Audio

Estate Staff (3 & 29)

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Transcript

How did Mina manage the Glenmont estate, a winter home in Fort Myers, Florida, plus three children with Edison and three step-children? With hired help! Most of the staff who worked in the Edison house were women. Over the years there was a cook, nurse, maid, chambermaid, parlor maid, waitress, and laundress. Most of the men were hired to work as gardeners or a chauffeur, and eventually a butler was hired. The head gardener and family lived over the potting shed. The chauffeur and family originally lived over the stables, but when they were torn down, moved into quarters over the garage. Servants represented many cultural backgrounds. Madeleine Edison Sloan remembers the servants as, “all seem to be of different nationalities, a ‘League of Nations.’ ”

Description

Hear about the support of the domestic workers and hired help at Glenmont.

Date Created

04/12/2023

Copyright and Usage Info