2. NATIVITY OF NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS

If New York has a Negro population largely composed of immigrants from other regions, the question naturally arises, From what sections or regions do they come? The State Census of 1905 gives nativity by countries only. Consequently, those born within the United States are not specified by State or territory of birth. That large numbers of the Negro population of New York City come from other sections of the United States, mainly from the South, is beyond doubt.

We get the first impression of this fact from the Federal Census of 1900. For the whole State of New York in 1900, out of a population of 100,000,[46] 44.6 per cent were natives, 24.1 per cent were from Virginia, 19 per cent were from other Southern States, with a remaining 12.3 per cent to be drawn from other parts of the United States and from other countries.

These proportions are different from those for New York City, because immigrants make up a larger part of the City's Negro population. The figures of the State Census of 1905, as well as those from a personal canvass, point in the same direction, and the evidence indicates clearly the probable condition.

The West Indian element in the Negro population of the City was noticed first. The British West Indies furnish 5.8 per cent of these foreign Negro immigrants, while the Danish West Indies, Cuba, and those islands not specified, together make up 3.6 per cent, a total of 9.4 per cent West Indian.[47] Table XIII (p. 59) gives a survey of this part of the population and shows its relation to the native born.

We are unable to get from the figures of Table XIII the sections or States of the United States from which the 89.5 per cent of American-born Negroes came. The few straws of evidence afforded by the personal canvass point to the main sources of the stream. The percentages have significance although the figures are few. The Southern States, from which there are easy means of transportation to New York, naturally furnish the larger part. Virginia supplied 29.6 per cent of the 365 Manhattan residents; South Carolina, 11 per cent; Georgia, 6 per cent, and Maryland, 4.4 per cent. Taking the Southern States by themselves, 67.5 per cent of the 365 wage-earners were born in that section. Besides 5.7 per cent of the 365 came from the British West Indies. The West Indies and the Southern States probably furnished 73.4 per cent or about three-fourths of these wage-earners in the Negro population of New York City. Table XIV (p. 60) shows in full the State and country of birth of the 365 wage-earners.

TABLE XIII. NATIVITY BY COUNTRY OF BIRTH OF 9,788 WAGE-EARNERS, MANHATTAN, 1905.

- - Country of birth. No. No. Per cent - - The Bermudas 28 0.3 British West Indies 566 5.8 Antiqua 1 Bahama Islands 7 Barbadoes 36 Jamaica 19 St. Croix 46 St. Christopher 20 St. Thomas 8 Trinidad 1 Not specified 428 Danish West Indies 62 0.6 Cuba 14 0.1 West Indies (not specified) 285 2.9 Canada 16 0.2 United States 8,757 89.5 Miscellaneous[A] 36 0.4 Unknown 24 0.2 - - Total 9,788 100. - - [A] The miscellaneous includes the following: Australia 3, England 7, East Indies 1, France 1, Germany 1, Hayti 1, India 2, Ireland 1, Mexico 2, Monrovia, Africa 1, Porto Rico 9, Sandwich Islands 1, Santo Domingo 2, South America 4.

Foreign and native immigrants predominate in the Negro population of the City. With such a stream of immigrants the question arises about their marriage and family relationships. Are they largely single people, or are there large numbers of married, widowed, or divorced persons among them? The discussion next centers upon this point.

TABLE XIV. NATIVITY BY STATE OR COUNTRY OF BIRTH OF 365 WAGE EARNERS, MANHATTAN, 1909.

- - Country. No. Per No. Per cent cent - - Bermuda 4 1.1 British West Indies 21 5.7 Antigua 3 Barbadoes 8 Grenada 1 Jamaica 1 Nassau 1 St. Croix 3 St. Kitts 1 Trinidad 1 Island Unknown 2 - - - - Country. No. Per No. Per cent cent - - United States 307 84.2 Georgia 22 6.0 Maryland 16 4.4 New York 40 11.0 North Carolina 35 9.6 South Carolina 40 11.0 Virginia 108 29.6 Other States[A] 46 12.6 Miscellaneous[B] 4 1.1 Unknown 29 7.9 - - Total 365 100 - - [A] The other states of the Union are: Alabama 2, Arkansas 2, Delaware 2, District of Columbia 7, Florida 7, Illinois 1, Kentucky 4, Massachusetts 4, Missouri 3, Ohio 2, Pennsylvania 3, Tennessee 2, Texas 2, Michigan 1, New Jersey 1, Rhode Island 1, Porto Rico 2.

[B] Miscellaneous: St. Martin 1, Ontario 1, British Guiana 2.

3. MARITAL CONDITION OF WAGE-EARNERS

The State Census of 1905 did not ask about the marital condition, but only stated relationships to the head of the family, so that the conjugal condition of women reported as heads of families, of lodgers, and of adult sons and daughters or other relatives in the family could not be ascertained. Therefore, no attempt was made to give statements about conjugal condition based on these returns. However, in the personal canvass of 326 individuals, fifteen years of age and over, the marital condition was obtained. The small number of cases included in Table XV makes the figures and percentages presented valuable for pointing only to what a larger body of data would probably make certain. It is important, therefore, to note that 113 out of 159 males, or 71.1 per cent, and 106 out of 167 females, or 63.5 per cent, were single, excluding those unknown. This suggests what the age grouping would lead us to expect, viz., that the Negro group in New York City has a large proportion of unmarried persons. Table XV, which follows, indicates this conclusion:

TABLE XV. MARITAL CONDITION OF 326 NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS, FIFTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVER, MANHATTAN, 1909.

+ -+ -+ - Male. Female. Total. + -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ - Marital condition. Per Per Per No. cent No. cent No. cent + -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ - Married 26 16.3 30 17.9 56 17.2 Single 113 71.1 106 63.5 219 67.2 Widowed 9 5.7 27 16.2 36 11.0 Divorced 3 1.9 3 0.9 Unknown 8 5.0 4 2.4 12 3.7 + -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ - Total 159 100. 167 100. 326 100. + -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -

Now that the marital condition of the individuals has been indicated, we may profitably inquire into the composition of the families.

