WAUDurhamHeidi6264.xml Guide to the Heidi Durham Papers and Oral History Interviews 1937-2017 Durham (Heidi) Papers and Oral History Interviews Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries © 2019 (Last modified: 1/31/2020)
Allen Library BOX 352900 Seattle, Washington 98195-2900 Business Number: 206-543-1929 speccoll@uw.edu http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcollections/
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-03-05. Description is written in: Undetermined, Code for undetermined script script. Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition. Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries Heidi Durham papers and oral history interviews Durham, Heidi 6264 1.57 cubic feet 2 boxes 1937-2017 Papers and other materials of one of the first female electricians for Seattle City Light and labor activist Collection materials are in English.

Heidi Durham (1953-2015) was a participant in Seattle City Light's Electrical Trades Trainee (ETT) Program in the early 1970s, and was one of the first women to be admitted to an apprenticeship program in City Light's skilled trades. When the City eliminated the Electrical Trades Trainee Program punitively for the activism of the programs director and the participants, Durham was one of the plaintiffs in a civil rights complaint which restored the program's participants ability to get skilled craft training and continued employment.

Heidi Durham was born and raised in San Pedro, California in 1954, and moved to Bellingham, Washington in 1971 to attend Western Washington University. She moved to Seattle in 1973 and joined Radical Women, a socialist feminist organization led by Clara Fraser.

Durham began working in the food service industry. In 1974, Fraser was tasked with creating a recruitment and training program for female electrical workers at Seattle City Light, the Electrical Trades Trainee (ETT). Durham was recruited in a competitive application process and, at 21, became the youngest of the 10-member ETT program. As one of three Radical Women members among the group, Durham played a leading role in the struggle for gender and race equity at the utility, where she co-founded the Employee Committee for Equal Rights at City Light (CERCLE) in 1983, and in her union, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 77.

Following a landmark verdict on behalf of the women in January of 1976, Durham became one of the first women admitted to City Light's Line Worker apprenticeship program.

Durham worked on the line crews until suffering a broken back in a near-fatal fall from the top of an electrical pole in 1977. Durham was partially paralyzed but fought to continue working in the field, returning to City Light as a Junior Power Station Operator. When she retired in 2004, she held the title of Senior Power Station Operator.

Through her longtime leadership in Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party, Durham participated in various political causes. In 1984, Durham co-founded the Ad Hoc Committee for Fair Employment and Open Housing, which successfully organized community support to defend and strengthen Seattle anti-discrimination laws.

Durham was also a writer. In 1982, she wrote The War on the Disabled: Adding Insult to Injury and co-authored Women Workers: Sparkplugs of Labor with Megan Cornish in 1990.

In 1991, Durham campaigned for City Council on the Freedom Socialist Party ticket. That same year, she was named Active Advocate of the Year, along with fellow ETT pioneer Megan Cornish, by Washington Women in the Trades. In 2004, Durham was a member of the Seattle Organizing Committee for the Million Worker March on Washington, D.C. and was a featured speaker at the event. Durham died in August of 2015 at the age of 62.

Biography Sources:

Belew, Ellie. 2019. High voltage women: breaking barriers at Seattle City Light. Seattle: Red Letter Press (Forthcoming: March 2019)

Grant, Nicole. "Heidi Durham: Electrical Trades Trainee (ETT) Program, Seattle City Light" Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project. https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/durham.htm

Grant, Nicole. "Challenging Sexism at City Light: The Electrical Trades Trainee Program" Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project. http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/citylight.htm (Data accessed January 2018).

https://socialism.com/fs-article/farewell-to-heidi-durham-revolutionary-feminist-and-fighter-for-the-oppressed/ Seattle Times https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=heidi-durham&pid=175821675

Related Resources:

Casey, Conor. "How Minority Men and Tradeswomen Won Justice on the Jobsite." Lecture, Museum of History and Industry History Café, Seattle, February 21, 2018. https://tinyurl.com/JusticeJobsite

Casey, Conor "Justice on the Jobsite: Collections on Labor Organizing of Minority Men and Tradeswomen at the University of Washington Libraries' Labor Archives of Washington and Special Collections" Pacific Northwest Quarterly. Summer 2018 Issue.

Belew, Ellie. 2013. Bringing power to the people: the history of IBEW Local #77.

Materials relating to the Electrical Trades Trainee Program at Seattle City Light and the subsequent discrimination case by most of the ETT against City Light. Also includes files on the history of City Light as a utility, ETT program head Clara Fraser and her discrimination case against City Light. The collection includes materials on the Employee Committee for Equal Rights at City Light (CERCL) as well as subject files on the 10 members of the ETT program. Oral history interviews done by Nicole Grant with Durham, and fellow ETT trainees and Radical Women members Megan Cornish, and Teri Bach are included in audio cassette and video DVD formats. The collection includes newclippings about Durham and the history of the ETT program and subsequent lawsuits.

No restrictions on access to paper-based materials. No user access copy is currently available for the audio cassettes. The DVD-R can be previewed onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room during open hours. Contact Special Collections for more information or to inquire about reproductions.

Request at UW

Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Clara Fraser papers (Collection 3187)

Megan Cornish papers (Collection 6259)

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77 (Collection 5569)

George Hammer papers (Collection 6276) Wikidata is available for this collection

Forms part of the Labor Archives of Washington.

