author
C. Hélène Barker
b. 1868
Best known for a practical early-20th-century guide to household management, this little-known writer brought the language of efficiency and labor reform into the home. Her work offers a revealing snapshot of how domestic service and women's work were being debated in the 1910s.
1 Audiobook
Wanted, a Young Woman to Do Housework: Business principles applied to housework
by C. Hélène Barker
About the author
C. Hélène Barker is also cataloged as Clara Hélène Barker, born in 1868. Reliable catalog records tie her to Wanted, a Young Woman to Do Housework: Business Principles Applied to Housework, published in New York by Moffat, Yard & Co. in 1915, with later editions appearing in 1917.
That book is what makes Barker interesting today. Instead of treating housekeeping as an invisible duty, she framed it in the language of organization, schedules, hours, holidays, and overtime. The result is a concise but vivid look at domestic labor in the early 20th century and at the growing effort to apply modern workplace ideas to life inside the home.
Very little biographical information about Barker appears to be readily confirmed beyond her name, birth year, and authorship of this work. Library listings also connect her with Automobile French, suggesting an author with practical, instructional interests rather than a large literary career.