh, no, no, no.

O’Hagan:  Not at all.  It’s a fantastic interview, it really was.  For us, I think it’s just something neat to have a chance to see and talk to somebody that has done a different kind of story.  It’s neat to hear everybody’s different experience.  That’s fantastic.  I think it was great, a very good interview.

Doniloski:  I wound up with the auditing department.  Well, that’s that, huh?

Kelsey:  [Yes, thank you.]

[END OF INTERVIEW]