Melvin I. Urofsky on the Living History of Affirmative Action in America
December 14, 2020
In 1993, the New York City Fire Department issued a curious order, namely that no pictures could be taken of Brenda Berkman, a 15-year veteran of the force, on or off duty, inside or outside a firehouse. This proved to be one last gasp in the protest against women in what had been an all-male preserve for the department’s 117-year history.
The fight had started much earlier. In 1971, Secretary of Labor James D. Hodgson issued an order calling on all federal contractors to take affirmative action to eliminate sex discrimination. That order had little effect, and in 1977 the Office of Federal Contract Compliance announced that it planned “to get tough” with building and construction contractors who failed to seek out and train women for work on everything from steel girders to bricklaying. According to Weldon Rougeau, the head of the office, parents should start talking to their daughte