4. FAMILIES AND LODGERS

An illuminating sidelight is thrown upon the general condition of wage-earners by a study of the sizes of families and the relation of lodgers to those families. The figures used are those of the State Census of 1905 only, as the number of complete families secured in the personal canvass was too small. The points of importance are the size of the economic family, which includes lodgers and all others living under one head, and size of the natural family when lodgers are excluded. The census returns of 1905 showed relationship of each dweller in the household to the head of the family. It was thus easy to separate lodgers, except in some cases when relatives may have been lodgers but were not so designated. Taking the 2,500 families as a whole, with 9,788 individuals, the average size of the family was three and nine-tenths persons. Of these, 2,631 individuals, 26.9 per cent were lodgers, and 7,157, or 73.1 per cent, were natural members. But these aggregates do not portray actual conditions. A true picture may be obtained from a more detailed study of the figures which show that 119, or 4.8 per cent, of the economic families (which includes all persons living under one head) consisted of an individual living alone; 576, 23 per cent, of two persons; 531, 21.2 per cent, of the families had three members, while 478, 19.1 per cent, were composed of four members. Above four, the percentages of families rapidly declined; 13.4 per cent of economic families had five members; 8.3 per cent, six members; 5 per cent, seven members, down to 2.2 per cent, eight members; 1.4 per cent, nine members, and 1.6 per cent, ten or more members. But the composition of these economic families is even more striking. To illustrate, of a total of 576 economic families with two members, 488 had no lodgers, and this was 36.1 per cent of all the families without lodgers; out of 531 families of three members each, 173 had one lodger, or 37.7 per cent of all families having one lodger, and 67 families had two lodgers each, or 20.6 per cent of all the families having two lodgers. Further, 478 families of four members each contained 133 families with two lodgers, 40.9 per cent of all families having two lodgers, and 48 families had three lodgers, 27 per cent of all families having three lodgers, while only 84 families had one lodger, and 213 families, less than one-half, 44.6 per cent of all families of four members each, had no lodgers. Taking the entire 2,500 families, only 1,353 families, or 54.1 per cent, had no lodgers; 459, or 18.4 per cent of the total families, had one lodger only; 325 families, or 13 per cent of the total, had two lodgers only, while 320 families, or 12.8 per cent of the total, had from 3 to 5 lodgers. This left 45, or 1.7 per cent, with 6 to 9 lodgers. In a phrase, the increase in the size of the family means, as a rule, an increase in the number of lodgers, and the relative proportion of natural members probably decreases as the size of the family increases, the proportion of lodgers increasing with the size of the economic family.

Now this showing is not the effect of lodging-houses run as business enterprises, except probably in the families ten members or more, which constitute only 1.6 per cent of the total 2,500 families. This condition is most probably due in part to the fact—which both Census returns and personal observation indicated but could not fully determine—that many of the lodgers consisted of married couples, sometimes with one or two children, and of parts of broken families. Furthermore, the high rents[48] which Negroes have to pay, the limited area in which the opposition of whites allows them to live, together with the small income power due to the occupational field being largely restricted to domestic and personal service, play a large part in forcing families and parts of families to live thus crowded together. This last point about income will be referred to again in Chapter IV on Occupations and in Chapter V on Wages. It is a cause for serious concern that only 54.1 per cent of the families had no lodgers, and this percentage here will probably hold for the entire Negro population of the City. If we exclude the 119 individuals living alone, the families having no lodgers fall to 51.8 per cent.

This last phase of the lodger condition is emphasized if presented in another way which shows the number of families having a specified number of members, exclusive of lodgers. For the same 2,500 families, it brings out from another point of view the relation of the family to the lodgers. There is presented both the number and percent of families that had a specified number of lodgers, and also, the number and percent of families that had a specified number of members exclusive of lodgers. For example, 178 families had three lodgers each, which was 7.1 per cent of the total 2,500 families. And of these 48 families had only one other member; 57 had two other members; 36 had three other; 23 four other; 9 five other; 3 six other, and 1 seven other. Out of 1,353 families that did not accommodate lodgers, 898 families, 67.8 per cent, had three members or less. Of 1,147 families that did accommodate lodgers, 606, 52.8 per cent, had more lodgers than natural members. And if we take the totals, 392, 15.7 per cent, of the families had besides lodgers only one natural member; 909, 36.4 per cent, of the families had in addition to lodgers two members only, and 508, 20.3 per cent, had besides lodgers three members only; 329 families, 13.2 per cent of the total, had four natural members; 325, 12.9 per cent, had five to seven natural members, and 38, 1.5 per cent, had eight or more natural members. This makes it clear that 1,809 of the 2,500 families had three natural members or less, if lodgers are not counted. To take a statement in a percentage that probably will be applicable to the whole City, one may say that, even including relatives who may have been lodgers, 72.6 per cent of Negro families had three members or less, if the lodgers are excluded—a fact of almost startling social significance. All this is a cause for serious concern, and any constructive steps for social betterment should give attention to the causes and remedies for this condition as one of the first and most urgent problems.

To sum up the general condition of wage-earners: The Negro population has increased decade by decade, except from 1840 to 1850 and from 1850 to 1860, preceding and during the Abolition and Civil War crisis. It is made up of young persons and adults in the vigorous working period, and has a small number of children under fifteen years of age. The population is recruited largely by immigrants from the South and the West Indies, who do not survive or remain in the City to a very old age. Among the wage-earners probably single people predominate. Largely because of high rents and low incomes, lodgers made up of married couples, parts of broken families and of individuals seriously interfere with normal family life. The families are usually very small in size, from two to four persons, and an increase in the size of the family generally means an increase in the number of lodgers.

FOOTNOTES:

[43] The term "wage-earner", for want of a better, is used to designate the group of persons belonging to families whose heads are actual wage-workers. This includes children and some other family members not in gainful occupations.

[44] Cf. Bailey, Modern Social Conditions, (New York, 1906), pp. 67-89.

[45] Cf. Twelfth Census, Bulletin 8, Negroes in the United States, Table 31.

[46] DuBois, Notes, etc., p. 2.

