WASHINGTON, D.C. – In celebration Women’s Equality Day, which takes place on August 26th, and to spotlight some of the USDA Forest Service’s extraordinary women, the Office of Civil Rights and agency historians are partnering in an oral history initiative called HerStory. HerStory will showcase an online collection of interviews, audio clips, biographies and short stories of current and retired Forest Service women.

Starting in September, new stories of women in the Forest Service will be shared each month, highlighting women in fire, lands or science as well as female leadership. These oral histories and bios aim to highlight the different careers of women within the agency, as well as their struggles and successes.  

One of the first stories will be that of Gloria Brown, who shares her story about becoming the agency’s first female African American forest supervisor. Brown climbed the ranks of the Forest Service by focusing on developing relationships and connecting people with resources.

HerStory will also spotlight Nancy Arkin, who discusses being part of the Deer Lodge National Forest’s first all-female survey team in 1980 and often the only woman in the room. Yet she found herself continually aligned with women in management and always found support among the men and women around her.

Women have been an integral part of the Forest Service since its inception. These women’s stories reveal part of that legacy.