- Good afternoon Fowler Family!
- COVID UPDATE:
- Yesterday 3/8, Dallas County reported 500 new cases and 27 deaths
- Friday, we participated in a call with the Mayor and he stated our vaccine clinics were going smoothly – Dallas County is maintaining the central database for all vaccine clinics; individuals not vaccinated should put their names on this list regardless of your age or health. They will utilize this list as they expand to next phases
- Currently, Dallas County is scheduling appointments for individuals who are 55+ with certain underlying health conditions
- FOWLER UPDATES:
- We continue to work to bring additional vaccine opportunities to Fowler for residents and staff who are not vaccinated
- Yesterday, the CDC issues new guidelines for COVID – these guidelines did not apply to healthcare settings. We are still vetting these guidelines to determine how they could apply to us
- We will be on a statewide call today with other senior care providers to discuss this and other updates and will report to you on Thursday what the recommendations are for senior living
- WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH:
- Yesterday was International Women’s Day. Facebook was filled with great stories about women who are making a difference in our communities.
- Bob nominated today’s Women’s History Highlight
- Elizebeth Smith Friedman was America’s first female cryptanalyst, busting smugglers during prohibition and most notably breaking up a Nazi spy ring
- Cryptanalysis(from the Greek word kryptós or, “hidden”, and analýein, “to analyze”) is the study of analyzing information systems in order to study the hidden aspects of the systems.
- In short, she deciphered hidden code
- Born in Huntington Indiana in 1892, Elizebeth she studied poetry and literature, moving to Chicago after graduation
- Avid Shakespeare fan, she was introduced to George Fabyan, an eccentric millionaire seeking to prove that Sir Francis Bacon had written Shakespeare’s plays leaving clues in the text to his identity. Fabyan built a think-tank of scholars to find hidden codes
- It was there that Elizabeth met her husband, William, and learned her life’s work
- When World War 1 broke out, George Fabyan offered the government the assistance of the scholars working under his guidance
- The Friedmans became leaders in the first US codebreaking unit, intercepting radio messages and decoding encrypted intelligence
- After World War 1, the US Coast Guard hired Elizabeth to monitor Prohibition-era smuggling rings
- She ran the unit’s first codebreaking unit for the next decade
- Together she and her clerk cracked an estimated 12,000 encryptions, their work resulted in 650 criminal prosecutions, including that of Al Capone
- Elizebeth succeeded in her field despite significant barriers associated with her gender. Thought they both worked as contractors, she earned half of what her husband made for the same work
- After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy took over Friedman’s Coast Guard unit and demoted her [Women would only be allowed to serve fully in the military after 1948]
- She achieved her greatest code-breaking feat in the 1940s. Working for the Coast Guard, she led a team that eavesdropped on German spies as they discussed the movement of Allied ships in South America
- Friedman and her team used analog methods – mostly pen and paper – to break three separate Enigma machine codes. By 1942, her team had cracked every one of the Nazis new codes. In doing so, she and her colleagues unveiled a network of Nazi led informants
- Friedman’s work led to the alignment of South America with the Allied forces instead of the Axis powers which had impact on the outcome of the war
- Friedman’s husband earned recognition during his lifetime and was credited by many as the godfather of the NSA
- His wife, meanwhile, was a hero and she never got her due
- Even FBI director Herbert Hoover tried to take credit for cracking Enigma
- During retirement, she and her husband got back to that original work – did Sir Francis Bacon really write the Shakespeare plays?
- Their collaboration, The Shakespeare Cyphers. Put an end to the theory and they confirmed that Shakespeare did write his plays
- Elizebeth Friedman was gradually written out of the history books, however, recognition for her work is now surfacing posthumously.
- In 1999, she was inducted to the NSA Hall of Honor
- In 2002 NSA’s Ops1 Building was dedicated as the William and Elizebeth Friedman Building
- PBS Documentary “The Codebreaker” based on the 2017 nonfiction book, The Woman Who Smashed Codes
- In 2019, the US Senate passed a resolution in her honor
- July 2020, the US Coast Guard announced that it would name a ship after her
- Yet another fascinating story about a woman who changed the course of history
- We invite you to submit stories of women you find particularly relevant, interesting or inspiring
- UPCOMING EVENTS:
- On March 24, author Rebecca Bruff, will present a book review of her book “Trouble the Waters” on Channel 6 – the story about Robert Smalls, one of our Black History Month highlights
- TEAMMATE BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES:
- Good afternoon! Happy Teammate Tuesday!
- Happy Birthday to Coretta Whittaker! Coretta’s birthday was March 8th.
- Wishing Pedro Medel a happy 3-year anniversary! Pedro’s anniversary was on March 7th.
- Happy anniversary to Santos Nuno who celebrated 17 years at Fowler yesterday!
- My anniversary is on March 13th! Thank you for Fowler for allowing me to be here for 15 years!
- TEAMMATE SHOUTOUTS:
- A shout out to Twilikki Brice for loving people. Twilikki brought coffee to Ve since Ve has had to temporarily move from her office.
- Marion is sending a shout out to William Deiterman! Last week he offered and did stay late to cover the dinner shift for the residents who eat in the Means dining room. Way to make a HUGE difference William!
- Krystal would like to give a big shout out to the Carroll Neighborhood teammates! The Carroll neighborhood currently has 29 residents and the team’s fantastic care reflects pursuing excellence! Thank you!
- Cynthia is shouting from the rooftops at the fact that Z brought in a very important piece of mail that a resident had received! It turns out the resident’s nephew had been looking for this mail and he was overjoyed that Z found it and brought it to Cynthia! Thank you Z!
- Cynthia shared that last week when T wasn’t feeling well the AL team got together and took care of her in addition to getting her shift covered. Way to love people AL team!
- A big heartfelt thanks you to Joie’ for the hard work in getting 3 new residents moved in! It took much coordinating and Joie’ made a huge difference to the families of these 3 residents!
- We received recently received this letter from a family member:
- Hi Tammy, I want to let you how much I appreciate your help and kindness as my mother and I navigated through the process of moving her into the Juliette Fowler community. It was an emotional new chapter for both my mother and I and I found your demeanor very comforting and supportive. You are the perfect person for your job. Juliette Fowler is lucky to have you.
- I also want to express how the entire staff, every single person, at Jackson has been so warm, welcoming, supportive and encouraging to my mother in helping her to settle in with this transition.
- Thank you and all of Jackson staff members for everything,
- Make it a great day on purpose!
All COVID Updates are posted on our website – www.fowlercommunities.org/covid19/
COVID Hotline: Phone: 214-515-7184 • Spanish Speaking Line: 214-515-1385
Email: Covid19info@fowlercommunities.org
COVID-19 Mental Health Support Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week toll-free at 833-986-1919
