1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 1: a show that reveals a little bit more about history 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: day by day. I'm Gabe Louizier, and today we're looking 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: at an important milestone in the struggle for American women 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: to be accepted as independent citizens, the opening of the 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: nation's first successful hotel for single working women. The day 8 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: was March two three. The Women's Hotel opened its doors 9 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: as the only hotel in New York City to provide 10 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: lodging exclusively for professional women. At the time, it was 11 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: widely considered unseemly for a single, old woman to stay 12 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: at a hotel. In fact, it was general practice and 13 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,679 Speaker 1: most respectable hotels to never admit a woman as a 14 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: guest unless she was accompanied by her husband or was 15 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: checking in as a member of a family with a patriarch. However, 16 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: by the turn of the twentieth century, long standing restraints 17 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: on women's behavior were gradually giving way. A growth in 18 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: manufacturing and industry had boosted demand for female labor, and 19 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: many roles in business and the arts were now being 20 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: filled by women for the first time. There were also 21 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: new opportunities for education, as more institutions began accepting female 22 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: students into advanced programs. Unfortunately, most cities housing markets didn't 23 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: keep pace with this progress. As a result, when thousands 24 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: of single working women began moving to urban areas, they 25 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: had a difficult time finding somewhere to live. At first, 26 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: cities made little attempt to accommodate the new growing workforce. 27 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: Many women had to settle for less than ideal living conditions, 28 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: like a shared bedroom and a tenement building, or a 29 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: rented room in a predominantly male boarding house. Those kinds 30 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: of accommodations weren't only uncomfortable for the female lodgers, they 31 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:24,799 Speaker 1: were also viewed with suspicion by the rest of society 32 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: at the time. Many looked at single women as nothing 33 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: but future wives and mothers. This resulted in an oppressive 34 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: focus on preserving female chastity and innocence, or at least 35 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: the appearance of it. So on one hand, the country 36 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: was changing and finally offering new opportunities for women, but 37 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: on the other hand, many of the long standing expectations 38 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: of a male centric society remained in place. This tension 39 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: continued for decades in cities all over the country. With 40 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: New York City being one of the first places to 41 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: take on the challenge of providing decent urban housing for 42 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: young working women. The idea of a hotel just for 43 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: women was first proposed in eighteen sixty nine by a 44 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: retail store owner named Alexander T. Stewart. He had noticed 45 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,919 Speaker 1: that his stores employed a lot of young women, most 46 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: of whom struggled to find appropriate housing. To remedy the 47 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: problem and to open a new stream of revenue for himself, 48 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: Stewart began building what he called the Hotel for Working Women. 49 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: He described it as the first hotel of its kind, 50 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: a place for quote industrious young women to foster individuality 51 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: and self dependence, in which lodging, food, and warmth, with 52 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: other essentials may be furnished at the lowest possible rates. 53 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: The hotel was completed in eighteen seventy eight, but unfortunately 54 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: Stewart didn't live to see it. His successors had less 55 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: faith in the project than he had. Within a year 56 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: of its opening, the property was sold and converted into 57 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: the Park Avenue Hotel, an establishment that mostly catered to 58 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: wealthy men. The idea of a women's hotel fell by 59 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: the wayside for nearly thirty years, but eventually the housing 60 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: crisis for working women became too great to ignore. In 61 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety seven, a group of reformers partnered with high 62 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: profile investors and founded the Women's Hotel Company. Its stated 63 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,159 Speaker 1: mission was to build quote high grade hotels for the 64 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: exclusive accommodation of business and professional women. After a brief 65 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: delay due to the Spanish American War, the group was 66 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: finally ready to start construction in nineteen o one. The 67 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: company purchased two lots of land on East twenty ninth 68 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: and East thirtieth Streets, and then hired a British born 69 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: architect named Robert W. Gibson to design the twelve story hotel. 