Your search

Unites an extensive collection of oral histories with the documentary record - newspapers, the census, and other government records - to examine women's employment during the Great Depression in Toronto, Ontario, discussing how privilege and disadvantage based on race and ethnicity, gender, and class influenced women's work experiences. In Toronto's garment industry and as clerical workers, domestics, and teachers, the women in this study had various levels of economic stability, came from varied ethnic and racial backgrounds, and enjoyed, as a consequence, different job options in a period when employment access was particularly important for women and their families. This article explores the intersection between identity and job access to show why this was so in the 1930's. Ultimately, individual experiences indicate that gender should not be given analytical predominance for understanding all depression-era labor markets. In some historical contexts and for some women, gender had less relevance to their experiences than race, ethnicity, or class.