A Few Good Women: Advancing the Cause of Women in Government, 1969-74
Barbara H. Franklin
The story of the efforts and results achieved by a few good women in advancing the cause of women in government during this five-year period is compelling, and had a ripple effect in business, education, and the professions. To date, fifty-four oral histories document the hardships and challenges faced by the women and some of the men involved in reaching this watershed for progress by and for women in government.
These quiet warriors found ways to hurdle barriers for themselves and others, and they made a huge difference for the women who came after them. Many were in jobs never before held by women; for example, Helen Bentley as chairwoman of the Federal Maritime Commission, Catherine Bedell as chairwoman of the Tariff Commission, and Dixie Lee Ray as chairwoman of the Atomic Energy Commission. And, four of the women have become cabinet members since–Elizabeth Dole, Barbara Franklin, Carla Hills, and Ann McLaughlin. It was during this time that the first women became generals, admirals, FBI agents, sky marshals, and forest rangers. This created a platform for significant additional progress by women in subsequent years.
How It Came About
When Richard M. Nixon took office in 1969, stridency marked the country’s public discourse—Vietnam, civil rights, and women’s rights were the top issues of protest. A question from a woman reporter at an early news conference about why so few women had been among his early appointees brought a promise to look into the matter. Shortly afterward, a Task Force on Women’s Rights and Responsibilities was appointed. Among the recommendations of that task force, in a report called "A Matter of Simple Justice," was the creation of a White House position charged with the recruitment of women for high-level positions in the Federal government.
In April 1971, Barbara Hackman Franklin was named staff assistant to the President to carry out that mandate. Simultaneously, the President sent memoranda to all cabinet secretaries and agency heads asking them to submit action plans for recruiting, advancing, and training women in their departments. Jayne Baker Spain was named as commissioner and vice chairwoman of the Civil Service Commission and asked to see that women in the career Civil Service were guaranteed equal opportunity for employment and advancement. One year later, the President reported the number of women in posts paying $28,000 and up— approximately $100,000 in today’s dollars—had nearly tripled. Some 1,000 women had moved into middle management positions despite a 5 percent reduction in the Federal workforce. And by March 1973, the number of top positions had quadrupled from the number four years earlier. In 1972, Anne Armstrong was named counselor to the President with cabinet rank, the first woman to achieve cabinet status since the Eisenhower Administration.
Full photo, left to right (first row): Ethel Bent Walsh, Brigadier General Jeanne M. Holm, Rose Mary Woods, Virginia Knauer, Helen Delich Bentley, Jayne Baker Spain, Evelyn Eppley, Barbara H. Franklin; (second row): Sallyanne Payton, Elizabeth Hanford, Georgiana Sheldon, Virginia Allan, Carol Khosrovi, Paula Tennant, Brereton Sturtevant, Gloria Toote.
The Oral History Project
In 1996, a small group decided this pioneering effort must not be forgotten. Oral history was chosen as the mechanism for recording the progress of the effort. An interim advisory board was formed to raise funds and identify interviewees. Since the project’s formal inception in March 1997, fifty-four women and men have been interviewed. A cooperative relationship with the University Libraries at Penn State will ensure long-term archival management of the histories and provide access by scholars, historians, and the public.
Interviewees agreed that the period was a watershed for progress by women in government and elsewhere. They also agreed that agitation by feminist activists was useful in attracting attention to problems faced by women in government and elsewhere. Nevertheless, they added, solving the problem required quiet, consistent strategies focusing on identifying qualified women and obtaining cooperation to place them in key positions.
Major funding for the project was provided by Aetna, Inc. Foundation, and other foundation contributors include AMP, Incorporated; the Dow Chemical Company; and Milacron, Inc. Visit the website at http://afgw.libraries.psu.edu.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
The Honorable Barbara Hackman Franklin will be at Penn State’s University Park campus for a special presentation, “A Few Good Women: a Watershed for Women’s History,” on Thursday, April 2, 2009, 4:30–5:30 p.m., in the Foster Auditorium, 101 Pattee Library. The event is free and open to the public.
Franklin’s role in the Nixon White House from 1971 to 1973 is the keystone for advancing women into leadership positions in government and for the A Few Good Women oral history project. A Penn State grad (Class of 1962) and Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, she was the first woman to receive an M.B.A. degree from Harvard’s Business School (1964). She accepted a position as staff assistant to President Nixon in 1971 with the mission to recruit talented women into leadership positions in the federal government. She was nominated and confirmed as commissioner and vice chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1973. At various times, she served as a member of the President’s advisory committee for Trade Policy Negotiations, as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, and director of the Wharton Government and Business program at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1992-1993, she served as the 29th secretary of commerce in the George H.W. Bush administration. She is now president and chief executive officer of Barbara Franklin Enterprises, a consulting and investment firm.