9320663 Bose This is a project to examine the role of women in the American work force in 1900. Data from the Public Use Microsample of the 1900 Census will be used in conjunction with county-level contextual data to examine how the extent of labor force activity and the occupational distribution of women at the turn of the century varied by locality, racial and ethnic background, family composition, and other factors. Studies of recent trends in women's labor force participation and occupational distribution often involve claims about contrasts with the "traditional" patterns of the past. However, such claims are generally based upon misleading stereotypes or at best upon information from particular localities or occupations. The current project, by developing a representative national data set for 1900 as well as by examining local variations, will make it possible to study long term trends in the labor force activity of American women in a much more accurate way. ***
