Chapter 14

OCCUPATIONS OF WAGE-EARNERS

I. AN HISTORICAL VIEW OF OCCUPATIONS

In the New Amsterdam Colony as early as 1628, slaves were sought as a source of labor. These slaves were employed mainly in farm labor. In that year the Dutch West India Company agreed to furnish slaves to the colonists and the Company's largest farm was "cultivated by the blacks."[49] Individuals were at liberty to import slaves for the same purpose.[50] Both slaves and freedmen were used as stevedores and deckhands for the Company's vessels. The slaves were also used in building and repairing the public highways and in the repairing of Fort Amsterdam.[51] In 1680, mention is made of Negroes being used in housebuilding.[52] About the same time Negro slaves were carrying hod for wages, and in 1699 it was said that about the only servants (probably meaning domestic servants) in the Province of New York were Negroes. Freed Negroes were indentured or hired for similar service.[53]

Negroes were mustered into the Colonial army as early as 1698, and in the battle of Lake George in 1755, the "blacks behaved better than the whites."[54]

Under the Dutch government enfranchised and slave Negroes were allowed to acquire and hold land. Some took advantage of this privilege. But with English possession of the colony it was expressly prohibited.[55] Some few Negroes were seamen as shown by the records of the so-called Negro plot of 1741, and one Negro doctor, Harry by name, was among those executed during the time of that insane public excitement.[56]

From about 1835 until 1841 a weekly newspaper, _The Colored American_, owned and published by Charles B. Ray, Philip A. Bell and others, was published in New York. It had an extensive circulation from Boston to Cincinnati. From this source a number of employments and business enterprises of Negroes in the New York of that period were ascertained. The occupations included three carpenters and joiners, five boot and shoe-makers, five tailors, two music teachers, four teachers of private and evening schools, one newspaper agent, one engraver, one watch and clock-maker, one sign-painter, two dress and cloak makers.[57]

In this period between 1830 and 1860, there were many engaged in domestic and personal service. Most of the smaller hotels of the times had colored waiters. The Metropolitan had about 60 or 70; other hostelries like the Stuyvesant House, the Earls, the Clifford, and a number of restaurants employed colored waiters. Some cooks and barbers, who also applied leeches, treated corns, and did other minor surgical services, were among this class of wage-earners.

Three dentists, P.H. White, John Burdell, and Joshua Bishop, two physicians, James McCune Smith and W.M. Lively, and three ministers, H.W. Garnet, Chas. B. Ray, and Peter Williams, were prominent persons of the period.

But these facts should not give the impression of unalloyed opportunity in the trades and professions, for the columns of this same Negro newspaper were filled with articles, editorials and appeals which indicate the difficulties in that direction. This is further borne out by the testimony of Charles S. Andrews, the white principal of the Manumission Society School for Negroes. He said his graduates left with every avenue closed against them and spoke of difficulties those who had trades encountered, many being forced to become waiters, barbers, servants, and laborers.[58] That domestic and personal service furnished employment for a large number of Negroes is further shown by the organization of the United Public Waiters' Mutual Beneficial Association. This effort was first started by twelve Negro caterers as a corporation to control and keep up the quality of service both by looking after the efficiency of the many waiters they employed and by preventing "irresponsible men attempting to cater at weddings, balls, parties, and some hotels on special occasions." Originally their constitution, framed in 1869, stated the objects of the organization to be "to consolidate the business interests of its members; to encourage and promote industrial pursuits followed by them; to give preference in patronage to its members."[59]

Five of the original corporators, among whom were George Morris, George E. Green, and Charles W. Hopewell, owned imported silver, china, and other caterers' "service" ranging in valuation from about $1,000 to $4,000, and all of them had ability to manage large banquets and other social functions, supplying waiters, cooks, _etc._ First smaller caterers, then waiters, were taken into the organization until the membership increased to more than a hundred. And in 1872 they added the mutual benefit features, "to insure both medical and brotherly aid when sick and to assist respectably interring its deceased members." One of the caterers of the early corporation, W.E. Gross, is yet in the business at the Bowery Savings Bank and still serves for special occasions, now mainly among Colored people. The organization as a benefit association continued with varying fortunes down to 1905, when it was dissolved by its remaining 33 members.

That there were many other waiters and servants of the time is certain. A head-waiter of that day estimated the number of colored hotel and restaurant waiters at between 400 and 500 in 1870.

2. OCCUPATIONS IN 1890 AND 1900

By the time of the Federal censuses of 1890 and 1900 the Negro population in New York had grown to considerable proportions, and for this increased population we are fortunate in having full occupational returns. Although these figures included all persons ten years of age and over, those under fourteen years probably formed a negligible part of the totals because the Child Labor Laws of the State of New York prohibited the employment of children under fourteen years of age.

