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christopherborum 's review for:
The Harvey Girls: Women Who Opened the West
by Lesley Poling-Kempes
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This is an excellent history of an important yet little-known element of opening of the American West. It starts with a broad history of the Santa Fe Trail and the early incursions of Europeans into the deep Southwest. Then the author covers the development of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe line that followed roughly the old Trail route. Next the author introduces Fred Harvey and his grand plans to provide food service along the railroad and the expansion of Harvey House restaurants and the Harvey system, including the Harvey Girls who served as waitresses.
There are very few business records from the early Harvey House activities, and almost nothing from its founding in 1876. The author relies on personal recollections culled from newspaper articles and magazine stories with interviews of women who worked as Harvey Girls for the rest of the narrative. These reveal the experiences of the women who took on this role. These young women came from all over the Midwest, some looking simply for a job, others for adventure. Some stayed only a short time and returned home, some stayed 40 years or more. Many married railroadmen who worked the Santa Fe line and went off to raise families in the new American territories and states.
The author is sympathetic to her subject, painting the Harvey Girls as integral to making the West accessible and establishing settlements throughout the area. There is an argument that Euro-Americans shouldn't have been there at all, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree, but we were, and the Harvey Houses and Harvey Girls were an important part of that story. Fred Harvey was particularly sensitive to the indigenous populations and did a lot to preserve and protect traditional crafts and activities. He amassed a huge collection of artifacts that eventually went to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, along with many other Harvey memorabilia. His chief architect, Mary Colter, often included Native motifs in her designs for Harvey Hotels.
The book closes with the decline of the Harvey Houses in the middle of the 20th century, a combination of factors including changes in technology, the rise of auto and air travel, and the Second World War. During the war, Harvey Houses and the Harvey Girls served millions of meals to soldiers heading off to serve. They were a critical part of the home front, but when the war ended, the Harvey House system was a relic of the past. Many of the buildings were destroyed or repurposed. Only a few, such as the El Tovar at Grand Canyon Village, continue in their original capacity.
I knew a little about the Harvey Girls before, but these interviews, snippets, and descriptions of their experience brought them to life and placed them in the their historic context.
There are very few business records from the early Harvey House activities, and almost nothing from its founding in 1876. The author relies on personal recollections culled from newspaper articles and magazine stories with interviews of women who worked as Harvey Girls for the rest of the narrative. These reveal the experiences of the women who took on this role. These young women came from all over the Midwest, some looking simply for a job, others for adventure. Some stayed only a short time and returned home, some stayed 40 years or more. Many married railroadmen who worked the Santa Fe line and went off to raise families in the new American territories and states.
The author is sympathetic to her subject, painting the Harvey Girls as integral to making the West accessible and establishing settlements throughout the area. There is an argument that Euro-Americans shouldn't have been there at all, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree, but we were, and the Harvey Houses and Harvey Girls were an important part of that story. Fred Harvey was particularly sensitive to the indigenous populations and did a lot to preserve and protect traditional crafts and activities. He amassed a huge collection of artifacts that eventually went to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, along with many other Harvey memorabilia. His chief architect, Mary Colter, often included Native motifs in her designs for Harvey Hotels.
The book closes with the decline of the Harvey Houses in the middle of the 20th century, a combination of factors including changes in technology, the rise of auto and air travel, and the Second World War. During the war, Harvey Houses and the Harvey Girls served millions of meals to soldiers heading off to serve. They were a critical part of the home front, but when the war ended, the Harvey House system was a relic of the past. Many of the buildings were destroyed or repurposed. Only a few, such as the El Tovar at Grand Canyon Village, continue in their original capacity.
I knew a little about the Harvey Girls before, but these interviews, snippets, and descriptions of their experience brought them to life and placed them in the their historic context.