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Relatives identify subjects in Carnegie Photo exhibit

Thursday, March 28, 2002

By Monica L. Haynes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Dorothy Walker loved to tell people about her days as a cover girl.

Laurie Walker identified her mother, Dorothy Walker, as the welder on the 1944 cover of Greater Pittsburgh Magazine. (Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette)

Whenever there was a doubting Thomas, she'd retrieve the magazine which showed her beaming face, a welder's mask atop her head and a welding torch in her hand.

She had been a cover girl in 1944 when she worked as a welder for American Bridge Co. in Ambridge, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel. Walker, who was then 21-year-old Dorothy Scott, graced the cover of Greater Pittsburgh, a magazine produced by U.S. Steel.

"I remember her telling us that a photographer had come down there and took her picture, but she never knew it was going to be on the cover of a magazine," said Walker's daughter, Laurie Walker of Aliquippa.

All this month, the photo of the smiling young welder was one of seven displayed at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland as part of its celebration of National Women's History Month.

It was also featured in a Feb. 28 Post-Gazette article about the display and about the Carnegie's March 3 salute to phenomenal local women, hosted by Maya Angelou.

The display photos, culled from the library's archives, show women involved in various activities from the early 1900s through the late 1940s. However, the photos did not include any information about their subjects. Library officials hoped displaying the photos might garner responses from people who could identify the subjects.

It did, at least in Walker's case, and one other photograph we'll talk about further down.

"My mother was in a nursing home, and one of the nurses who took care of her called me and told me to go buy a Post-Gazette and read that article," Walker recalled.

It was nurse Betty Murray who recognized Walker's youthful photo. A Walker family friend had used the cover picture to make little business cards that stated "Rosie the Riveter: We fix broken hearts, too." The cards were passed out to the nursing staff and that's how Murray knew what Walker had looked like as a young woman.

"She would have just been thrilled to death over this," Laurie Walker said of her mother, who died last October at the age of 77.

Dorothy Walker became a welder after high school graduation, working on the large tank-carrying sea vessels used for beach landings during World War II. She left the job after eight years, when she married Leonard C. Walker, a welding inspector.

"I think it's just a neat idea how it all came about," Laurie Walker said.

So does her brother, Leonard Walker, a dentist in Hampton, N.H.

"When I called him to tell him about this photo, he couldn't believe it," she said.

Leonard Walker flew into Pittsburgh that weekend, and he and his sister attended the Carnegie Library's salute to phenomenal women March 3.

"It's kind of nice to see her smiling at 21 years of age," Leonard Walker said. "When I heard Maya Angelou was speaking, I said, 'I'm going to get on a plane and I'm going to come down there.' "

Leonard Walker said he and his sister enjoyed the program and viewing their mother's photo.

"My sister and I have gone through the failing years of my mother's health. This is a nice positive surprise. We take it as a message that everything's OK," he said.

Relatives of Sister Laurita Bender recognized the nun (second row, left) riding a roller coaster at Kennywood in a photograph that is part of a Women's History Month display at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The photos, from the library's archives, show women involved in various activities from the early 1900s through the late 1940s. The library looked to the public for help in identifying the subjects. View thumbnails of the Phenomenal Women pictures

Joy-riding nun

Deborah Sagan did a double take when she saw the photo in the Post-Gazette of a group of nuns riding a roller coaster.

"I had a couple of my family members look at it and I said 'Do you see anyone you know?' "

Sagan's mother, Thelma Eck, and everyone else agreed one of the women certainly looked like Sister Laurita Bender.

"It just really jumped out at me, and I miss her a lot," said Sagan, whose aunt died in 1994.

"I'm as sure as I can be under the circumstances," said Eck.

Sister Laurita Bender grew up in Aspinwall with her younger sister, Thelma. She was named for her father, Lawrence Bender, who died during a flu epidemic when Thelma was a year old.

Laurita attended Catholic schools and, while a junior in high school, decided to enter the convent. After entering the mother house of the Holy Ghost Sisters, she became ill and returned home. On recovering, she finished her education at Divine Providence Academy in East Liberty and entered the mother house of the Sisters of Divine Providence in McCandless.

Sister Laurita received nursing training and worked in the maternity wards of Braddock and Mercy hospitals before moving on to Divine Providence Hospital. Later, she earned a master's degree in nursing from Duquesne University, her niece said.

"She was very dedicated," said Eck. "Dedicated to her community, her religion and her profession."

"When she died, people came to the funeral home who had been named for her," Sagan said. "She had delivered them."