It appears, as was expected, that the large majority of Negro wage-earners were engaged in domestic and personal service. But it is significant that in 1890 there were among the male population 236 bookkeepers, accountants, _etc._, 476 draymen, hackmen, and teamsters, and 427 were engaged in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. Among the females, there were 418 dressmakers, 103 seamstresses, and 67 nurses and midwives.

The figures for 1900 show a large percentage of increase in domestic and personal service. In occupations classed under trade and transportation, Negro wage-earners increased 450.3 per cent compared with an increase of 177.2 per cent among native whites. Nor is this increase due entirely to semi-personal service occupations for the class of clerks, bookkeepers, _etc._, had increased from 236 in 1890 to 456 in 1900; draymen, hackmen, and teamsters numbered 1,439 in 1900 as compared with 476 in 1890, an increase of 202.3 per cent. In manufacturing and mechanical pursuits the percentage of increase during the ten years, 1890 to 1900, was 140.3 per cent, larger than that of the native whites, 137.3 per cent. Only one occupation in this class had a smaller increase of Negro workers than 75 per cent. Machinists increased from 7 to 47; brick and stone masons from 20 to 94, or 370 per cent; stationary engineers and firemen from 61 to 227, or 271.1 per cent. Other comparisons indicate clearly a similarly favorable advance in many occupations other than domestic and personal service. Large allowances, of course, must be made for the errors in gathering the figures of the two censuses; yet this does not account for all of the decided increases shown. It must be accounted for on the ground that slowly the walls of inefficiency on one side and of prejudice on the other which have confined Negroes to the more menial and lower-paid employments are being broken down. This progress has come in the face of the fact that the more ambitious and efficient individual is "tied to his group."[60]

In 1890 and 1900 a large number of occupations could not be included in the table because the figures for 1890 were not available. The comparison of the two censuses shows clearly that there is for Negro wage-earners a probable enlargement of the scope of occupations outside of domestic and personal service.

Table XVI below gives in detail the number and percent of increase of the native white and Negro wage-earners, ten years of age and over, engaged in selected occupations in New York City in 1890 and 1900:

TABLE XVI. NATIVE WHITE AND NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS, TEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, ENGAGED IN SELECTED OCCUPATIONS, NEW YORK CITY, 1890 AND 1900.[A]

+------------------------------------------------ | Male. +------------------------+----------------------- Occupation. | Native white. | Negro. -------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------- | | |Per cent| | |Per cent | 1890. | 1900. |increase|1890. | 1900. |increase -------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------- Domestic and personal | | | | | | service | 16,887| 42,621| 152.4 | 4,975| 27,956| 461.9 Barbers and | | | | | | hairdressers | 1,017| 1,936| 60.9 | 111| 215| -- Bartenders | 2,530| 5,776| 128.3 | 29| 84| -- Janitors and sextons | 712| 2,037| 186.2 | 336| 800| 118.6 Laborers (not | | | | | | classified) | 8,807| 26,669| 203.1 | 882| 3,719| 352.4 Servants and waiters[B] | 3,821| 6,473| 69.4 | 3,647| 6,280| 72.2 Trade and transportation | 69,162|170,350| 146.3 | 1,520| 5,338| 450.3 Boatmen and sailors | 1,024| 3,675| 258.9 | 106| 145| 36.8 Bookkeepers and | | | | | | accountants[F] | 34,960| 16,526| -- | 236| 33| -- Clerks and copyists | --| 62,921| -- | --| 423| -- Draymen, hackmen, | | | | | | teamsters, etc. | 12,908| 31,695| 145.5 | 476| 1,439| 202.3 Hostlers[C] | 840| 1,659| -- | 100| 633| -- Messengers, errand and | | | | | | office boys[D] |} |{10,578|} | |{ 355|} Packers and shippers |} 7,711|{ 2,026|} 117.4 | 559|{ 23|} 347.4 Porters and helpers (in |} |{ |} | |{ |} stores) |} |{ 4,157|} | |{ 2,143|} Salesmen | 8,398| 29,889| 255.9 | 15| 94| 526.7 Steam railroad employees| 3,321| 7,224| 121.1 | 28| 70| 150.0 Manufacturing and | | | | | | mechanical pursuits | 30,180| 71,613| 137.3 | 427| 1,026| 140.3 Blacksmiths | 1,169| 2,490| 113.0 | 9| 29| -- Masons (brick and stone)| 2,278| 5,032| 120.1 | 20| 94| 370.0 Painters, glaziers and | | | | | | varnishers | 5,805| 12,947| 123.0 | 99| 177| 78.8 Plasterers | 701| 1,592| 127.1 | 10| 51| 410.0 Plumbers, gas and steam | | | | | | fitters | 5,225| 12,355| 136.4 | 11| 31| -- Carpenters and joiners | 4,712| 11,471| 143.4 | 33| 94| 184.8 Tobacco and cigar | | | | | | factory operatives | 1,940| 2,182| 12.0 | 146| 189| 29.4 Tailors | 2,200| 4,545| 106.6 | 20| 69| 245.0 Upholsterers | 860| 1,447| 68.2 | 11| 18| 63.3 Engineers and firemen | | | | | | (not locomotive) | 2,622| 8,129| 210.0 | 61| 227| 272.1 Machinists | 2,368| 9,423| 297.9 | 7| 47| -- -------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+------- Total |116,224|284,584| 144.8 | 6,922| 34,321| 395.8 -------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------

