Washington's Company Towns: How Women Shaped Employer-Owned Communities - 2008-2009
Based on the research done by Carlson on company-owned towns for the past 10 years, this talk describes what daily life was like in towns like Port Gamble, DuPont, Roche Harbor, Black Diamond, Holden and Richland. These towns were built to guarantee a work force---but they became true communities because of the schools, church events, dances, libraries, card clubs and welfare programs established by women. Town life was also enriched by the entrepreneurial ventures of these women; often denied employment by the company except during wartime, many found personally fulfilling and financially worthwhile work in their own businesses.

Speeders, Galloping Geese, & Doodlebugs: Trains that Served the Northwest - 2006-2007
While researching a book, Linda Carlson became fascinated with how many remote Washington communities were in the first half of the twentieth century and how dependent they were on unusual vehicles for the transportation of people, freight and mail.  A chapter of her company-town history is devoted to transportation, which often involved single-car trains.  Some of these trains were awkward, one-of-a-kind contraptions built by company mechanics; others were futuristic short-lived designs.  The nostalgic presentation about a special part of American rail history covers the economic reasons for these rail buses, doodlebugs and speeders; examples of the short runs they served as late as the 1900s; and how the “Toonerville Trolleys” are remembered by those who rode them. 

Who Lived in Company Owned Towns? - 2004-2006
When the boss built the town, he could pick and choose who lived there.  This presentation looks at what kind of people usually lived in company towns and how these communities resembled (and differed from) other small Northwest towns in the 1900s.  What you will hear will reinforce some stereotypes and debunk a few others.  Presented as an informal lecture followed by questions and answers, Who Lived in Company-owned Towns describes:  the population typical in a company-owned town, with examples of gender, age, race and ethnicity, marital status and educational and professional level; common jobs for men, women, college students, children, and different racial and ethnic groups; how marital status, religion, and professional status were important in social interaction and the local hierarchy as race and ethnicity; and examples of recreation – social, cultural, sports, civic – for different groups in a company town.

Company Towns: Their Importance in the Modern West - 2004-2006
What were company towns?  Why were they so important in so many Northwest industries?  Who built the towns – and what eventually happened to them?  These are just a few of the questions Linda Carlson asked when she began researching the hundreds of communities that companies built in Washington between 1900 and 1950.  Most of the towns covered in this presentation were never incorporated but many developed into tight-knit communities with dozens of different social, sports, religious and cultural activities.  This informal lecture describes how people in company towns lived, ate, worked, shopped, educated their children and worshipped – a way of life that largely disappeared when commuting became easy and television antennas went up.  It is full of anecdotes about daily life in communities that were usually remote and often subject to severe weather.