Women in nineteenth-century Pullman

Abstract

Built in 1880, George Pullman's railroad car manufacturing town was intended to be a model of industrial order. This Gilded Age capitalist's ideal image of working class women is reflected in the publicly prescribed place for women in the community and the company's provisions for female employment in the shops. Pullman wanted women to establish the town's domestic tranquility by cultivating a middle class environment, which he believed was a key to keeping the working class content. Throughout the course of the idealized communitarian experiment, however, Pullman's policies and prescriptions changed to meet the needs of working class families who depended on the wages of women. This paper will study the ideologies and realities surrounding women in nineteenth century Pullman.