THE STORIES

1950-2015
Ingenuity, Effort and
a New Headquarters
In October 1961, the Society moved into its first headquarters in the newly built
United Engineering Center (UEC) in New York City. Winnie White, the Society’s first
executive secretary, described SWE’s early days in the UEC in the December 1982
issue of U.S. Woman Engineer [predecessor to today’s SWE Magazine]. In 2001,
SWE officially moved its headquarters to Chicago.
“I had never heard of SWE until Ruth Shafer
telephoned me and heard I was retiring from my
job as administrative assistant to the executive
secretary of AIME [American Institute of Mining,
Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers]. That
was in 1961. She invited me to join her and Pat
Brown, incoming president of SWE, at dinner and
to discuss the possibility of my becoming the first
executive secretary of SWE and opening its first
headquarters in the new Engineering Center, which
was under construction…I was told that I would
be allowed $50 to furnish the office and would be
expected to report the first week in October when
the new Center would be ready for occupancy.
Having been in the old Engineering Building on
39th Street for 12 years, I knew most of the
people in it, particularly the executive secretaries...
Since most of them were moving to the new
Center, I visited each and casually suggested they
might not want or plan to take such and such a
desk, a much-used typewriter, one or two chairs,
that old filing cabinet, and so on. The outcome
was that at a very small price the SWE office was
equipped with the essentials…
So the first day I walked down to the end of the
third floor of the impressive new Engineering
Center and opened SWE’s office. All the
equipment was there…There was also a stack of
mail. I had a lovely view of the East River, Long
Island, and the United Nations park—with little
time to appreciate it…
It is beyond my powers to detail the gigantic
efforts of the various presidents under whom I
served, not to mention the committee members
and other members who held no official titles.
When I retired after 12 years, our membership
had grown [from 500] to 2,200...
Our little office has been moved to a large area
containing several rooms, with at least five on
the staff. But none of the older members will
ever forget those early days of the struggle and
achievement which led to present success.”
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ABOVE LEFT: Invitation to former U.S. President Herbert
Hoover’s groundbreaking for the United Engineering Center
in 1959.
ABOVE RIGHT: The entrance of the UEC displayed the logos
of all the engineering organizations it housed, including that
of SWE.
TOP RIGHT: Society of Women Engineers President Pat
Brown and New York City Section Chairman Christina
Lammers stand on the steps of the United Engineering Center
during the building’s dedication ceremony on Nov. 8, 1961.
MIDDLE RIGHT: A 1961 rendering of SWE member Alta Grant
Samuels’ proposed SWE headquarters office design. SWE set
an ambitious goal in 1958 to raise $250,000 in just three years
to fund a headquarters office in the UEC.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Ruth Shafer, chairman of SWE’s
development committee, added particular humor and flair to
fundraising activities for the SWE Drive to raise enough funds
to support a headquarters office in the UEC. This rebus “Dollar
Sign $hafer” reminded members that, “Big trees from little
acorns grow. Your dollars will grow to this [SWE headquarters
in the United Engineering Center]. So sign your pledge card
now! Start accumulating and you’ll do your share.”
BACKGROUND PHOTO: When it opened in 1961, the UEC
served as the headquarters for 21 engineering organizations,
including SWE. The Society moved its headquarters to Wall
Street in 1993 and to Chicago in 2001.
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Visit SWE.ORG/WEBUILTTHIS to get a closer look at the images.
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