[47] In a study of Negro Craftsmen in New York City made by Miss Helen A. Tucker in 1907 (Vide, Southern Workman, 1907, 36: 9, p. 550), she reported the most reliable estimate of the proportion of West Indians in New York City as about one-tenth of the total Negro population. The figures above substantiate such an estimate. Of the 385 men in Miss Tucker's study, 29.09 per cent were born in the West Indies. Among the 94 who claimed to know a trade, 57 or 60.64 per cent were born in the West Indies. Cf. ibid., 37: I, p. 45. This wide variation of percentage from that given for 9,788 individuals in 1905, probably arises because (1) of the larger number of cases in the latter instance, (2) the returns are from two other districts of Manhattan besides "the Sixties" of Miss Tucker's canvass, (3) Miss Tucker canvassed male craftsmen only; the figures of this text cover the whole population.

[48] Real estate agents, who have handled properties during the change from white to Negro tenants, testified that Negro families upon moving in pay from $2.00 to $5.00 more per apartment. Others corroborated their statements. Vide also, Chapin, Standard of Living in New York City, pp. 76-77.



CHAPTER IV

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.



CHAPTER V

WAGES AND EFFICIENCY OF WAGE-EARNERS

The question of wages and working efficiency are so closely related that they can be better treated together than separately. The material for this part of the monograph has been gathered from three sources, namely: a personal canvass, the records of employment agencies for personal and domestic help, and the statement of union rates published by the New York Bureau of Labor Statistics. It has not been possible to calculate the time loss by the worker, and therefore any estimate of annual income based upon the figures given must be made on the assumption of a full year of work. This, of course, is not the actual case, especially with many wage-earners in domestic and personal service.

I. WAGES IN DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL SERVICE

The Employment Agencies' Law of New York City requires that each agency keep a careful and accurate record of the wages of those for whom they secure situations, as well as written references from former employers of each applicant. Since inspectors from the Bureau of Licenses have access to these records at any time, they are probably carefully kept. The material on wages which has been taken largely from these sources has been arranged to show the number of individuals who receive a specified wage, beginning at less than $4.00 and running by $1.00 groups up to $9.00 and over. There follows (p. 80) a table covering 682 males in twenty-four occupations and 2,138 females in twenty-five occupations from 1906 to 1909. It will be noted that in some cases two occupations are given under one heading such as elevator and switchboard, or cook and laundress. In these cases, the individual is paid the same for the two branches of work; so far as the wage is concerned it is one occupation. It is significant that out of a total of 682 males, 513, or 75.2 per cent, received wages under $6.00 per week and that 141, or 20.7 per cent, received between $6.00 and $8.99 per week, while only 4.1 per cent received $9.00 or more per week. With the females, the showing is even more unfavorable. Out of a total of 2,138 females, 1,971, or 92.2 per cent, received less than $6.00 per week, and of these 1,137, or 53.2 per cent, received less than $5.00 per week. Of those receiving $6.00 or more per week, only 8 out of 2,138, or .04 per cent, received as much as $9.00 or more per week.

Of course, many of these wage-earners are furnished their meals in addition to wages; some have meals and room. In some cases question may arise about the effect of lodgings furnished by the employer upon the wages paid his domestic help, but both from the testimony of the employment agent and from statements made in the records, it does not appear that wages are different whether the servants "sleep in" or "sleep out." There are no data to show whether or not consideration of car-fare had any effect on the wages.

An inspection of the list of occupations for which these wages are given and the fact that they were employed in private families (see Table XVIII below) show that comparatively few of these wage-earners had opportunity to receive any considerable money from tips. This is especially true of the females. We may take, therefore, the figures of the table as probably giving an accurate statement of the wages received in domestic service in New York City during the four years, 1906 to 1909.

When one considers the probable dependents on many of these wage-earners, the high rents and high cost of food, he is not surprised to find that about half of these families take lodgers (see p. 64), and that a majority of the women are bread-winners (see p. 73). He sees the poorly-paid domestic service on the one side and on the other the cost of living as high walls bounding a narrow, restricted road that leads to a low standard of living and to social and economic disease. Table XVIII shows the picture in full relief:

TABLE XVIII. WEEKLY WAGES BY GROUPS OF WAGE-EARNERS FOR SELECTED OCCUPATIONS IN DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL SERVICE, NEW YORK CITY, 1906-1909.[A]

MALE - - - - - - - Less $4.00 $5.00 $6.00 $7.00 $8.00 $9.00 Occupations. than to to to to to and Total. $4.00 $4.99 $5.99 $6.99 $7.99 $8.99 over. - - - - - - - Bartenders 1 1 Bellmen 3 1 4 Blacksmiths 1 1 2 Butlers 4 18 4 11 4 41 Butler and cook 1 1 1 3 Coachmen 1 2 1 1 5 Cooks 2 3 1 5 3 14 28 Elevator 20 141 20 3 184 Elevator and switchboard 1 21 1 23 Elevator and hallboy 2 2 Firemen 1 1 10 10 2 2 26 Furnacemen 1 1 2 Gardeners 2 2 1 5 Hallmen and doormen 5 26 15 2 1 49 Housemen 2 7 11 3 4 1 1 29 Janitors 3 4 1 3 2 1 14 Kitchenmen 6 21 11 3 41 Errand and office boys 1 8 3 1 13 Pantrymen 1 1 Porters 1 2 9 5 14 10 6 47 Stablemen 4 4 Switchboard 7 7 1 1 16 Usefulmen 5 31 31 5 1 74 Waiters 22 31 7 6 1 1 68 - - - - - - - - Total 29 160 324 53 64 24 28 682 Percent 4.2 23.5 47.5 7.8 9.4 3.5 4.1 100 - - - - - - - -

