The Women Who Paved the Way

What started as an “on-a-whim” decision to create a group chat on Snapchat for tradeswomen to connect has now turned into the Sisterhood of Trades – a swift growing project that is making its own impact on the history of tradeswomen in the modern world. Although the Sisterhood is still in the beginning stages, it's already proven to leave its mark on many women who have felt invisible or alone in this industry.

I have no doubt that when most of us hear the phrase “blue collar woman”, the first image that comes to mind is Rosie the Riveter. Although there’s an assumption that Rosie’s character was inspired by Naomi Parker Fraley, Rosie the Riveter was simply an illustration used by the government to encourage women to work “male dominated jobs” during the world wars while the men were on the frontlines. These women were employed to operate heavy machinery, build airships, make munitions, and work in lumber and steel mills to keep the world turning- which was much different than their homemaking jobs. However, what they probably thought was a temporary service to their country, has become so much more. These women proved that they were capable of labor-intensive work and pioneered the way for thousands of modern women in trades. Many women have been inspired by this character to take up the hammer and get out on the job, and continue to use Rosie the Riveter as the poster-woman representing strength and determination for tradeswomen all over the world.

Another outstanding tradeswoman is Sophy A. Christensen. Born in Denmark in 1867, she became one of the country’s first female master carpenters following a suggestion from her brother to expand her skillset in hopes of making more money, as her work for an embroidery shop didn’t pay well. After attending carpentry school, she moved on to an apprenticeship for cabinet making. In 1885, Sophy was the first woman to open her own furniture shop in Copenhagen, and continued to run her business after heading the Industrial Design School for Women for 9 years (1907-1916).

Some of the most important women in labor history, who seem to be slowly forgotten, are the Radium Girls. These women were employed to paint clocks with green, glowing radium-based paint that soldiers would be able to see while in the trenches. As they were painting the clocks, the women would lick the paintbrushes to keep them neat and produce clear strokes on the clock faces. Their employer’s failed to make them aware that they were being exposed to an extremely toxic chemical that would slowly poison them, breaking down and killing their flesh and bones, causing their bodies to decompose while they were still alive. Although unfortunate, their cases are what pushed for better workers’ rights and safety regulations. 

Personally, when I think of women in trades, not only do I think of the many women breaking barriers and making history in this day and age, but also the women before us. Specifically, for me, my own grandmother. I am a block and stone mason by trade, I learned from my father who is a master mason of 41 years. Although he’s always had a firm hand on helping me learn the skill, he’s never fallen short of applauding my efforts by saying things like “You pick it up so fast, it’s definitely in your blood.”- which is something that always made me laugh, but is very true. Not only am I learning a valuable skill from my father, I’m learning the skill that his mother -my grandma Cecilia- practiced when he was a child. With 7 young children and a husband who was never around, she spent her days in Mexico building stone walls, tables and planters to support her family. I don’t know if she was planning on also building a legacy with those skills, but she now has 2 sons, multiple grandsons and 1 granddaughter who all practice the same trade to an extent. Knowing that she was a stonemason has done nothing but drive me to improve my skills more every day. When I first learned about her being a mason, I wondered if she’d be proud or disappointed. Proud, maybe because it’s pretty cool that her own namesake is doing the same thing she did when she was my age, or disappointed because she made so many sacrifices coming to the states, just for her granddaughter to do what she was doing in Mexico instead of “following her own dreams”. I’m happy to say it’s the former and not the ladder, and I hope that every tradeswoman who paved the way is smiling down on each and every one of us trying to leave our own mark in this industry.