The Ladies Cabin: Women's Impact on the Hudson by Jack Loesch

Experiencing maritime travel during the reign of the steam engine in the Hudson River Valley was a vastly different experience for women than it was for men. Especially during the 1800s, it was quite rare to find both men and women traveling in the same spaces, such was the case in most forms of transportation, including steamboats on the Hudson River. The standard for the time was that men and women, when traveling, should be separate from each other. Matthew Wills on JSTOR Daily writes,
 
“The Victorian segregation of men and women into separate spheres was quite rigorous in hotels, trains, and steamboats by the 1840s. Escorted and unattached ladies – ladies being very much a middle and upper class designation – were kept apart from unattached men (whatever their social status) via separate entrances, rooms, cars, and cabins.”[1]
 
Mind you that the vast majority of these women traveling on steamboats on the Hudson River were of moderate to high wealth. To find steamboats or any other form of transportation without separate spaces for men and women was rare. It was very common to see women traveling with a suitable male escort, and rare to see women traveling without one. While women and men could meet each other in saloons and dining rooms, women would not permanently stay in these areas, and had access to their own separate space that only women could access. These separate spaces, at least on a Hudson River steamboat, were called “Ladies Cabins.” These spaces acted as their own separate saloon or parlor for women to relax and socialize with each other on journeys up and down the Hudson River, including everything women would need right down to their own bathroom facilities. Even the Rondout’s hometown steamboat, the Mary Powell, “Queen of the Hudson,'' had a ladies cabin.

Steamboat "Mary Powell" sailing on the Hudson, circa 1900. Saulpaugh Collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum

These ladies cabins would be managed by a female member of the steamboat’s crew. Such was the case with a Miss R. White, who was in charge of the ladies department on the steamboat L. Broadman.[2] Another example that depicts a woman being in charge of a ladies department of a steamboat is the story of the steamer Chief Justice Marshall. This unfortunately unnamed woman became a hero during a trip along the Hudson. The Newburgh Gazette reported on May 7th, 1830 that during a routine trip on the Hudson a boiler aboard the steamer Chief Justice Marshall exploded leading to boiling hot steam spreading across the ship. Immediately reacting, the unnamed woman quickly shut the door leading to the ladies cabin, and thoroughly secured it. This prevented the boiling hot steam from entering the cabin and scorching the women within the cabin alive.[3] While it is quite unfortunate that this woman was left unnamed, she is nevertheless responsible for saving the lives of all the women who were located in the ladies cabin of the steamer Chief Justice Marshall.

Grand Saloon of the Palace Steamer "Drew". Hudson River Maritime Museum.

Another woman that worked aboard a steamboat was Fannie M. Anthony, a stewardess aboard the famous steamer Mary Powell in its “ladies cabin.” As a woman of color, Fannie would clean and maintain the cabin, along with assisting passengers with requests. As a stewardess, her job would be similar to that of a housekeeper of a wealthy family. She would serve aboard the Mary Powell for decades before retiring in 1912. Interestingly, she was celebrated in local newspapers, uncommon at the time due to the fact that she was a woman of color, whose experiences are usually disregarded and forgotten throughout history.

“Fannie M. Anthony,” Hudson River Valley Heritage Exhibits, accessed March 7, 2024, https://omeka2.hrvh.org/items/show/2690.

 For example, an 1894 issue of the Brooklyn Times Union, quoting the Newburgh Sunday Telegram, celebrates Fannie Anthony in an article titled “Compliments for a Jamaica Woman.” It reads,
​
“Mrs. Fannie Anthony, the efficient and obliging stewardess on the steamer Mary Powell, is about concluding her twenty-fifth season in that capacity. Mrs. Anthony enjoys an acquaintance among the ladies along the Hudson River that is both interesting and highly complementary to the amiable disposition and cheery manner of the only female among the crew of the favorite steamboat. Mrs. Anthony travels over 15,000 miles every summer while attending to her duties on the boat. She seldom misses a trip and looks the picture of health and happiness.”[4]
 
You may notice that the article refers to Fannie as a Jamaican woman, they are not saying she is from the island of Jamaica in the Caribbean, she is actually from Jamaica, Queens in New York City. There are many other articles just like this one that reference Mrs. Fannie Anthony and talk about her in a positive way. While she was only a stewardess aboard the Mary Powell,  it seems that through her enjoyable personality, the excellence of her service, and longevity in the time she served aboard the Mary Powell, she managed to overcome many of the immovable obstacles that faced most women of color at the time. Like the steamboat Mary Powell herself, Fannie achieved a measure of fame not usually afforded ordinary people, much less a woman of color.
         
These three women all played vital roles in ensuring the successful, enjoyable, and safe travel of steamboats along the Hudson River. These women dedicated themselves to the people they served in their respective “ladies cabins.” In the case of Miss R. White and Mrs. Fannie Anthony, that was to serve their passengers with distinction and dignity. In the case of that unfortunately unnamed woman who worked in the “ladies cabin” of the steamer Chief Justice Marshall, she was a hero who saved the lives of everyone in the ladies cabin from being boiled alive from the steam that escaped the engines of that steamer.

[1] Wills, Matthew. Separate Spheres On Narrow Boats: Victorians At Sea. Jstor Daily, November  22, 2021. https://daily.jstor.org/separate-spheres-on-narrow-boats-victorians-at-sea/
[2] Rockland County Messenger. Welcome Steamer L. Boardman. Haverstraw, New York. March 21, 1878. 1878-03-21
[3] The Newburgh Gazette. 1830-05-07
​[4]https://omeka2.hrvh.org/exhibits/show/mary-powell/staffing-the-mary-powell/african-americans/fannie-m--anthony​

Author

Jack Loesch is a senior at SUNY New Paltz majoring in the field of History, with a minor in
Ancient World Studies. His interests in history include Ancient Mediterranean history, the Early Modern and Late Modern European periods, the Enlightenment, and American history from the colonial period up till the Reconstruction period. Currently, Jack is undergoing an internship here at Hudson River Maritime Museum as an education intern, working on projects such as reworking the museum's tours such as the Rondout Industrial Waterfront walking tour and the Wrecked and Abandoned tour aboard Solaris.

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