Suzanne Povse

Suzanne, a former tool- and die-maker, will locate and interview women who have worked in non-traditional blue collar factory jobs including: welders, electricians, machinists, tool- and die-makers, sheet metal workers, mold-makers, and others. She will conduct research on the history of local women’s presence in these professions, and record their stories, bringing them together in a series of gatherings to share their daily experiences, support one another, and create change in their respective workplaces, through recognizing the historical importance and cultural value of women working in industrial careers. As a feminist who worked as a skilled tradesperson for more than thirty years and faced countless challenges, Suzanne will seek out other women with a consciousness of developing their own ways to preserve their role in these male dominated trades.

Suzanne will complete a manuscript that presents her experiences as a woman becoming a skilled worker in a traditionally all-male blue-collar occupation, working as the only woman as tool and die maker for almost 30 years. Her stories focus on how she made the workplace human for herself without alienating the men she worked with, stories of how she learned to change the workplace. Suzanne writes for herself, other women like her who were amongst the first generation of women after WWII to work on the machine shop floor, as well as for the women who are just now entering or thinking of entering the profession. Suzanne’s writings and sharing of her work puts forth a voice for blue-collar women that claims the importance and legitimacy of their work, allowing women to define themselves. She will also use this project as an opportunity to organize and encourage other women to support each other to continue in their work and to document and share their own stories.