She Works in Deutsche Radio

August Sander
Secretary at West German Radio, Cologne
1931
















I am not used to seeing such glamorous, indefinite characters among Sander's sitters. This picture drove me to verify my suspicions about the word secretary--

(sĕk'rĭ-tĕr'ē)
1387, "person entrusted with secrets," from M.L. secretarius "clerk, notary, confidential officer, confidant," from L. secretum "a secret" (see secret). Meaning "person who keeps records, write letters, etc.," originally for a king, first recorded c.1400. As title of ministers presiding over executive departments of state, it is from 1599. The word is used in both Fr. and Eng. to also mean "a private desk," sometimes in Fr. form secretaire (1818).