Not Just Pin Money: Selected Essays on the History of Women’s Work in British Columbia ed. by Barbara K. Latham, Roberta J. Pazdro (review)

REVIEWS 97 withvictories suchasthe eight-hourworkdayin the minesand workmen's compensation acts. Theunionwas guided bydetermined, militantworkers and colourfulleaderswhowere,veryoccasionally, victorsin their strugglewith mineowners, politicians, andthestate.Forexample,in acelebrated case, their American leader,BillHaywood (whooftenspoke tomembers in theCanadian West) was freedofatrumped-up murdercharge afterthebrillianttriallawyer Clarence Darrowdelivered a moving eleven-hour address tothejury. In Canada,in the building years,readersare given (in a somewhat disjointed narrative)a full accountof the difficultiesof organizing,the penalties minersriskedbyjoining theunion,andtheenergyand precarious lifestyle oforganizers like'BigJim'McGuire,'Seahorse' Johnson, BobCarlin, and, later, longtermstaff representatives like Harvey Murphy and Bill Longridge. Thediscussion of thewide-ranging social andcommunity program which madetheuniononeof themostimportantorganizations in Sudbury is innovative. Thistypeofworkwas notuniquetoMineMill,astheauthors imply. The bookisproblematic in itsportrayalof theSteelworkers' raidsagainst MineMill, whichthe authorsseesimplyasa case of red-baiting andasan outcome of the Cold War. Suchan analysis ignoresthe workof Abellaand Horowitz,who placedconflictsbetweenCommunistand non-Communist tradeunionists wellbeforethen.Aspartisans in theSteel-MineMill fight,the authors seetheSteelworkers' encroachment verynegatively andasaconspiracybytheCanadianCongress of Labour,theSteelunion,theCatholic church, and the Ontario Labour Relations Board. For this reason, while the book is a goodread,it isnotusefulfor teaching purposes. Students willlearnthatthis unionrivalrywasemotional, political, andsometimes violent, butwillhaveno ideaaboutitscauses or the reasons for the intensityof the battle.The uninitiated readerisleftill-informedaboutanimportantthemein thehistoryof theCanadian labourmovement whichwarrantsa dispassionate analysis. The authors sought towriteapassionate butobjective history.The passion isthereand,forthose familiarwithlabour's traditions, it isanenjoyable book. The objectivity isnotpresentandthatistoberegretted. LAUREL S.MACDOWELL Erindale College, University ofToronto NotJustPin Money:Selected Essays on theHistoryof Women's Workin British Columbia. EditedbyBARBAVO, X•. LATVIAM and ROBERTAJ. V^ZDRO. Victoria,•c: Camosun College•984. Pp.viii,434.$•3.oo Adoptingabroaddefinitionof women's work,theeditorsandcontributors to thiscollection of essays exploreunpaidworkin thehomeandcommunity as wellaspaidlabour.In fact,veryfewof thepapers dealexclusively withpaid labourin its usualsense.The sectionheadingsprovidethe reader with a glimpse ofjusthowbroadly'women's work'hasbeenconstrued: nativewomen, 98 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Asianwomen,gentlewomen, education,unpaid workers,sociallegislation, labourandauxiliaries, health,politicians, andWorldWar•. Thislargevolume of thirtyessays usefullysupplements theearlierIn HerOwnRight(198o),also published byCamosun College. All thepaperswereoriginally delivered atthe first'Women's Historyin BritishColumbiaConference' heldat Camosun in April •984. The leadessay by historianMargaretConradprovidesa contextfor the volumeandpursues thethemeof timeandplacein women's history, drawing on the Maritime sources shehasrichly researched and previously written about.Conradarguesfor more attentionto localand regionalresearchand particularly to women's cultureasdepictedbywomenin theirdiaries,letters, scrapbooks, recipes,poetry,and artifacts.Sheasserts: 'Suchdocuments are extremely valuable toolsfor learninghowthelargerhistorical forces intersect with women'sdaily realities- how "censustime" intersects with "women's time"' (4). Placeand time for women of Anglo-Americandescentcentre aroundhomeandcommunity;whilethisfocusmaynot always be usefulfor native, Acadian, or upper-classwomen, Conrad correctlyinsistson the importanceof home (domesticity)and communityin shapingwomen's experiences. This volume's breadthandrangeare particularly striking. Whilemanyof the essays use familiar written sources and exploremiddle-class women's concerns(suchasdomesticserviceand domesticscience, womenin politics, sociallegislation, women's education,and professionalization), other essays pursuerelatively newareasandmethodologies. Fullyone-third of theessays dealwithnative,Asian,or working-class womenandmanyoftheauthorshave usedoral historytechniques in their research.Althoughthe resultsare not always completely satisfying, theincreased attention given tonon-middle-class womenin bothpaidandunpaidlabourisgratifying.The carefuluseof oral informantsto enrichtheresearchon twentieth-century womenraises importantquestions . WhileConrad's introductory essay does notspecifically address this important researchtechnique,oral historyis vital to understanding women's culture,broadlydefined,inthiscentury.Forgroups ofwomenwhose writtenrecords maybeeitherscarce or fullof silences onparticular issues, oral historypromises to assist the historianof womenin findinganswers to our questions andin pursuingwomen's perceptions of themselves, theirfamilies, their communities, and their work. Thiscollection isalsoenrichedby theinclusion of biographical pieces on individual womenpoliticians, socialists, artists, andactivists relatively unfamiliar to researchers. Brief biographicalsketches and photographs of British Columbia femaleMI•as from •9•8to •983provideahandyreference guide.An essay onfour little-knownBritishColumbiawomenartists remindsthereader ofhowlittlethereistoreadon •thisaspect ofwomen's experience andhow muchgroundworkremainstobedone. REVIEWS 99 Because thisvolumerepresents adisparate groupof authors withdifferent backgrounds andinterests, theessays varyinqualityandintheirabilitytohold thereader's attention. The sizeofthevolumeprecluded abibliography butthe omission ofanindexandanysubstantial discussion of theoretical perspectives and debates in women'shistoryis regrettable.It is high time for women's historians tolaytheir theoretical cardson thetableandtointegrateexplicitly thefruitsof women's studies research in variousrelateddisciplines. Indeed, someof theessays makeuseof otherdisciplines, but thisvarieserratically throughout thevolume. The editorsmightalsohaveprovidedanintroduction whichattemptedto insertsometheoreticaldiscussion and especially some perspective ontheregionaldimensions of BritishColumbian women's history as a whole. LINDA KEALEY Memorial University ofNewfoundland LetUsRise! AnIllustrated History oftheManitoba Labour Movement. Dot•G SMITH. Vancouver: NewStarBooks1985.Pp. 15•, illus.$19.95cloth,$13.95paper This surveyof the developmentof Manitoba'slabour movementfrom '1881-1914:The Ageof theCraftsmen' to'196o...