THE GIRL OF IRON Mary Peterson Ipsen

19th century / Food / North America / Religion / Travel / United States
An elderly woman in a white dress and black hat stands smiling between two men in suits and in front of a train engine.
Mary Ipsen with officials at the Golden Spike 73rd anniversary in 1942.

The story of America’s transcontinental railroad is a masculine saga. But today we present the story of Union Pacific’s most unlikely employee: a 12-year-old Mormon girl.

Mary Peterson Ipsen was a Danish immigrant who walked across the plains to Utah territory and grew up in an isolated religious enclave. But when her father died and she had to find work, she found herself cooking for hundreds of men in the very center of “Hell-on-Wheels:” Jack Casement’s notorious Union Pacific railroad crew.

To commemorate the Sesquicentennial of Golden Spike, experience America’s transcontinental railroad through a 12-year-old’s eyes, featuring archival recordings of railroad songs, train whistles, newspapers and more. (Thanks to Ogden’s Union Station for the sounds of historic train whistles heard in this episode.)

Our guests are Holly Andrew, Director of Museums and Education at Ogden’s Union Station and Sarah Singh, Head of Special Collections and Assistant Professor at Weber State University.

Think you know a lot about the railroad? Take this fun “test your railroad knowledge” quiz! We also love this website all about the transcontinental railroad! Are you a teacher looking for resources to teach about the transcontinental railroad? Check out the great lesson plans from Spike 150 and the Utah Education Network!

Will you be in Utah for the Spike 150 Celebration? What’sHerName has teamed up with other regional history associations to create free downloadable audio history tours of Ogden, Utah for the occasion! You can download them free here or visit our booth on “Notorious 25th Street” to borrow a pre-loaded mp3 player to discover just how this “Hell on Wheels” town earned its name!

A white woman with shoulder-length dark hair and a purple sweater smiles at the camera over her left shoulder.Holly Andrew is an anthropologist, historical archaeologist, and museum professional. She currently serves as the Director of Museums and Education at the Ogden Union Station. An avid anthropologist, Andrew’s specialties and interests include cultural landscapes as expressions of community identity, public archaeology, heritage preservation, material culture, and participatory museums. Andrew has received a MA in Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma in 2015 and has led heritage preservation and interpretive programs and projects since 2009. She enjoys working with small to mid-scale museums and has worked as a museum professional for over 10 years.

 

 

Sarah Singh is the Head of Special Collections and Assistant Professor at Weber State University where she has worked since 1999. She has a MA in Russian History from Utah State University and a MLIS with a focus on archives from San Jose State University. She is the co-author of four books on the history of Ogden. Sarah’s research interests include the history of Ogden, 25th Street, women, crime and oral history. She is also a co-host of an upcoming podcast series called Zion Gone Bad that focuses on crimes in Utah’s history.

Music featured in this episode included

and here’s a PDF of the sheet music for the 19C hit “Riding on a Rail” reflecting on railroad travel as an experience of equality, from the Library of Congress.

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