Eva McDonald Valesh

Title: One of Valesh's First Articles
Type: Newspaper
Date: March 1888
Source: St. Paul Daily Globe

Description: Valesh's first newspaper article described the working conditions for women in local factories.
Read Transcription

Activities:

1. What two things in these headlines tell you that this article will not be about the good working conditions of the girls in the factory?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Words like "starving" and "illy ventillated" seem to suggest that the article will be about problems of the workers.
2. What was Valesh's reason for writing this article?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: She was trying to inform people of the difficult working conditions that existed for the women working in this factory.
3. Were the owners of the business aware that they were not treating their workers well?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The article says that the factories guarded what was going on inside, using foremen as spies and threatening to fire girls who talked about the conditions, which would suggest to us that the owners knew the working conditions were hazardous.
4. What do you learn about Valesh from reading this article she wrote?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: She seems to be a resourceful reporter who could get inside the factory and uncover secrets. You might also assume that she is concerned with issues of people not being treated fairly.