Evelyn Berezin (1925-2018) built and marketed the first computerized word processor.
Evelyn Berezin (1925-2018) built and marketed the first computerized word processor.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan. And this is Womanica.
Long before Microsoft or Apple,, today’s innovator built and marketed the first computerized word processor. She fought her way through a male-dominated industry, refusing to be overshadowed. Please welcome the multi-talented Evelyn Berezin!
Evelyn Berezin was born on April 12, 1925 in the Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Russia. She grew up in an apartment under elevated subway tracks. As trains rumbled past, she sat in her room glued to Astounding Science Fiction magazine and developed her interest in physics.
She graduated from high school at only 15 years old, and started attending classes at Hunter College, an all-women’s school. When World War II hit, a special program allowed women into all-boys schools to study specialized subjects. Thanks to these expanding opportunities, Evelyn studied math at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and physics at New York University. In 1946, she graduated from NYU with a bachelor’s in physics.
In 1951, Evelyn got married to Israel Wilenitz, an English chemical engineer. Though they would have no children, the couple would stay together until Israel’s death in 2003.
Evelyn struggled to find work as a physicist. So she joined a Brooklyn company called Electronic Computer Corp – or Elecom. She was the only woman in a shop filled with men.
When Elecom wanted Evelyn to build a computer, she later recalled, “I had never seen one before. Hardly anyone else had. So I just had to figure out how to do it. It was a lot of fun — when I wasn’t terrified.”
With Elecom, Evelyn built computers for various purposes – including calculating the range of guns for the Army, keeping track of magazine subscriptions, and accounting.
In the late 1950’s, Evelyn joined a new company called Teleregister Corp. There, she developed the world’s first airline reservation system run by computer. The system linked customers, seat availability, and offices across the country.
In the early 1960s, the New York Stock exchange hired Evelyn for a communications-technology role. But she was rejected by the board at the last minute. The reason? Apparently, the vulgar language men used on the trading floor was, “not for a woman’s ears.” So Evelyn found a new job: at Digitronics Corp, designing more digital systems.
Despite her professional success, she knew she wouldn’t be able to reach senior management in a field dominated by men. The only thing to do was make her own company.
In 1968, she started hatching ideas for a word processing computer. It used small chips known as semiconductors to save and retrieve keystrokes, making it possible to edit text.
The following year, Evelyn’s design was nearly finished. She and two colleagues gathered $750,000 in capital – over $5.5 million today – and created a company called Redactron. Evelyn used a mixture of semiconductor chips that were already on the market, and some of her own design, to create and release the first computerized word processor. She called it: the Data Secretary.
Redactron’s tagline was “free the secretary” – and Evelyn’s word processor made good on its promise. It eliminated tedious tasks, like re-typing whole pages when there was a single typo. The Data Secretary could cut, copy, and paste text.
Still, the Data Secretary was hardly what we think of today when it comes to computers. The initial design was the size of a small refrigerator. At first, it didn’t even have a screen to view text.
Even so, Redactron sold Data Secretaries worldwide, mainly to law firms and corporate offices.
As her computers flew off the shelves, Evelyn became a tech industry celebrity. The media celebrated her many talents – engineering, inventing, and entrepreneurship.
Redactron sold around 10,000 computers over the course of seven years, but the company eventually faced some financial difficulties. It was bought by the Burroughs Corporation in 1976. Evelyn stayed on as the president of the company’s Redactron division until 1980.
Evelyn moved on to venture capital and consulting. She was the president of Greenhouse Management Company, a firm that invested in early stage tech companies.
In 2011, Evelyn was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame. Over the course of her career, she created nine computer-related patents.
Evelyn Berezin passed away on December 8, 2018. She was 93 years old.
Despite her accomplishments, Evelyn is still a relatively unknown figure. Her legacy has been overshadowed by men who did similar work – after she did. Though her competitors may have had more lasting success, Evelyn Berezin laid the foundation for systems that have shaped… the world
All month we’re highlighting innovators.
For more information and pictures of some of the work we’re talking about, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!