"It Took Courage All Right": Gender, Labor, and Ethnicity within Basque Women's Migration Experiences in the American West (1849-Present)
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Authors
Arostegui, Edurne
Issue Date
2024
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Agency , American West , Basque studies , Migration
Alternative Title
Abstract
The aim of this dissertation is to provide an exploration of Basque women's migration experiences and their everyday lives in the American West, starting with the beginning of modern Basque migration to the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. The focus is on women's paid and unpaid labor in both the public and private spheres as foundational for the creation and maintenance of Basque communities in northern Nevada and southern Idaho. By highlighting individual migrants' stories, it aims to illuminate their agency in migration decisions and their labor contributions in their new societies. The study integrates gender, migration, labor, and ethnicity into a broader historical context of both sending and receiving areas, enhancing the cultural history of the Basque Country and the American West. Little has been written about the everyday lives of Basque women migrants in the United States outside of their work in boardinghouses and their cultural contributions. However, these women worked in a variety of professions, and balanced motherhood and domestic labor while oftentimes picking up a second shift in the paid economy to add to the household budget, like many migrant and non-migrant women of these eras. This dissertation aims to demonstrate how Basque women's labor in public and private spheres was integral to the support networks necessary for the maintenance of the Basque agricultural workforce as well as for the creation and endurance of Basque communities in the U.S.