San Antonio , Texas NAWIC Chapter 11, Region 7
During 1957 and 1958, several San Antonio women, who were acquainted only by telephone, decided to get together, have dinner, maybe a few drinks, and become better acquainted. They all were working in a male dominated occupation: construction. They saw their male co-workers benefit by sharing information and ideas with others and knew they too would benefit from a network of women.
That first meeting was a success and soon they were meeting monthly. They called their club Women in Construction. At the same time, they heard of a group of ladies from Fort Worth , Texas who were organizing women employed in the construction industry into chapters for a new trade association. The San Antonio women signed on and became the eleventh chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction. They no longer had a club; rather it was now a professional association. Their new chapter was chartered on August 9, 1958 .
From that time to this, the goals of the Chapter have remained the same: to assist other women in the industry to establish or improve their careers. Members of our chapter represent all phases of construction: we are architects, engineers, office administrators, project managers, carpenters, masons, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, insurance agents, accounting professionals, and so on. We take pride in our diverse membership and feel it is to our benefit to share ideas and information with such a wide range of members.
Our history indicates the active role we’ve taken community and industry affairs. We have joined our brothers and sisters in the industry in many projects to benefit the community. Our projects include a home we built for an elderly woman in the early 1970’s (for this we were awarded first place in a contest sponsored by the San Antonio Express-News), we’ve remodeled a home for another person, participated in a program to upgrade homes for the needy, marched to promote awareness of breast cancer, collected funds and Holiday gifts for children in foster care or shelters, etc.
We work to benefit the construction industry by offering certification courses, and promoting a construction career to youth through Career Days, Block Kids Contests, and competitions. We’ve participated in programs in conjunction with other trade associations and other programs on our own. We work toward improving the public’s overall image of the construction industry worker.
Our chapter has given out over $60,000 in scholarships over the years. These scholarships are only for female and male students enrolled in a construction-related course of study. We watch with pride as these young women and men take their place and advance in the industry.
We are dedicated to improving the working lives of ALL women in construction, not just our members. We open our meetings to all women and provide an educational program and lots of networking. We learn a great deal from each other as we share views and ideas about our specialties.
In many ways, we are the same in 2007 as we were in 1958. We have established our own network of women and offer a hand to our fellow travelers as we move through this journey we call a career in construction.
Judy DeWeese
