“Men’s Work”

The Temporary Women of the Quincy Mining Company Office

Renée M. Blackburn * Massachusetts Institute of Technology * 14 March 2012

Organization

The Office The Mining Landscape The “New” Office Gender in the Office Quincy Mining

Company The Copper Country The QMC Office Conclusions Mine Captains at the Calumet and Hecla

Mining Company mine office, ca. 1910s

The Early 20th c.

Office

Man and woman in office, ca. 1902

Photo courtesy http://www.officemuseum.com

The Mining Landscape

Photo courtesy Michigan Technological University Archives

The Quincy Mining Company landscape from the No. 2 Shaft-Rockhouse, ca. 1918

The Mine Office

Man reclining in chair at desk, ca. 1900

Two men in the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company mine office, ca. 1900

Photo courtesy http://www.officemuseum.com

Ca. 1920s office, gendered separation of work

The “New” Office

Accounting and stenographic department, ca. 1903

Photo courtesy http://www.officemuseum.com

81%

19%

1900Male Female

75%

25%

1910MaleFemale

67%

33%

1920Male Female

64%

36%

1930MaleFemale

Gender Composition of the Workforce,

1900-1930

Albrecht, Donald and Chrysanthe Broikos. 2000. On the Job: Design and the American Office. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

1890 1900 1910 19200200400600800

1000120014001600

Office Staff by Decade

MaleFemale

Num

ber

of W

orke

rsMale v. Female Clerical Workers

Kwolek-Folland, Angel. 1994. Engendering Business: Men and Women in the Corporate Office, 1870-1930. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

1890 1900 1910 19200100200300400500600

Office Staff by Decade

MaleFemale

Num

ber

of W

orke

rs

Male v. Female Stenographers &

Typists

Kwolek-Folland, Angel. 1994. Engendering Business: Men and Women in the Corporate Office, 1870-1930. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Men and Women

in the Office

Photo courtesy http://www.officemuseum.com

Man and moman with dictaphone in different office settings, ca. 1905

The “Feminized”

Office

Female staff of Sears Roebuck Co. order department, ca. 1913

Photo courtesy http://www.officemuseum.com

Photo courtesy http://www.officemuseum.com

Courthouse filing room, ca. 1910

Quincy Mining

Company

Photo courtesy http://www.myonlinemaps.com

The Copper Country

Photo courtesy http://www.coppercountrytrail.org

The QMC Office

Photo courtesy Michigan Technological University Archives

“Take it all together and it is one of the most complete office buildings in the Upper Peninsula” – Portage Lake Mining Gazette, 1 January, 1897

Office Job Titles at

QMCMale

Efficiency Engineer Clerk Time Keeper

Female Stenographer/Typist Telephone Operator Clerk

Photo courtesy Keweenaw National Historical Park (KNHP) Photo courtesy http://www.officemuseum.com

Inside the Office

Interior of QMC mine office, 2nd floor engineer’s office, ca. 1915

QMC miners and management, with one lone woman, ca. 1900-1905