Girls and Shop in 1960s Phoenix

My grandfather, Ramon Alfonso, will turn 93 this year.

As a boy, I always enjoyed listening to his many stories, especially the ones about his professional life as a public school teacher in Arizona. These stories became even more dear to me when my high school Spanish teacher turned out to be a former student of his.

Though my grandfather — Tata — has recounted many stories over the years, and quite often, my favorite has remained the tale of how he successfully integrated girls into his shop classes in the early 1960s.

I particularly like this memory because it is a story about going against the grain and making society a bit more equal. I also like it because it is specific to the modern social history of an urbanizing Southwest.

Part of the story Tata does not tell, however, is his largely own. I think it is worth telling because it gives context to his decision to include girls in his shop class.

He had become a teacher in the Phoenix public school system after returning home from his service in the Air Force during the Korean War. He was a blacksmith and a carpenter during the time he served, and he used to fly around the country, competing as a Golden Gloves boxer.

His father, “Young Nino” Pimentel, was a prizefighter in Arizona and California and is in the Arizona boxing hall of fame.

My grandfather was born in downtown Phoenix in 1927. Marcial and Josefa, his maternal grandfather and grandmother, raised him. Marcial was even born in the same downtown Phoenix home as my grandfather, but a generation before, in 1885.

After returning home from being stationed in the Midwest during the war, my grandfather graduated from Arizona State University in the mid-1950s thanks to the G.I. Bill. Then, later, as a teacher in the Phoenix public school system, he taught various subjects, including mathematics and industrial arts.

Typically, only boys participated in his shop classes, but my Tata noticed that girl students would regularly stand outside his door and peer into the room.

When he asked the girls about their interest in his class, they replied that they were not allowed to participate in such classes. At that point, he clarified that they were, in fact, always welcome in his class.

He even allowed for boy students to take cooking classes in lieu of “shop,” if they preferred.

Though his colleagues fervently disapproved, he reasoned that the other classes were mixed with boys and girls, and that gender did not prevent girls from having academic success. So, there was no academic basis for segregation by gender.

Furthermore, he contended that science and math classes, and even his college-level courses at ASU, were normally mixed. So, he saw no reason that girls should not be allowed access to resources like his class simply due to their gender.

Today, Tata retells his story with a laugh, recalling warmly how the girl students tended to be more meticulous workers than some of the seasoned boy students.

He had no reason to believe the girls would perform any differently than the boys, and even after a good deal of protest, his colleagues followed his lead and welcomed girls into their classes.