FEMALE - - - - - - - Less $4.00 $5.00 $6.00 $7.00 $8.00 $9.00 Occupations. than to to to to to and Total. $4.00 $4.99 $5.99 $6.99 $7.99 $8.99 over. - - - - - - - Chambermaid 13 56 18 2 1 90 Chamb. and cook 1 3 4 Chamb. and laundress 1 6 9 2 18 Chamb. and seamstress 1 1 Chamb. and waitress 32 197 80 2 1 310 Cleaner 2 2 4 Cook 30 131 38 49 12 7 267 Cook and general housework 2 3 5 Cook and laundress 1 54 104 5 3 167 Cook and waitress 5 3 8 Errand girl 1 General housework 82 472 399 22 4 979 Laundress 3 28 23 4 2 60 Laund. and general housework 1 1 Laund. and waitress 4 1 1 6 Maid 3 6 3 4 1 17 Maid (house and parlor) 1 4 2 1 8 Maid (kitchen) 5 13 5 23 Maid and seamstress 1 1 Nurse 13 9 2 24 Pantry girl 2 1 3 Switchboard 2 2 Waitress 10 78 46 2 1 137 Dishwasher 1 1 Sick nurse 1 1 - - - - - - - Total 165 972 834 78 64 17 8 2138 Percent 7.7 45.5 39.0 3.6 3.0 0.8 0.4 100 - - - - - - - [A] Day's work, 1 at $1.00 a day, 7 at $1.25 a day, and 15 at $1.50 a day.

The earnings in hotel service play such an important part in the income of males of the Negro group, that some special note was taken of wages for waiters and bellmen. Records of 249 waiters in Manhattan and 46 waiters in Brooklyn showed that they received $25.00 per month, not including tips. Forty-nine bellmen received $15.00 to $20.00 per month, exclusive of tips. Out of these wages lodging and car-fares must usually be paid, and besides uniforms and laundry are not small items of expense.

2. WAGES IN OTHER OCCUPATIONS

The wages of skilled trades do not affect the larger part of the Negro population, because so small a percentage are engaged in these occupations, as reference to the occupational tables in Chapter IV will show. But the numbers are increasing, for there is a constant struggle of Negro wage-earners to rise to these better-paid occupations. Colored carpenters have a local branch of the Amalgamated Carpenters and Joiners Union; there is a street-pavers union, with about a third of the membership Colored men, and the Mechanics Association is composed of Negro artisans of all kinds who wish mutual help in securing and holding work. Since Negroes who are union men are reported to receive the same wages as white workmen, the approximate union wages in 1909 for such skilled occupations as had a considerable number of Negro males will be a good index. The approximate number of Negro union members in 1910 and union wages in 1909 were about as follows:[63] Asphalt pavers and helpers, Negro union members 350, rate of wages, pavers $2.50 per day, helpers $1.75 per day; rock-drillers and tool sharpeners, Negro members 240, employed by the hour, average daily earnings $2.77; cigar-makers, Negro members 165, piece-workers, average daily earnings $2.00; carpenters, Negro members 40, rate of wages $4.50 per day; stationary engineers, Negro members 35, rate of wages, $3.00-$3.50 per day, average weekly earnings, $21.00; bricklayers, Negro members 21, rate of wages $0.70 per hour, average daily earnings $5.60; plasterers, Negro members 19, rate of wages $5.50 per day; printers (compositors), Negro members 8, average weekly earnings, $24.00; coopers, Negro members 2, average daily earnings $2.50; lathers, Negro members 7, average daily earnings $4.50; sheet-metal workers, Negro members 1, rate of wages $4.50 per day. It is evident that compared with the large number of Negro workers few are engaged in the skilled trades, join the unions, and thus enter into the more highly-paid occupations.

3. EFFICIENCY OF WAGE-EARNERS

The efficiency of wage-earners attaches itself to the question of wages. For domestic and personal service, a rich deposit of first-hand material was available in the written testimonials, secured by employment agencies, from the former employers of each applicant seeking work. This is a requirement of the Employment Agencies' Law. The investigator found two employment agencies which had used a printed blank for securing this testimony from former employers of applicants. These blanks asked four questions which are pertinent to the matter of efficiency, and an additional space was left for further remarks. The questions called for answers on the following points: (1) length of time employed, whether applicant was (2) capable, (3) sober or temperate and (4) honest.

In all, 10,095 such blanks were sent out by the agencies during 1906-1909. About 3,000 were returned. Of these about 1,800 replies were excluded from this tabulation because they were received from employers outside of New York, because they were not completely filled out, or were not signed by the parties replying. For this study, 1,182 cases were used. Of these 139 were returned by the Post Office Department as unclaimed, 21 were returned unanswered, while 20 replied that the parties were never in their employ. So there were left 902 complete cases.

These give a fair indication of the whole. The first point of efficiency is the length of service to one's employer. The records of 100 males do not furnish a sufficient number of cases for any sweeping generalization, yet considerable light is given by the percentages. These show that 30 out of the 100 remained with one employer less than five months; that 24 remained six to eleven months, and 17 from one year to one year and eleven months, while 25 were in one place for more than two years. Special mention may be made of the five following cases: One of them remained five years, one seven years, one six years, one eight years, and one ten or eleven years, with the same employer.

For the females, the percentages will apply well to all who are wage-earners in domestic and personal service. Here, also, the largest percentage, 24.1 per cent, remained in one place from six to eleven months; 21.3 per cent remained three to five months; 16.7 per cent remained one year to one year and eleven months, and fair percentages obtain for the longer terms of service: namely, 5.2 per cent two years to two years and eleven months, and 9 per cent three years or more. Of those in one place of service for three or more years, five remained four years; two, four years and a half; nine, five years; three, six years; four, seven years; two, eight years; one, twelve years; three, fifteen years, and one, "eighteen years off and on;" in all, a total of thirty in 802 cases that were in one place of employment more than three years.

When the shifting life of such a great city and the mobile character of modern wage-earners, especially in domestic and personal service, are considered, and when it is remembered that the Negro population because of unusual need of adjustment to city life feels particularly this unstable current of influence, this showing of lengthy service for occupations which have weak tenures of service in all countries can be interpreted in no other way than favorable for the reputation of Negro domestic help.

The table, next following, gives the detailed length of service for the cases covered by the 902 testimonials:

TABLE XIX. SHOWING LENGTH OF SERVICE FOR 902 WAGE-EARNERS IN SELECTED OCCUPATIONS OF PERSONAL AND DOMESTIC SERVICE, NEW YORK CITY, 1906-1909.

