The Foreign Service Journal, November 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2018 65 amateur dramatics or women’s club work. You can help your husband tremendously by having a reputation for unfailing help- fulness.” Coming into the Foreign Service with a newly minted Ph.D. in French literature from the University of Pennsylvania, I was unprepared to be directed by a senior diplomatic wife to become involved in amateur dramatics or women’s clubs. I hoped to do something more substantial, even if some of the traditional activities might be good fun. I was also somewhat surprised at the stress placed on attire and table settings in the so-called “Wives’ Course” at the Foreign Service Institute. But the winds of change were beginning to blow. The Wives’ Course itself began to evolve, with course managers placing increased emphasis on cultural, societal and political develop- ments in the United States for FS wives to better know their own country. At the same time, less emphasis was placed on etiquette. Course managers decided that FS wives in the course either would already be familiar with that information or would acquire it “on the job.” Changing Times As early as the 1960s, wives at the State Department were beginning to realize that their needs, and the needs of Foreign Service families, were not being given adequate attention by State Department management. In 1960 June Byrne Spencer, a Foreign Service secretary who had married her FSO supervisor, formally proposed the establishment of an organization that would be “removed from the considerations of employee rank and would represent families at every level.” She described the reaction: “Jaws dropped; there was silence. It was heretical!” (June Spencer recounted that scene to me one of the last times she attended an AAFSW program, in December 1999.) Thus, in 1960, the Association of American Foreign Service Women (later rebranded as the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide) was born. Eighteen years later, AAFSW founded the Family Liaison Office. Other developments marked the era. In 1963 Betty Friedan, a dissatisfied graduate of Smith College, wrote The Feminine Mystique , arguing that women should not be limited to experi- encing life through their husbands, and that they could derive great satisfaction from work outside the home. At the time, such assertions were revolutionary. The Department of State could not insulate itself from the impact of this controversial but influential book. In 1971, when my husband entered the Foreign Service, I was one of only a few wives with a Ph.D. Fairly rapidly, however, an increasing number of wives began to arrive with advanced academic degrees and considerable work experience. It was only realistic to expect that Foreign Service wives would The first regional FLO conference was held in Bonn in 1982. Here, at the embassy, are (front row, from left) Bonn Community Liaison Office head Mette Beecroft, FLO Director Marilyn Holmes and Budapest CLO Deltre Girjak. Back row, from left: Belgrade CLO Betty Dunlop, Sofia CLO Bonnie Anderson, Moscow CLO Linda McCall and Warsaw CLO Joan Zerolis. COURTESYOFTHEFAMILYLIAISONOFFICE