NPS Photo Consistency in the Bathing IndustryMary Webster was born in Texas in 1880. At 20 she moved to Hot Springs, met and married her husband, Harry, and both of them began working in the bathhouses. The Websters became fixtures in Hot Springs’ bathing industry. Harry worked in the bathhouse of the elegant Eastman Hotel while Mary worked at the Magnesia Bathhouse. They were able to buy a home off of their earnings in the bathhouses. In 1915 Mary left the Magnesia and started work at the Hale Bathhouse. She remained at the Hale for the next 45 years. While the Hale often administered the fewest baths on Bathhouse Row, Ms. Webster remained consistent in her work. Records show that Webster often made the most money between the two or three female bath attendants at the Hale. Time did not seem to slow her down either. In 1944, Mary Webster gave over 160 baths in a week, roughly 26 every day. Webster's success attracted her family to Hot Springs. Her sister, Fannie Roseborough, moved in with the Websters by 1920 and the two women worked together in the Hale Bathhouse for over 30 years, Mary as an attendant and Fannie as the house’s only maid. In 1951, journalist Eldon Roark visited Hot Springs. He met Mary Webster and claimed she was the oldest woman working in Hot Springs National Park’s bathhouses. He interviewed her. Ms. Webster appeared shy, and talked very little about herself. Instead, she spoke of her work and her patients’ improvements. “I’ve seen ladies come here so crippled up Id have to life ‘em out of wheel chairs and put ‘em into the tubs,” she told Roark, only to add “and I’ve seen ‘em go aways walking as good as you.” For someone who worked in the bathing industry for over 50 years, Mary Webster barely appeared in Hot Springs National Park’s records. This is evidence of her consistent and steadfast work, using her job as a bathhouse attendant to build and sustain a home, a family, and a livelihood. |
Last updated: August 24, 2024