-+ -+ -+ - Male. Female. Total. + -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ - No. Percent No. Percent No. Percent -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ - Under 3 months 19 19 149 18.6 168 18.6 From 3 to 5 months 11 12 171 21.3 182 20.2 From 6 to 11 months 24 24 193 24.1 217 24.1 1 yr. to 1 yr. 11 mos 17 17 134 16.7 151 16.7 2 yrs. to 2 yrs. 11 mos 11 11 42 5.2 53 5.9 3 yrs. and over 14 14 72 9.0 86 9.5 Not stated 4 4 41 5.1 45 5.0 -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ - Total 100 100.0 802 100.0 902 100.0 -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ -

The above favorable conclusion, seemingly biased and against the current opinion, is further borne out by the other replies as to whether the employee had been capable, sober or temperate, and honest.

Some allowances should be made in weighing employers on these last points. Many when asked to speak of former employees have either probably forgotten points of inefficiency, or do not wish to stand in the way of subsequent employment, or desire to aid the party in securing such employment. Sometimes also answers are strong commentaries on the hard character of the employers. But when these things are given due weight there still remains a decided balance in favor of the Negro employee. For, of the 100 males, 27 were certified as very capable; 68 as capable, 4 as fairly so, and only one out of 100 received the condemnation, "decidedly no." As to their sober or temperate character, 9 were regarded as excellent, 78 employers said "yes," one replied "fairly so," 11 returned the cautious statement "so far as I know" or "I think so," and one did not answer. As to honesty, they received on the whole good certificates; 12 of the 100 were considered very honest, 81 honest, 4 were placed in the cautionary class, while 3 employers gave no statement on this point.

The testimony for female help shows a tendency as favorable. Taking the percentages which are more significant than the crude numbers, 25.4 per cent were considered very capable, 8.9 per cent very temperate, and 28.2 per cent very honest. 59 per cent of the replies said "Yes" as to their capability, 81.9 per cent said "Yes" as to temperateness and 62.8 per cent gave an affirmative answer on honesty. This makes the decidedly affirmative replies 84.4 out of the hundred capable, 90.8 of the hundred temperate, and 91 out of the hundred honest. Of the employers' testimony, classified as "fairly so," there were 10.5 per cent under capable, 0.1 per cent under "sober or temperate," and 0.4 per cent under honest. Those replying "so far as I know" or "I think so," 0.5 per cent were under capable, 6.5 per cent under sober or temperate, and 7.1 per cent under honest. Those classed under "No" and "Decidedly no" show 2.4 per cent not capable, 0.5 per cent not sober or temperate, and 0.7 per cent not honest. Considering this mass of testimony in whatever light one may, coming as it does entirely from the employers, and applying to that part of the Negro group which probably has the lowest standard of intelligence and economic efficiency and independence, the conclusion is made decidedly trustworthy that Negro wage-earners in domestic and personal service in New York City are capable, sober and honest.

Table XX, following, gives in full the classified replies of employers:

TABLE XX. OPINIONS OF FORMER EMPLOYERS OF 902 NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS IN DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL SERVICE, NEW YORK CITY, 1906-1909.

- - Capable. - - - Male. Female. Total. - - - -+ No. % No. % No. % -+ - - - - Very 27 27 204 25.4 231 25.6 Yes 68 68 473 59 541 60 Fairly so 4 4 84 10.5 88 9.8 "So far as I know," or "I think so." 4 0.5 4 0.4 No 17 2.1 17 1.9 Decidedly no 1 1 2 0.3 3 0.3 Not stated 18 2.2 18 2.0 - - - - -+ Total 100 100 802 100 902 100 -+ - - - - Total percent 11.1 88.9 100 - - - - - -

-+ -+ Sober or temperate. + -+ -+ -+ Male. Female. Total. + + + -+ -+ -+ -+ No. % No. % No. % -+ + + -+ -+ -+ -+ Very 9 9 71 8.8 80 8.9 Yes 78 78 657 82 735 81.5 Fairly so 1 1 1 1 2 0.2 "So far as I know," or "I think so." 11 11 52 6.5 63 7.0 No 4 0.5 4 0.4 Decidedly no - Not stated 1 1 17 2.1 18 2.0 -+ + + -+ -+ -+ -+ Total 100 100 802 100 902 100 -+ + + -+ -+ -+ -+ Total percent 11.1 88.9 100 -+ + + -+ -+ -+ -+

-+ -+ Honest. + -+ -+ -+ Male. Female. Total. + + + -+ -+ -+ -+ No. % No. % No. % -+ + + -+ -+ -+ -+ Very 12 12 226 28.2 238 26.4 Yes 81 81 504 62.9 585 64.9 Fairly so 3 0.4 3 0.3 "So far as I know," or "I think so." 4 4 57 7.1 61 6.8 No 6 0.7 6 0.6 Decidedly no Not stated 3 3 6 0.7 9 1.0 -+ + + -+ -+ -+ -+ Total 100 100 802 100 902 100 -+ + + -+ -+ -+ -+ Total percent 11.1 88.9 100 -+ + + -+ -+ -+ -+

These testimonials furnish a body of evidence contrary to the current opinion of criticism and blame, and direct attention to other causes for whatever unsatisfactory part that Negroes are playing in this line of service in the City. These causes may be looked for in the increasing number of European immigrants; in the growing ambition and effort of Negro wage-earners, sharing the feeling of all native-born Americans, to get away from personal and domestic service and to enter fields of work with better wages, shorter hours, and more independence.[64] To this may be added the increasing custom, indicating prejudice of well-to-do Americans, of giving preference to European servants.[65]

The efficiency of Negro skilled workmen is indicated in the replies of 37 employers, summarized in Chapter IV. (See p. 77, supra.) If they had ever employed Negroes, they were asked whether in comparison with white workmen Negro workmen were:

1. Faster, equal or slower in speed. 2. Better, equal or poorer in quality of work done. 3. More, equally or less reliable.

