In 1932 Iris Carr received a Bachelor of Science degree with a double
major in mathematics and English from Prairie View College in Texas. Like
many women of her day, she taught school. During the summers she drove
to New York to take classes at Columbia University and in 1944 she moved
to Washington. After WWII Ms. Carr worked at the black-owned electronics
school Hilltop Radio Electronics Institute grading math papers and teaching
business English. After meeting someone who worked for AFSA, Ms. Carr
joined the agency in 1950 and was assigned to the Russian plain text
office, “the snake pit,” as a statistical clerk. Iris Carr expressed
pride of accomplishment and patriotism as part of her work ethic. At
the age of thirty-three, she was older than most of the employees in
the office and was cited by many as being an unheralded hero of the
period-one who worked diligently and sought to motivate others. These
qualities served her well over the course of her career. In 1958, Ms.
Carr became the Personnel Officer for the Office of Collection. She
remained in the personnel and administrative field for the rest of her
career. She fought diligently, though quietly, for better opportunities
for talented but underutilized employees until her retirement in 1971.