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Federal Woman's Award

File:Nancy Grace Roman with President Kennedy (27154783187).jpg meets with recipients of the 1962 Federal Woman's Award for outstanding contributions to government on February 27, 1962. Shown from left to right are Dr. Allene R. Jeanes, Research Chemist at the Department of Agriculture; Evelyn Harrison, deputy director of the Bureau of Programs and Standard at the Civil Service Commission; Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, Chief of Astronomy and Solar Physics at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); President Kennedy; Margaret H. Brass, Attorney at the Department of Justice; Katherine W. Bracken, Director of the Office of Central American and Panamanian Affairs at the Department of State; Dr. Thelma B. Dunn, cancer researcher at the National Cancer Institute; Katie Louchheim, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs (accompanying the recipients). Photo taken in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C.]]The Federal Woman's Award, also known as the Federal Women's Award, was given by the United States Civil Service Commission from 1961 until 1976.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/CIA-RDP84-00313R000100250012-1|title=CIVIL SERVICE JOURNAL|last=Central Intelligence Agency|date=1969-09-01|others=Emma Best|language=English}}

The Federal Woman's Award was established by Barbara Bates Gunderson in 1960, while she was serving on the Civil Service Commission. Her goal was to publicize the ways women were excelling in federal employment, and to encourage young women to consider careers with federal laboratories and agencies.{{Cite news|date=1960-10-12|title=Federal Woman's Award Announced by Miss Bates|pages=8|work=Pensacola News Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76994586/federal-womans-award-announced-by-miss/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}} Gunderson was also the first chair of the award's board.{{Cite news|last=Gilbride|first=F. J.|date=1964-07-19|title=Permanent Designation|pages=30|work=Argus-Leader|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76971038/permanent-designation/|access-date=2021-05-03|via=Newspapers.com}} Katie Louchheim, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, and later Patricia Hitt, Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, issued press releases about the awards and appeared at the presentation events.{{Cite news|date=1961-10-29|title=Will Cite High-Caliber Career Women in Federal Positions|pages=23|work=Asbury Park Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76971575/will-cite-high-caliber-career-women-in/|access-date=2021-05-03|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1969-03-01|title=Gov. Career Women Receive Top Honors|pages=10|work=The Pittsburgh Courier|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76984057/gov-career-women-receive-top-honors/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}

Nominations were submitted annually by federal departments and agencies to the board of trustees for the Federal Woman's Award. The nominations were judged by a panel of "persons prominent in public life", including magazine editors, broadcasters, journalists, business executives, and college presidents. Among the judges were Milton S. Eisenhower, Carl Rowan, Doris Fleeson, Arthur Sherwood Flemming, Sol Linowitz, David Brinkley, Betty Furness, and Katharine E. McBride.{{Cite news|date=1965-11-27|title=Katie Loucheim Announces Federal Women's Judges|pages=6|work=The Pittsburgh Courier|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76967242/katie-loucheim-announces-federal/|access-date=2021-05-03|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1967-11-18|title=Judges Told for Career {{as written|Wom|ens' [sic]}} 8th Annual Award|pages=10|work=The Pittsburgh Courier|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76969721/judges-told-for-career-womens-8th/|access-date=2021-05-03|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1963-03-04|title=List Federal Woman's Awards Judges for '63|pages=6|work=Asbury Park Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76986943/list-federal-womans-awards-judges-for/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}

About six recipients were selected each year, for their "outstanding achievement and ability in an executive, professional, scientific, or technical position in the federal service."{{Cite news|date=1962-12-30|title=Federal Award for Women Lists Open|pages=8|work=Reno Gazette-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76970243/federal-award-for-women-lists-open/|access-date=2021-05-03|via=Newspapers.com}} Award winners were invited to a ceremony in the Oval Office. The president posed for official photographs with the group, and made remarks for the occasion.

