MAJOR GENERAL JEANNE M. HOLM - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 08/14/1970 - HFSID 24236

GENERAL JEANNE M. HOLM
Jeanne M. Holm, Director of Women in the Air Force, signed this typed letter on Women in the Air Force stationery in 1970 to thank the recipient for "the interesting information on the liner Queen Mary". This letter is dated one year before Holm became the U. S. Air Force's first brigadier general.
Typed letter signed "Jeanne Holm" as Director of Women in the Air Force in blue ink.1 page, 7x9, on U. S. Air Force Women in the Air Force stationery. Aug. 14, 1970. Addressed to Eric S. Engstrom, Long Beach, California. In full: "Dear Mr. Engstrom, Thank you for your letter of July 24, 1970 and the interesting information on the liner Queen Mary. Enclosed is an autograph photograph [not enclosed] for your collection. Sincerely,". Holm (1921-2010),the Director of Women in the Air Force, was the first U. S. Air Force woman promoted to brigadier general (1971) and was later the first woman to achieve the rank of major general (1973). She joined the Air Force in 1942 as a truck driver during World War II, was recalled to active duty during the Berlin Airlift and spent a total of 31 years in military service before retiring in 1975. Holm tried to retire in 1970 after reaching the rank of full colonel in 1965 (which, until the late 1960s, was the highest rank a woman could achieve in the Air Force) but was persuaded to stay to increase opportunities for women in the Air Force. She worked to expand the numbers of positions available to women and end discriminatory policies. Holm even helped lawyers in sex discrimination lawsuits against the Air Force. One of these cases was the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case Frontiero v. Richardson, which ordered military women with civilian husbands to receive the same benefits as military men with civilian wives. Holms' work helped to more than double the number of women in the Air Force. She authored Women in the Military: An Unfinished Revolution (1982). In 1991, Holm was honored with a Living Legacy Award from the Women's International Center. Lightly creased. Staple holes in bottom left corner. Otherwise in fine condition.