Harvey Girls Bring Civility to the Wild West

In 1879 as the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway built its line south from Colorado over Raton Pass into New Mexico, the Fred Harvey Company operated a lunchroom next to the new train station in Raton. The waiters in the lunchroom were Black men- freed slaves from the southern states. The lunchroom was often frequented by local cowboys, many of whom had fought for the Confederacy. They resented the Black waiters, and a brawl with knives ensued. No one was killed, but there were injuries. This disquieting scene prompted the lunchroom manager to suggest to Fred Harvey that female waitresses might be more appropriate in the lunchroom by having a "taming" influence on the cowboys. Fred liked the idea, and the Harvey Girls were born. 

As Fred Harvey expanded his lunchrooms and restaurants across New Mexico and Arizona, hundreds of young single women between the ages of 18 and 30 were hired as waitresses. They were to be of good moral character and able to handle the stress of quickly serving hundreds of train passengers as they unloaded for a quick meal stop on an AT&SF train. They were immediately noticeable in their long black dresses covered with a white apron. There were so few women in the West at the time, that the Harvey Girls soon had suitors, but they had agreed in their contract with Fred Harvey not to get married for six months. If they did get married, their employment ended.

The Harvey Girls brought a soothing, cultured tone to the Wild West. This was quite a good opportunity for women in the Victorian Age, whose general station in life was to stay at home and be a good housewife. Becoming a Harvey Girl meant the excitement of traveling on an AT&SF train to restaurant employment in exotic locations far from home, where they would stay in company lodging and have meals and wages provided. Harvey Girls were still serving customers in Fred Harvey restaurants until the company was sold to Amfac in 1968.