"An engrossing and enjoyable bookThis story is real-life history, a vivid example of changing structure, from the inside." Patricia A. Roos, professor of sociology, Rutgers University

"The Bellwomen is a thorough, and thoroughly enjoyable, account of an important piece of history -- the legal action that launched a thousand careers.  Marjorie Stockford brings to life the stories of the pioneering women and the courageous government lawyer that helped open the workplace opportunities all women enjoy today. This book deserves to be widely read so that we don't forget how much effort was required to ensure simple equity, and as a reminder to remain vigilant against vestiges of discrimination that can still creep into corporate cultures."Rosabeth Moss Kanter, the Arbuckle Professor at Harvard Business School, and best-selling author of Men and Women of the Corporation and Evolve!

In the early 1970s, David Copus, a young, long-haired lawyer, teamed up with his government colleagues to confront the mature and staid executives of AT&T over the companys treatment of its female and minority employees. Their disagreement resulted in a $38 million settlement that benefited 15,000 employees, more than 13,000 of them women, and changed our perceptions of womens and mens roles in the workplace forever.

Copus, who worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), was charged with representing American citizens who suffered from employment discrimination. Time and again he saw young, black women in the South being turned down for available jobs in local phone companiesusually as telephone operatorsoften for no valid reason at all. He and the EEOC decided to challenge AT&Ts company-wide sex discrimination practices. Eventually, AT&Ts corporate colleagues, witnessing AT&Ts capitulation, began to hire and promote women into better jobs themselves. At the same time, the EEOC started to more aggressively push corporate America to give women better opportunities.

The Bellwomen recounts the history of this case in a novelistic style, illuminating the motivations, strengths, and weaknesses of all the players, from AT&T corporate leaders, to the lawyers of the EEOC, to the female activists fighting for what they believed. Stockford also profiles three beneficiaries of the case, presenting their ambitions and achievements.

Combined with the power of Americas civil rights laws and the influence of the second wave womens movement, this case provided a catalyst that drove many more women into the paid workforce in non-traditional jobs. By the late twentieth century, when women could be seen working everywhere, from construction sites to corporate offices, it appeared that they belonged there and always had.

Marjorie A. Stockford is a writer and consultant who was a beneficiary of AT&Ts 1973 landmark employment discrimination settlement with the U.S. government. Formerly an executive with the YWCA of the U.S.A., she holds degrees in engineering, business, and public administration, the latter from Harvards Kennedy School of Government.