Althea McDowell Altemus

In 1917, Altemus found herself divorced and became a secretary to support herself and her young son. She left this memoir, although it was not published in her lifetime. Her employers included Samuel Insull (of Commowealth Edison) and James Deering (International Harvester). In the course of her work, she encountered the film star Constance Talmadge (actually appearing as an extra in one of her movies), painters John Singer Sargent, and many other thinly disguised folk.

It's quite an interesting look at the business world of the time, and the difficulties encountered by a divorced woman with a child (to get one job, she had to lie and pretend she was single and childless), as well as the Prohibition Era generally.… (más)