The sun., 1918-07-28
Mrs.Harrisonof Balti-
more, Who Donned
Overalls, Says Wo-
men Can Do Much
of the Work
6SNT ANY a woman who sands all

a far harder job than most men in the
shipyards."
This is the conclusion of Mrs. Mar
guerite +. Harrison, widow OF Thomas b.
Harrison of Baltimore, based on a weeks
experiences in overalIs as shipbuilder
for the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corpora
ton at Sparrows Point, Nd
Thousands of women have been engaged
in shipbuilding during the past three
years in England, where many vessels
have been launched and delivered, all
parts of which were turned out by the
hands that rock the cradle. Believing that
the time may come when the wives and
mothers and sisters of the men who must
fight will be needed for shipyard work in
the United States, Mrs. Harrison applied
for and got her job, determined to find
out Just what a woman shipbuilder would
be called upon to do and whether she
could do it.
Only Woman Among 1850 Men.
She was the first woman sh!pyard
worker in this country, and Us the only
woman among $3.50 men in the plant she
worked as helper in various depart
ments, performing her tasks with an aptl-
tude that won the admiration of her
bosses She is convinced that if labor
in this country becomes so scarce that
women are called upon to fill the gaps in
the shipyards they will not find the
work too hard for them.
Mrs. Harrison belongs to one of the
oldest and best known families in Balti-
more. She is daughter of Bernard N.
Baker, founder of the Atlantic Transport
Company, which was taken over by the
International Mercantile Marine. Mr..
Baker was one of the early commissioners
of the United States Shipping Board.
Mrs. Harrison's husband was a stock
and bond broker.
when l first applied to the manager
at Sparrows Point for permission to
work in the plant for week" Mrs. Har-
IISOI WdS Wei uuDlouo.
"'You could never stand the work. he
said. 1t is very rough and very hard on
any one who has not been accustomed TO
manual labor
az know that l replied, but women
have been doing it in England for three
years and l guess l can stand it for a
week
"'They are working in groups the
manager returned. You will be alone
among over 1000 men. You may find
their attitude disagreeable.'
"That didn't believe, and / told him
so. Later l found that / was absolutely
right. When put on Overalls and went
to work among those 1000 men l never
had a single experience that made me
regret the experiment.
Proud of American Manhood.
"Of course there was curiosity about
me and some opposition, but if had gone
to church in an unsuitable costume l would
have felt more uncomfortable than I did
after the first day in the yard. 1t made
me very proud of our American men.
"After some argument convinced the
manager that meant business and in due
course of time I was signed on at the
plant. I was assigned to the drillers, riv-
eters and reamers' department as helper
at the rate Of 40 cents an hour. When 1
pinned on my badge felt a thrill Of
pride. 1t was the first time that any
woman in the United States had had the
right to wear one.
II wasn't proud though when 1 made
my first appearance in the yard. was
painfully conscious Of my overalls. 1t
wasn't the overalls- thousands Of women
wear them-it was the fact that l was
so hopelessly outnumbered by the men.
Fortunately for me the news of my ar
rival had not got about and there was
a comparafiyeIy small audience when i