Toland 1

Vivian Toland

Dr. Kamahra Ewing

Honors 1000-502

September 29, 2016

Life in the New World

Come play dollies with me, I look up from doing the dishes to see Rebecca right in

front of me. I squat down to her height and say, Give me just a few minutes, sweetie I need to

finish the dishes from breakfast. How about while you wait you brush your teeth for me? She

gives her a look, but ran to the bathroom, which I assume she is going to do as I asked. Lena

Schmidt was a 17-year-old immigrant from Germany coming to America because of the civil

unrest in Germany. When she got to Ellis Island, she remembered men talking about Henry Ford

and how his manual for his company was trying to better the working man.1 She hoped that

meant better wages for domestic work too, while at Ellis Island she heard lots of talk of Chicago

becoming very urban and more families wanting domestic servants.

Lena decided to board a train to Chicago. When she got to the train station, she used what

little money she had to buy a newspaper to find a job. Lena came across a classified ad asking for

housework. The article read as, Housework- A REFINED, EXPRANCED girl for second work;

must be good waitress, neat and clean, and able to assist with care of little girl 5 years old;

German or Swiss preferred. Call with references.2 Lena called and the employer wanted to meet

her. When Lena went to meet the employer, the woman introduced herself as Ms. Woodfield. She

asked a series of questions and Lena answered them as best as she could. At the end of the

meeting, Ms. Woodfield asked if she had questions. Lena asked if the job was a live-in position

and Ms. Woodfield said that it was not, but that she really liked her. Also with her age, she was
1
Ford, Henry. Helpful Hints and Advice to Employees. Detroit: Ford Motor, 1915. Print.
2
"Classified Ad 10 -- no Title." Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922): 24. Oct 07 1900.
ProQuest. Web. 30 Sep. 2016.
 Toland 2

willing to let her have the guest bedroom as her own. Ms. Woodfield, growing up, had a

domestic servant that pretty much her because her father was working and her mother always

wanted to be out with her friends. Her parents treated the servant really horrible and barely paid

her, so the servant had to live in horrible conditions. Ms. Woodfield said that if she was ever rich

enough to have her own domestic servant, she was going to treat her the best she possibly could

to make up for what her parents did to the women that practical raised her. Lena remembered all

of this as she finished up the dishes. She was so grateful that Mr. and Ms. Woodfield were

willing to open up their home and let her stay there when she worked for them. Lena gets paid

less than more people, but she was willing to give up the better wage if it meant she had a place

to sleep.

Lena, I look over to see Rebecca being sassy as I come back to the present. Im all

done. Did you brush your teeth like I asked you to? I asked. Rebecca gives me the prettiest

smile and says, Yes. I say, Lets go play dollies then. I follow Rebecca to her room and

lower myself to the floor. She hands me a doll and I begin to play with her. Rebecca loves that.

While her mother ran errands and attends lunch dates, and her father works, she has someone to

pay attention to her. Lena also loves this aspect of her job; that she gets to do all the housework,

but also takes breaks to give Rebecca all the attention she deserves. Lena plays dolls with

Rebecca for about half an hour, then tells Rebecca that she needs to get the kitchen floor mopped

before her mother gets home. She gets up to go do it. Rebecca continues to plays as she leaves.

Lena rounds up the big bucket and the mop, turns on the sink to get the water hot, and

fills the bucket with hot soapy water. She starts to mop the floor at the far end of the kitchen and

works her way back towards Abigails room to play more with her while the floor dries. While

she went, she made sure to get every single spot of the floor. When she finished, she went back

3
"Classified Ad 10 -- no Title." Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922): 24. Oct 07 1900.
ProQuest. Web. 30 Sep. 2016.
 Toland 3

to Abigails room. Lena saw she was now having a tea party with all her stuffed animals. Lena

asked to come in, and Rebecca said yes. She then sat down next to one of Abigails favorite

stuffed bear. They all pretended to drink tea, and after a little while, Lena got up to check on the

floor. It was finally dry, so she cleaned out the bucket and put the mop and bucket back where

they are supposed to be.

