Betty Reid Soskin, a pioneering historian and the oldest active U.S. park ranger until her retirement in 2022, died at age 104 at her home in Richmond, California.

She spent more than 15 years as a ranger at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, guiding tours and shaping the park’s narrative to center Black women’s experiences during World War II.

She joined the National Park Service as a park ranger at age 85 and retired at 100 in 2022, making her one of the service’s most enduring figures.

Soskin authored the memoir Sign My Name to Freedom (2018) and became the subject of a 2024 musical of the same name, with a documentary No Time to Waste and future film work highlighted by her family.

Growing up in New Orleans and the Bay Area shaped her awareness of identity, history, and inequality, themes she emphasized throughout her work.

Her father was Dorson Louis Charbonnet, a builder, and her mother Lottie Breaux Allen, who carried a diverse African, French, and Spanish heritage.

Among her public moments, she attended Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration with a photo of her enslaved great-grandmother and introduced Obama at the 2015 National Christmas Tree Lighting.

Betty Reid Soskin, born Betty Charbonnet on September 22, 1921, in Detroit, later moved to New Orleans before settling in the San Francisco Bay Area after a flood.

Family members announced her death via Facebook, describing her life as fully packed and her readiness to leave.

The family asked for privacy and noted a public memorial will be announced; donations are being encouraged to the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School and to support Sign My Name to Freedom.

In lieu of flowers, donations may support the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School and the completion of her film project Sign My Name to Freedom.

Public memorial plans are forthcoming as the family mourns, with continued support invited for the middle school and her documentary work.