Women At Work: 
Work History of Women in America

Improved Educational Opportunities for Women

As time progressed, the educational opportunities for women improved to include career training instead of simply preparation for marriage. The Connecticut Agricultural College admitted women and trained them in nursing, science, agriculture, and home economics. There were other places, such as the Middlesex Hospital Training School that specialized in nursing, while the New London College of Business offered specific training in different aspects of business.

< Nursing was a profession deemed acceptable for women beginning in the mid-19th century. However, nursing education improved a great deal after the establishment of organizations such as The National League of Nursing Education that was established in 1893.

New London Business College
Classroom
New London, ca. 1887
Photo CD: 3152 File: Img0097.pcd

< After attending business college, women often held jobs as secretaries, stenographers, or bank tellers. Subjects taught to students included skills such as typing, stenography, money and office management and economics.

Commencement in the
Diesel Family (she M.S., he B.S.),
University of Connecticut
Storrs, 1949
Photo CD: 1572 File: Img0078.pcd

< The family in this photograph is a testament to the progress that women’s education made. Moving from the female seminaries of the 1850 to a woman who has graduated with a Masters degree, surpassing her husband in education, while also raising a child. It shows a progression toward education as it is today.

Link to other essays in this Journey:

>> Introduction: Women At Work
>> Women on Farms
>> Factories and Unskilled Wage Labor
>> Church and Charities
>> Domestic Service
>> Women as Educators
>> White Collar Employment
>> Women in War
>> Women in Music, Art, Literature

>> Guideposts
>> Suggestions for further reading