We Kept Our Towns Going: The Gossard Girls of Michigan's Upper Peninsula

by Phyllis Michael Wong

WITH A FOREWORD BY LISA M. FINE, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY—Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is known for its natural beauty and severe winters, as well as the mines and forests where men labored to feed industrial factories elsewhere in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But there were factories in the Upper Peninsula, too, and women who worked in them. Phyllis Michael Wong tells the stories of the Gossard Girls, women who sewed corsets and bras at factories in Ishpeming and Gwinn from the early twentieth century to the 1970s. As the Upper Peninsula’s mines became increasingly exhausted and its stands of timber further depleted, the Gossard Girls’ income sustained both their families and the local economy. During this time the workers showed their political and economic strength, including a successful four-month strike in the 1940s that capped an eight-year struggle to unionize. Drawing on dozens of interviews with the surviving workers and their families, this book highlights the daily challenges and joys of these mostly first- and second-generation immigrant women. It also illuminates the way the Gossard Girls navigated shifting ideas of what single and married women could and should do as workers and citizens. From cutting cloth and distributing materials to getting paid and having fun, Wong gives us a rare ground-level view of piecework in a clothing factory from the women on the sewing room floor.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Social Issues, Historical, Labor

223 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2022

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many years ago, we took a side route through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to drive through the town of Gwinn. One of the saints of our church had been born and raised there. I knew little else about the town.

Gwinn had been built for the mining company workers, a ‘model’ town, a planned town. About the time of our friend’s birth, a building was taken over by the H. W. Gossard company, a manufacturer of ladies undergarments. Gossard already had a factory in Ishpeming. The two factories had a huge impact on local economics. Gossard jobs allowed women to support their families with extra income, or while their mining husbands were out of work, or to save money before marriage. Many girls left school to work and help out the family.

Gossard treated the workers well, even offering free, hot lunches. The piecework sewing was demanding, and physically abusive, but the Gossard Girls were proud of their work and their contribution. They were like ‘family’.

When union organizers arrived, it took years to generate support for a union. It did accomplish a pay raise, but the nature of the work also altered. Over time, the isolated location of the factories became a burden, with transportation costs rising in the 1970s. The factories were closed.

We Kept Our Towns Going by Phyllis Michael Wong is the story of the factories and the Gossard Girls, filled with detailed interviews with the women. The wealth of information may be overwhelming for the casual reader, but for those interested in learning in depth about the nature of the factory work, the growth of unions, and the lives of ordinary working women will appreciate this book. Wong interviewed scores of women who talk about the details of their working lives, rich in details that offer a deep look into decades of women’s history.

I was particularly interested in the use of fabric scraps related in the book. Women made miniature bras for boys to hang in their cars! And, after the factories closed, a stash of fabric scraps were made into quilts! You can find them documented on the Michigan State University Museum Quilt Index.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is an in-depth look at the women, and some men, who kept the Gossard undergarment factories running. These factories we're a huge asset to the small mining towns. The women had a great opportunity to bring in income for their families and it gave many teenage girls a good job right out of high school. It is amazing how many years some of these women worked there, essentially making it their career.
The beginning of the unions and the struggles to unionize we're interesting parts in this book too.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Kept Our Towns Going is a fascinating and engaging look at the manufacture of women's undergarments in two factories in Michigan in the early twentieth century. The book covers the importance of the industry in a rural area, the importance of the factories for providing work- and especially financial independence for the local women, and the place of these factories in the history of the women's labour movement. 
 Phyllis Wong's history is based predominately on oral history, including interviews undertaken for the book. She treats these stories with respect and sensitivity and weaves them into a wider history of the area and period. 
The book follows a generally logical chronology and brings to life the various jobs and work undertaken at the factory. She highlights the importance of the social relationships between women workers, and emphasizes the support these women provided each other- but also the impact of favouristim in the workplace. Many of the workers viewed the factory and staff as a 'family'  and Wong carefully interweaves narratives of workers, their children and those who knew them. She shows how supportive and considerate managers created initiatives such as providing "free nutritious" meals to workers to help their incomes go further in the wartime years, and contrasts this with how pro-union workers saw this as an attempt to stop unionizing. 
Chapter 4 which focusses on the 1940s, particularly focusing on a 4 month long strike which was rare as a women's pro-union strike, takes up a significant portion of the book, provides an engaging discussion on the strike and its place in the women's labour movement. She touches on stories of workers who were both pro and anti union, and highlights how the strike and union were perceived- particularly by those who didn't really understand the union or have an opinion. However throughout the book there were moments where I wish she would have discussed some of the contrasts of opinions and experiences- for instance she touches on several people who continued to work during the strike and were verbally abused (or physically threatened), yet once staff went back to work, the worker's got along again. There is little discussion of this disconnect. Although she does provide an understanding of the effects of this on one worker- one supervisor who was well liked and respected- yet as they continued to work during the strike people would spit and yell at them- they ended up having to be transferred during the strain. 
The book is short and sweet, and was an interested glimpse of the lives of these women. I think there was potential for some ideas to be pursued further, but on the whole it was a satisfying snapshot of a rural community. 
My thanks to Netgalley and Michigan State University Press for providing me with a copy.

[Bronwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was received from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

We Kept Our Towns Going tells the stories of the Gossard corset and bra factories in Ishpeming and Gwinn, Michigan. Moving chronologically, Wong follows the factories through their years of operation and beyond. The importance of these factories in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and beyond is shown through oral histories of individuals who worked or lived near the Gossard factories. This is a history of labor in an area not usually focused on, and Wong tells the story well.

Wong takes us through all the details of production in the Gossard shops. She describes the layout of the building; what went on on each floor; how the machines worked and how the women helped keep them working; how the materials were brought in and finished garments went out. Wong also uses the women's recollections to show how the different work structures operated, from how piecework worked and how it was paid out, to the office workers and truckers.

The communities in Michigan’s UP were mainly centered around mining. Wong shows how this helped create the perfect environment for the Gossard factories to succeed in. Miners were often laid off for periods at a time, and the wives and daughters of the miners wanted or needed to help their families. The Gossard was perfect for these women.

Throughout each chapter we hear from former employees, children of former employees, other members of the communities, etc. to help us better understand the importance of the factories to their communities. Wong highlights the economic benefits to families and the towns from the first opening in the 1920s until the final closure in 1976.

The longest chapter in the book highlights the lead up to unionization of the Gossard plants and the strike that took place in 1949. I fully admit I didn’t quite follow all of the strike negotiations. Whether that is due to the text lacking or my own gap in understanding unions though, I’m not sure.

The last chapters show the changing world of the 1960s and 1970s and the slow decline in the Gossard’s work in the UP. Fashions changed and the garments produced were no longer in fashion. While the company tried to move with the times, ultimately the last Gossard factory in the UP closed in the late 1970s. Wong then takes us through what happened to the factory building, the workers, and the towns.

The story of the Gossard factories is bookended by the story of a quilt, made from Gossard fabric and made to highlight the women and the factories that supported the towns for over half a century. The quilt can be seen online at: https://quiltindex.org//view/?type=fu...

Overall this is a fascinating story of a little told place and job. The oral histories are what makes the book stand out. The women, and some men, so clearly loved their jobs and what those jobs did for their communities. These stories should be more well known, and with Wong’s book, they can be, if only a little bit more.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title focuses on the Gossard lingerie company, specifically its plants in Ishpeming and Gwinn, Michigan, in the cold expanse of the Upper Peninsula, and it's importance to the small communities where the plants were located. Told through many oral history interviews of both the workers and, in some cases, their children, the book chronicles the impact these plants had on the lives of very rural communities with little other industry to support the local residents. Spanning most of the 20th century, from the opening of the plants in 1920 through their closer in the late 1970s, this book examines changing women's roles, as well as union and labor movements during that time period.

I most enjoyed the transcriptions of the interviews with the women who worked in the factories. At a time when most women would have been stay-at-home wives and mothers, the Gossard company allowed them to have a place to earn money to support their families in an uncertain labor climate for their husbands. Many of the Gossard workers had husbands who were laid off from the mines (which were the only other local industry of any size), were widows trying to support themselves and their children, or younger women who worked to support their parents and siblings. The money that the Gossard factory workers were able to send back into their local economies also cannot be understated and the book's title perfectly sums up the large impact that these factories had on the women, their families and those of the small shops in the towns. The factories were also like big extended families where women made life-long friendships, and where people supported each other with advice, baby-sitting, or life lessons. Various perks before unionization included hot meals at lunchtime, summer cookouts and baseball games, and a good rate of pay for fast, hard workers.

