Leah Rosenfeld

The railroads began to hire increasing numbers of women during World War II to replace the men drafted into military service; Rosenfeld took the job to help support her growing family, then consisting of nine children.

[1] After her divorce in 1953, she became the sole support of 6 of her 12 children and worked in a number of one-operator stations, mostly in desert areas around the Salton Sea from Mecca, California, to Yuma, Arizona.

Rosenfeld then protested to her union, the Order of Railroad Telegraphers, noting that she had already performed the duties of a station agent in her previous employment, but earning a lower wage.

The railroad continued to reject her claims for promotion, citing the California state law that barred women from performing the duties of station agents.

On November 25, 1968, the suit against the Southern Pacific Railroad was settled and the California women's protective laws were declared unconstitutional.