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Burlington Commission on Human Rights, 1964-1965

At Work in Industry Today Page 17

     In addition to his job, he is active with a wide range of civic, professional, governmental and church activities, including a committee chairmanship in the Schenectady Junior Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Nixon was one of the five finalists for the Schenectady "Jaycees" 1964 distinguished service award to the "Young Man of the Year."
     As president of the Everest Club, a local civic group, Jim Nixon probably has his closest contact with helping junior and senior high school students. The club conducts guidance seminars with the students to bring them up to date on future job opportunities and how they can best prepare themselves to take advantage of these opportunities. The club follows the progress of each student and awards more than $1,000 in scholarships each year.
     "I can say from my own experience that there are plenty of opportunities for those who are qualified--regardless of race or other factors," he says. "From what I've seen, those who were prepared, prepared not in vain."

[photo to right]
Jacqueline Pinckney

Philadelphia woman now edits GE space-plant newspaper

How does a girl move from the secretarial ranks into a professional job in industry? One answer is in the eight-year General Electric career of Jacqueline Pinckney, who is the editor of the weekly General Electric NEWS at the Valley Forge, Pa., Space Technology Center.
     She graduated with honors from Philadelphia High School for Girls, one of the city's best. A large insurance company hired Miss Pickney as a file clerk and messenger. She enrolled in the evening program in professional secretarial work at Temple University, and soon advanced to clerk-typist and stenographer (she had taught herself to type during high school). She capped her five years there with a job as secretary to the advertising and sales promotion manager for the insurance company's home office.
     After completing the secretarial program at Temple, she went on to courses in English and history at another college. She was restless, energetic...and being a $50-a-week secretary "wasn't the world." She wanted to make more money and move ahead in a business career. Jackie Pinckney quit the insurance company. Her self-imposed unemployment lasted little more than a week.
     The new General Electric Special Defense Projects Department was hiring (it was early 1956), and she applied at their headquarters in Philadelphia and landed a job as a personnel testing clerk.
     After a few months, she became secretary to an engineering manager in the department, which was then developing the first nose cone for a U.S. ballistic missile. After 18 months with GE, she was promoted again, this time to an administrative job in education and training work.
     The next step up for Miss Pickney was to education and training analyst. She worked with Company trainees -- engineering students from local colleges, Company engineering and science trainees, and the then-new Systems engineering Development Program. She took a Company course in evaluation interviewing and later added a college course in psychology.
     In January 1963, a reorganization in Missile and Space Division led to an opening for an editor for the employee newspaper at the Space Technology Center. The job would mean more money, but a plunge into an entirely different field.
     Jackie Pinckney jumped in to win professional status in mid-1963.

[photo to right]
William R. Ramsey

Even a college man had rough going in '35. But times have changed!

Conditions have changed dramatically since William R. Ramsey graduated from Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, in 1935. Even for the first Negro elected to Theta Chi Delta, national honorary chemical fraternity, from his college, there was no work available in his field during those depression days. 
     Until he was appointed a letter carrier in 1940, Mr. Ramsey worked as a waiter and a janitor.
     But he didn't discourage easily. He took post-graduate courses in mathematics. Then he taught school for a while in Cincinnati. Finally in 1960 he applied for a job at General Electric's Flight Propulsion Division in Evendale, Ohio, where jet engines are made. Although, at 46, he was a little old to be starting a new career, the people at Evendale were impressed with is solid background in math and the excellent grades he had earned for graduate-level courses. He became a programmer in the Rocket Engine and Testing Operation where he was responsible for designing systems for computing engineering problems on large-scale computers. He enrolled in Company courses in programming and took advantage of on-the-job training by his supervisors. Less than a year after he started, Mr. Ramsey's supervisor said of him, "Unlike most people, he honestly expects no errors in his work--and he is usually right. He takes great pride in doing a good programming job."
     When work became slack in Evendale a year after he started, Bill Ramsey had no serious trouble finding another GE job. In August, 1961, he became programming analyst with the Computer Department. He has had two promotions since then and is now one of a team of GE computer men working on the Nike missile program at the Army's White Sands Proving Ground near El Paso, Texas.