The awards were discontinued after the 1976 presentations, though there were nominations for 1977.{{Cite news|date=1977-04-29|title=Lola McFerson, AFLC Nominee for Federal Women's Award|pages=2|work=The Hill Top Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76984718/lola-mcferson-aflc-nominee-for-federal/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}} "Although the prize had served its purpose at no cost to the government, its continuation in the era of equal opportunity as a separate compensatory award for women only, which had seemed so harmless and even chivalric before, began to raise concerns and embarrassment," noted historian of science Margaret Rossiter.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_PU_TupLosC&dq=%22Federal+Woman%27s+Award%22+1974&pg=PA175|title=Women Scientists in America: Forging a New World Since 1972|last=Rossiter|first=Margaret W.|date=2012-04-02|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9781421402338|language=en}} In 1978, Rosalyn Yalow, one of the award's first recipients, recalled that "I viewed this award as second-class", adding "I was therefore delighted to learn last year that the Federal Woman's Award was to be discontinued — I hope permanently."{{Cite news|last=Yalow|first=Rosalyn|date=1978-06-21|title='Ghetto' Awards That Say 'Not Bad for a Woman'|pages=15|work=The Des Moines Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76985885/ghetto-awards-that-say-not-bad-for-a/|access-date=2021-05-04}}

File:FederalWomansAward1964.png poses in the Oval Office with six winners of the 1964 Federal Woman's Award; from left to right: Elizabeth Messer, Evelyn M. Anderson, Gertrude Blanch, President Johnson, Patricia van Delden, Margaret Schwartz, and Selene Gifford]]

Awardees by year

= 1961<ref name=":2" /> =

= 1962<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=February 27, 1962|title=Visit of recipients of 2nd Annual Federal Woman's Award|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKWHP/1962/Month%2002/Day%2027/JFKWHP-1962-02-27-A|url-status=|access-date=2021-05-03|website=JFK Library}}</ref> =

  • Katherine W. Bracken (Director of the Office of Central American and Panamanian Affairs, Department of State)
  • Margaret H. Brass (attorney, Department of Justice){{Cite news|date=1962-02-06|title=Federal Women's Award to be Given to Margaret H. Brass|pages=1|work=The Daily Courier|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76965301/federal-womens-award-to-be-given-to/|access-date=2021-05-03|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • Thelma Brumfield Dunn
  • Evelyn Harrison (Civil Service Commission)
  • Allene Jeanes
  • Nancy Roman

= 1963<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 2, 1963|title=Visit of winners of the 1963 Federal Woman's Awards|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKWHP/1963/Month%2005/Day%2002/JFKWHP-1963-05-02-D|url-status=|access-date=2021-05-03|website=JFK Library}}</ref> =

= 1964<ref>{{Cite news|date=1964-02-03|title=Government Cites WPAFB Scientist|pages=1|work=The Journal Herald|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76994827/government-cites-wpafb-scientist/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> =

  • Evelyn Anderson
  • Gertrude Blanch
  • Selene Gifford
  • Elizabeth F. Messer (Civil Service Commission){{Cite news|title=Elizabeth Messer, 65, Retired Civil Service Commission Aide|language=en-US|work=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/05/13/elizabeth-messer-65-retired-civil-service-commission-aide/eee389e5-5b6f-4ca3-bcdb-99774b6434fc/|access-date=2021-05-05|issn=0190-8286}}
  • Margaret Wolman Schwartz (specialist in economic warfare, Treasury Department)
  • Patricia G. van Delden

= 1965<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Lyndon Baines|date=March 2, 1965|title=Remarks at the Federal Woman's Award Ceremony|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-federal-womans-award-ceremony|url-status=|access-date=2021-05-03|website=The American Presidency Project, UCSB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=King|first=Jan|date=1965-04-26|title=Federal Woman's Awards Presented to Career Women|pages=18|work=The Amarillo Globe-Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76984365/federal-womans-awards-presented-to/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> =

