Superior Woman--Summer 2020--Final Edition

GOSSARD
girls
BY DALE HEMMILA
Editor’s Note: The story below was filed just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard. Some
planned outreach and celebrations related to the Gossard Company’s 100th anniversary in Ishpeming,
and the same anniversary of the first national election where women could vote, were put on hold, due
to COVID-19. The hope is those events will be able to be held in 2021. Nonetheless, the story of the
Gossard and especially the women who worked there is still compelling and Superior Woman wants to
continue to honor their legacy and tell the story of the Gossard, the women who worked there and one
woman’s efforts to make sure we remember it all.
When you think of Superior Women, you should consider the
hundreds of women who kept a garment factory humming in
Ishpeming, Michigan, for decades. Now, one Superior Woman
is making sure their legacy, and the history that’s included, isn’t
forgotten.
The factory was owned by the H.W. Gossard Company, and
the hundreds of women were those who worked there from 1920
to 1976. The Superior Woman maintaining that legacy is Sandra
Arsenault, who, with husband Paul, owns the historic Gossard
Building in downtown Ishpeming.
In 2020, the year in which women will celebrate the 100th
anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, is also the
100th anniversary of the first Ishpeming “Gossard Girls,” when the
factory opened in 1920.
In honor of that 100th anniversary, Arsenault and her husband,
Paul, are planning to create a much larger tribute, with displays
encompassing nearly the entire building.
“There’s going to be a lot more information in the building,” she
said. “All three floors are going to have more information about their
picnics, they had bowling teams, baseball teams and their cafeteria.”
In addition, there will be an expanded display relating to the employee
strike of 1949.
“The story I want to tell, is to focus on the women,” Arsenault said.
“In 1920 women were allowed to vote, and all along women have
grown. At the time that the Gossard was here, there were no females in
management. Now we have women who run for president, we have
women CEOs, we have businesses that are run by women.
“Now, people come into the building, and they take pictures, and
that’s what I want them to do, and I think they will be really excited
when they see what Paul and I have in store. (They) will be able to go
through the building and read about the items (on display).”
To capture that history and recognize the work of the people of
the Gossard, Arsenault has researched the history of the Ishpeming
operations, salvaged much of the equipment, photos, samples and
other items left behind when the facility closed, and reached out to
the more than 1,000 employees and their families in order to build an
historical display on the Gossard building’s first floor.
“My first goal is a tribute to the women,” Arsenault said recently
while discussing her project. “Their legacy should be told.”
The Gossard facility in Ishpeming came about when the Chicagobased
manufacturer of women’s undergarments was looking to add
a facility large enough to accomplish the piece-work nature of their
garment assembly in a location that featured a ready workforce.
Following a recruitment visit to Chicago from a representative of the
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