As the railroad allowed the American public to move westward, it not only opened possibilities for men seeking their fortunes but for women seeking work as well. In the late 1830s and ’40s, telegraph lines expanded alongside new railroad tracks and created new professional opportunities for women, despite continuing social norms discouraging them from working outside of the home and interacting with the public.

As men were drafted into the military during the Civil War, more than 100,000 women took their places. Many of these positions were as railroad telegraphers. Women were expected to step aside as men returned home after the war, and a resurgence in public discussions about women’s proper place continued.

Early pioneer women telegraphers were still the exception rather than the rule, but they blazed a trail for women to follow in the century of progress to come. Patricia LaBounty, curator of the Union Pacific Collection at the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, explores the complex and exciting world of women working on the railroad in the United States.

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