Project description: The purpose of the project was to interview selected women who held civil service or appointed positions and to make the interview transcripts available to students and researchers interested in tracing the careers and contributions of women in the federal government. The project, which includes nine oral histories, focuses on women who began their government careers during the first half of the twentieth century, and includes narrators from such varied fields as law, education, economics, business, engineering, and medicine. Related interviews may be available at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, which helped fund the project.
Regulatory significance: A few of these interviews suggest regulatory significance. The oral history with Caroline Ware involves consumer protection and the Food and Drug Administration. Other interviewees discuss social security, Medicare, Medicaid, and regulation to address employment discrimination.
Repository: Columbia Center for Oral History
Interview dates: 1981-1988
Digital access: Only abstracts. No online transcripts or audio.
Physical access: For transcripts and audio, researchers may visit the Columbia Center for Oral History.
Link: http://oralhistoryportal.cul.columbia.edu/document.php?id=ldpd_4073685
Interviewees: Ida Craven Merriam, Margaret Joy Tibbetts, Mabel Deutrich, Katnerine Brownell Oettinger, Caroline Ware, Ellen Black Winston, Mildred McAfee Horton, and Mary Dublin Keyserling.