70 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: Although it had been funded by a mix of female 71 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 1: and male investors, including John D. Rockefeller, by the time 72 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: the hotel opened in nineteen o three, much of the 73 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,600 Speaker 1: stock in the company was owned by individual women who 74 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: just believed in the idea. When the Women's Hotel opened 75 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: its doors on March two, it welcomed both overnight and 76 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: long term guests. In total, there were four hundred and 77 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: sixteen single rooms and apartments, most of which were rented 78 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: for a dollar fifty per day. The rooms themselves were 79 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 1: small and came equipped only with a sink. The three 80 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: dozen or so women on each floor had to share 81 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:40,159 Speaker 1: four common bathtubs and four toilets. An early promotional brochure 82 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: boasted that the hotel was quote well appointed, thoroughly modern, 83 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: strictly fireproof, and equipped with every facility for the comfort 84 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,239 Speaker 1: of its guests. Women's wit has been used to provide 85 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: the little necessities and comforts so much appreciated by her. 86 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: To be more specific, hotels amenities included a drug store, 87 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: a tailor shop, a manicurist, a shoe polishing parlor, a 88 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: newspaper stand, a library, a rooftop promenade, a private dining room, 89 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: and a separate restaurant open to the public. Mail guests 90 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: were only permitted on the first floor, but the workforce 91 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 1: did include some men. Initially, the hotel employed men to 92 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:28,359 Speaker 1: carry suitcases and to work the elevators. In the hotel 93 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: second year, the bell boys were replaced with women, who 94 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: were considered more reliable by the manager. The male elevator 95 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: operators stuck around until nine seventeen, at which point they 96 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 1: too were replaced with women. On its first night in operation, 97 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: the Women's hotel was fully occupied, with five hundred registered 98 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: guests and about two hundred more on the waiting list. 99 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: It was a successful opening by any measure, but that 100 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: didn't keep the hotel from being mocked in the press. 101 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: For instance, The New York Times wrote that quote, there 102 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: is something essentially funny in the implications of a hotel 103 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:11,679 Speaker 1: conducted exclusively for women. The Times also noted the presence 104 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: of the bell boys, which had considered a necessity as 105 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: suitcases quote would be too heavy for girls. In its 106 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: early years of operation. This jeering press coverage turned the 107 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: hotel into something of a tourist attraction. In nineteen o four, 108 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: one resident wrote a letter to The Times complaining that 109 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: groups of people had started pulling up to the hotel 110 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: to gawk at the guests, as if they were quote 111 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: a new kind of freak. Male outsiders may have viewed 112 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: the women's hotel as an object of amusement, but for 113 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: the female professionals who stayed there, it was nothing short 114 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: of a godsend. One guest hailed it as quote so 115 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: superior to the New York Boarding and Lodging House that 116 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: it cannot be considered in the same breath. If you're 117 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: wondering what kind of women quented the hotel. We actually 118 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: have a nice breakdown thanks to the nineteen ten census. 119 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: It shows that the Women's Hotel served a wide variety 120 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: of professionals, including artists, teachers, bookkeepers, musicians, writers, nurses, stenographers, 121 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: and at least one insurance broker. The average age of 122 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: guests was between forty five and fifty, though a few 123 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: were in their twenties and somewhere in their seventies. In 124 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: addition to housing women, the hotel also hosted women's organizations. 125 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: For example, in nineteen o seven it served as the 126 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: headquarters for the Interurban Women's Suffrage Council. In nineteen twenty, 127 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: the founding companies sold the property to the Martha Washington 128 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: Hotel Corporation, at which point it was renamed the Martha 129 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: Washington Women's Hotel. It continued to be operated under that 130 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: name for most of the twentieth century, and even as 131 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,320 Speaker 1: societal views shifted, the hotel continued to serve only women 132 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: until by that point, the year old building was looking 133 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: pretty run down and more than a little old fashioned. 134 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: In recent years, it's been renovated and reopened under new 135 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: names by several different owners. At the time of recording. 136 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: It's known as the Red Berry, New York Hotel, and 137 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,559 Speaker 1: rooms are available to both women and men, single or otherwise, 138 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,439 Speaker 1: just be prepared to pay a little more than a 139 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:34,320 Speaker 1: dollar fifty. I'm Gabelusier and hopefully you now know a 140 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. If 141 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 1: you'd like to keep up with the show, you can 142 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,959 Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d 143 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:48,559 Speaker 1: i HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 144 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: you can always send them my way at this day 145 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: at i heeart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays 146 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll 147 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: see you back here again tomorrow for another Day in 148 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: History class. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit 149 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 150 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:14,959 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.