What happened to the women and girls who worked for Thomas Edison?
February 19, 2014 3:35 PM Subscribe
Are there any journals in existence that were kept by women or girls who worked for Thomas Edison in the 1880s/1890s? More inside.
I'm looking for first-person accounts written by women and girls who worked for Edison. He employed hundreds of women, especially to make his talking dolls. But the NJ Historical Society doesn't seem to yield much in this regard, nor does Rutgers. Or am I looking in the wrong place? Where might I find some Victorian-era women's, or girls', journals from New Jersey? Surely at least ONE woman would have recounted her experience working for him, or voicing recordings for him.
Any leads appreciated.
I'm looking for first-person accounts written by women and girls who worked for Edison. He employed hundreds of women, especially to make his talking dolls. But the NJ Historical Society doesn't seem to yield much in this regard, nor does Rutgers. Or am I looking in the wrong place? Where might I find some Victorian-era women's, or girls', journals from New Jersey? Surely at least ONE woman would have recounted her experience working for him, or voicing recordings for him.
Any leads appreciated.
Also, Edison's home near the factory is, or recently was, a museum in its own right. You might get some good leads for the administrators there.
posted by cairdeas at 3:52 PM on February 19, 2014
posted by cairdeas at 3:52 PM on February 19, 2014
I just checked about the museum. Apparently the factory itself is also a museum, and from the website:
posted by cairdeas at 3:57 PM on February 19, 2014
The sheer size of the holdings is daunting: the history collection is currently estimated to number over 300,000 items, while the archives contain approximately five million documents.Just in case you haven't tried the museum's own archives yet...
posted by cairdeas at 3:57 PM on February 19, 2014
Henry Ford duplicated-slash-absconded-with the Menlo Park complex for his museum, so maybe they'd have some leads too.
posted by XMLicious at 8:23 PM on February 19, 2014
posted by XMLicious at 8:23 PM on February 19, 2014
Best answer: I actually grew up in West Orange in one of the neighborhoods that cairdeas is talking about and I live there as an adult. I live on top of what was originally Edison's dump. There is a lot of verbal history in the area about Edison and the factory employees and while I have never gone looking for any written history I would be happy to tell you the stories I heard as a kid.
posted by crankylex at 6:14 AM on February 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by crankylex at 6:14 AM on February 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by cairdeas at 3:51 PM on February 19, 2014 [5 favorites]