Existing comment:
The Government Clerks:
When the Treasury Department hired women for clerical positions in 1862, it caused a social stir in Washington. Until then these positions were held exclusively by men. In 1864, a congressman declared on the floor of the House of Representatives that the Treasury Department was "a house of orgies and bacchanals." The investigation by the House cleared all accused, but one can only imagine the climate in which these women worked -- and for merely $600 a year, half the salary of a male clerk. These women helped open the doors of office employment for women in the federal government and the private sphere as well. |