= 1966<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crowther|first=Rodney|date=1966-02-07|title=Honor is Set For 6 Women|pages=1|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76984958/honor-is-set-for-6-womenrodney-crowther/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> =

  • Fannie N. Boyls (1906-2002; National Labor Relations Board)
  • Stella E. Davis (Desk officer, East and South Africa, USIA)
  • Jocelyn Gill
  • Ida Craven Merriam
  • Irene Parsons (Personnel, Veterans Administration){{Cite news|date=1966-02-27|title=Irene Parsons is Winner of Federal Woman's Award|pages=65|work=The News and Observer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76972254/irene-parsons-is-winner-of-federal/|access-date=2021-05-03|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1972-03-21|title=Miss Parsons Receives Career Service Award|pages=6|work=Asheville Citizen-Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94040164/miss-parsons-receives-career-service/|access-date=2022-02-02|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • Ruth G. Van Cleve (director, Office of the Territories, Department of Interior)

Also nominated: Julia Brown Wright (US Naval Propellant Plant){{Cite news|date=1965-11-14|title=Julia Brown Wright Nominee for Federal Woman's Award|pages=3|work=Rocky Mount Telegram|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76985274/julia-brown-wright-nominee-for-federal/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}

= 1967 =

  • Elizabeth Ann Brown
  • Barbara Moulton
  • Anne Mason Roberts
  • Kathryn Grove Shipp{{Cite news|date=1967-02-10|title=Former City Woman Wins U. S. Honor|pages=27|work=The Morning News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76995062/former-city-woman-wins-u-s-honor/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • Wilma Victor{{Cite web|title=Wilma L. Victor, Choctaw, to Receive Federal Woman's Award {{!}} Indian Affairs|url=https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/opa/online-press-release/wilma-l-victor-choctaw-receive-federal-womans-award|url-status=|access-date=2021-05-03|website=Bureau of Indian Affairs, U. S. Department of the Interior}}
  • Marjorie J. Williams

= 1968<ref>{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Lyndon Baines|date=March 14, 1968|title=Remarks at the Federal Woman's Award Ceremony|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-federal-womans-award-ceremony-0|url-status=|access-date=2021-05-03|website=The American Presidency Project, UCSB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1968-02-12|title=7 Federal Workers Win Woman's Award|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/02/12/archives/7-federal-workers-win-womans-award.html|access-date=2021-05-03|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> =

Also nominated: Eileen R. Donovan, Charlotte M. Hubbard, and Susan T. Tait{{Cite journal |title=4 Officers Honored In Government-Wide Awards Competition |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112108168847&seq=300 |journal=State Department Newsletter |pages=6 |via=Hathitrust}}

= 1969<ref name=":4" /> =

  • Mary Hughes Budenbach
  • Edith N. Cook (Associate Solicitor, Division of Legislation, Department of Labor)
  • Eileen R. Donovan
  • Jo Ann Smith Kinney (Navy, Submarine Medical Research Lab)
  • Esther Christian Lawton
  • Dorothy L. Starbuck{{Cite news|date=1969-03-03|title=Veterans News Told|pages=4|work=The Prattville Progress|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76985518/veterans-news-told/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}

= 1970<ref>{{Cite news|date=1970-02-17|title=Ithaca Woman National Winner|pages=6|work=The Post-Standard|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76984513/ithaca-woman-national-winner/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> =

  • Jean Apgar{{Cite news|date=1999-03-20|title=Mary H. Ayers|pages=26|work=The News and Observer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94040468/mary-h-ayers/|access-date=2022-02-02|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • Margaret Pittman
  • Naomi Rosen Sweeney (Office of Management and Budget)
  • Sarah B. Glindmeyer (chief of the Bureau of Nursing, D. C. Dept. of Public Health)
  • Valerija B. Raulinaitis
  • Margaret Joy Tibbetts

