First Women In Their Field

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now, we wrap up today's show by kicking off some special programming that we'll be doing through the month, for Women's History Month, with a call-in on this International Women's Day. Here's the question. It's three parts. Listen up, take your pick. Which question do you want to answer? What were you the first woman to do? This is Women's History Month. Were you the first woman to do anything in your field of work, in your family, that's worth noting in any way?

What were you the first woman to do? 212-433 WNYC. Or-- What were you one of the first women to do? Maybe you're not the first woman ever to go to MIT, a topic we're going to be talking about on tomorrow's show, with the author of a book on the topic. Maybe you weren't the first woman to go to MIT, but maybe you were in the first generation of women who were allowed to go to MIT. You can include yourself in, and talk about being, if not the first, a pioneer, in your field.

Tell us your story here on this International Women's Day, here in Women's History Month. Where do you fit into this history? 212-433 WNYC. It's an oral history call-in, in this respect, 212-433-9692. You get it. What were you the first woman to do? Or what were you one in the first generation of women to do? The other thing you can do if you want, is just shout out a historic first woman, somebody who's inspired you along the way. We produced a little list here.

Margaret Abbott. You know that name? I'm saying it because most people don't know that name. That's what you do in Women's History Month. You mention some names of people who are unheard of by most people. Margaret Abbott was the first American woman to win an Olympic event, and the event, of all things, was golf. Golf in the Paris 1900 Olympics. Margaret Abbott, golfer, Amelia Earhart, probably first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean.

I think a lot of people in various fields are inspired by the story of Amelia Earhart and what she did in 1928. How about Hattie Caraway? You ever hear of Hattie Caraway? She was the first woman US Senator, 1932. Katherine Graham, some of you know that name. She was the first female Fortune 500 CEO. She became CEO of the Washington Post in 1972. We could mention Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar. First Muslim woman elected to Congress.

That was just in 2018. Shout out a historic first, who's inspired you, or tell us what you have been the first woman to do, or part of the first generation of women to do, in this Women's History International Women's Day. Call in 212-433 WNYC, or tweet @BrianLehrer. We'll take your calls and tweets right after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now, to your Women's History Month, International Women's Day calls on what you were the first woman to do in the world, in your family, wherever, or part of the first generation of women to do, or a woman first from history who has inspired you. Any of those. 212-433-WNYC or tweet @BrianLehrer. Cindy in Long Valley, New Jersey. You're on WNYC. Hi, Cindy.

Cindy: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. I'm 61 and I grew up in upstate New York, in Amherst, New York. When I was 12 years old, a couple of my girlfriends and I were not interested in any way in taking home economics, no sewing, no food preparation. We went to our seventh-grade guidance counselor, Mr. Graham, and we pleaded to get into the industrial arts program, which only boys had been in until, in the history of the school, Heim Middle School, in Williamsville.

He let us get in, he talked with the teacher there, and we had a fantastic time. We learned how to use blow torches. I made a metal plant stand for my mother. I was in heaven. About a year later, because of that experience, I also went to the pastor in my Lutheran church with a girlfriend, and we became the first female acolytes in the church, which got some interesting looks from some of the older, stodgy gentlemen.

Those two experiences were very formative in my life and it helped me feel super comfortable with both male and female stereotypical roles going back and forth. I learned how to do a lot of things in my life because of that. Sit in board rooms with men, joke with them, talk with them, [unintelligible 00:05:37] sheet metal, all kinds of stuff. I think it really built just my character and my confidence. I ultimately became the first female in my immediate family to graduate with a master's degree.

Brian Lehrer: Cindy, great stories.

Cindy: A lot of experience. Yes. Okay, thank you. [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Cindy, thank you. I'm sure you've been an inspiration to others. Here are some coming in on Twitter. Listener writes, "I was the first woman to wear slacks when I worked for the NLRB in 1969." [chuckles] Another one writes, "While one of the first women architecture students at Georgia Tech, I was the first woman hired as a draftsperson by a large engineering firm in Atlanta. The men were not happy, and I endured a lot of sexism."

Here's another one. "My wife was the first woman in her family to not take the last name of her spouse, me. Our kids also have her last name." Erin, in Manhattan. You're on WNYC. Hi, Erin.

Erin: Hi, Brian. Thanks for having this show. It's not MIT in my family, or any of these things, but I'm the first woman to break the cycle of what I believe is generational abuse. I think it hugely impacts women. My daughter, we ran away when she had just turned four, and she is now a sophomore at Sarah Lawrence. She's thriving. I think that when you are able to stand up for yourself, other women see you, and they become empowered.

Abuse happens in all socioeconomic areas, all across the world. I think it's very important that we can stop these things, the critical things that are holding women back. There's so many talented women that can't realize their full potential because they are stuck in abusive situations.

Brian Lehrer: I'm so glad you brought this up, because the way I framed the question excluded it. It was mostly about professional contexts, things like that, educational contexts, et cetera. You are talking about the cycle of abuse and being the first in your family to break what I gather was a cycle of abuse that had recurred in your family. You have to be able to do that, in order to do anything else, or much else. Other women need to hear it, right?

Erin: I think it's very important. The smallest things, when other women can hear it, it's like you can literally stand on their shoulder, because you don't feel alone. My daughter is openly gay. This is huge. She grew up in an Orthodox Jewish school. These small things to empower women, it's critical. We deserve to be full participating members of society and know that we can support ourselves financially. We can be married, we don't have to be, but that we deserve autonomy, respect, and love.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Erin. Thank you so much. Judith, in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Judith.