Lena then starts on dinner, so it will be ready by the time Mr. and Ms. Woodfield get

home. On the menu was baked chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and corn. As Lena prepared

the chicken, she couldnt help but imagine how lucky she was; her parents chose to send her to

America because Germany was going through bad times, but also because she found the

Woodfields ad, and she was being treated in such a good manner. Though lots of German

immigrants got very poor jobs, she was able to find a very good one and still get paid a little, but

she would take the small wage for the better treatment. As Lena put the chicken in the oven, she

heard the door open and saw both Mr. and Ms. Woodfield walk in. They both greeted me and I

asked about their days. Both had good days, and Rebecca came running down the hall to give

both of her parents hugs and tell them all about her day. Lena went back to cooking dinner.

Within the hour, dinner was done and they all sat down for the meal. Lena was very happy she

found a family to work for that included her, but even though this was mostly because of her age

and Ms. Woodfield being such the kind hearted person, Lena was able to get better than most.

Lena Schmidt was just like any other immigrant. She had to go to Ellis Island just like the

rest and spend time looking for a job. She also had to deal with some discrimination, but her in

case, it was good because many people wanted domestic servants to be from Germany or

Switzerland.3 Also many immigrants had to work for very bad wages; barley getting paid while

working in really bad conditions. Henry Ford was the first to set up a better wage program, and

3
"Classified Ad 10 -- no Title." Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922): 24. Oct 07 1900.
ProQuest. Web. 30 Sep. 2016.
 Toland 4

many wanted to be a part of that because he also had safe working conditions. Lena, from my

story, got lucky because of her age, depending on the family (especially when it came to

housework too) would feel bad. They were so young and would give them good work

contentions and wages. Some families would even look for younger immigrants to have live in to

help with an elderly couple or other families. Immigrants had a very hard time, even though

America was supposed to be a great thing for them and give them more opportunities, and in a

way it did, but they also had to give up their home and families to come here and then settle on

low wages and bad working conditions. In the end, Lena lived a happy life marrying an

American man and learning about the American traditions. She soon forgot about the German

ones she left behind.

3
"Classified Ad 10 -- no Title." Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922): 24. Oct 07 1900.
ProQuest. Web. 30 Sep. 2016.
 Toland 5

Works Cited

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Historical Issues." Journal of American History 66.3 (1979): 603-615. America: History & Life.

Web. 28 Sept. 2016.

Frizzell, Robert W. "Migration Chains to Illinois: The Evidence from German-American

Church Records." Journal of American Ethnic History 7.1 (1987): 59-73. America: History &

Life. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.

Jentz, John B., and Hartmut Keil. "From Immigrants to Urban Workers: Chicago's

German Poor in The Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 1883-1908." Vierteljahrschrift Fuer Sozial

Und Wirtschaftsgeschichte VSWG 68.1 (1981): 52-97. America: History & Life. Web. 28 Sept.

2016.

Harzig, Christiane. "The Role of German Women in the German-American Working-

Class Movement in Late Nineteenth-Century New York." Journal of American Ethnic History 8.2

(1989): 87. ProQuest. Web. 28 Sep. 2016.

Haberlein, Mark. "German Migrants in Colonial Pennsylvania: Resources, Opportunities,

and Experience." The William and Mary Quarterly 50.3 (1993): 555. ProQuest. Web. 28 Sep.

2016.

Rippley, LaVern J. "German Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America.

Ed. Thomas Riggs. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2014. 207-223. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Web. 30 Sept. 2016.

"Classified Ad 10 -- no Title." Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922): 24. Oct 07 1900.

ProQuest. Web. 30 Sep. 2016.

Ford, Henry. Helpful Hints and Advice to Employees. Detroit: Ford Motor, 1915. Print.

3
"Classified Ad 10 -- no Title." Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922): 24. Oct 07 1900.
ProQuest. Web. 30 Sep. 2016.