Have I made you a “Fred Head” yet?? A fan of, or at least an admirer of the great entrepreneur of the American west, Fred Harvey? If not, give me one last shot at it with my interview with Katrina Parks. the writer, director and producer of the documentary you may have seen on PBS “The Harvey Girls: Opportunity Bound. ”
My fascination with Fred Harvey and desire to talk to Katrina, heated up when I met Stephen Fried and having him as one of my first interviews on this website (Stephen Fried Talks Fred Harvey ) Stephen’s book was: Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West–One Meal at a Time.
Talking with Katrina, you may really start to understand the appeal for many people who are discovering or rediscovering Fred Harvey and all that his company did to settle the west and make a living. The Harvey Girls were his restaurants solution to racial discord inside his rail-side restaurants and hotels. Bring out west 1000’s of fresh-faced young women, give them an opportunity to see the world, have a job, make their own money and become someone special in the many small towns populated by the Harvey Houses. All this was started in an era when women were basically third class citizens.
I always enjoy learning where things came from, what sparked the idea and where it went. Katrina Parks talks about all that and more. About how this idea of a story started years before she ever made it happen. To find the last remaining Harvey Girls and get their experiences down on video for future generations. What it meant to them to be a Harvey Girl. What happened later in their lives because they had this chance and what happened to them as the world changed and the Fred Harvey Company could not change with the times.
Most important to me was what it did to her. Her expectations versus what the reality was of finding the girls, interviewing them and learning their stories. How did such a project come about and what is next after all this?
Katrina mentioned that early in her career, she was the executive director and co-founder of a non-profit Cinefemme, which supports women filmmakers and how that helped her get this project to be aired on PBS as well as getting some of the funding for this and other documentary projects she collaborates on.
- Buy the DVD Harvey Girls: Opportunity Bound
- Website for the Documentary
- Katrina Parks website Assertion Films
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