The First Female Master Plumber

Lillian Jacobs – 1st Female Master Plumber

The first ever female master plumber was Lillian Jacobs. The profession came easy to her as she grew up surrounded by her father, uncle, and other plumbers who ran and owned the W.J. Baumbach plumbing firm. Her first plumbing job came to her at the age of two.  A shower drain was stopped up in the home and she grabbed the “plumber’s friend,” and fixed it. Later on she started going on projects with her father. She dressed like a boy, pulled her hair back, and many customers never suspected she was a girl. In time she received her journeyman status then took the master plumber examination. After working as a plumber repair woman for some time she changed to office work and finally took over management of the family plumbing firm. She was married to an auto mechanic, and in later years when a plumbing fixture in the house went awry Lillian called a local plumbing company.