“Constructing Gender and Culture
in the Gold Rush”
Heather McCarty
Department of History and Political Science
Ohlone College

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Heather McCarty link is Associate Professor of History at Ohlone Collegge. She received her PhD. from the University of California, Berkeley and teaches courses on California and Western History, Women's History, Social, Cultural and Political United States History.

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Overview of the talk: California during the gold rush was a diverse multicultural frontier where varied and divergent ideas about gender, race, and class collided. Scarcity of women raised both their economic and social value—provided that they were white. These women enjoyed unparalleled employment and career opportunities, as well as greatly increased marriage and divorce options. Unfortunately for white women, social fluidity and economic opportunity were fleeting. For women of color, this mobility was never afforded to them and they often found themselves discounted at best, and at times even destroyed. Their gender proved incapable of triumphing over their race.