Frequently Asked Questions
Women in the Foreign Service
Notable firsts:
- Lucile Atcherson was the first woman in the Foreign Service. She passed
the Diplomatic Service examination in 1922 with the third-highest score, and
was appointed a secretary in the Diplomatic Service on December 5, 1922. She
was assigned as Third Secretary of the Legation in Berne, Switzerland, on
April 11, 1925. She resigned on September 19, 1927, in order to get
married.
- Pattie H. Field was the first woman to enter the Foreign Service after
passage of the Rogers Act. She was sworn in
on April 20, 1925, served as a Vice Consul at Amsterdam, and resigned on
June 27, 1929, to accept a job with the National Broadcasting
Company.
- Ruth Bryan
Owen was the first woman to be chief of a U.S. diplomatic
mission.
- Helen
Eugenie Moore Anderson was the first woman to hold the rank of
Ambassador.
- Frances
E. Willis was the first female Foreign Service Officer to become
an Ambassador.
- Carol C.
Laise was the first woman to become an Assistant Secretary of
State.
- Lucy
Wilson Benson was the first woman to become Under Secretary of
State.