While the story of unionization was an important one for the history of the factories themselves, I found that chapter dry and hard to engage with. I also wished that the author had been able to include photographs of the women she interviewed, the buildings themselves and the changing styles the factories produced to help really bring this story to life. I think the book is likely not to appeal to a broad-range audience, as it is very place-specific (and not everyone even knows where/what the UP is), but will be a helpful resource for historians interested in learning more about women's labor in the early 20th century.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

An in depth history of the H W Gossard company, I currently live several blocks away from one of the factories. My mother worked at the Gossard for a few years and I can remember seeing her at work there, and the roar those many machines made. I bought several bras, girdles and slips from the outlet store on the first floor. I was not aware there was a facility in Gwinn as well until reading this. Well researched, I appreciated the interviews and the sharing of memories of the many who were employed there, had a family member who worked there, or the impact on the community it had.

[Susan Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story from my hometown. While not well written, the content and the named women were very interesting to me. A small company located in small town Upper Michigan, Ishpeming, opened in the mid 1920's and ran for about 50 years. Conditions of families in hard times, large families, challenging climate, and a strong community of women combine to bring rights to the workers in The Gossard. An inspiring story demonstrating the possibilities for us when we team up to strive for the greater good.

[Donna Oster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history of the Gossard Company that operated in Ishpeming, Mi. for 50 yrs. They hired the area women to sew bras, girdles, corsets and others intimate clothing. The money the women earned supported not only their families, but also the communities. It was a great loss to the upper peninsula when this company closed in the mid 1970’s.

[Farar Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This account of a little-known factory in a little-known part of the country can fairly be divided into two parts. The first paints the picture of Ishpeming, Michigan, in the early part of the 20th century, and of the women who worked in a brand new, benevolently run factory there. The second half does an about face, following post-war unionization and, later, decline and closure. The former part is engaging and well-told, while the latter suffers from too little pruning. The union archives must have been such a wealth of material that the author was unable to cut out a single letter or telegram. I imagine the next person to write about it will be grateful for the tick-tock account, however.

[Yooperprof · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, entertaining, and inspirational! This is an important piece of gender history, labor history, and local history that relies upon carefully conducted oral interviews to an dimension, drama, and details for an often-overlooked part of Michigan's past,

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite parts were the mentions of people I know. I expected to see our cats’ foster parents mentioned but Lily Korpi, Maddie Kaupila, Bill Lehman, and Joan Luoma were all fun surprises. Finding out the origin story of my friend Gerry’s name. The Style Shop! Ameen Trucking even gets a mention

[Tbfrank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before capitalists discovered cheap labor in third-world countries, a deep seam of underutilized and motivated talent existed in rural America. This narrative traces the impact of a company that saw an opportunity to tap into that source through oral narratives collected from many of the hundreds of women who stepped out of pre-defined gender roles and found employment in a garment factory.

In an era and a region with few opportunities for employment, almost none at all for women, the opening of the H. W. Gossard factory in 1920 brought five decades of economic growth and stability to a pair of small towns in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Women sought employment for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which was to provide for their families. Developing skills and earning a living fostered confidence and independence. This experience taught them to value and respect themselves and empowered them to require the same from others, especially the company.

The personal histories reveal much about life in the early 20th century in small town America. Women of all ages came to work at Gossard from all sorts of backgrounds and situations. The theme repeated is the sense of family the women experienced during their time at the factory. Complaints about working conditions were mentioned but more in passing than in detail, though some of the anecdotes would raise eyebrows today. The middle of the narrative (almost 30%) is devoted to the efforts to unionize the two factories. Women were the primary movers, campaigning, secretly signing membership cards, and eventually voting on a strike that lasted four months during which many walked the picket line.