 Radical Women--Archives Radical Women--Records and correspondence Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington) Feminism--Washington (State)--Seattle Women's rights--Washington (State)--Seattle Women and socialism--Washington (State)--Seattle Women--Washington (State)--Societies and clubs Labor--Washington (State)--Seattle Labor unions--Washington (State)--Seattle Labor movement--Washington (State)--Seattle Women Seattle Civil Rights Public Utilities Records (Documents) Business correspondence Ephemera Chronologies for Electrical trades trainees case 1973-1996 6264-001 Box 1 1 Draft history of electrical trades trainees case 1982 6264-001 Box 1 2 City Light early history 1937-1993 6264-001 Box 1 3 Clara Fraser 1970-1980 6264-001 Box 1 4 Clara Fraser retirement 1986 6264-001 Box 1 5 City Light walkout 1974 6264-001 Box 1 6 Post-walkout organizing 1974-1975 6264-001 Box 1 7 Bill of rights and responsibilities 1974-1975 6264-001 Box 1 8 Hiring of electrical trades trainees 1974 6264-001 Box 1 9 Hoax leaflet - redbaiting 1974 6264-001 Box 1 10 Harassment 1974-1975 6264-001 Box 1 11 City Light managers 1980 6264-001 Box 1 12 Electrical trades trainees legal case 1975 6264-001 Box 1 13 Electrical trades trainees fight 1974-2017 6264-001 Box 1 14 Legal materials from trainees' injunction hearing 1975 6264-001 Box 1 15 Electrical trades trainees case victory 1976 6264-001 Box 1 16 Electrical Trades Trainee Program 1974-1979 6264-001 Box 1 17 Trainee Program (part 1 of 2) 1973-2017 6264-001 Box 1 18 Trainee Program (part 2 of 2) 1973-2017 6264-001 Box 1 19 Office of Women's Rights findings in ETT case 1975 6264-001 Box 1 20 Electrical trades trainees case settlement 1976 6264-001 Box 1 21 Clara Fraser case 1974-1979 6264-001 Box 1 22 Clara Fraser case 1980-1982 6264-001 Box 1 23 Clara Fraser case 1983 6264-001 Box 1 24 Clara Fraser case victory 1983 6264-001 Box 1 25 City Light and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers correspondence 1974-1981 6264-001 Box 1 26 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers correspondence Local 77 1974-1990 6264-001 Box 1 27 Non-discrimination clause in contract 1981 6264-001 Box 1 28 Songs and skits 1980 6264-001 Box 1 29 Heidi Durham apprenticeship evaluations 1976-1977 6264-001 Box 1 30 Heidi's fall 1977-1981 6264-001 Box 1 31 Heidi's draft letter to Dan Haw from "group" 1978 6264-001 Box 1 32 Human Rights Department complaint 1983-1984 6264-001 Box 1 33 Gamma Vision, human relations training project 1984-1985 6264-001 Box 1 34 Employee Committee for Equal Rights at City Light (CERCL) 1983-1988 6264-001 Box 1 35 Sherrie Holmes / CERCL 1986 6264-001 Box 1 36 Employee Committee for Equal Rights at City Light (CERCL) 1987 6264-001 Box 1 37 Employee Committee for Equal Rights at City Light (CERCL) 1991-1994 6264-001 Box 1 38 CERCL vs. City Light 1984-1989 6264-001 Box 1 39 CERCL letter to Randy Hardy 1985 6264-001 Box 1 40 Teri Bach 1980-2005 6264-001 Box 1 41 Marilyn Bircher 1980-1993 6264-001 Box 1 42 Jennifer Gordon 1975 6264-001 Box 1 43 Daisy Jones undated 6264-001 Box 1 44 Lori Lakshas 1976-1984 6264-001 Box 1 45 Kathleen Merrigan 2017 6264-001 Box 1 46 Letha Neal 1983-2016 6264-001 Box 1 47 Jody Olvera 1974 6264-001 Box 1 48 Patty Wong 1974-1980 6264-001 Box 1 49 Margie Wakenight/Bellinger 2017 6264-001 Box 1 50 Ad hoc Committee for Fair Employment and Open Housing 1983-1986 6264-001 Box 2 1 Electrical trades trainees' retirement 2004-2005 6264-001 Box 2 2 City Light press coverage 1986 6264-001 Box 2 3 Electrical Trades Trainee Program 25th anniversary 1999 6264-001 Box 2 4 Reference material on equal employment 1969-2018 6264-001 Box 2 5 Political ideology / gay pride 1995-1997 6264-001 Box 2 6 Racism 1981-1993 6264-001 Box 2 7 Nina Firey case 1983-1989 6264-001 Box 2 8 Affirmative action 1978-1979 6264-001 Box 2 9 Affirmative action 1989-1992 6264-001 Box 2 10 Seattle, City Light affirmative action statistics 1972-1979 6264-001 Box 2 11 Heidi Durham writings 1981-2000 6264-001 Box 2 12 Articles by and about Heidi Durham 1987-2007 6264-001 Box 2 13 Radical Women writings on working women 1962-2010 6264-001 Box 2 14 Women's participation in unions 1974-1976 6264-001 Box 2 15 Press clippings, leaflets 1975-1995 6264-001 Box 2 16 Interview of Heidi Durham by Nicole Grant and Trevor Griffey 2005 Video recording on DVD-R 6264-001 Box 2 17 Interviews of Megan Cornish and Teri Bach 2005 Audio recording on 90-minute audiocassette 6264-001 Box 2 18 Heidi Durham on KCMU radio -- Deregualtion and the threat of privatization 1994 Audio recording on 90-minute audiocassette 6264-001 Box 2 19