Disney Legends: Harriet Burns

                                                    (August 20, 1928 – July 25, 2008) 

Harriet Burns working on the Tiki Tiki Room animatronic bird, Pierre Salinger.

Who was Harriet Burns? Born in San Antonio Texas on August 20, 1928 she was the first Disney Woman Imagineer.

To those of you who may not know, an Imagineer is a certain level of job, there are countless departments who have Imagineers on staff, but typically they are referenced as the engineers that Disney uses to design, create and build their attractions at the various parks.

Until Harriet Burns, there had been no female Imagineers, and she would be the one to pioneer the way for other female Disney legends, such as Mary Blair and Alice Estes Davis.

Even though she had the same job as the men, working with power tools and electronics, she still chose to remain her professional self and wear a stylish skirt and heels to work everyday. The only exception was one day when she was working on the Tiki Tiki Room for Disneyland, and she spilled a combination of chemicals onto her skirt, and literally burned her clothes off! Her fellow Imagineer Fred Joerger lent her a pair of his work jeans, and that was the only time she didn't wear her skirt and heels.

The projects she worked on included:
The Matterhorn
Storybook Land
The Submarine Voyage
Candy Mountain (discontinued)
The Casey Jr. Circus Train (original-discontinued)
The Wizard of Oz Display (discontinued)
Mickey Mouse Club
Sleeping Beauty Castle Model
It's a Small World
Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln
Carousel of Progress
Pirates of the Caribbean
New Orleans Square
Haunted Mansion
Plaza Square

She was truly the epidemy of not just a legendary Disney Imagineer, but of the modern woman.