Brenda Berkman

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Brenda Berkman (born October 19, 1951 in Asheville , North Carolina , United States ) is a retired firefighter for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). She is considered a trailblazer for the recruitment of women into the fire service at FDNY, as she achieved a fair recruitment test in 1982 with her trial against the city of New York .

Life

Brenda Berkman was born in Asheville, North Carolina and raised in Richfield , Minnesota . Even as a child she was confronted with discrimination against girls and women in certain areas of life. Her application for the Little League program was rejected solely because of her gender.

Before applying to FDNY, she studied and received, among other things, a Master of Arts in history and a Master of Science in fire protection management from Indiana University and a Juris Doctor from the law school of New York University .

In 1977, the New York Fire Department first allowed women to apply. Although around 500 women passed the written recruitment test, not a single one of them was able to pass the subsequent sports test. Berkman blamed the new test procedure that had recently been introduced by the FDNY. The previous pass / fail procedure was no longer used, but a ranking list of all participants was drawn up. She then lodged a complaint against the test result because she doubted whether it was based on real professional requirements. After the complaint and her offer to work with the HR department to work out a fair test were rejected, she went to court.

In 1982, the court found that the test had violated applicable law. The FDNY was obliged to work out a new test in which all of the previously failed applicants were allowed to take part. Among them, 41 women were selected for training as firefighters. Brenda Berkman was the first to take the new test procedure and was able to pass it. The women in the group remained the only women in the New York Fire Department for years. Also in 1982 she founded the United Women Firefighters Association , which still supports women in the fire service today.

Berkman also works as an artist. She processed her experiences of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , during which she was one of the first forces to arrive at the World Trade Center , in a series of lithographs .

After 25 years of service, Berkman ended her firefighter career in 2006 with the rank of captain . Only two other women had reached this rank before her. She was the first professional firefighter to openly confess her homosexuality . From 1996 to 1997 she was also the first openly lesbian participant in the White House Fellow program .

reception

In 2006 published documentation Taking The Heat radio station PBS Berkman and the initial difficulties of female applicants in the New York City firefighters were treated.

Awards

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ Voices of Feminism Oral History Project ( Memento of the original from January 24, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) from www.smith.edu, accessed January 24, 2017  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.smith.edu
  2. ↑ Berkman Retires from FDNY ( Memento from February 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  3. ↑ Brenda Berkman: From Pioneering Firefighter to Printmaker (English) on dowhatyoulove.today on July 17, 2014, accessed on January 24, 2017
  4. ↑ a b c Firefighter Brenda Berkman on talkinghistory.org, accessed January 24, 2017
  5. ↑ Brenda Berkman - Firefighter (English) at leanin.org, accessed on January 24, 2017
  6. ↑ Eileen Reynolds: On 9/11, Women Were Heroes Too (English) at nyu.edu on September 9, 2016, accessed on January 24, 2017
  7. ↑ Karen Stabiner: THE STORM OVER WOMEN FIREFIGHTERS (English) on nytimes.com on September 26, 1982, accessed on January 24, 2016
  8. ↑ Herstory: Women in Firefighting at unitedwomenfirefighters.org, accessed January 24, 2017
  9. ↑ Christopher Murray: Brenda Berkman: NYC's First Female Firefighter. September 11 responders. Artist. (English) at wnyc.org, accessed January 24, 2017
  10. ↑ WYSK Profile: Brenda Berkman (English) on womenyoushouldknow.net, accessed on January 24, 2017
  11. ↑ Fighting More Than Fires on gaycitynews.nyc on June 21, 2006, accessed on January 24, 2017
  12. ↑ Taking the Heat: The first woman firefighters of New York City at pbs.org, accessed January 24, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Berkman, Brenda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American firefighter
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Asheville , North Carolina , United States