She Was The First Black Female Cable Car Conductor In San Francisco

The first fact about Maya Angelou is that she was the first black woman to conduct a cable car. Maya Angelou was given a scholarship to study dance and acting at the California Labor School when she was a teenager, but she briefly left the program at age 15 to work as a cable car conductor in San Francisco. She told Oprah Winfrey that the reason she desired the job was because she had "seen women on the street cars with little little changing belts." They wore form-fitting jackets and headgear with bibs. I adored their attire. I remarked, "I want that job." She won it and held the job for the first time as a black woman.

She described how she went to Market Street Railway's main office at 58 Sutter Street to submit an application after seeing an advertisement for "motorettes and conductorettes" in the San Francisco Chronicle. She was correct when she said that the office of the nearly bankrupt company was "dingy and the decor drab" and that she questioned if she wanted to work for "such a poor-mouth-looking concern." She became determined nevertheless when they ignored her the first day. She went back every day for two weeks, encouraged by her mother, she claimed, until they eventually allowed her to complete an application.