The Harvey Girls

Women Who Opened the West

De: Lesley Poling-Kempes

Narrado por: Joana Garcia

The award-winning history of the women who went West to work in Fred Harvey's restaurants along the Santa Fe railway—and went on to shape the American Southwest

From the 1880s to the 1950s, the Harvey Girls went west to work in Fred Harvey's restaurants along the Santa Fe railway. At a time when there were "no ladies west of Dodge City and no women west of Albuquerque," they came as waitresses, but many stayed and settled, founding the struggling cattle and mining towns that dotted the region. Interviews and historical research help recreate the Harvey Girl experience. The accounts are personal, but laced with the history the women lived: the dust bowl, the depression, and anecdotes about some of the many famous people who ate at the restaurants—Teddy Roosevelt, Shirley Temple, Bob Hope, to name a few.

The Harvey Girls was awarded the winner of the 1991 New Mexico Press Women's ZIA award.

©1989 Paragon House (P)2023 Tantor

The history was nice to hear about.

I can't quite tell whether the writing was off or the reading. The reader had a very pleasant voice, however everything seemed to just merge together. It was very hard to stay focused...

Interesting History of the Harvey Girls...

...Fred Harvey and his restaurants, the Santa Fe Railroad (though the audio narrator cannot pronounce the "L" in "railroad" so you have to hear "rayroad" about a thousand times), the Southwest from the 1890s to a little after WWII, etc. The first half is better than the second. Well worth a credit, and the book that helped me discover the author is free on Audible Plus and is even better. Check that one out first: Ladies of the Canyons