"The Harvey Girls: Opportunity Bound"

KUNM | By Spencer Beckwith

Published November 14, 2014 at 8:15 AM MST

From the 1870s to the 1960s, over 100,000 young women left home and traveled west for jobs at the Harvey Houses. The successful restaurant and hotel chain was created by entrepreneur Fred Harvey to serve passengers on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad's route to the west. Los Angeles-based filmmaker, and UNM graduate, Katrina Parks talks about her documentary The Harvey Girls: Opportunity Bound.

Screenings and discussions about the film will take place at Albuquerque's KiMo Theatre on November 22 and at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe on December 7.

20141115HarveyGirlsLongVersion.mp3

A more complete version of the interview with Katrina Parks.

Entertainment

Spencer Beckwith

Spencer Beckwith reports on the arts for KUNM. For ten years, until March of 2014, Spencer was the producer and host of KUNM's "Performance New Mexico," a weekday morning arts program that included interviews with musicians, writers and performers. Spencer is a graduate of the acting program at the Juilliard School, and, before moving to New Mexico in 2002, was for many years a professional actor based in New York City.

See stories by Spencer Beckwith