The economic boost to a city's hosting of a Super Bowl or a Final Four or the Olympics is easily understood - and fleeting. A company like Gossard with a presence of over five decades in a community has an impact on thousands of lives beyond the 1500+ who worked there. By the choices they made, their work ethic, commitment and just plain gumption, the women sustained not only their families but their whole community.

As I read the oral histories and the author's description of the place and times, I couldn't help but think of Bedford Falls and what the towns of Ishpeming and Gwinn must have looked like in their heyday.

[Christiane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book about the effect of one female-centric factory in a town over half a century.

If you've ever grown up in a town where factory work was the dominant industry, you understand how important that factory is and how pervasive it is in the community. What is unique about the H.W. Gossard factory in Ishpeming, Michigan is that this factory was around 85% female. During the time that this factory was operational (1921-1976), that was incredibly uncommon. Therefore this book is not only the history of the factory itself, but also of how unique it was for women of those eras to earn and and spend their own wages, to be independent in a time where that was unexpected and uncommon. This book is also a history of the 1930s-50s labor movements within the US. Throughout the work, you palpably feel the pride that these employees and their children had in being one of the "Gossard Girls." It is wonderful that now almost 50 years after the factory closed, these women are getting their day in the sun and their legacy cemented.

That being said, there are a few drawbacks in this book. For example after we get past the unionization of the factory in 1949, the story sort of tapers off until we're in the 1970s, where the factory shuts down. I am unsure whether this is due to a lack of reliable sources or that the author felt that there was not enough to be gained in the slow 20+ year decline of a factory. In addition, the last two chapters felt more like a landing spot for additional interviews/ anecdotes that the author wanted to include, but didn't have a place for. However, this doesn't take away from the overall quality of the book. I walked away feeling like I knew these women and that I had been there with them. If you're interested in 20th century labor history, or early 20th century history in general, please read this book. You won't regret it.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably would not have finished this non-fiction book, except it was for a book group. The writing and organization of the content felt as if all her note cards were shuffled around and assembled however they fell. Wish it was more narrative, even fictionalizing the history like The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell.

But the basic story is interesting - early 1900's the Gossard company, initially known for their front lacing corsets, repurposes a huge building in Ishpeming, Michigan. This upper peninsula town is in the mining area, without many opportunities for women to work outside the home. The company provided a way for the women to keep their families fed when their husbands weren't working in the mines, or to give them their own money to finance the extras in life like college for their kids. The company stayed open during the Great Depression of the 1930's, not laying off anyone, but cutting back hours to keep all employed. They opened a second, smaller facility in nearby Gwinn for a few years, but both facilities were closed by the 1970's.

Topics include: women's work, identity, economics, unions, piece work

[Annika · Rating 3 out of 5]

We Kept Our Towns Going chronicles the history of the Gossard undergarment factories in Ishpeming and Gwinn and the ways in which the factory empowered its rural female workforce. I loved learning more about the women who worked at the factory and about Geraldine Defant, a union organizer who I have admired since looking at her papers in the archives where I work. I hope Wong saved the oral histories that formed the basis of the book and deposited them somewhere!

However, the book is strangely structured. It is very repetitive, sometimes repeating similar or identical information in the same paragraph or chapter. Although I liked the idea to end each chapter with the story of an individual woman who worked at the factory, these sections often repeated almost verbatim information found elsewhere in the book. The lack of footnotes (which was likely not the author's choice) contributed to a clunky writing style because she constantly had to add in clauses explaining the source of her statements. Overall, though, a fascinating read if you live in the central UP and want to know more about the industrial and labor history of the area outside of the mines!

[Kasia Hubbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing journey into not only the history of the undergarments produced by the Gossard Girls (and men, though the name doesn't seem to include them) and how the styles changed, but also the many, many, many different personal tales of what the company meant to these individuals and how they remember different details from that time period, saved and transcribed here for all to know so that those details don't get lost in history, as they almost had. Full of research and really, letting the people who worked there have their voices heard, was just amazing to read snippets of their stories. Not that this changes any rating of the book, but I wish there was a picture included of the infamous quilt made from the leftover material as well. That would have been interesting to see. Such a fascinating story well worth reading.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wong recounts—in detail—the H. W. Gossard Company’s impact on the lives of women in the Michigan Upper Peninsula towns of Ishpeming, Negaunee, and Gwinn. This undergarment manufacturer set its sights on Ishpeming in 1920 when it learned that the former Braastad and Company building was being sold on the cheap. Mining was in decline and the hard-working women of the area were available to augment their families’ income. The women seamstresses became known as ‘Gossard girls’, and even unionized in the 1940s.

