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Women in the Telegraph Office, 1846-1950

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Women in the Telegraph Office, 1846-1950 Women’s History Thomas C. Jepsen In the mid-nineteenth century, women entered a challenging, com- petitive technological field—the telegraph industry. They competed directly with men, demanding and occasionally getting equal pay. Women telegraphers made up a subculture of technically educated My Sisters workers whose skills, mobility, and independence set them apart from their contemporaries. My Sisters Telegraphic is an accessible and fascinating study designed Telegraphic to fill in the missing history of women telegraph operators—their my sisters telegraphic my sisters telegraphic work, their daily lives, their workplace issues—by using nontraditional sources, including the telegraphers’ trade journals, company records, and oral and written histories of the operators themselves. It includes Thomas C. Jepsen an analysis of “telegraph romance,” a largely forgotten genre of popu- lar literature that grew up around the women operators and their work. This study also explores the surprising parallels between the telegra- phy of the nineteenth century and the work of women in technical fields today. The telegrapher’s work, like that of the modern computer programmer, involved translating written language into machine- readable code. And anticipating the Internet by over one hundred years, telegraphers often experienced the gender-neutral aspect of the “cyberspace” they inhabited. Women in the Telegraph Office 1846–1950 THOMAS C. JEPSEN, author of numerous articles on the history of telecommunications technology, is a telecommunications systems architect in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Ohio University Press Cover: “Romance on the Wires” (detail) ISBN 0-8214-1344-9 from Harper’s Weekly Magazine, 1870s. Cover design: Gary Gore ,!7IA8C1-ebdeej! OHIO PAPERBACK, 6X9 TRIM. • 244 PAGES @ 420 PPI • INKS: PMS 703 RED + 123 YELLOW + BLACK. GLOSS FILM LAMINATE• 69 AC / MS03 23GO ACGOSS AM 244 AG S @ 420 MY SISTERS TELEGRAPHIC My Sisters Telegraphic Women in the Telegraph Office, 1846–1950 THOMAS C. JEPSEN OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS • Athens Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701 © 2000 by Thomas C. Jepsen Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper ∞ ™ 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 54321 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jepsen, Thomas C. My sisters telegraphic : women in the telegraph office, 1846–1950 / Thomas C. Jepsen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8214-1343-0 — 0-8214-1344-9 (pbk.) 1. Telegraphers—United States—History. I. Title. HD6073.T252 U65 2000 331.4'813841'0973—dc21 00-040654 Contents List of Illustrations vii List of Tables viii Acknowledgments ix 1.Women in the Telegraph Industry 1 The Entry of Women into the Telegraph Industry in the United States • Women Telegraphers in Canada and Europe • Women and the Telegraph in the Non-European World • Women in the Telegraph Industry in the Twentieth Century 2. Daily Life in the Telegraph Office 12 Life in the Depot Office • Morse Keys and “Bugs” • Life in the Commercial Office • The Working Environment • Working Hours • Introduction of the Teletype • Occupational Hazards 3. Society and the Telegraph Operator 38 Social Class • Ethnicity • Schooling • Reasons for Entering the Workforce • Demographic Composition of the Workforce • Social Life • Travel • Religious, Social, and Civic Organizations • Te legraphic Competitions • Family and Marriage 4. Women’s Issues in the Telegraph Office 79 The Entry of Women into Telegraphy in the United States and the Debate in the Telegrapher • The Entry of Women into Telegraphy in Europe • Women’s Issues in the Telegraph Office in the United States in the 1870s • Gendered Behavior in the Workplace • Equal Pay • Women as Business Entrepreneurs • Office Politics: The Case of Lizzie Snow • Sex and Morality in the Telegraph Office VI CONTENTS 5. Women Telegraphers in Literature and Cinema 118 Portrayal of Women Telegraphers in Literature • Women Telegraphers in the Cinema 6. Women Telegraphers and the Labor Movement 147 The Telegraphers’ Protective League and the Strike of 1870 • Women and the Labor Movement in Europe • The Brotherhood of Telegraphers and the Strike of 1883 • Women Operators and the Women’s Movement • The Order of Railroad Telegraphers • The Commercial Telegraphers’ Union and the Strike of 1907 • The Strike of 1919 • The 1919 Strike in Austria • The Decline of the CTUA 7. Conclusions 189 The Industrialization of the Telegraph Industry • The Closing of the Telegraph Age • Women Telegraphers as Technical Workers • In Pursuit of the Unwritten History • The Importance of Rediscovering History Notes 203 Bibliography 217 Index 223 Illustrations 1. Emma Hunter, telegrapher, West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1851 6 2. Elizabeth Cogley, railroad