The consensus of opinion expressed was that the Negro workmen whom they had employed measured up to the white, and there was a general belief that Negroes usually had to be well above the average to secure and hold a place in the skilled trades.

To make a summary of the wages and efficiency: In comparison with the cost of living, Negro men receive very inadequate wages in domestic and personal service except three or four occupations that afford "tips." The small number of skilled artisans who are equal to or above the average white workman and can get into the unions, receive the union wages.

Women for the most part are in the poorly paid employments of domestic and personal service. The small wages of the men and the number of women engaged in gainful occupations (See Chapter IV) show that the women must help earn the daily bread for the family. Their low income power forces these families to the necessity of completing the rent by means of lodgers, deprives children of mothers' care, keeps the standard of living at a minimum, and thus makes the family unable to protect itself from both physical and moral disease.

Although popular opinion may be to the contrary, testimonials signed by former employers show that the large majority of Negroes in domestic and personal service are capable, temperate, and honest, and remain with one employer a reasonable time, considering the shifting condition of city life, the mobility of such wage-earners and the weak tenure of domestic and personal service in a modern city.

FOOTNOTES:

[63] Bureau of Labor Statistics of New York, Annual Report, 1909, pp. 444-595. Figures for Negro members of unions are from Ovington, op. cit., pp. 97-99. Miss Ovington's table seems to show that in 16 occupations the number of Negro members of unions increased from about 1,271 in 1906 to about 1,358 in 1910.

[64] On this point the writer has talked with a number of Negroes who were serving or had served in domestic and personal service. Some of them have gone so far as to enter small business enterprises for themselves. They often remarked: "I want to be my own boss."

[65] From several reliable sources has come testimony concerning employers who formerly had Negro servants, and gave them up for reasons similar to that of one lady who said: "It is going out of fashion to have Colored help any longer." Cf. also, Ovington, op. cit., pp. 75-86.



PART II

THE NEGRO IN BUSINESS IN NEW YORK CITY



CHAPTER I

THE CHARACTER OF NEGRO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES

1. THE BUSINESS PROMISE

It is a far cry from satisfying an employer to pleasing the public. The one requires the obeying of the orders of a boss, the other calls for initiative and self-direction. Business enterprise involves judgments of the whims, wishes and wants of prospective customers and skill in buying goods or supplying services to satisfy their demands. The wage-earner needs his labor only. The business promoter must secure capital and establish credit. The employee has only the stake of a present place, and has little hindrance from going to another job in case of disappointment. The business man risks name, time, labor and money in the commercial current and has only his experience left, if he loses his venture.

Therefore, the Negro two and a half centuries under the complete control of a master could hardly be expected in one generation to acquire the experience, develop the initiative, accumulate the capital, establish the credit and secure the good-will demanded to-day in carrying on great and extensive business enterprises, such as find their headquarters in New York City, the commercial heart of the continent. Besides, the handicaps of the social environment, due to the prejudices and differences of the white group by which he is surrounded, and to previous condition of servitude, have had their commercial and industrial consequences. Again, speaking for New York City, many of the Negroes who were leaders in whatever business was carried on up to about 1884 were the prominent workers in activities for race liberation and manhood privileges, thus subtracting energy and time from business pursuit. The movement may be likened in a rough way to that of English workingmen before and after about 1848; the first period being a struggle for the liberty of labor and the second period aiming to fill that liberty with manhood and economic content.

This study, then, of what the Negro is doing along business lines in New York City does not show a number of large operations when compared with what goes on in America's greatest commercial Metropolis. But the findings are highly significant for what they disclose of business capacity and possibility. There has been a business development among Negroes in such a competitive community that is both substantial and prophetic.

2. A HISTORY OF THE NEGRO IN BUSINESS

The economic propensity to higgle and barter appeared early among the Negroes of the New Amsterdam Colony. As early as 1684 the Colonial General Assembly passed a law that "no servant or slave, either male or female, shall either give, sell or truck any commodity whatsoever during the term of their service." Any servant or slave who violated the law was to be given corporal punishment at the discretion of two justices and any person trading with such servant or slave should return the commodity and forfeit five pounds for each offense.[66] And further action was taken in 1702 which rendered all bargains or contracts with slaves void and prevented any person from trading in any way with a slave, without the consent of the owner of such slave.[67] The penalty for violation was to forfeit treble the value of the commodity and payment of five pounds to the owner of the slave. In 1712, probably after the terror of the Negro riot of that year, it was decreed that no Negro, Indian or mulatto who should be set free, should hold any land or real estate, but it should be escheated.[68] The provisions of the two acts of 1684 and 1702 about trading with slaves were revised and re-enacted in 1726.[69]

The character of much of this trade is shown by city regulations which forbade the sale of great quantities of "boiled corn, peaches, pears, apples, and other kinds of fruit." These wares were bought and sold not only in houses and outhouses but in the public streets. The Common Council in 1740 declared the same to be a nuisance and prohibited it with a penalty of public whipping. The Council gave as one of its reasons that it was productive of "many dangerous fevers and other distempers and diseases in the inhabitants in the same city," but those coming to market by order of their masters were excepted from the prohibition. The effect of the latter traffic upon the health of the city was purposely not discerned.[70] The act of 1726 was again re-enacted in 1788.[71] From time to time faithful slaves of the West India Company were set free. These usually began tilling the soil for themselves and probably marketed their products in the town.

Slaves, therefore, had little or no opportunity to share in the trading operations of the Colony. State emancipation by the acts of 1799, 1817, and 1827, however, was finally secured, and with the coming of this boon there was liberty to engage in the traffic of the growing metropolis. There is conclusive evidence that considerable numbers of Negroes did embrace the opportunity.

The volumes of the Colored American from 1838 to 1841 contain a number of advertisements and references to business enterprises run by Negroes. The newspaper itself was a considerable undertaking and job printing was also "executed with dispatch." In 1837, George Pell and John Alexander opened a restaurant in the one-hundred block in Church Street.

