Hilda Counts (16 September 1893 – 17 May 1989) was an American electrical engineer and co-founder of the American Society of Women Engineers and Architects. She was the first woman to gain a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado.

Biography

Hilda Counts was born in 1893 in

Runnels County Runnels County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 9,900. Its county seat is Ballinger. The county was created in 1858 and later organized in 1880. It is named for Hiram G. Runnels, a Texa ...

, Texas to Sylvania (née) Whisnant and Thomas Peter Counts. She had a younger brother Ford Oakley. She got an associate degree from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

before working as a high school mathematics and physics teacher for two years. She then returned to the University where she studied electrical engineering. She graduated in 1919 as the first woman to do so with that degree. Counts went to work in

Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...

until deciding to return again to gain a higher degree. However she married Arthur T. Edgecomb (1867–1936) around 1926 and retired for a number of years. Counts returned to work after a fourteen-year gap and worked in the

Rural Electrification Administration The United States Rural Utilities Service (RUS) administers programs that provide infrastructure or infrastructure improvements to rural communities. These include water and waste treatment, electric power, and telecommunications services. it is ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

She officially retired in 1963 but remained involved in the work until her 80s. Counts died in 1989 age 95.

Professional organisations

When Counts worked with

Lou Alta Melton Lou Alta Melton (8 February 1895 – 26 July 1974) was an American civil engineer and bridge engineer. Biography Melton was born in Texas, on 8 February 1895 to Sherd Melton and Hesta Long. She grew up in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Melton taught in a p ...

, to create an ''American Society of Women Engineers and Architects'' they wrote to all US universities with Engineering departments to find how many women were students. The replies were notable for the number which stated ‘this university does not have and never expects to have any women engineering students’. Despite the great number of negative replies it turned out that there were about 200 women students in engineering courses. So the two women announced the establishment of the association, with support from fellow engineering student

Elsie Eaves Elsie Eaves (May 5, 1898 – March 27, 1983) was a pioneering American female engineer, the first female associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and a founding member of the American Association of Cost Engineers (now A ...

and a number of women joined in 1919 to 1920. Long term the association did not last but it did foreshadow the US

Society of Women Engineers The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is an international not-for-profit educational and service organization. Founded in 1950 and headquartered in the United States, the Society of Women Engineers is a major advocate for women in engineering and ...

. Counts remained focused on the creation and maintenance of such an organisation and in women's education in engineering. She was involved in the founding of the SWE. Counts was also on the board of the District of Columbia Society of Professional Engineers. The Society of Women Engineers has a scholarship in her name, The Pioneer Scholarship, established in memory of Hilda Counts,

, and Lou Alta Melton.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Counts, Hilda 1893 births 1989 deaths American women engineers 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American women