Also nominated: Marilyn Levy

= 1971<ref>{{Cite news|date=1971-02-04|title=Federal Women's Award Honors Six Top Females|pages=3|work=Enterprise-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26107379/juanita-moody-given-federal-womens/|access-date=2021-05-05|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> =

Also nominated: Frances L. Whedon, Miriam H. Thomas, Joyce L. House, Joyce I. Allen, Vilma B. Harper, Cleo S. Cason{{Cite journal|date=January–February 1971|title=Army Nominates 6 Employed in R&D for Annual Federal Woman's Award|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E70AN4aOG6AC&dq=Frances+L.+Whedon&pg=PA18|journal=Army Research & Development Newsmagazine|volume=12|pages=18}}

= 1972 =

  • Lois Albro Chatham
  • Phyllis Dixon Clemmons (d. 2013; Government of the District of Columbia)
  • Ruth M. Davis
  • Mary Harrover Ferguson (d. 1999; Office of Naval Research)
  • Ruth M. Leverton
  • Patricia Ann McCreedy{{Cite news|date=1972-04-26|title=Former Biloxian given Federal Woman's award|pages=22|work=Sun Herald|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94039914/former-biloxian-given-federal-womans/|access-date=2022-02-02|via=Newspapers.com}}

= 1973<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KKU4a1cBNxsC&dq=%22Federal+Woman%27s+Award%22+1973&pg=PA171|title=Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Richard Nixon, 1973: Containing the Public Messages, Statements, and Speeches of the President|last=Office|first=United States Government Printing|date=1999|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=9780160588655|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref> =

  • Bernice L. Bernstein (HEW){{Cite news|date=1973-03-07|title=Menomonie Native Earns Federal Award|pages=4|work=The Dunn County News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76985088/menomonie-native-earns-federal-award/|access-date=2021-05-04|via=Newspapers.com}}
  • Marguerite S. Chang
  • Janet Hart (Federal Reserve)
  • Marilyn E. Jacox
  • Isabel L. Karle
  • Marjorie R. Townsend{{Cite web|last=Townsend|first=Marjorie Rhodes|date=March 1973|title=Remarks for Federal Woman's Award Banquet|url=https://aspace.lib.vt.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/20180|url-status=|access-date=2021-05-03|website=Marjorie Rhodes Townsend Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech}}

= 1974 =

= 1975 =


Also nominated: Theresa V. Brassard{{Cite news|date=1975-01-10|title=Waterford Woman Runner-Up|pages=13|work=The Times Record|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86602690/waterford-woman-runner-up/|access-date=2021-10-06|via=Newspapers.com}}

= 1976<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33062855/national_womans_award_1976/|title=Labor Dept. Official Named to Women's Award|last=|first=|date=September 20, 1976|work=Rocky Mountain Telegram|access-date=June 20, 2019|page=3|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>=

  • I. Blanche Bourne (Public Health, Government of the District of Columbia){{Cite news|last=Bush|first=Frances W. Sr.|date=1976-12-31|title=Dr. I. Blanche Bourne Receives Federal Woman's Award for 1976|pages=9|work=The News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76986789/dr-i-blanche-bourne-receives-federal/|access-date=2021-05-04}}
  • Carin Ann Clauss{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blHVAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Federal+Woman%27s+Award%22+1974&pg=PA228|title=Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Jimmy Carter, 1977|last=Jimmy|first=Carter|date=1977-01-01|publisher=Best Books on|isbn=9781623767648|language=en}}
  • Dorothy I. Fennell (Department of Agriculture)
  • Marion J. Finkel (FDA)
  • Mary Patricia Murray (VA, kinesiologist)
  • Joyce J. Walker (OMB){{Cite news|date=1977-10-13|title=Joyce Walker Honored for WHS Homecoming|pages=2|work=Windsor Beacon|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94040012/joyce-walker-honored-for-whs-homecoming/|access-date=2022-02-02|via=Newspapers.com}}

= 1977 =

Nominated: Lola McFerson

References

Category:Civil awards and decorations of the United States