Women and Ports

The role of women in the maritime sector has long been overlooked. Diverting from the image of women passively waiting for men to return, this edition of the Yearbook of Women’s History argues that women shaped port-life as much as men. It highlights that women were important social and economic actors. Contributions in this Yearbook show women as stevedores, wharf owners, inn-keepers and union-leaders. They cover the period from the seventeenth century up until the present, and range from Finland to Curaçao, Wilhemshaven to Colonial America. Using visual, written, and oral sources, this Yearbook brings together authors from different countries and backgrounds to shed a new light on the women that were indispensable to port life.