“When the sheets are folded, they are gathered”: Female Labor in American Bookbinderies in the 19th Century by Todd Pattison

American binderies underwent dynamic changes in the nineteenth century, evolving from small shops employing a handful of workers to large factories using assembly-line techniques. It has long been asserted that the introduction of machines led to the industrialization of American bookbinding but a far more important factor was the use of female labor. By 1850 most of the large binderies in America employed a majority female workforce and rather than being pushed out by machines in the second half of the nineteenth century, women laborers delayed their adoption. This talk will highlight the often-overlooked role of female labor in nineteenth century American binderies.

Todd Pattison is the Conservator for the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He first became fascinated with the binding of books in the Boy Scouts while completing his Bookbinding Merit Badge. He has an undergraduate degree in Art History from Nazareth College and an M.L.S. from the University of Alabama. Todd is an active member of the New England chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, a Fellow in the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), and for the past five years has taught the course “American Publishers’ Bookbindings, 1800-1900” for Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

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