This presentation provides some brief information regarding the history of women in the work place.

1. WOMEN OF THE
WORKFORCE

2. EARLY FACTORY
CONDITIONS
 LONG HOURS
◦ 12-16 HOUR DAYS
 WORKEDIN CRAMPED
QUARTERS
◦ LIMITED ROOM TO
OPERATE
 PHYSICALLY HAMPERED
AND WEAKENED
EMPLOYEES

3. EARLY FACTORY
CONDITIONS
 MANY RESTRICTIONS
◦ BATHROOM BREAKS
◦ CONVERSATING
 DIRTY AND UNSAFE CONDITIONS
◦ EXAMPLE: MANY DESTROYED THEIR
LUNGS THROUGH INHALING DIRTY AIR
 DISEASE SPREAD AMONGST
WORKERS

4. EARLY FACTORY
CONDITIONS
 MANY DIED IN FACTORIES
◦ EXHAUSTION
◦ SWINGING EQUIPMENT
◦ DISEASE

5. EARLY FACTORY
CONDITIONS
Dear Father,
I received your letter on Thursday the 14th with much
pleasure. I am well, which is one comfort. My life and health
are spared while others are cut off. Last Thursday one girl
fell down and broke her neck, which caused instant death.
She was going in or coming out of the mill and slipped
down, it being very icy. The same day a man was killed by
the [railroad] cars. Another had nearly all of his ribs broken.
Another was nearly killed by falling down and having a bale
of cotton fall on him. Last Tuesday we were paid. In all I had
six dollars and sixty cents paid $4.68 for board. With the
rest I got me a pair of rubbers and a pair of 50 cent shoes.
Next payment I am to have a dollar a week beside my
board...
-Excerpt from a Letter from Mary Paul, Lowell mill girl,
December 21, 1845.

6. MIDDLE CLASS WOMEN
BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY:
 MARRIED WOMEN WERE EXPECTED TO
STAY HOME
 LIVE A DOMESTIC
LIFESTYLE
◦ COOK
◦ CLEAN
◦ TAKE CARE OF THE
CHILDREN

7. MIDDLE CLASS WOMEN
A Wife's Need (Godey's Lady's Book)
Without ignoring accomplishments, or casting a slur upon any of
the graces which serve to adorn society, we must look deeper for
the acquirements which serve to form our ideal of a perfect
woman. The companion of man should be able thoroughly to
sympathize with him — her intellect should be as well developed
as his. We do not believe in the mental inequality of the sexes; we
believe that the man and the woman have each a work to do, for
which they are specially qualified, and in which they are called to
excel. Though the work is not the same, it is equally noble, and
demands an equal exercise of capacity.
From Godey's Lady's Book, Vol. LIII, July to December, 1856.

8. WOMEN IN THE
WORKFORCE
1845 – 1960s:
 FACTORY WORKERS
◦ GARMENT OR TEXTILES
 HOUSEKEEPERS
 TEACHING
 NURSING
 DEPARTMENT STORES WORKERS
 CLERICAL WORKERS

9. WOMEN IN THE
WORKFORCE
1970S - CURRENT:
 ATTEND COLLEGE AND GRADUATE
SCHOOLS
◦ EXAMPLE: SIENA HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY –
FEMALE ONLY COLLEGE
 HEALTH CARE
 LAW
 BUSINESS
 DENTAL
 BEGAN TO ENTER FIELDS DOMINATED BY
MEN

10. WOMEN’S LABOR
HISTORY TIMELINE
TIMELINE

11. WAGE GAP
1830s PHILADELPHIA:
WOMEN MADE AN AVERAGE OF $2.25 PER
WEEK WHILE MEN MADE AN AVERAGE
$6.50-7.00 PER WEEK

12. WAGE GAP
JUNE 10, 1963:
CONGRESS PASSES THE EQUAL PAY ACT,
MAKING IT ILLEGAL FOR EMPLOYERS TO
PAY A WOMAN LESS THAN WHAT A MAN
WOULD RECEIVE FOR THE SAME JOB.

13. WAGE GAP
THE WAGE GAP OVER TIME