The Girls Are Coming

By Peggie Carlson

Book Overview

In 1974, lured by good wages, a 22-year-old African American college student from suburban Minneapolis started work as a pipefitter trainee for Minnegasco, a Minnesota natural-gas utility. Peggie Samples was one of the first four women hired by the company into non-secretarial jobs after the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. On the job, she and her beautiful blond friend Sonny met men who were hostile, men who were helpful, and men who were simply flummoxed to find "girls" in their midst. "S'long as a guy does his job," one told her, "it don't matter ta me if he's a gal."

This memoir is the sometimes hilarious story of how they learned to work together--and what they all learned about stereotypes.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0873513762
• ISBN13: 9780873513760
• Release Date: August 1999
• Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
• Length: 211 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Not your typical 'glass ceiling' story.

Carlson is a wonderful storyteller. Her humorous account of working in a formerly all-male company full of good-ole boy Minnesota Scandinavians provides a wonderful backdrop for a discussion of the history of gender issues in the workplace. "The Girls are Coming" is a piquant slice of American history which precedes the more modern, white-collar lament of the 'glass ceiling'.