Southwest Reads Book Club: The Harvey Girls

Date and Time

• Wednesday, Mar 25, 2026  6pm - 7pm

Location

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Details

Discuss the stories of the Southwest with the Southwest Reads book club on the fourth Wednesday of every other month!

This month's read is The Harvey Girls: Women who Opened the West by Lesley Poling-Kempes.

From the 1880s to the 1950s, the Harvey Girls went west to work in Fred Harvey's restaurants along the Santa Fe railway. At a time when there were "no ladies west of Dodge City and no women west of Albuquerque," they came as waitresses, but many stayed and settled, founding the struggling cattle and mining towns that dotted the region. Interviews, historical research, and photographs help re-create the Harvey Girl experience. The accounts are personal, but laced with the history the women lived: the dust bowl, the depression, and anecdotes about some of the many famous people who ate at the restaurants--Teddy Roosevelt, Shirley Temple, Bob Hope, to name a few.

Pick up a copy of this month's book from the Downtown Library Information Desk. Email libraryprograms@flagstaffpubliclibrary.org or call 928-213-2332 for additional information.

To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, please call 928-213-2330. Three days prior notice is requested.