+----------------------------------------------- | Female. +------------------------+---------------------- Occupation. | Native white. | Negro. -------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+------- | | |Per cent| | |Per cent | 1890. | 1900. |increase|1890. | 1900. |increase -------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+------- Musicians and teachers | | | | | | of music | 950| 2,581| 171.7 | 24| 73| 204.2 Housekeepers and | | | | | | stewardesses | 797| 2,421| 203.8 | 83| 226| 172.3 Laundresses | 1,416| 4,329| 205.7 | 1,526| 3,224| 111.3 Nurses and midwives | 1,220| 4,416| 262.0 | 67| 290| 332.8 Servants and | | | | | | waitresses[E] | 11,140| 22,616| 103.0 | 3,754| 10,297| 174.3 Clerks and copyists | 2,505| 7,811| 419.0 | 5| 22| -- Bookkeepers and | | | | | | accountants | 1,492| 6,998| 360.0 | 2| 10| -- Stenographers and | | | | | | typewriters | 1,356| 9,518| 601.9 | 3| 14| -- Saleswomen | 7,476| 18,315| 144.7 | 4| 13| -- Dressmakers | 13,106| 22,137| 68.9 | 418| 813| 94.5 Seamstresses | 4,206| 7,855| 86.7 | 103| 249| 141.7 -------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+------- Total | 45,664|108,997| 138.5 | 5,989| 15,231| 154.3 -------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+------- NOTES FOR TABLE XVI.

[A] Eleventh Census, _Part ii, Population_, p. 704. Occupations for Negroes in 1890 are approximately accurate as Chinese, _etc._, made up less than 10 per cent. of the total Colored population. Twelfth Census, _Special Rep._, Table 43, _Occupations_, pp. 634-640.

[B] In 1890 occupation marked only "servants."

[C] Includes livery-stable keepers in 1890.

[D] Messengers, packers, and porters, _etc._, classed together in 1890.

[E] 1900, "servants and waitresses;" 1890, "servants."

[F] Includes clerks, _etc._, in 1890.

OCCUPATIONS IN 1905

In the 2,500 families, composed of 9,788 persons, 1,859 were excluded because of their being under fifteen years of age and 82 were excluded because, although members of wage-earning families, they themselves were either in a professional occupation, or were engaged in a business enterprise on their own account. This left 7,847 individual wage-earners, 3,802 of whom were male and 4,045 were female. Both the male and the female wage-earners show a very large percentage employed in domestic and personal service, 40.2 per cent male and 89.3 per cent female, a large percentage of whom doubtless were married women and widows with children.[61] But it is to be noted as important that among the males, 20.6 per cent were engaged in some occupation classified under Trade and 9.4 per cent under Transportation. While some of these occupations may differ little in character from domestic and personal service, yet the occupations that are entirely removed from that classification are sufficient in number to show, as did the figures for 1890 and 1900, the possibility of Negroes in considerable numbers securing a scope of employment which includes other occupations than those of domestic and personal service.

The State Census figures are more detailed than those of the Federal Census. For example, under domestic and personal service, the Federal Census has grouped together male waiters and servants, while the State Census figures have been tabulated separately. It is also probable that the classification in 1890 and 1900 included wage-earners who were classified differently in 1905 and _vice versa_. And in 1905 professional occupations as well as all persons doing business on their own account were excluded. Differences in the figures may, therefore, be allowed.

