Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 19, 1994 TAG: 9405200037
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By NANCY BELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When Jewel Price Arrington was an office worker at Stone Printing Co., the nearby Norfolk and Western Railway didn't hire many women.
So when a photographer came into Stone looking for models for a railroad calendar, Arrington and co-workers in Stone's secretarial pool didn't hesitate.
That was in the early 1940s. Arrington, then 17, was working diligently at her first office job.
She never knew what happened to the photos - not for 50 years, anyway.
A year ago, Arrington joined the Virginia Museum of Transportation. To her surprise, she found her own face smiling from a black-and-white photo of a 1940s passenger train on display in the museum. ``I couldn't believe it. I thought, `I have just run into myself at the Transportation Museum!''' Arrington said with a laugh.
``If I had mailed the membership [fee], I never would have known.''
In the picture, Arrington is wearing 1940s business attire. Her blond hair is swept up, her eyes twinkling.
She remembered the faces of some of the young women seated near her. A group of servicemen, also pictured, was just passing through.
As she pointed to the photo, she looked much the same: a tiny woman, immaculately dressed and groomed, sparkling eyes, pink lips, manicured hands; poised, as if for a new photograph.
Arrington, a widow and mother of two, remains the epitome of the traditional secretary. Even though she's past retirement age (she won't say how much), she scouts around for part-time or free-lance secretarial positions that are challenging and professional.
``To be a secretary suits me just fine - it's demanding, not demeaning.''
``Working back then, it was like working in the dark ages,'' she said. Arrington remembers manual typewriters, carbon copies, gum typing erasers with bristly brush ends, and shorthand.
But she is not intimidated by modern technology. Even in retirement, she enjoys learning about computers and business software.
``The technology is changing so fast, you're almost afraid to buy a computer for fear it will be outdated before you get it home,'' she said.
Arrington owns a home computer. Occasionally she types and does office work on a free-lance basis.
Her thirst for knowledge also led her to economics and business law courses at Roanoke College. She became a certified professional secretary and keeps up on new buzzwords and politically correct trends.
``I never made any more money for taking the test, but it was important for me to do it for myself,'' Arrington said.
While she's proud of her professional accomplishments, ``I always wanted to be a dancer,'' she said. The closest she got was taking ballet and tap lessons after her children were born. They watched as she danced in a recital held by the Floyd Ward School of Dance.
Arrington began working at Stone Printing in its heyday. At 17, she was part of a large secretarial pool with strict rules for office workers.
``We were given 10-minute breaks, and there was no talking,'' she recalled.
She arrived each day by bus in darkness for a 7 a.m. shift. At the end of her work day, she attended night school at the now-defunct Cornett Business School.
``Life was simpler then, and a lot more fun. I made many good friends,'' she said.
Eventually, when the railroad began to hire women for office positions, Arrington applied. She worked there 17 years, retiring from full-time work in 1987.
She was around when the railroad merged and changed its name.
``It's Norfolk Southern now, no hyphen,'' she said with precision.
``I love words. I'm a grammar nut; make sure you spell it with an `a-r' at the end. My family says I'm a purist.''
by CNB