In 1838, there were two boarding houses in this same block, and two boarding houses in Leonard Street and one each in Spruce and Franklin and Lispenard Streets. The next year two other boarding houses were started, one on South Pearl Street and the other near the beginning of Cross Street, and in 1840 two more entered the list, on Sullivan and Church Streets. The drug store of Dr. Samuel McCune Smith and the cleaning and dyeing establishment of Bennet Johnson, both in the one-hundred block on Broadway, were well known and successful enterprises of the day.

B. Bowen and James Green both had small stores for dry goods and notions in 1838, the former on Walker Street and the latter on Anthony. While the same year a hair-dressing establishment on Leonard Street, a coal-yard on Duane Street, a pleasure garden on Thomas Street and three tailors, whose location could not be ascertained, were enterprises of promise.

In 1839 and 1840, there were a pleasure garden and saloon in Anthony Street and a similar establishment on King Street, with an "Amusement House" on Spring Street, and near it Brown and Wood ran a confectionary and fruit store. Richard Carroll ran a bathing establishment in Church Street. A coal-yard in Pearl Street, a watch and clock maker, three private schools, and a "dry-goods store of the female Trading Association," complete the list of firms that was contained in the record of the period.

A number of these enterprises are known to have continued for a number of years after 1840. Testimony of witnesses[72] as late as the time of the Civil War shows that a number of the above-named enterprises were in existence as late as 1860.

Also that second-hand clothing shops were frequently run by Negroes, and barber-shops and restaurants of excellent equipment were evidences of activity comparable with the earlier period. Thomas Downing kept a restaurant at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets and from it amassed considerable wealth bequeathed to his children.

In 1869, the Negro caterers had such a large share of this business that the dozen leading ones came together and formed the Corporation of Caterers which was a sort of pool to control the conduct of the business and which was so enlarged after three years under the name of the United Public Waiters Mutual Beneficial Association, that the original purpose was largely sidetracked.[73]

There is little direct evidence available for the period from about 1875 to 1909. The census of 1900 gave a return of Negroes in occupations which may indicate proprietors of establishments, but there is no way of ascertaining whether they owned, operated or were employed in such lines of business. There were in all 488 distributed as follows: Among the males, boarding and lodging-house keepers 10, hotel-keepers 23, restaurant keepers 116, saloon keepers 27, bankers and brokers 5, livery-stable keepers 9, merchants and dealers 162 (retail 155, wholesale 7), undertakers 15, clock and watchmakers and repairers 2, manufacturers and officials 36, and photographers 22. The females included boarding and lodging-house keepers 50, milliners 9, and photographers 2. A goodly number of Negro enterprises are very probably represented in this list. That this is true is evident from the large number of enterprises in the various lines of business that were found by the canvass of 1909. We may safely infer that the period was one of considerable growth in both the number and variety of business establishments. We shall, therefore, turn our attention to the result of the canvass of the last-named year.

3. THE NATURE OF THE ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1909

The first question which naturally arises is how many Negro business enterprises were in Manhattan in 1909. At the meeting of the National Negro Business League in New York City in 1908, a paper was read on "The Negro Business Interests of Greater New York and Vicinity." This paper gave a total of 565 enterprises. But as this included 100 dressmaking and 14 stenography and typewriting, this estimate doubtless included some cases that upon closer analysis could not have been designated as business establishments.

A Negro business directory of New York City in 1909 gave names and addresses of 567 establishments. Upon investigation some of these could not be found at addresses given. From his own canvass, the writer estimates the number of bona-fide business enterprises in Manhattan to have been about 475. Of this number, records of 332 were secured and the remainder were either visited or certified by reliable testimony. Of the 332 records, 15 have been excluded either because the firm has ceased to do business or the records were too incomplete for use in this monograph; eight of the remainder were corporations and will be treated below separately. This left 309 establishments upon which to base conclusions. These establishments were so distributed as to be fully representative of the whole. According to the kind of service or goods offered to the public, these 309 establishments were as follows:

Barber shops 50 Groceries 36 Restaurants and lunch rooms 26 Tailoring, pressing, etc. 24 Coal, wood and ice 19 Hotel and lodging houses 17 Employment agencies 14 Express and moving vans 12 Undertakers and embalmers 11 Pool and billiard Rooms 10 Dressmaking and millinery 8 Hairdressers 8 Printers 5 Saloons and cafes 5 Miscellaneous 48[74] —— Total 309

Two facts are evident. The largest number of the enterprises are the outgrowth of the domestic and personal service occupations and they are mainly enterprises that call for small amounts of capital.

4. OWNERSHIP OF ESTABLISHMENTS

The Negro goes into business mainly as an independent dealer. In the large majority of cases he does not enter into a partnership and even when he does, there are rarely more than two partners. Out of the 309 enterprises in 1909, there were only 49 partnerships and 44 of these were firms of two partners only. There were only three firms with three partners each, one firm with four members and one with five members. To these may be added the eight corporations mentioned above.

Some light is thrown upon the Negro's business enterprises by knowing the birth-place of proprietors, the length of time they had resided in New York City and the occupations in which the proprietors were engaged previously to going into business.

The birth-place of proprietors should be considered in connection with the length of their residence in New York City, because the two facts point to the same conclusion concerning the economic and other stimuli of the environment. So far as birth-place is concerned, the most striking fact is that out of 330 proprietors whose birth-places were ascertained, 220, or 66.66 per cent, were born in Southern states and the District of Columbia, and 65, or 19.7 per cent, in the West Indies. The following Southern states furnished the specified 220 proprietors: Virginia 96, South Carolina 31, Georgia 27, North Carolina 25, Maryland 15, Florida 12, the District of Columbia 5, Delaware 3, Kentucky 2, and Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas 1 each. Besides the Southern and West Indian-born Negro business men, other sections were represented as follows: South America 7, New Jersey 7, New York State 7, Pennsylvania 5, New York City 8, Illinois 2, Bermuda 2, Canada 2, Africa, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, and Massachusetts 1 each.

