Race on the Line

While much has been written about the history of the technological developments of the telephone industry, Race on the Line: Gender, Labor and Technology in the Bell System, 1880-1890 is the first book to examine the story from the point of view of telephone operators. Author Venus Green, professor of history at City College of New York, brings her own perspective to this subject having worked as a switchman for the New York Telephone company for sixteen years. Using a rich collection of primary and secondary source material, Green presents a fascinating picture of the ways in which gender, class, race, and technology affected the workplace of Bell System telephone operators. Focusing on management's organization of work processes as new technologies were introduced and the personnel practices that influenced the composition of the workforce, Green argues "that work degradation and deskilling are not inherent in new technologies."