Research Catalog

Title

From morning to night : domestic service in Maymont House and the gilded age South / Elizabeth L. O'Leary.

Author

O'Leary, Elizabeth L.

Publication

Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2003.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xiv, 182 p. : ill, ports.; 24 cm.

Summary

Drawing on personal letters, business and government documents, and numerous oral histories of older Richmonders -- both black and white -- O'Leary examines the parallel and divergent viewpoints of server and served in this Virginia version of "Upstairs/Downstairs." Raised in slave-owning households before the Civil War, Maymont owners James H. and Sallie Dooley experienced the transformation of the master/mistress-slave relationship to that of employer-employee. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they relied on a full complement of domestic servants to maintain their lavish residences and lifestyle. In turn, numerous men and women -- predominantly African-American -- labored to meet the day-to-day challenges of running an elaborate household. At the same time, they negotiated the era's increasing Jim Crow restrictions and, during precious hours off-duty, helped support families, churches, and the larger black community. By examining the formalities and practices of the Dooley's at home and by giving a presence and voice to their "help," From Morning to Night offers insights into domestic and social systems at work within and beyond the upper-class household in the Gilded Age South. - Jacket flap.

Subject

• Dooley family
• Maymont (Richmond, Va. : Dwelling)
• African American women household employees > Richmond
• Women household employees > Richmond

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The Dooleys: The View from the Drawing Room -- The Gilded Age South through Photographs -- The Maymont Staff: The View from the Kitchen -- Conclusion: "One of the Family" -- Biographical Directory of Dooley Employees, 1880-1925.

ISBN

0813921600

LCCN

^^2002013488

OCLC

• 50516414
• SCSB-12639982

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library