... Next Stop Chicago, circa 1900.
You made it to the big city! You are a woman in Chicago at the beginning of the 20th century, and I hope you're well rested because you have a big day ahead of you. Just as Carrie found in Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, there are many options for you to explore. But not all of them may suit your fancy. Before you explore these options, you might want to find out if other women came to the city for the same reasons as you did. Were the pieces of the other girls' conversations you heard on the train true? Listen closer to what they were saying and find out what their motivations were.
Now you're ready to look for a job and possibly earn the big bucks the city has promised. Being a women, though, you don't have many choices. Women like you usually start out in jobs like these ...
Feel free to look around and explore what might be best for you. Even if you are discouraged by the characteristics of one job, be sure to check out the others. They're not all so bad.
Did you check out all the jobs available to you? Not satisfied? Feeling like you couldn't get very far? You're not alone. Many women discovered the phenomenon of a glass ceiling preventing them from achieving their dream jobs. Reading about this glass ceiling will reveal the underlying forces that prevented women of this time from excelling in the workplace.
We hope you enjoyed your tour of Chicago's working world in the early 1900's. While we are glad you visited, we are sure you will be happy to return to the present day. However, feel free to visit again - there will always be a ticket available for you.