Judith: My dear. I was the first woman in Tel Aviv to start the women's movement in Tel Aviv.

Brian Lehrer: Really?

Judith: In Israel.

Brian Lehrer: When was that?

Judith: This wonderful woman started it in Haifa, I contacted her and said, "We need it here." She said, "You start it." She gave me the phone numbers to call, I started having meetings in my house, and the thing just developed beautifully. The last thing I did as I was leaving Israel was a mixed media theater dance piece on women's liberation at the new Haifa Women's Center. That was in '74.

Brian Lehrer: What were the issues that you were primarily raising in the context of Israeli society at that time? More or less the same as what was going on in the US feminist movement in the 70s?

Judith: The Israeli society males were very misogynistic and insulting in every way. It was really degrading to walk down the street, even. It was really very difficult to be a woman, a single woman. Men were harassing women something horrible, degrading them, and always going after them. The MeToo movement now, if it had existed then, every Israeli male would be in prison. [chuckles] So, thank Jesus.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you. I know you're exaggerating, you don't mean that literally, but I get what you're saying. Barbara, in Durham, North Carolina, you're on WNYC. Hi, Barbara.

Barbara: Hi, Brian. It's my birthday today, and I'm 72 years old. Most people think I'm 60. [laughs]

Brian Lehrer: Let there be cake. Oh, that was yesterday's call-in, right? What age are you, in your head?

Barbara: Right. In 1973, I was the first woman to have a technical position in the TV newsroom in Miami. I was the assistant director for the 6 and 11 o'clock news. That was a post-Newsweek station, so I actually met Katherine Graham. Also, my mother was the first woman to run for public office in Ocean County, New Jersey, in 1954, and she won. I used to produce television at WNYC-TV when you had a TV there.

Brian Lehrer: Wow. Did we work together? I had a TV show before they sold that station.

Barbara: No, we did not.

Brian Lehrer: Maybe you were before my time. Barbara, that's wonderful.

Barbara: '83.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, well before me. Did your mom tell you anything about being the first woman to run for office, locally, from 1954? What's the story that stands out, if anything?

Barbara: I wish. She died just before I turned eight. I don't have any direct information from her, but the family stories are really pretty spectacular about what a strong, independent woman she was, a businesswoman, and so forth. She would have probably stayed in politics, had she lived.

Brian Lehrer: My producer just did some quick math and figured out, since we know when you were born, and what year your mother was elected to office, you would have been a toddler while she was becoming the first woman locally to run for office, and win. So, even more heroic.

Barbara: That's right. Yes, and I have clippings from the newspaper from then.

Brian Lehrer: Barbara, thank you for your call. Thank you very much. Leslie, in Paramus, you're on WNYC. Hi, Leslie.

Leslie: Hi, thanks for taking my call. In 1977, I think, I was the first female to climb telephone poles in the state of New Jersey, for what we called The Phone Company at the time. It's now called Verizon, but it was The Phone Company. It was New Jersey Bell, me and a few other women got hired to be in non-traditional jobs. They were putting men in as phone operators and women as pole climbers, to be installers.

Brian Lehrer: What's it like up there?

Leslie: [chuckles] It's not as high as you think it is. I just wanted to be in a non-traditional job. I didn't want to do anything that anybody else was doing, so I've always been in non-traditional jobs my whole life, but they trained us. If you were one of the guys, it was a union job, so we all got the same pay. There's never a discrepancy about that, and they train you in a room with a rubber mask on the floor in case you fall. I did it for many, many years.

Brian Lehrer: How did guys accept you?

Leslie: I don't remember there ever being a problem as long as I did the job, because when I got through the course, you're assigned to a location, you go to work every day like everybody else, and I did the same work as everybody else. I installed phones in people's homes when they used to still get phones, new lines, and climb poles, and wire up the houses, all that stuff. It was a great career. I retired from Verizon.

Brian Lehrer: Leslie, thank you. Thank you for your call. Who thought we would get a call from the first woman in New Jersey to climb telephone poles? That was not a category we had in mind. Neem, in Yonkers, you're on WNYC. Hi, Neem.

Neem: Hi, Brian. What do people say? First-time caller, long-time listener. Hi.

Brian Lehrer: Hi. Glad you're on.

Neem: I'm very nervous and very embarrassed.

Brian Lehrer: No worries. Were you a first?

Neem: Yes. I was the first woman-- I can't quite believe I'm saying this, but I was the first woman in my community, in my fairly, somewhat closed, small Shia sect, Indian community, to step outside of it and marry a Black man. To marry a man of African descent, which is a complete no-no. I had a child with him, a mixed-race child. I think while we were dating, everybody hoped that this was a phase that I was going to grow out of.

Then I was pregnant, had the child, and horror, shock horror, shock horror through the community. It was pretty tough, but I now have this gorgeous, very successful, and very beautiful mixed-race girl, daughter.

Brian Lehrer: Neem, thank you very much. You get the last word. Thank you for all those wonderful calls about your own experiences being firsts. We'll do a number of other Women's History Month call-ins. Tomorrow, we will deepen this particular conversation with Kate Zernike, who has a book about the first women to be admitted to MIT, and we'll broaden that to women in STEM, generally. That's tomorrow, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

 

 

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