Steelworkers' First

In Atlanta last week, blonde, husky-throated Mrs. Betty Hill Karr, who learned how to wear clothes as a torch singer in Chicago's best nightclubs, got all dressed up for a ceremony that made her No. 1 woman of the C.I.O.'s United Steel Workers. She laid aside her welder's apron and toolmaker's slacks, flounced into her party clothes, pinned an orchid to her shoulder and was off to her local's big celebration.

Officers of the Murray Co., where she has worked since January, sent twelve dozen roses and six dozen carnations. C.I.O. President Philip Murray sent the mahogany gavel he used at the national convention in Boston last fortnight. While members cheered, Betty Karr--as the first woman president of a steelworkers' local at a plant which is exclusively in the steel business--took over Phil Murray's gavel.

Betty Karr, a grandmother at 41, was the first woman worker at the Murray plant, helped organize the union, was natural choice for first president. She takes her job seriously, claims that production has jumped 60% since the union signed its first agreement. She also feels qualified to give advice to women just entering war jobs: "Forget the formalities of Mr. and Mrs. and Miss and be just plain Mary and Bob. Women should still wear makeup and look feminine, but above all be a good listener to a man's troubles and a comrade. It will carry their respect, admiration and cooperation. . . ."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.