Carolyn May

Caroline-May

Pass the Torch to a New Generation

Ep. 13 - Carolyn May actually witnessed President John Kennedy's Inaugural Speech on the steps of the Capitol to pass the torch to a new generation. She heard JFK beseech Americans to "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what You can do for your country," and "This is the time the torch is passed to a new generation." Imagine having a high-powered career at Capitol Hill as a young woman and later committing to impacting children's lives through education. That was Carolyn May, a trailblazer who did it all. She has a Master's in Library Science and worked as a media specialist for all levels of schools, including a private school in Indian Creek. She worked for Senator Thomas Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, talked with Bobby Kennedy, and met Hugh O'Brien, a Hollywood movie star. As a then-young State Department employee, she recalls making the travel arrangements and schedule of receptions for the first congressional delegation to visit Moscow!

Top Takeaways:

    • Understanding the impact of the civil rights movements in America in the 1960s
    • The benefits of forming a reading culture in children and education
    • Transitioning from a high-powered career single woman to a wife and mother passionate about educating school-going children
    • The power of impacting the lives of individual children and society as an educator
    • The importance of instilling confidence in childhood to help children overcome whatever life's hardships they face

Hear about the impacts of the civil rights movement and how it gave life to the women's rights movement.

"In the late 1940s and 1950s, only ten percent of women went to college. Things have changed a lot since then, but I was expected to go to college and I was expected to do well." -Caroline May

Listen in to learn how childhood taught confidence helped Carolyn to navigate a lucrative career at Hill at a time when women were not inclined to such careers.

Key Moments:

Carolyn narrates her years in college and how she ended up at the hill as the secretary to Senator Thomas Dodd and experiencing firsthand the inaugural of president Kennedy [4:30]

The high key civil rights movements in the 1960s and the defining years those were [13:25]

Her experience with gender discrimination as a young working woman [15:38]

Carolyn talks friends at the hill, dating in her 20s, and her experiences before getting married and switching careers after studying library science [22:08]

How she impacted children and society at large in her career as a media specialist who worked in all school levels [34:27]

She talks about the impact she made in the lives of children where everyone was included in awarding and recognition [36:13]

How she engaged in the project of sending books home all to make an impact in the lives of children [41:43]

How her childhood confidence impacted her life which is why she advocates for it to be instilled in childhood [43:44]

Relevant Links:

President JFK Inaugural Address 1961

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