Wong tells of the life stories of many of these women. These detailed accounts highlight how being a ‘Gossard Girl’ influenced their lives.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved learning about the women who worked at the Gossard factories in the towns of Ishpeming and Gwinn in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Reading about their experiences reminded me of listening to my Mom and her friends talking about how life was like back in the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's. I definitely could relate to the women workers who found jobs at the undergarment factory in order to help out their families financially. All of the workers who the author interviewed stated that they enjoyed working at the factories and that their co-workers became like a family to them. The jobs were the best paying jobs for women in that area at the time.

[Pip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, and the look into the lives of the amazing Gossard Girls! If you have a love of history, vintage fashion, sewing, unions, and stories of the women who have gone before us, you'll enjoy this book. It's brimming with extensive details of how life at the factory was, the attempts to unionize, and the impact that the factory had on it's community. Clearly well researched, a real gem. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read an advance copy.

[Diane Teeter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having grown up in the Western Upper Peninsula I found this an interesting read. I knew nothing about this industry but I could compare it to the Hansen Glove Factory in my hometown of Ironwood. My friend's mom worked at the Glove Factory in the 50s. Not many of our mothers worked outside the home but the Glove Factory was one place women could find employment.
The story was repetitive I felt as it highlighted each worker's story. I admire all the interviews done by the author and her dedication to the task.

[Lieca Brown Hohner · Rating 1 out of 5]

One, it's history recorded. And for that, I applaud the author. Plus she went to the actual sources.

Aside from this, I couldn't get through it. There was no flow or understandable organization, many of the interviews seemed to say the same thing, and it wasn't edited well. I'd have assumed heard it on audio (perhaps this is an option). For me, it might be similar to reading early black south laborers; I'm better to hear it so I can really feel the emotion and imagine the surroundings.

But again, another piece of Michigan history is now in the books. Thanks, Phyllis Michael Wong.

[Xanthe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent short history of the impact of the Gossard lingerie factories on two small towns in Michigan's Upper Peninsula during the middle of the 20th century. I appreciated the examination of the impact on the economies of these towns and the lives of women interviewed, plus their unionization efforts over the years. Lots and lots of great details and interviews which gave wonderful texture for the lives of these women and what exactly it meant to go to these factories every day and come home with paychecks.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been a very good full-length magazine article. As a book—even at only 150 pages—it was too long and too repetitive. (Example:there were at least 3 full page descriptions of the way to oil the women’s’ sewing machines. I’m fairly sure the phrase “Gossard Girl” wasnt intended to be cutesy, but after reading it hundreds of times, it made me itchy.
Not that the book was a total waste. I live in Michigan, altho not in the UP, and this was an interesting piece of history I wasnt familiar with.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love history and the only thing I love even more in very niche, unknown history. A Michigan fabric factory is definitely up my alley than. This book is an interesting look into working women's lives and them trying to unionize. A great read for anyone interested in women's history.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Kathleen McNelis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Women’s history in Michigan’s Labor Force

Researched and annotated with numerous personal interviews, I found Wong’s book a labor of love for and about the women in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula whose work supported their families and the area’s economy for over fifty years. For those interested Unions and organizing, those first-hand accounts are enlightening.

[Sue Merrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sort of interesting but lacks immediacy. The interviewees are recalling something from long ago and the writer doesn't make up for that by telling the story in their voice. It always feels long ago and unimportant.

[Ann Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched and thoroughly readable. Wong was so wise to gather these stories while it was still possible. She really makes the women, the towns, and the factories come alive.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Am interesting historical novel. Recommend for history buffs out there.

[Mary S. Garin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent factual details but it read like a history textbook. I appreciated the work and enjoyed learning about the Gossard Girls.

[Nann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phyllis Michael Wong gave a Textile Talks presentation about the quilt made to honor the Gossard girls. I then checked out the book. An interesting then-and-now account.