The Working Girl Problem in Twentieth-Century New York and Dorothy Richardson’s The Long Day (1905)
Keywords:
Progressive Era, Women’s Labor Movement, Protective Legislation, Women’s Writing, Dorothy RichardsonAbstract
At the turn of the twentieth century, wage-earning women in progressive America had to succumb to a vicious, precarious system in which they were disadvantaged when compared to their male counterparts. In an attempt to illuminate on the working girl problem in big cities, Dorothy Richardson, a reporter from the New York Herald, took up undercover investigative journalism, publishing her experiences in The Long Day: The Story of a New York Working Girl 1905 . In her novel, Richardson stipulates trades-training and reminds her readers of the necessity of protective legislation. Introducing the life of her heroine as desirable, she emphasizes the value of a strenuous life, showing her readers how to climb up the social ladder towards the American dreamReferences
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