Table XVII, which follows, shows the latest figures available on the scope of employment of Negro wage-earners:

TABLE XVII. OCCUPATIONS OF NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS, FIFTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, MANHATTAN, 1905.[A]

MALE -------------------------------------+--------+-----+--------- Occupation. | Totals.| No. |Per cent -------------------------------------+--------+-----+--------- Public service | 55 | -- | 1.4 Sailors and mariners (U.S.) | -- | 3 | -- Federal employees (custom house, | | | immigration, etc.) | -- | 6 | -- Post office (clerks) | -- | 13 | -- Post office (carriers) | -- | 9 | -- Street cleaning department | -- | 23 | -- Miscellaneous | -- | 1 | -- | | | Domestic and personal service | 1,527 | -- | 0.2 Barbers | -- | 27 | -- Bartenders | -- | 24 | -- Bellmen and doormen | -- | 154 | 4.0 Bootblacks | -- | 2 | -- Butlers | -- | 41 | -- Chauffeurs | -- | 9 | -- Cleaners (house, etc.) | -- | 15 | -- Coachmen | -- | 68 | 1.8 Cooks | -- | 110 | 2.9 Cooks (dining car) | -- | 7 | -- Chimney sweeps | -- | 2 | -- Domestic servants (not specified) | -- | 12 | -- Elevatormen | -- | 365 | 9.6 Hallmen (hotel, etc.) | -- | 90 | 2.4 Hotel managers | -- | 3 | -- Housemen | -- | 29 | -- Janitors and caretakers | -- | 83 | 2.2 Stewards | -- | 38 | -- Valets | -- | 18 | -- Waiters | -- | 425 | 11.2 Miscellaneous | -- | 5 | -- | | | Manufacturers and mechanical pursuits| 300 | -- | 7.9 Asphalt layers | -- | 6 | -- Blacksmiths | -- | 5 | -- Carpenters | -- | 18 | -- Confectioners | -- | 3 | -- Drill runners | -- | 5 | -- Electricians | -- | 3 | -- Engineers (not locomotive) | -- | 48 | -- Firemen (not locomotive) | -- | 19 | -- Factory employees (not specified) | -- | 6 | -- Hodcarriers | -- | 9 | -- Harness and saddlemakers | -- | 2 | -- Cigarmakers | -- | 32 | -- Kalsominers | -- | 8 | -- Machinists | -- | 12 | -- Mechanics (automobile, bicycle, | | | etc.) | -- | 9 | -- Masons (stone) | -- | 2 | -- Masons (brick) | -- | 8 | -- Masons (not specified) | -- | 5 | -- Painters and decorators | -- | 26 | -- Plasterers | -- | 7 | -- Plumbers, steam and gas fitters | -- | 5 | -- Printers and compositors | -- | 14 | -- Shoemakers and repairers | -- | 6 | -- Tailors | -- | 20 | -- Miscellaneous | -- | 22 | -- | | | Trade | 783 | -- | 20.6 Agents (real estate) | -- | 4 | -- Bookkeepers | -- | 3 | -- Clerks (office, banks, etc.) | -- | 11 | -- Shipping clerks | -- | 9 | -- Clerks and salesmen (in stores, | | | etc.) | -- | 63 | 1.7 Laundry employees | -- | 13 | -- Messengers, errand boys and | | | office boys | -- | 60 | 1.6 Watchmen | -- | 10 | -- Porters (stores, etc.) | -- | 587 | 15.4 Stenographers | -- | 5 | -- Miscellaneous | -- | 19 | -- | | | Transportation | 359 | -- | 9.4 Boatmen and seamen | -- | 17 | -- Expressmen, truckmen and drivers | -- | 119 | 3.1 Hostlers and stablemen | -- | 47 | 1.2 Longshoremen | -- | 75 | 2.0 Porters (railway) | -- | 83 | 2.2 Porters (street railway) | -- | 7 | -- Steamship company (not specified) | -- | 4 | -- Street railway (not specified) | -- | 3 | -- Telephone operators | -- | 3 | -- Car cleaner | -- | 1 | -- | | | Unclassified | 778 | -- | 20.5 Gardeners | -- | 3 | -- Laborers (not specified) | -- | 616 | 16.2 Musicians and musical performers | -- | 55 | 1.4 Foremen (not specified) | -- | 9 | -- Theatrical (not specified) | -- | 6 | -- Unknown | -- | 94 | -- Total for all occupations | 3,802 | | -------------------------------------+--------+-----+---------

