{"id":3279,"date":"2013-04-04T15:49:29","date_gmt":"2013-04-04T15:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=3279"},"modified":"2024-03-05T11:40:27","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T16:40:27","slug":"early-women-occupations-jobs-avocations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/early-women-occupations-jobs-avocations.html","title":{"rendered":"Early Women Occupations, Jobs & Avocations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak provides a fun quiz to test your knowledge of terms used in old newspapers to describe our female ancestors\u2019 occupations\u2014and then provides illustrated definitions of those terms. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Our female ancestors were hard-working and talented women. Although historically many early jobs were not made available to women, the workplace roles that were<\/em> filled by women often required highly skilled and talented workers\u2014such as milliners and educators. These working women performed several different types of jobs throughout the 1800s and 1900s.<\/p>\n

How well do you know the occupational terms used in old newspapers to identify our American female ancestors\u2019 jobs during the nineteenth century and earlier? Test your historical jobs knowledge with this handy Early Occupations for Women quiz. Play the women occupations quiz by matching the historical occupational names in the left column with the modern occupational name answers on the right. Check the key on the bottom to see how well you know your historical jobs.<\/p>\n

\"Early<\/a><\/p>\n

Accoucheuse<\/strong>, Accoucheus<\/strong> or Accoucheur<\/strong>: An accoucheuse was a midwife, or one who assisted during childbirth. This 1826 newspaper article reported an unusual marriage, when Mr. William Sharp, age 18, married Mrs. Rebecca Varnel, who was 64 and had officiated as \u201caccoucheur\u201d at his birth.<\/p>\n

\"wedding<\/a>
Bangor Weekly Register (Bangor, Maine), 7 December 1826, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alewife<\/strong>: An alewife is a type of herring (fish) that spawns in rivers, and was used in Colonial times by Native Americans and Colonialists as fertilizer. When applied to an occupation, it indicates a female ale house or tavern keeper. In 1897, this newspaper account of \u201cMeat and Drink in Old England\u201d reported how food and drink were sold at a tavern: \u201cThe cook comes out to the tavern door and cries, \u2018Hot pies, hot!\u2019 and the alewife fills pots of half and half by pouring penny ale and pudding ale together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Meat<\/a>
Woodbury Daily Times (Woodbury, New Jersey), 13 October 1897, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Besom Maker<\/strong>: A besom was a hand-made broom, in which a bundle of twigs was secured to a stick or broom handle. The job was common for, but not specific to, women. The term appears in this 1852 newspaper story.<\/p>\n

\"story<\/a>
Albany Evening Journal (Albany, New York), 14 August 1852, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Charwoman<\/strong>: Charwomen were cleaners, who sometimes worked by the day or for several employers. The etymology may relate either to the term \u201cchar,\u201d indicating something burned (possibly related to fireplace cleaning), or to the word chore. In this 1890 newspaper article, the Archbishop\u2019s daughter is doing charitable work as a charwoman.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan), 15 August 1890, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chautauqua<\/strong> or Chautauquan<\/strong>: In 1874, the New York Chautauqua Assembly was founded by Lewis Miller and John Heyl Vincent as an informal religious teaching camp along Chautauqua Lake. It developed into what is known as the Chautauquan movement. The main gathering was known as the \u201cMother Chautauqua\u201d and spin-offs as \u201cDaughter Chautauquas.\u201d During these meetings, presenters provided lectures, concerts and other forms of educational entertainment. The following notice from 1874 announced the first convention, which lasted two weeks.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 4 August 1874, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many women, such as Jane Addams and Maude Ballington Booth, were well-known on the Chautauquan circuit. The movement is still active today.<\/p>\n

\"story<\/a>
Rockford Republic (Rockford, Illinois), 8 May 1905, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Executrix<\/strong>: This occupational term is still current, and describes a female who is the administrator of an estate. This 1911 newspaper article names Mary C. Wishard executrix of the estate of E. S. Wishard.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Evening News (San Jose, California), 5 December 1911, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Midinette<\/strong> and Milliner<\/strong>: Midinettes were Parisian fashion house assistants and seamstresses. Milliners made and sold women\u2019s hats. In 1910, there was a strike in Paris by the midinettes, milliners and dressmakers of Paris.<\/p>\n

\"Strike<\/a>
Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), 1 December 1910, page 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Necessary Woman<\/strong>: Prior to the advent of indoor plumbing, the necessary woman had the unfortunate job of tending to chamber pots (used for toilets). In 1882, this newspaper article described the employees of Queen Victoria\u2019s household, which included a necessary woman.<\/p>\n

\"Queen<\/a>
Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan), 11 April 1882, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pugger<\/strong>: Puggers were clay manufacturing workers who assisted in treading clay to make a paste. The job was not specific to women and often included children. This 1916 notice advertised for three clay puggers in Trenton, New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\"ad<\/a>
Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), 3 April 1916, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scullery Maid<\/strong>, Woman<\/strong> and Worker<\/strong>: The term \u201cscullery\u201d applied to a small room, typically at the back of a kitchen (domestic or commercial), where laundry was processed, small food prepared or dishes washed. The job was common for females, but men also worked as scullery workers. This 1914 newspaper article, reprinted from a London newspaper during World War I, recruited women for a variety of jobs including scullery work.<\/p>\n

\"story<\/a>
Weekly Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 15 October 1914, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tire Woman<\/strong>: Tire women were dressers or costumiers who worked in dressmaking or the theater. This 1801 newspaper article quoted the late Gov. Livingston commenting on the practice of promoting dress sales by dressing dolls in the latest fashion: \u201cDoth a tire-woman in Paris send to London a doll completely accoutred [finely dressed] to shew [show] the new mode…\u201d<\/p>\n

\"story<\/a>
Daily Advertiser (New York, New York), 26 June 1801, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tucker<\/strong>: A tucker is a dress embellishment, or a person who attached a tucker to a garment. The decoration was typically made of lace or linen, and secured at the top of the bodice. The following image shows a 1906 ad for tuckers, and a 1910 picture of a girl\u2019s evening frock (dress) described with a \u201cneck being filled in with a tucker of mousseline and straps of pink ribbon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"newspaper<\/a>
Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 19 March 1906, page 13 & Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), 2 January 1910, page 13<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yeomanette<\/strong>: This is the female equivalent of yeoman, a term associated with certain military occupations, as well as farming. During World War I, women who served in the Naval Reserve were designated yeomanettes, as seen in this newspaper announcement that Eileen Carkeek, a member of the February 1918 class, had passed the Civil Service examination to become a yeomanette in the Navy.<\/p>\n

\"notice<\/a>
Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 3 March 1918, page 49<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Library of Congress Prints and Photograph archive has an interesting photo depicting uniforms worn by yeomanettes on duty.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Photo: \u201cNavy Girls on Review, Washington, DC\u201d c. 1918. Credit: Library of Congress file LC-USZ62-59313 at http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/resource\/cph.3b07059\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak provides a quiz to test your knowledge of terms used in old newspapers for our female ancestors\u2019 occupations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":38753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12701],"tags":[3384,12,4825,19965],"class_list":["post-3279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-female-ancestors","tag-female-ancestors","tag-genealogy","tag-genealogy-quizzes","tag-work-and-employment"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/photo-0404-2013-featured-graphic-woman-working.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3279"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97967,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions\/97967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}