Stewardess Judith Evenson Challenges Northwest Airlines’ “No Marriage” Policy
Stewardess Judith Evenson’s challenge to the airlines’ “no marriage” policy on this day was one of a number of cases between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s in which stewardesses challenged discriminatory policies in the industry.
She eventually settled her case out of court, but subsequent challenges by other stewardesses ended this and other discriminatory policies (see April 17, 1963; February 26, 1965; March 10, 1973; November 12, 1973).
The term “stewardess” disappeared in the late 1970s and was replaced by the unisex term “flight attendant.”
Read: Kathleen M. Barry: Femininity in Flight: A History of Flight Attendants (2001)
Learn more: Gail Collins, When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present (2009)
For a great perspective on the “long Sixties:” Tom Hayden, The Long Sixties: From 1960 to Barack Obama (2009)