Merchants, midwives, and laboring women

"Diane C. Vecchio's unique study challenges long-held patriarchal assumptions about Italian women's work in the United States by considering the work experiences of Italian immigrant women and their daughters in the previously unexamined regions of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Endicott, New York, during the turn of the twentieth century. Using Italian and American sources and rich oral histories, this study reveals that women in Italy had economic responsibilities that often included work experiences outside of the home, including positions as midwives and businesswomen."--Jacket.