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Somerville and New England History Collection
 
Founded in 1903, the Fisher Business School was one of a number
commercial schools that flourished in the first half of the
twentieth century. These schools provided young women the training
necessary to qualify for 'pink collar' (clerical) jobs: courses
included bookkeeping, penmanship, shorthand, typing, and indexing.
Secretarial and clerical jobs were then among the few non-menial
employment opportunities available to young women. After a nine-month
course at tuition often as low as $10 a month, a graduate of
a business school such as Fisher could expect to get an office
job paying as much as $10 a week. By contrast, an experienced
female factory worker at the time could expect to earn only
$5 or $6 dollars for a 60-hour work week. Unfortunately, the
opportunity for increased earning power provided by institutions
such as the Fisher School was not one available to every capable
young woman. In keeping with the prejudices of the era, these
commercial schools usually admittedly only the daughters of
white, middle-class, U.S.-born parents. |
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