FEMALE -------------------------------------+--------+-----+--------- Occupation. | Totals.| No. |Per cent -------------------------------------+--------+-----+--------- Domestic and personal service | 3,456 | -- | 89.3 Chambermaids | -- | 22 | -- Cooks | -- | 149 | Day workers out | -- | 19 | Domestic servants (not specified) | -- | 88 | 2.3 Hairdressers | -- | 6 | -- Manicurists and masseurs | -- | 18 | -- Housekeepers | -- | 60 | -- Housewives | -- | 51 | -- General housework (wages) | -- | 72 | 18.6 General housework (not specified) | -- |1572 | -- Janitress and caretakers | -- | 28 | -- Laundresses | -- | 543 | 14.0 Ladies' maids | -- | 23 | -- Maids (not specified) | -- | 80 | 2.1 Nurses | -- | 21 | -- Waitresses | -- | 47 | -- Miscellaneous | -- | 4 | -- | | | Trade | 25 | -- | 0.6 Bookkeepers | -- | 2 | -- Clerks and saleswomen | -- | 6 | -- Stenographers and typewriters | -- | 8 | -- Miscellaneous | -- | 9 | -- | | | Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits| 564 | -- | 5.5 Dressmakers | -- | 164 | 4.2 Garment workers | -- | 18 | .5 Milliners | -- | 5 | -- Seamstresses | -- | 16 | -- Tailors' assistants | -- | 3 | -- Miscellaneous | -- | 6 | -- | | | Unclassified | 176 | -- | 4.6 Telephone operators | -- | 1 | -- Unknown | -- | 175 | -- -------------------------------------+--------+-----+--------- Total for all occupations | 4,045 | -- | -- -------------------------------------+--------+-----+--------- [A] In classifying these occupations, some departure has been made from the Federal Census arrangement. Those engaged in Public Service have been separated from Domestic and Personal Service, while Trade and Transportation are tabulated separately; a few occupations have been put in an unclassified list, while one or two occupations are included that might possibly be regarded as professional. This rearrangement, however, does not prevent comparison with previous Federal Census classification, and it is hoped that it is in line with subsequent classifications.

Before leaving the subject of the restricted scope of occupations among Negroes, something should be said of the far-reaching effects this restriction has upon the life of the wage-earners. Negroes are crowded into these poorer-paid occupations because many of them are inefficient and because of the color prejudice on the part of white workmen and employers.[62] Both of these influences are severe handicaps in the face of the competition in this advanced industrial community.

Restricted thus to a few occupations, there is a larger number of competitors within a limited field with a consequent tendency to lower an already low wage scale. In this way the limitations of occupational mobility react upon income, producing a low standard of living, the lodger evil, and social consequences pointed out below (pp. 80, 89, 144 ff).

To sum up the occupational condition of Negro wage-earners: The large majority of Negroes are employed to-day in occupations of domestic and personal service. This is partly the result of the historical conditions of servitude, of a prejudice on the part of white workmen and employers, which restricts them to this lower field, and of the inefficiency of Negro wage-earners for competition in occupations requiring a higher order of training and skill. The steady increase in 1890, 1900 and 1905 of numbers employed in occupations other than personal and domestic service is prophetic of a probable widening scope of the field of employment open to them.

FOOTNOTES:

[49] Williams, _History of the Negro Race in America_, vol. i, p. 135.

[50] _Colonial Doc._, i, 364.

[51] _Laws of New York_, 1691-1773, pp. 83, 156; _Doc. relating to Colonial History of New York_, vol. i, 499; ii, 474.

[52] _Doc. relating to Colonial History of New York_, iii, 307.

[53] _Ibid._, ix, 875; iv, 511; Burghermen and Freemen, _collection of New York Historical Society_, 1885, p. 569.

[54] _Ibid._, 377 (London Doc. xi); _ibid._, vi, 1005 (London Doc. xxxii.) "Letter from a gunner to his cousin."

[55] Williams, _op. cit._, pp. 137, 142.

[56] Horsmanden, _History of the Negro Plot, passim._

[57] For business enterprises, see chap. v, pp. 96-7.

[58] Quoted in Ovington, _Half a Man_, pp. 27-28.

[59] _Constitution and By-Laws of the United Public Waiters' Mutual Beneficial Association._

[60] Ovington, _op. cit._, pp. 93-95.

[61] _Cf._ Ovington, _op. cit._, pp. 56-57, 144-145.

[62] In a canvass of business establishments 12 manufacturers, 1 architect, 3 plumbers and steam-fitters, 2 printing firms, 10 contractors and builders and 3 miscellaneous--37 total--12 were decidedly against employing Negroes, 9 giving as a reason the objections of their white workmen; 13 were non-committal, and 12, 10 of whom were builders and contractors, offered or gave employment to Negroes above the average competency; _cf._ Ovington, _op. cit._, pp. 91-98.