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The era: the 1970s. The location: an airplane en route to Washington, DC. Kathryn Clark Childers chats with a fellow passenger.Recruited to the Secret Service as one of its first five female agents, Childers would surprise many people, including herself. Her duties included undercover work, protective details for John and Caroline Kennedy, children of Jacqueline Kennedy, and attending state dinners where she met world leaders, including Prince Juan Carlos of Spain. In addition, she had to figure out how to disguise the .357 Magnum revolver that she carried at all times, whether wearing jogging clothes, a business suit, or an evening gown. It was 1970, and the Secret Service, like most public and private organizations, struggled - sometimes unsuccessfully - with the challenges of incorporating a rising tide of women into government service and other professional workplaces.