November 6 - The Fight for Equality

Labor History in 2:00 · Nov 6, 2026 · 1m

On this day in Labor History the year was 1982.

That was the day that eleven women graduated from the New York City Fire Academy.

They were the first women firefighters ever to serve in the city of New York since the department was founded in 1865.

The inclusion of women firefighters did not come easily to New York.

In 1977 for the first-time women were allowed to apply to be firefighters.

Although many women had passed the written part of the exam they were continually denied employment because all failed the physical test.

The women sued citing discrimination.

One of the leaders of the suit…