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| James and Helen Longstreet |
Throughout the remainder of her life, she continued to defend her husband's military career both in print and on the lecture circuit.
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| Helen Longstreet (in striped dress) with actress Mary Pickford and United Confederate Veterans Commander Julius Howell at Gettysburg groundbreaking ceremony for Longstreet equestrian statue on July 2, 1941 |
She organized the Longstreet Memorial Association and raised funds for a statue of her husband at the Gettysburg battlefield.
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| Bell Aircraft |
During World War II, she became a "Rosie the Riveter" at the age of 80, working at the Bell Aircraft plant in Atlanta, Georgia. She said at the time, "I am going to assist in building a plane to bomb Hitler." Helen worked the 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. shift. When controversy erupted over unionism, her employers became aware of her age and asked her to quit. Helen refused, stating she had the eyesight of a 20-year-old and was in otherwise perfect health.
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| Helen Longstreet at work during WWII |
She was quoted in The Atlanta Journal on October 12, 1943: "I've been an assembler and riveter for about two years and have never lost a day from work, or been a single minute late. I will quit only when the last battle flag has been furled on land and sea."
At 87, she ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for governor of the State of Georgia against Herman Talmadge in 1950. Her platform included repeal of the Jim Crow laws that segregated public life in Georgia.
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| Herman Talmadge |
In 1957, Longstreet was admitted to the Central State Hospital in Milledgeville for mental illness (possibly Alzheimer's). She remained there until her death on May 3, 1962. at the age of 99.
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| Central State Hospital in Milledgeville |
She was buried in West View Cemetery in Atlanta.
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