An Excellent First

Riverside’s Gail B. Smith started working for Pacific Telephone/Pacific Bell (known today as AT&T) in the 1970s. When she was hired, she was Riverside’s first African American woman splicer and installer for the phone company  — jobs that were held primarily by Caucasian men. In this episode of SoCal Voices, Ms. Smith discusses her experience being the first person like her in her workplace, the “nice nasties” she experienced from some of her co-workers, the support she received from others, and how staying focused on her goals helped her thrive.