In The Beginning... There was Marriage

Several years ago my friend and colleague, Kathy Kadilak and I began collecting stories of women from "our generation" who were entering the workplace in the 60's, 70's and 80's.  Our mission was to curate these stories because we believe that in order to gauge where we're going, it's always good to know where we've come from. Creating a context of our journey so far is crucial to understanding why we want the things we want, and ultimately, how to get them.

This first story came from my Aunt Peggy

I thought I would grow up, get married, have children, and live happily ever after. I went to college, mainly to find a husband (although I'm not sure my parents saw it that way) rather than to educate myself for a career. I jumped around in different majors from music to undecided and ended up in English lit. It was a great major but as I saw it, it didn't really "train" me for anything, unless I wanted to go on to school and get a secondary teaching credential. No one ever suggested I go to graduate school and get a PhD so I could teach college English. I was an average student. But I know average male students who were counseled to attend graduate school.

In 1961 I began to panic toward the end of my senior year because I didn't even have a boyfriend, let alone a potential husband. That meant I was going to have to get a job and support myself. Most of my friends were education majors and were going to be teachers.

The college guidance counselor was determined to help me find a job and periodically gave me leads. I didn't follow up on most of them because I thought the jobs were beneath me. Then he told me Sunset Magazine was looking for an editorial assistant. Once I went to the interview, I knew I wanted that job. Fortunately, I got it and worked there for 21 years.

After 21 years I started a whole new career in fundraising and later, at the same place, in public relations and book publishing. Although my liberal arts college education didn't train me for anything specific, it did give me a good background for doing a variety of jobs. These jobs have been very fulfilling and, as a widowed mother, have allowed me to raise my daughter into a wonderful adult.

We will be sharing several more stories from this time, many with a similar theme in the beginning and always, for the story teller especially, an unexpected ending.

Despite the seemingly unchanged approach in which many people continue to work, i.e. traditional office setting, long hours and the expectation that to succeed it is essential that you play the part, we hope to show you that one by one, women have been breaking the mold.