My aunt, Lora Hawkins, at Southern Pacific Railroad

From: "Deborah Cariker" mrs_hosetoter@yahoo.com

My godmother and great-great aunt, Lora Hawkins, was, according to family lore, the first woman to ever work for Southern Pacific Railroad. Jilted by her fiance, she never married and chose a career. She was reportedly an assistant ticket clerk and stenographer at the Lake Charles, Louisiana, depot, and I have the name plate that was on her desk.

Can you please help me uncover any information about her employment at SP? Was she really such a ground breaker? I knew her when she was much older, in her 80s and 90s, and she was still feisty! ...

—Mrs. Deborah Cariker, Montgomery, Texas

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Aunt Lora Hawkins at SPRR office

Older Aunt Lora Hawkins at office