NPS Photo

Harvey Girls compare a 1940s style uniform (left) to that worn in the 1870s (right).

Can you remember how you felt when you left home for the first time? A sense of adventure, an exhilarating feeling of being free? That feeling must have grasped the hearts of many a young woman in the early 1900s when Fred Harvey was building a legend. Harvey envisioned his restaurants as the most refined restaurants in the west. Upset by the rowdiness of boys he hired as waiters, Harvey turned to a more civil gender. In response to newspaper ads for young, unmarried women, Harvey soon had many girls ready for all the excitement, freedom, and adventure he could offer.

Harvey brought his legendary "Harvey Girls" to Painted Desert Inn at Petrified Forest when the company took over management in 1947. Harvey Girls carried out the "Harvey Way" serving complete meals in the dining room on spotless china, leaving no customer unsatisfied with any part of the service. They were a sight for sore eyes at the counter in the lunch room, where a hot and tired traveler could order drinks, shakes, or even a banana split for a hefty 30 cents!

NPS Photo

A Harvey Girl takes a break from a busy day outside the inn.

The Harvey Girls stood on the foundation that Fred Harvey built and did what nobody at the time expected of women. Today the voices of the girls echo within the walls of the Inn, in harmony with the voices of so many others who are part of the ongoing story of this fascinating building.