telegrapher, Lewistown, Pennsylvania, 1855 6 3. “Ma Kiley” (Mattie Collins Brite), railroad telegrapher, Mexico, 1903 10 4. Terminal station, 1873 13 5. Office of Carrie Pearl Seid, railroad operator, Sunbury, Pennsylvania, 1907 14 6. Handing orders, Railroad Stories cover, 1930s 17 7. Standard Morse key 18 8. The Vibroplex or “bug,” manufactured by Horace G. Martin 18 9. Postal Telegraph office, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1907 19 10. Hettie Ogle, manager, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Western Union office, 1889 20 11. Elizabeth A. Cody, chief operator, Springfield, Massachusetts, Western Union office, 1905 22 12. Typewriter ad, 1912 23 13. Mary Macaulay, vice-president, CTUA, 1919 25 14. Clerks and messengers, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1912 26 15. Western Union main operating room, 195 Broadway 30 16. Multiplex operating department, 60 Hudson St., 1930s 33 17. Printer department operators on break, Dallas, Texas, 1912 34 18. Emily Warburton and Barbara Gowans, Deseret Telegraph, Tooele, Utah, 1871 58 19. The American Telegraph Company Building, 145 Broadway, 1866 83 VIII ILLUSTRATIONS 20. “Romance on the Wires,” from Harper’s Weekly Magazine, 1870s 120 21. ORT members, Columbus Grove, Ohio, 1907 165 22. Mary Dreier and Margaret Dreier Robins 171 23. Hilda Svenson, Postal Telegraph strike leader, New York, 1907 172 24. Mrs. Louise H. Forcey, Postal strike leader, and fellow strikers 174 25. Chicago Tribune coverage of the 1907 strike 177 26. Ola Delight Smith, labor journalist 182 27. Anna Fallon signing agreement 184 Tables 1. Women in Various Occupations in the United States, 1870–1920 53 2. Women Telegraph Operators in the United States, 1870–1960 53 3. Payroll for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Western Union Office —May 1867 62 Acknowledgments I would like to thank all those who thoughtfully responded to my written requests for information, answered my telephoned and e-mailed queries, or otherwise participated in the “telegraphic network” that furthered my re- search and sent me off in new and fruitful directions: Melodie Andrews, Mankato State University, Mankato, Minnesota; Christopher T. Baer, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware; Elizabeth Bailey, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri; Kathryn L. Bar- ton, Guernsey Memorial Library, Norwich, New York; Evelyn Belknap, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, Utah; Lynne Belluscio, Leroy Historical Society, Leroy, New York; Kathryn L. Bridges, Charles A. Can- non Memorial Library, Concord, North Carolina; Shirley Burman, Cura- tor, “Women and the American Railroad,” Sacramento, California; Elwood W. Christ, Adams County Historical Society, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Paul Cyr, New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, Massachusetts; Merle Davis, State Historical Society of Iowa City, Iowa; Amy Doliver, Of- fice of Chenango County Historian, Norwich, New York; Melissa L. Dun- lap, Niagara County Historical Society, Lockport, New York; Charles L. Eater, Mifflin County Historical Society, Lewistown, Pennsylvania; Marie Edgar, Mine au Breton Historical Society, Potosi, Missouri; Edwin Gabler, University of Maryland, College Park; Ruth B. Gembe, Alexander Hamil- ton Memorial Free Library, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania; Ellen Hagney, Lowell Historic Preservation Society, Lowell, Massachusetts; Robert S. Harding, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Wash- ington, D.C.; Alice Henson, genealogical researcher, Jefferson City, Missouri; Elaine Pollock Lundquist, telegrapher, La Mesa, California; Karen W. Mahar, Siena College, Londonville, New York; Martha Mayo, IX X ACKNOWLEDGMENTS University of Lowell Special Collections, Lowell, Massachusetts; Genevieve G. McBride, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Carolyn J. Norris, Family History Research, Springfield, Illinois; Coralee Paull, ge- nealogical researcher, St. Louis, Missouri; Robin Rummel, Johnstown Her- itage Museum, Johnstown, Pennsylvania; William F. Strobridge, Wells Fargo Bank, San Francisco, California; Marion Strode, Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, Pennsylvania; Jan Taylor, Grout Museum, Waterloo, Iowa; and Mary K. Witkowski, Bridgeport Public Library, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Thanks also to Gillian Berchowitz, Senior Editor, Ohio University Press, for her help in bringing this project to fruition. And a special thanks to my wife, Marsha, not only for her help and support but also for getting me an interview with her aunt, former telegrapher Virginia Brom Turner of Oskaloosa, Iowa. MY SISTERS TELEGRAPHIC chapter one Women in the Telegraph Industry ICTURES of women working as telegraphers in nineteenth-century Ppopular literature always seem to lack context. These women do not fit neatly into either of the predominant stereotypes of nineteenth- century
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