What was it like for women working in Hoover’s FBI?

For decades, the FBI was a man’s world. Anybody else was just living in it, especially the administrative staff. In the last episode, we learned how the bureau recruited high school girls for clerical work during the 1940s. But for decades women were explicitly prohibited from becoming special agents. Western Springs resident Jane McCarty was hired out of high school in the late 1960s to work as a stenographer for the FBI. She held several positions during her more than four decades at the organization. Today, the former president of the Society of FBI Alumni talks about the ebbs and flows of women’s access to leadership and autonomy within the bureau. She endured a sexist work environment but later witnessed the first women become FBI special agents.

You can listen to What was it like for women working in Hoover’s FBI? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

What was it like for women working in Hoover’s FBI? is an episode from Curious City by WBEZ Chicago.

This episode is 00:08:33 long.

This episode was published on Feb 19, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Curious City when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.