Preserving the Past, Inspiring the Future
Our mission is to educate and inspire current and future generations about the experiences and contributions of women by collecting, preserving, and interpreting the evidence of that experience. The Women's Museum of California is one of only three stand alone museums of women's history in the country.
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Retired Navy Capt. Kathy Bruyere, a pioneer for women’s equality in the Navy, died Sept. 3 in San Diego following a battle with cancer, according to her family.
Bruyere, 76, grew up in an Army family and joined the Navy in 1966 after graduating from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia.
Two years later, she married her first husband, then Navy Lt. Kellie Byerly, and the two later became the first officer couple to attend the Naval War College in Rhode Island.
She also served as a recruiter during the Vietnam War and at the Bureau for Naval Personnel, which was then in Washington, among other assignments.
In January 1976, she gained a measure of fame as one of 12 women featured on the cover of Time magazine for a “Women of the Year” (1975) issue — which was done in lieu of the annual “Person of the Year” issue. At the time, she was a lieutenant commander, and in 1975 had become the first woman tapped as a flag secretary and aide to an admiral, according to Time magazine.
Female sailors had worked on the staffs of admirals, the Time story noted, “but had far less authority than Byerly. She heads the admiral’s staff and handles all liaison between his headquarters and the nine Pacific training commands.”
In the issue, she acknowledged that she was not thrilled about the potential for combat but said she “would not like to deny any woman the opportunity to do anything she is capable of doing, including firing a gun.”
A year later, she and five other female sailors helped clear the path for women to serve on ships and aircraft engaged in combat — assignments previously barred to them under the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948. The sailors, who claimed their careers and potential promotions were negatively impacted by the policy, filed a class-action lawsuit against the secretary of defense and secretary of the Navy in 1977, and U.S. District Judge John Sirica, of Watergate fame, determined the law was unconstitutional in 1978.
"Some people thought it was treason — ‘How dare I try to challenge the system?’ " Bruyere told the Orlando Sentinel in a 1991 interview. "But others kept saying, " ‘Good for you, good for you.’ "
She went on the serve as special assistant to the chief of naval operations for women’s policy, where she was involved in a 1987 study examining career opportunities for women in the Navy and sexism across the service.
A year later, as the first female executive officer of the Navy’s New York Recruiting District, she and Byerly divorced and she later met and married her second husband, Thomas Bruyere, also a Navy officer.
In June 1991, Bruyere, by then a captain with 25 years of service, took charge of the Navy’s only boot camp that included women, according to the report in the Sentinel, which described her as “arguably one of the Pentagon’s top experts on women in the Navy.”
The Orlando Naval Training Center. which processed 30,000 enlistees a year, one third of them female, had been severely criticized the year before for its handling of rape and sexual harassment cases. It was also slated for closure.
Bruyere remained undaunted.
She viewed the command as an opportunity to create coeducational training and study programs, fostering teamwork and mutual respect in the hope of reducing abuse and assault incidents, she told the Sentinel.
“This is where you plant the seeds, giving recruits the opportunity to solve problems as professionals, to respect each other’s talents,” she told the newspaper.
Bruyere retired in 1994. Looking back on her naval career, Bruyere she was most proud of the work she did “to make a difference and help to open equal opportunities for all,” she told the San Diego Veterans Magazine in March 2020.
When asked about the groundbreaking lawsuit, Bruyere told the magazine, “I just believe we should all have the same opportunities.”
“There is nothing today’s women cannot do — we need them to keep charging ahead,” she said.
In retirement, Bruyere continued to serve her community, her family said. She was on the boards for the local chapters of the San Diego Parkinson’s Association, the San Diego Alzheimer’s Association, the George G. Glenner Center for Memory Care and Caregiver Support, and the San Diego chapter of the Military Officers Association of America. She also volunteered as a volunteer for 11 years at the Miramar National Cemetery, where her husband is interred.
The couple was together for more than 20 years before Thomas, also a retired captain, died in 2009 after a 15-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Bruyere, who died at Paradise Valley Hospital in San Diego, is survived by four brothers, one sister, three stepsons and 10 grandchildren. According to her family, she will be buried with full military honors at Miramar.
“Kathy was always so positive and selflessly concerned for the betterment of institutions and others professionally and personally," said her stepson, retired Army Lt. Col. Trent Bruyere. "Frankly, she left this world a better place and will be missed.”
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Yahooo....it's Kamala Harris for VP.
Hi everyone,
"I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear."
- Joan Didion
During these times, let’s find a tablet, electronic or paper, and write about our feelings as we meet “the common themes of an uncommon experience.” And, add images to your daily journaling.
Illuminated Journal
• a tool for living more creatively and authentically.
• a way to engage with the images and metaphors that guide and inform our lives.
• a daily practice of self-expression.
• an ongoing method of coping with daily life challenges.
-Judith Greer Essex, Ph.D., Expressive Arts Institute
Also, Writers, Ink, our partner at Barracks 16, offers many online classes. Please check out the list at sandiegowriters.org
Be safe and start writing!
Anne
Women's History:
https://youtu.be/0jmkC7RjFRM Rock is loud and so are sports (I've never heard of a quiet sport). Since Ms. Aaron is female, I put two and two to four and thought why not have a recognition of women in athletics?
The search, of course, was for female athletes. So yeah, it’s loud, whether it’s rock music, or athletes. All pictures were researched 1985, the year of the song. Please note that search engines can be inaccurate and images can be mistagged with the wrong year. All pictures used were in the order of the search results. I don’t discriminate; I prefer this “mixed bag” approach.
The one thing that was altered, however, was the somewhat haunting chorus in the solo-bridge. You first see a picture of Lee and John Albani followed by a team that tragically passed away. The link is
https://cyclones.com/news/2015/9/8/210325897.aspx for more information and you will see the picture.
Obviously, a song is finite and only so many pictures can fit in, but overall, it was fun to put together.
Alice Park, suffragist, pacifist, of Palo Alto. I just saw an article authored by Melissa Jones of your organization, I believe, that gave her an incorrect birthdate. ("Alice Park was born February 2nd, 1891") No! She lived almost 100 years. Her lifespan should be more like 1862 to 1962.. Please correct the article. Thanks. Kathryn Akatiff, Palo Alto. P.S. She was AMAZING. Perhaps you mixed her up with Alice Paul????
Gracia was a great woman. We are all stronger for having known her.
Hi! I wanted to let you know that Friday and Saturday, Comickaze - Liberty Station - Barracks 15 next door is hosting the creator and publisher of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Freshman Force comic.
They wanted to create something that celebrates the fresh new energy and diversity of the stagnated legislative body, and help some good causes at the same time,” A portion of all sales will go to America’s United Service Organization (USO), and RaicesTexas.org, which provides free and low-cost legal services to under-served immigrant children, families, and refugees.
https://www.facebook.com/events/334325290839123/
I'm new here, can someone welcome me?
Two great women in history to acknowledge today: SUSAN B. ANTHONY
In 1873, Susan B. Anthony was tried for voting illegally, was convicted, and was fined $100, which she refused to ever pay.
SUSAN LA FLESCHE PICOTTE Susan La Flesche Picotte, the first Native American physician, was born today in 1865.
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It's a beautiful day for a walk! This Saturday, June 15 at 10:30am we invite you to go beyond the walls of the Women's Museum of California and around the city in our historic walking tours which focus on women's contributions to our San Diego culture and community.
Meet in downtown San Diego outside the Lyceum Theatre in Horton Plaza for a walking tour of the Gaslamp Quarter District with highlights of the women who worked to improve the lives of people in the district, and those women who helped to "clean up" the area.
Sign up here: