Everywhere and nowhere: Texas boarding houses, 1900-1945

Scott, Codee

Item

Everywhere and nowhere: Texas boarding houses, 1900-1945

Scott, Codee

Date

2025-12-02

Abstract

This dissertation explores Texas boarding houses between 1900 and 1945. Looking at the enterprise as a means of female entrepreneurship, it examines not only who the women who ran boarding houses were but also the choices they made to allow their business to succeed. I argue that the proprietors made active choices every step of the way from choosing the location of the house, the décor within the house, for which boarders they opened their doors, and (in some cases) partnering with local universities. Boarding house operators sold domesticity in an increasingly urbanized environment, but this was no passive business that simply added to work they already did for their own families. Boarding houses were such a common part of everyday life in the period that scholars often overlook them – making them both everywhere and nowhere.