Paga 4 Portland Obsarvar July 10.1SS1 GROUND BEEF OBSERVATIONS FROM THE SIDELINES By Kathryn H a ll Bogle Young, Black and looking for a career? Careers for women might well in­ clude the one o f being a phar­ macists, suggests Geraldine M c­ Connell Christian. Mrs. Christian bases her recom­ mendation on the 25 years plus o f time, and the variety of experience, she had had in this profession. A good share o f that time she has practiced here in Portland. Mrs. Christian entered the white male dominated field o f pharmacy soon after her graduation from the University of Colorado at Boulder. All o f her earlier education had been in Denver, her birthplace. In childhood she had chosen to follow in the path blazed by two Black male pharmacists she admired. They encouraged the young woman to study toward this goal. For a Black female it was not easy to find a job very readily after graduation. First there was the state examination; next was the required one-year apprenticeship in a drug store under supervision; then to find a w illing employer. The latter was like looking fo r the proverbial needle in a haystack. It was in I9 5 l that the hopeful new pharmacist decided to search among federal listings o f job openings, trusting that chances o f her being hired would be better. They did prove better. There was an opening with the U.S. A rm y Chemical Corps at their Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado. At the arsenal, the Chemical Corps operated an in firm a ry and two busy First Aid stations to take care o f ill or injured Army person­ nel. Though there was no declared war at the time, the Corps was engaged in manufacturing nerve gas and mustard gas. The pharmacy was a necessity. Mrs. Christian stayed on the job four years. During this time she also married and became the mother of a small son. Increasingly, however, she felt it wise to remove herself from the proximity o f the dangerous gasses. Fortunately her husband, Conrad M cConnell, also a phar­ macist, was working. Their situation allowed the wife and mother the convenience o f giving her full time to these roles and she left the Chemical Corps. The couple longed for a home "somewhere on the Pacific Coast” , Mrs. Christian said. “ We started •out believing we could be happy anywhere from San Diego to Seat­ tle. W'e wrote letters to Urban League offices asking questions im­ portant to us, like: ‘Job openings in G e ra ld in e C h ris tia n : B e h in d th e c o u n te r o f th e m o d e rn p h a ra m a c y . (P h o to : R ic h a rd J . B r o w n ) your city? What about housing? W'hat is the racial climate? Answers were less than defin itive fo r us. In the end we had to go to see for ourselves. “ We toured along the coast and fell in love with the Northwest. We settled on P ortland. W ithin fo u r days o f our locating here my husband found a jo b w ith the Veterans’ Administration. This was in 1957. He stayed with the VA for a while, but he was offered a bigger job with more responsibility (and money) as head o f the pharmacy at St. Vincent Hospital. He stayed 16 years there. “ Conrad’ s first job was vacant,” Mrs. Christian continued. “ I knew about it. I quickly applied fo r it — and they hired me. “ The VA jo b was d ifferent for me. It was for an out-patient clinic in a downtown location. W'e served veterans in numbers. In those days a pharmacist did more than count out pills and capsules. We had to make up many o f our prescriptions from doctors’ individual orders. “ I made cough syrups by the half­ gallon. I mixed powders fo r cap­ sules. I made ointments by formula and we used a lot o f bulk Turner receives BA award PAINTING W e do spray or old brush job w ay. W e also do th e necessary repair jobs; siding, board , glass and so forth. 289 1497 M artin Turner was recently awarded the O utstanding Achievement Award granted to the member o f the Seattle Chapter o f the N ational Association o f Black Accountants who has excelled wihin the professioi . A native o f P ortland, Turner graduated from Jefferson High School and earned a Bachelor’ s degree in Business A dm inistration from the University o f Portland. He received a Master o f Business A d­ m inistration in Taxation from the University o f Southern California. Upon graduation he was em­ ployed by the Internal Revenue Ser­ vice as revenue agent. Through dediction and professional growth M artin was recently promoted to a level o f GS-14 in the Appeals De­ partment. 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