Obermann Conversations: Domestic Stories

How have relationships between domestic workers and employees changed over time, including around issues of race and gender? What are issues of pay injustice that have been true in the past and how are workers addressing such issues today? The conversation includes a historian, a feminist podcaster, and a labor expert.
Catherine Stewart, a history professor from Cornell College and an Obermann Fellow-in-Residence, is working on a book, The New Maid: African American Women and Domestic Service During the New Deal, which provides a much needed social and cultural history of African American women who labored as household workers during the New Deal.
Donna Cleveland is a magazine editor and the producer of Thread the Needle, a feminist podcast. An upcoming episode focuses on an eastern Iowa cleaning service that is owned and operated by a Latina.
Fatima Saeed is a home healthcare worker and a member of the board of the Center for Worker Justice.
Jennifer Sherer is Director of The University of Iowa Labor Center, where she oversees statewide outreach, engagement, and research projects on labor issues.

Obermann Conversations are cosponsored by the Obermann Center for University Advancement and the Iowa City Public Library.

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