ABSTRACT
This chapter utilises the concept of the personal network or “convoy” as a framework for analyzing how the work-based friendships of one group of women provide cumulative social and psychological resources that enable them to adapt to and cope with the various transitions and events of later adult life. It explores how mutual participation in a historic social experiment, shared work experiences, and eventual formation of a group identity through union activities and opposition to sex discrimination on the job forged a supportive network that continued in retirement. It examines the relevance of the experiences of this group for women entering the labor force. In 1939, during the Depression, an examination was given by the Housing Authority of a major city for positions as manager’s assistant in public housing projects. Despite widespread fears that women workers were taking jobs away from male breadwinners in the 1930s, this initial test was limited to female applicants.
