Some of this post has been posted before several years ago. But I was reminded of drafting tables for Sepia Saturday this week.
I'm on the far left, not smoking the smelly thing, but holding it for the picture.
The other woman in the photo with long hair, had just graduated with a degree in Architecture from one of the Florida universities. I had had 3 years of liberal arts college and 2 children and a divorce by that time. Little did I realize I'd be going to the U of FL myself in another 8 years myself!
The drafting room of an architectural and engineering firm had mainly men working in it. Stephanie got her position by getting a degree. How did I get mine?
A year after my divorce I was a secretary in a cable TV firm...which in 1971 meant that cables were just being run between phone poles for the first time in Tampa. There were some electrical engineers who worked on drafting tables, and I was sitting at an IBM Selectric typewriter, wanting to find a way up in my career, which seemed destined to include typing. Then I decided to apply for an apprenticeship for an electrical engineering draftsman at another firm. I got the job...after all, I knew the symbols, could draw since I had been an art major.
After a few months of this, I decided if I could apprentice for the electrical draftsperson, why not an architectural one? So I did, and went to another company and got an architectural drafting job. I did it for a few months, then wanted a better position, which is how I ended up 3 years at the firm seen in the photo. I moved up while working there, by starting to draw plans for landscape design and for interior finishes. The firm worked on commercial projects, like banks, post offices, and schools. Some government contracts required landscape designs...which were easy enough to draw. I used a book about plants that would grow in Florida. I knew very little otherwise. I was told it didn't matter, because the contractors would replace my design with whatever they had on hand anyway. And the firm I worked for got a drawing that looked almost as good as one a real landscape architect would have made...much cheaper by me!
And for interior finishes, I used all the samples that were sent for flooring, and Formica finishes for bathrooms, and floor tiles, and paint samples and carpet samples, to build little dioramas, so we could show a bank (for instance) what a color scheme for the boardroom might look like. My favorite was doing a board room for the top floor of a 36 floor building that still stands in Tampa. When it was built it was the tallest building. I never found out if they used my presentation choices or not. It didn't really matter. I got a business card with my name on it saying Architectural Interior Designer. We also got a contract to renovate the Tampa stadium and locker rooms...so I again had some interior choices put together for it. That stadium got demolished and a bigger one built years ago.
Then I quit. I wanted to take a summer off with my 2 boys and travel in my camper van (my only means of transportation). I had proved I could do many things, and had a gas credit card...so we traveled all over the country camping, and then we settled in another city. I started as a temp secretary first...then worked my way up in different jobs.
I didn't return to drafting. But one of my temp jobs was at the new school of architecture in that city. I unfortunately couldn't consider becoming a student yet because there were course requirements that would mean "pulling an all-nighter" and I knew as a single mom I wouldn't be able to do that.
So that's how I ended up as an apprentice that became a draftsperson that became an Architectural Interior Designer.
I learned later, after I finished three degrees in college, that they prepared people for more than just a skilled trade. In the meantime I also knew that training on the job (apprenticeships) are excellent ways for intelligent people to accomplish a lot. One of my sons took that route to become a licensed electrician, while another one got his BS in Electrical Engineering and a MA in business administration.
All of us use computers now in our work, and recreation. So our desks no longer look like drafting tables, as our Sepia Saturday photo shows below.
Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week!
Today's quote (in memory of Thich Nhat Hanh)
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on Earth your love and happiness.
Earth will be safe
when we feel in us enough safety.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
...I remember taking drafting class in high school.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteYou can do almost anything, if you are determined. I like the idea of a travel van, visiting different places.
Take care, enjoy your weekend!
You took a unique and interesting path. I had a peripheral connection to drafting back in 66-67. Before going to uni I worked as a production clerk for a company making industrial electrical connectors, like the kind you see at power stations. My job was the take the blueprint and from it make work orders for the shop who would them fabricate the switches and things.
ReplyDeleteWhat a job trajectory! I took mechanical drawing in high school my senior year. I was the only girl in the class. I took it because I wanted to be an archaeologist and one I had interviewed said it was a good skill to have. Didn't end up majoring in archaeology after all but Urban Studies. Instead of working in the dirt I worked in Gov't - HUD. Left that career to be a stay at home mom then followed my girls to school and became a teacher.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading of your early work experience, Barbara. You took quite a journey. I would love to read more... especially about returning to college and what you studied. I hope you'll keep sharing these stories.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly had plenty of moxie and loads of perseverance! In my high school, there were two art classes - Fashion art, and Commercial art - and they were both taught by the same teacher in the same room at the same time! I was torn. I wanted to do both so I asked the teacher if I could be in both classes. I was told I could do so, so long as I could complete all the projects in both classes. It was a serious challenge, but I was up to it. The Fashion art class was 100% female & the commercial art class, all boys except for one girl - me. An opportunity came up to design a poster for the county schools office for Education Week. The boys all had renditions of very modern-looking schools and scoffed at my little old red school house sitting amongst trees - one even with a tire swing. Yeah? So guess who scored the win! Hah! :)
ReplyDeleteBack in my youth I worked as secretary for a firm of consultants constructing machinery for pulp and paper industry. My main job was typing letters dictated by the boss. But occasionally I also helped the engineers add text on originals used for blueprints. This was back in the 1970s. I guess they too only use computers now!
ReplyDeleteMy! You have worn a lot of hats--well done!
ReplyDeleteInteresting route you took.
ReplyDeleteOpportunity and confidence always make a great combination in life. I once had an interest in architectural design and engineering and sometimes wonder where my life would have gone had I pursued those drafting table dreams. But music presented opportunity and confidence led me to accept that challenge. Wherever life takes us, it's always on a long and winding road.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story. You've always been a creative person.
ReplyDeleteDesire, Determination and Dedication. The keys to success! And it seems that you have them all.
ReplyDeleteWonderful story and great photo, Barb -- and kudos to you for finding a way to advance in your career while raising children. No mean feat in those days.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about the twists and turns that led you to a variety of jobs - and some unconventional decisions. Not an easy task as a single mom.
ReplyDeleteGreat story, a chapter of women's history.
ReplyDeleteI love the Thich Nhat Hanh quotation. He was such a great man.