Women of Yosemite: The Concessioners

Women have played an important—though often hidden—part in Yosemite. In the 1800s, women were expected to play a traditional role in the private world of the family and the home. With the birth of the railroad and as the Gold Rush drew people to California in the late 1800s, pioneering women found ways to broaden traditional roles.

Concessioners are people and businesses who provide services to park visitors and staff, but who are not direct employees of the National Park Service.

Bridget Degnan, 1934.

Bridget Degnan moved to the United States from Ireland with her husband John, settling in Yosemite Valley in 1884. They raised eight children while John worked as a laborer for the state. Bridget added to the family's income by selling bread she baked daily for 12 ½¢ a loaf. Demand for her bread increased steadily as more visitors traveled to Yosemite Valley. In 1900, the Degnans ordered a large brick oven that could hold over 100 loaves of bread. This oven is on display in the Pioneer History Center at Wawona. Her bread enterprise kept expanding as visitors would ask for something else to eat or drink, so she set up a small restaurant in the dining room of their old house, and later, a grocery store. Their original home was in the vicinity of the present-day Yosemite Valley Lodge, and later, at the site of old Yosemite Village.

Jennie Foster Curry, 1940.

Jennie Foster Curry moved to Yosemite in 1899 with her husband David Curry. She was a college graduate, which was unusual for a woman at the time. Her husband and she ran a tent camp at the base of Glacier Point. In its first season, Camp Curry grew to 25 tents and 290 guests registered at the rustic resort. Jennie made beds, packed box lunches, and helped plan additional guest services. When David died in 1917, "Mother" Curry carried on the camp and oversaw expansions, continuing Yosemite Park and Curry Company leases from the government with the help of her children. By 1922, Camp Curry had grown to 650 tents, 60 rooms in cottages, a cafeteria, a bakery, an ice plant, a candy kitchen, soda fountain, a studio, laundry, bathhouses, pool, auditorium, bowling alley, pool hall, a post office, and a store.