Thanks for Typing: Women’s Type Labor in Literature and the Arts
Date and Time
Location
From the poems of Emily Dickinson to Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, many of the masterworks of modern literature were originally written by hand, then typed. But their creators were rarely the ones to type them. This work was performed by typists—usually women—working for love, money, or both. Largely uncredited, this labor has generally been undervalued and misunderstood, with typists seen as mere conduits for the writing that passed through their hands. Drawing on collections across Houghton Library, Thanks for Typing spotlights typists’ surprising contributions to literature, theater, film, and dance. The exhibition also puts typists in context by showing the technical skill required for their work and exploring portrayals of typists in popular culture.