LARNED — The Santa Fe Trail Center Museum in Larned invites the public to their annual free Kansas Day program at 2 p.m. Sunday in the museum’s West Gallery.
This year’s program is “The Harvey Girls’ Multicultural Workforce,” given by Michaeline Chance-Reay.
Michaeline Chance-Reay teaches courses in women’s studies and education at Kansas State University. Her current research focuses on the Harvey Girls and historic sites on the K-State campus, especially those related to women.
“Women in the 19th and early 20th centuries who wanted jobs or careers outside of the home had few choices, but the Harvey Company offered unique opportunities,” said Chance-Reay. “It was demanding work but also offered a decent salary in a protected environment, in addition to travel and adventure.”
“The Harvey Girls’ Multicultural Workforce” is part of the Kansas Humanities Council’s Humanities Speakers Bureau, featuring presentations and discussions that examine our shared human experience—our innovations, culture, heritage, and conflicts.
After the presentation, cake and punch will be served. The program is made possible by the Kansas Humanities Council.
The presentation is a wonderful compliment to a recent donation to the museum by Robert Lewis. Lewis has donated six sets of dinnerware with various patterns, several dining car menus and other items that were used in Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad dining cars. Fred Harvey contracted with the railroad to provide the dining service on the trains. The dinner sets and other AT & SF Railroad memorabilia are currently on exhibit in the Santa Fe Trail Center Museum’s lobby.
The Fred Harvey Company not only hired recent immigrants to work in their famous Harvey House restaurants, they actively recruited them. Eventually, African American women became part of the workforce, and during World War II American Indians and Mexican Americans were hired as well. This presentation explores the job duties and working conditions of Harvey Girls from 1876 to the early 1950s.
The Kansas Humanities Council conducts and supports community-based programs, serves as a financial resource through an active grant-making program, and encourages Kansans to engage in the civic and cultural life of their communities.
For information about KHC programs contact the Kansas Humanities Council at 785-357-0359 or visit online at www.kansashumanities.org.
For information about this program, call 620-285-2054 or email museum@santafetrailcenter.org. The Santa Fe Trail Center Museum is two miles west of Larned on K-156.