Judith Moyers in the '80s
There is still so much to accomplish, but things have changed enormously. I like to remind my daughter, granddaughters and young colleagues with these stories of what life was like for a politically active working woman back in my early years. These are just personal anecdotes, but they’d likely ring true to anyone who can recall the era.
In 1952, my favorite high school teacher, a PhD historian, wrote in my senior yearbook: “Congratulations to our valedictorian, who has the brains to reveal it and the charm to conceal it.” She meant well.
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Already married, Bill and I took our first class together in our final semester at the University of Texas. It was an economics class. I made an A and he made a B, which took him right in to see the professor, asking “Why did my wife make an A and I only got a B?” The professor pled, “She’s your wife? I thought she was your sister. Had I known you were married I would never have let that happen.”
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While interviewing for a new job in 1957 I was asked if I intended to have a baby soon. “After all, you’ve been married three years now.” When I explained that my husband was in grad school for four years and we had no plans to have children any time soon, I got the job, in the Sales Promotion Division of the Texas Electric Company. My professional colleagues were all men except for one other woman. I discovered that the men made quite a bit more money than we did and I asked my boss about that. “Of course,” he said, “ they are the breadwinners for their families.” Actually, the two of us could have also been considered breadwinners.
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In the Presidential election of 1960, the Democratic National Committee had decided to take the plunge and sent out one team of women as “advance men.” The six of us covered eight southern states, the region JFK and LBJ were going to “lose anyway.” By 1964 I was the requisite female in a team of advance men.
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In 1969, now living in New York, I was asked to join the board of trustees of a university. When I went into the board room for my first meeting, a trustee whom I knew well welcomed me by pulling me down into his lap.
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As a member of the PTA at my children’s school, we became alarmed at the short time kids were allowed to cross the intersection at a busy corner, and so over six weeks we documented the exact length of the interval of the changing light. After I presented the PTA report at a meeting of the village board, the chief of police was asked to respond. “Mrs. Moyers we know you are a bra burner who would like to change everything,” he said. But the light was changed.
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In 1972, touring the country speaking for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have guaranteed equal rights for women, I was frequently asked by the press if I “regretted having children” or was “angry with your husband.” We came close, but in the end the ERA was defeated.
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My friend Pat Bradshaw and I were the first women to moderate the Executive Seminars at the Aspen Institute. She and I understood perfectly that we were considered “safe” to initiate this new development because our spouses were old hands at moderating there. Whatever. Somebody had to go first. We continued to moderate for years.
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In the years that followed, I was tapped to serve on several corporate boards, often becoming the first female director. While serving on one board, I visited a large shipyard that was owned by our conglomerate. I wanted to go down into the hold of the ship that was being built. The managers were horrified, saying it was “bad luck” for a woman to go down into the hold. They finally did allow it.
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Breaking barriers on the board of a large financial institution, I was assigned to the personnel committee and the marketing committee — seen as more appropriate for a woman’s interest. I asked for a seat on the audit committee.
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There are so many stories I could tell. Yet I know I was fortunate. The nuclear family that nurtured me gave me the confidence to step out in spite of the culture that surrounded me. Later, my spouse and children supported me and challenged me to respond positively to any opportunity. American culture has changed enormously. But it’s good to remember how it was in my own lifetime and that we still have a long way to go.
Judith Davidson Moyers is Executive Editor of Moyers & Company and CEO of Public Affairs Television. A member of the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, she has been awarded several Emmys, is the recipient of the DuPont Award, two Peabody Awards, and the Christopher Award. In addition to serving on several corporate boards for more than 20 years, Judith Davidson Moyers was a trustee of the State University of New York and Vice-Chair for thirteen years. She and Bill Moyers have been married for 58 years and have three children and five grandchildren.