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In addition to his job, he is active with a wide range of civic, professional, governmental and church activities, including a committee chairmanship in the Schenectady Junior Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Nixon was one of the five finalists for the Schenectady "Jaycees" 1964 distinguished service award to the "Young Man of the Year." As president of the Everest Club, a local civic group, Jim Nixon probably has his closest contact with helping junior and senior high school students. The club conducts guidance seminars with the students to bring them up to date on future job opportunities and how they can best prepare themselves to take advantage of these opportunities. The club follows the progress of each student and awards more than $1,000 in scholarships each year. "I can say from my own experience that there are plenty of opportunities for those who are qualified--regardless of race or other factors," he says. "From what I've seen, those who were prepared, prepared not in vain." [photo to right] Jacqueline Pinckney Philadelphia woman now edits GE space-plant newspaper How does a girl move from the secretarial ranks into a professional job in industry? One answer is in the eight-year General Electric career of Jacqueline Pinckney, who is the editor of the weekly General Electric NEWS at the Valley Forge, Pa., Space Technology Center. She graduated with honors from Philadelphia High School for Girls, one of the city's best. A large insurance company hired Miss Pickney as a file clerk and messenger. She enrolled in the evening program in professional secretarial work at Temple University, and soon advanced to clerk-typist and stenographer (she had taught herself to type during high school). She capped her five years there with a job as secretary to the advertising and sales promotion manager for the insurance company's home office. After completing the secretarial program at Temple, she went on to courses in English and history at another college. She was restless, energetic...and being a $50-a-week secretary "wasn't the world." She wanted to make more money and move ahead in a business career. Jackie Pinckney quit the insurance company. Her self-imposed unemployment lasted little more than a week. The new General Electric Special Defense Projects Department was hiring (it was early 1956), and she applied at their headquarters in Philadelphia and landed a job as a personnel testing clerk. After a few months, she became secretary to an engineering manager in the department, which was then developing the first nose cone for a U.S. ballistic missile. After 18 months with GE, she was promoted again, this time to an administrative job in education and training work. The next step up for Miss Pickney was to education and training analyst. She worked with Company trainees -- engineering students from local colleges, Company engineering and science trainees, and the then-new Systems engineering Development Program. She took a Company course in evaluation interviewing and later added a college course in psychology. In January 1963, a reorganization in Missile and Space Division led to an opening for an editor for the employee newspaper at the Space Technology Center. The job would mean more money, but a plunge into an entirely different field. Jackie Pinckney jumped in to win professional status in mid-1963. [photo to right] William R. Ramsey Even a college man had rough going in '35. But times have changed! Conditions have changed dramatically since William R. Ramsey graduated from Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, in 1935. Even for the first Negro elected to Theta Chi Delta, national honorary chemical fraternity, from his college, there was no work available in his field during those depression days. Until he was appointed a letter carrier in 1940, Mr. Ramsey worked as a waiter and a janitor. But he didn't discourage easily. He took post-graduate courses in mathematics. Then he taught school for a while in Cincinnati. Finally in 1960 he applied for a job at General Electric's Flight Propulsion Division in Evendale, Ohio, where jet engines are made. Although, at 46, he was a little old to be starting a new career, the people at Evendale were impressed with is solid background in math and the excellent grades he had earned for graduate-level courses. He became a programmer in the Rocket Engine and Testing Operation where he was responsible for designing systems for computing engineering problems on large-scale computers. He enrolled in Company courses in programming and took advantage of on-the-job training by his supervisors. Less than a year after he started, Mr. Ramsey's supervisor said of him, "Unlike most people, he honestly expects no errors in his work--and he is usually right. He takes great pride in doing a good programming job." When work became slack in Evendale a year after he started, Bill Ramsey had no serious trouble finding another GE job. In August, 1961, he became programming analyst with the Computer Department. He has had two promotions since then and is now one of a team of GE computer men working on the Nike missile program at the Army's White Sands Proving Ground near El Paso, Texas. 17