1 00:00:00,284 --> 00:00:02,867 (gentle music) 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:06,240 - When I joined in 1963. 3 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:11,240 And of course, in 1963 and '67, those years were, 4 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:14,900 you know, there's a lot of racial turmoil going on. 5 00:00:14,900 --> 00:00:18,300 The women had very little to do in the Air Force. 6 00:00:18,300 --> 00:00:21,533 You see a clerk-typist, or you could be a medic, 7 00:00:22,410 --> 00:00:25,550 but you couldn't do anything that was adventurous 8 00:00:25,550 --> 00:00:27,350 or this kind of stuff. 9 00:00:27,350 --> 00:00:29,010 - Of course, then back then, 10 00:00:29,010 --> 00:00:31,110 the men were totally separate from the woman. 11 00:00:31,110 --> 00:00:33,300 The woman had a totally separate squadron. 12 00:00:33,300 --> 00:00:36,343 The 37-43rd WAF Training Squadron. 13 00:00:37,610 --> 00:00:42,610 - Later on in my career, I became the first female 14 00:00:42,930 --> 00:00:47,290 to teach at the Strategic Air Command Academy. 15 00:00:47,290 --> 00:00:51,950 And before I even taught a class, or got in class, 16 00:00:51,950 --> 00:00:55,830 I was just, you know, sitting in and listening. 17 00:00:55,830 --> 00:00:59,110 We got critiqued saying, "Women have no place in here." 18 00:00:59,110 --> 00:01:02,640 This is, you know, "What can a woman teach us?" 19 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:03,547 You know, this kind of stuff. 20 00:01:03,547 --> 00:01:07,670 You know, the same old stuff that women go through. 21 00:01:07,670 --> 00:01:09,200 - I don't think they were ready for us 22 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:14,000 to be an integrated part of the Air Force 23 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,560 because everything was separate. 24 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:19,980 When I got to my first permanent party base, 25 00:01:19,980 --> 00:01:22,580 I had two commanders and two first sergeants. 26 00:01:22,580 --> 00:01:24,360 A male commander and a male first sergeant 27 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,750 for my duties unit, 28 00:01:26,750 --> 00:01:29,127 and a female commander and a female first sergeant 29 00:01:29,127 --> 00:01:30,840 for my residence. 30 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,430 And you've got details and orders from both. 31 00:01:34,430 --> 00:01:38,390 The uniforms were most of the time, too big for you, 32 00:01:38,390 --> 00:01:40,923 or too baggy, or this kind of stuff. 33 00:01:42,304 --> 00:01:45,072 And so you had your sort of make do with what you had, 34 00:01:45,072 --> 00:01:48,370 you know, tie everything up around you 35 00:01:48,370 --> 00:01:49,710 and that kind of stuff. 36 00:01:49,710 --> 00:01:52,970 It was like they didn't make women's uniforms. 37 00:01:52,970 --> 00:01:56,259 They just took a male's uniform and cut it down, 38 00:01:56,259 --> 00:02:00,490 or did something to it to make it fit women type thing. 39 00:02:00,490 --> 00:02:03,910 It was kinda obvious that they weren't ready. 40 00:02:03,910 --> 00:02:07,252 And so, women are kind of resilient, 41 00:02:07,252 --> 00:02:11,130 so we sorta made do with what we had. 42 00:02:11,130 --> 00:02:14,630 And see, you had to depend on your fellow airmen, 43 00:02:14,630 --> 00:02:15,463 you know, type of thing, 44 00:02:15,463 --> 00:02:18,744 and you couldn't go into any kind of situation 45 00:02:18,744 --> 00:02:22,990 where you couldn't depend on the person next to you 46 00:02:22,990 --> 00:02:23,823 type of thing. 47 00:02:23,823 --> 00:02:25,750 So that had to be worked out. 48 00:02:25,750 --> 00:02:27,463 - I didn't have any problems. 49 00:02:28,790 --> 00:02:30,930 And I know a lot of ladies, they did. 50 00:02:30,930 --> 00:02:33,970 They were treated like you shouldn't be here. 51 00:02:33,970 --> 00:02:36,560 And I know I read in one of the Air Force manuals 52 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:40,920 that there were no female medics until 1973. 53 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:43,247 And so, I told the guy out at Randolph, I said, 54 00:02:43,247 --> 00:02:45,320 "Then what was I for 10 years?" 55 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:47,890 Because I became a medic in 1963. 56 00:02:47,890 --> 00:02:51,910 The male technicians did not want female technicians 57 00:02:51,910 --> 00:02:53,300 working on the floor. 58 00:02:53,300 --> 00:02:54,680 And if you let them, 59 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,060 they would leave all the cleaning to you. 60 00:02:58,060 --> 00:02:59,610 I just told them no. 61 00:02:59,610 --> 00:03:03,290 But if you didn't speak up, peer-to-peer, 62 00:03:03,290 --> 00:03:05,220 they'd try to take advantage 63 00:03:05,220 --> 00:03:06,840 - Did I feel myself equal? 64 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,699 Or, of course, I was equal, but see, 65 00:03:09,699 --> 00:03:11,930 I had a double whammy, you know, 66 00:03:11,930 --> 00:03:14,783 not only was I a woman, but I was a black woman. 67 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:19,190 And so, when you didn't get promoted, 68 00:03:19,190 --> 00:03:22,153 or you didn't get the job you wanted, you couldn't decide 69 00:03:22,153 --> 00:03:25,473 is it 'cause I'm female or is is because I'm Black? 70 00:03:28,659 --> 00:03:32,480 - I think the people who don't know about the mother 71 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,410 for them to just see the changes that have happened 72 00:03:36,410 --> 00:03:40,150 and the career fields available to females 73 00:03:40,150 --> 00:03:44,360 is the biggest thing that non-military people need to see. 74 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:45,780 - Everything is wide open. 75 00:03:45,780 --> 00:03:48,580 They can just about be, and especially 76 00:03:48,580 --> 00:03:52,540 if young women do not know what they want to do. 77 00:03:52,540 --> 00:03:54,390 The Air Force has a good place to come 78 00:03:54,390 --> 00:03:56,340 to find out what they want to do. 79 00:03:56,340 --> 00:03:58,180 If you don't know what you want to do, 80 00:03:58,180 --> 00:04:00,070 don't flounder around, 81 00:04:00,070 --> 00:04:02,600 come and get some structure to your life, 82 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:04,990 and you will see different things 83 00:04:04,990 --> 00:04:06,870 that you might like to do. 84 00:04:06,870 --> 00:04:11,380 - I think it was my being willing to step up. 85 00:04:11,380 --> 00:04:15,280 And when I was offered a chance to do something, 86 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:16,930 I said, yes. 87 00:04:16,930 --> 00:04:20,360 And as far as the ladies are concerned, 88 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:22,977 don't say, "I can't because I'm a female."