Towards a history of women of color in the workplace

Resurfacing snapshots from my mother’s work life

Mom captured at her desk in the offices of Rugol Trading Corporation, a hardware wholesale company. (Qiana Mestrich)

There are few stories about the history of women in the workplace and practically none about black (and especially immigrant) women in the workplace. This realization struck me during a recent discovery of vintage photos of my mother circa 1969 as a “white-collar” office worker. As I look at these images and digest every detail of this bygone era, I can only wonder: What if the movie 9 to 5 were remade with women of color?

“We Win It!” Posters in the offices of Rugol Trading Corporation highlight the Mets’ 1969 World Series win, but it’s women like my mother (standing) and her coworker caught here with their backs to the camera, who are the unsung heroes of corporate America. (Qiana Mestrich)

Originally from Panama, and after a brief stint as a nanny in Puerto Rico, my mother migrated to New York City to pursue her dreams of living a new, American life. She followed in the footsteps of two aunts who’d already made their way there a decade or so earlier. One worked as a seamstress, hairdresser, and homemaker, while the other was an operator with AT&T, an exclusively female trade since the 1880s.

When my mother arrived in the late sixties, New York still resembled the glittery and glimmering “big town” she might’ve seen in movies like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Odd Couple. For her, life in New York City as a Central American immigrant was feasible, promising, and mostly exciting.

My mother’s friend who got her the job at Rugol. (Qiana Mestrich)

After working in a perfume factory, where she sometimes bruised herself on the job during mishaps on the assembly line, my mother gladly accepted a sales position in the offices of the Rugol Trading Corporation, a hardware wholesale company.

She was referred to the job by a friend with whom she’d attended an English-language learning institute. Rugol’s offices were located on North Moore Street (in what’s now called Tribeca) on a block of other dirty warehouses that were also host to numerous art studios and discotheques.

Of her time at Rugol my mother recounts fond memories with other workers of color, mostly African American and Latino, from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. These in-office portraits of her were taken by a co-worker named Nat, who wasn’t a professional photographer but “always had a camera in his hand.” In each photo, I am taken by my mother’s keen sense of style, elegance, and sophistication. As a child, I observed and admired these aspects of beauty in the black women around me, on the streets and subways on their way to work.

A lively group portrait with my mom (left) and her female colleagues at Rugol. (Qiana Mestrich)

Emigrating to a foreign country by herself and eventually having to raise a child alone while working full-time was a necessity for my mother. Being a “working girl” was a source of pride for her and a crucial part of her identity, not some sexy on-screen role. I remember admiring her typing skills as child, watching in awe at the speed with which her fingers ticked away on those IBM typewriters.

Women on the job at Rugol Trading Corporation in Tribeca, New York circa 1969, with Mom on the right. (Qiana Mestrich)

When it came time for me to develop my own typing skills (this time on an Apple Macintosh Classic II computer), I already knew where to place my fingers on the keyboard and tried hard to beat my mother’s own 80-plus-words-per-minute speed. All those years I accompanied my mother to her office, I was learning how to work. It is those early skills and work ethic instilled in me by my mother that I would eventually bring to my own first office job out of college.

Mom poses for another portrait in the boss’ chair. (Qiana Mestrich)

Surely there are many women of color in America (and daughters of immigrants) who also got early exposure to the administrative work environment by watching their mothers in the office. Mine never got a lifetime achievement award, nor any other professional recognition for her more than 40 years of hard work. In her stubborn pride, she would shun such an idea, claiming that she just did what she had to do to survive.

Mom taking a break from filing to pose for the office photographer. (Qiana Mestrich)

Watching the trailer for 9 to 5, a 1980 comedy that attempted to address gender inequality and sexual harassment in the workplace, it seems as if we’ve not come a long way, baby. The struggle for equal pay is far from over, and the #MeToo movement has now moved the focus to the workplace.

Perhaps it is time for a 9 to 5 remake. This time, instead of directing our attention to their abuse and the abusers, let’s honor the real contributions made by the millions of women of color who paved the way for future generations in the office and the boardroom.

Left: My mom is seated at her desk while a coworker enjoys a birthday cake. Right: Mom’s bright smile at the office. (Qiana Mestrich)

…

Editors’ Note: If you have a photo of your mother at work, dressed for work, or on the way to work, feel free to share in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.