THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Capt. Brenda Berkman

“We’ve suffered as a second generation not knowing our foremothers’ history.”

Firefighter, Attorney, Artist, Educator, Historian. Founder and former president of the United Women Firefighters. Trustee of the Women in Fire Service. Taught at the FDNY fire academy. Vice-President and Board Member of Monumental Women. Education: B.A., St. Olaf College, Minnesota; M.A., Indiana University; J.D., New York University Law School, M.S. in fire protection management from City University of New York.

Interviewed by Judy Waxman, Oral Historian, March 2023

Homepage photo by Tim Hoy

Photo 1. Brenda Berkman speaking at the unveiling of Monumental Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in 2020 in Central Park, New York. Photo 2. Brenda printing one of her original stone lithographs at the Art Students League in New York. Photo 3. At the 9/11 Memorial during volunteer work leading tours of the Memorial. Photo 4. Brenda Berkman after a fire. Photo 5. Sisters in the Brotherhoods: Working Women Organizing for Equality In New York City, by Jane LaTour (photo by Gary Schoichet).