Strangers in the Family: Work, Gender, and the Origins of Old Age Homes

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Strangers in the Family: Work, Gender, and the Origins of Old Age Homes
Abstract
Through an examination of nineteenth-century familial correspondence and the records of various Protestant charitable organizations in Quebec City and Montreal, the author explores the changing culture of family care during illness and old age. She posits a new interpretation for the foundation of asylums for women that emphasizes changing perceptions of the family, especially the attitudes regarding the care of servants within the household. Furthermore, she argues that the treatment of servants as both caregivers and those in need of medical care is an important yardstick by which to measure the waning of the patriarchal household and the emergence of more explicitly contractual relations between the classes.
Publication
Journal of Family History
Volume
Vol. 32
Issue
no. 4
Pages
371-391
Date
October 2007
Language
en
Citation
Christie, Nancy. “Strangers in the Family: Work, Gender, and the Origins of Old Age Homes.” Journal of Family History Vol. 32, no. 4 (October 2007): 371–391.
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