This proportion of Southern-born proprietors is 0.84 of one per cent less than the proportion of Southern-born in the total Negro population.[75] The 19.7 per cent West Indian is about 10.3 per cent larger than the West Indian proportion in the total Negro population. If the 7 natives of South America be added, the proportion would be 12.4 per cent larger. This condition can hardly be explained on the ground that West Indian Negroes reach New York with more capital, nor is it because West Indians secure employment that is better paid, for they, like the native-born Negroes, are confined to domestic and personal service. It is due both to the better general education of the average West Indian and to the fact that he has been reared in an environment of larger liberty which has developed in him an independence and initiative that respond more readily to the new surroundings. Conversation with numbers of them elicited the information that they had come to this country with the idea of saving money and entering business for themselves.

Facts about the length of residence before January 1st, 1910, of 363 proprietors are no less illuminating than their birth-places. Both show the influence of environment, for we do not find that the majority entered business immediately after taking up their residence in the Metropolis. Exclusive of 50 doubtful and unknown and 11 who were born in New York City, only 11 of the 363 had been in the city less than 2 years, 18 had resided in the city between 2 years and 3 years 11 months, and 33 between 4 years and 5 years eleven months—in all, only 62 had entered business after a residence of less than six years. Of course this is partly due to the time it took to save or secure the necessary capital but that this is not the only reason for long residence previous to entering business is shown by the fact that of the 62 who began after less than six years residence, 14 ran barber-shops and 11 had grocery stores, enterprises which require at least a small outlay of capital.

In harmony with this view of the matter the inquiry showed further that 161 proprietors had lived in New York City between 6 years and 9 years 11 months; 108 had been in the city between 10 years and 19 years 11 months; 43 had resided there between 20 years and 29 years 11 months; while 28 had lived in the city 30 years or more.

Considerable weight must then be given to the opinion that is in line with the showing of the West Indian—that Negroes entering business in New York City need to live some time in the atmosphere of such a progressive, liberal community to catch the spirit of its initiative and enterprise.

In support of the conclusion the full table showing length of residence of proprietors of the several classes of enterprises is given (p. 103).

Besides the birth-place of proprietors and the length of their residence in New York City, their occupations previously to their entering upon their present lines of business throw considerable light upon the character of ownership. The natural expectation would be to find connection between the previous occupation of the proprietor and the present business in which he is engaged. In a number of cases this cannot be clearly made out as is the case of 16 brokers and 11 undertakers. Very probably this expectation would not be fulfilled in the cases of many Negroes, because domestic and personal service has been largely the opportunity of employment and the source of savings through which the prospective business venture could be launched. For example, 11 proprietors have been waiters or waitresses; of these one hotel and lodging-house proprietor, and one restaurant keeper were in enterprises closely connected with their previous occupations; there were three grocers and one coal, wood and ice dealer: enterprises less closely connected. Two pool and billiard-room proprietors, one conductor of a tailoring establishment, one employment agent and one establishment in the miscellaneous class completed the list of those formerly employed as waiters and waitresses. This makes a striking comparison with three hotel and lodging-house keepers and with five restaurant and lunch-room proprietors who formerly were cooks. That many did follow such a natural line of advance from employee to employer is shown in that 80 out of the 309 were previously connected with the same line of business in which they were engaged in 1909 either on a smaller scale or as an employed promoter. A few had tried one line of business before and had changed to that in which they were found. Such was the case with nine who had previously been restaurant keepers, and six who had been in the grocery business. In no case did a proprietor report that he had been an inheritor of independent means or a gentleman of leisure, and had thus found the road which had led him into business.

TABLE XXI. LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN NEW YORK CITY, BEFORE JANUARY, 1910, OF PROPRIETORS OF 309 NEGRO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.

+ Length of residence in New York City of proprietors. + + -+ -+ -+ + Class of establishment. Less 2 yrs.- 4 yrs.- 6 yrs.- 10 yrs.- than 3 yrs. 5 yrs. 9 yrs. 19 yrs. 2 yrs. 11 mos. 11 mos. 11 mos. 11 mos. + + -+ -+ -+ + Barber shops 1 8 5 8 21 Brokers 2 2 8 Coal, wood and ice 1 1 3 6 Dressmaking and millinery 4 1 1 4 Employment agencies 1 2 5 Express and moving vans 1 4 Groceries 1 10 12 15 Hairdressers, etc. 1 1 2 Hotels and lodging houses 1 2 8 Pool and billiard rooms 1 2 3 2 Printers 1 2 Restaurant and lunch rooms 3 3 5 5 Saloons and cafes 1 2 Tailoring, pressing, etc. 2 2 5 5 8 Undertakers 1 4 Miscellaneous 1 3 16 12 + + -+ -+ -+ + Total 11 18 33 61 108 + + -+ -+ -+ +

+ - Length of residence in New York City of proprietors. + + -+ + + Class of establishment. 20 yrs.- 30 yrs. Born in Doubtful 29 yrs. and New York and Total. 11 mos. over. City. Unknown. + + -+ + + Barber shops 10 4 1 58 Brokers 1 1 2 2 18 Coal, wood and ice 3 3 1 3 21 Dressmaking and millinery 1 11 Employment agencies 4 5 17 Express and moving vans 3 3 4 15 Groceries 1 5 1 1 46 Hairdressers, etc. 1 4 9 Hotels and lodging houses 2 1 2 3 19 Pool and billiard rooms 2 1 11 Printers 2 1 1 1 8 Restaurant and lunch rooms 3 3 2 9 33 Saloons and cafes 2 1 6 Tailoring, pressing, etc. 2 24 Undertakers 3 1 5 14 Miscellaneous 4 6 1 10 53 + + -+ + + Total 43 28 11 50 363 + + -+ + +

5. SIZE OF BUSINESS ENTERPRISES

The size of business enterprises was measured in three ways: (1) the number of employees besides proprietors; (2) the floor space occupied and (3) the rental paid for the place in which the business was carried on. Obviously all the enterprises could not be measured by all three tests. For example, the amount of floor space occupied and monthly rental paid by a brokerage firm might not bear so close a relation to size as the number of employees, nor would rental alone be an index of size of a coal, wood and ice business, since cellars, which call for smaller rental than other space, are used. But each enterprise was covered by more than one of the measurements, so that a fair estimate is given of its size.

In ascertaining the number of employees, the attempt was made to include only those who had no part in the ownership, but who gave a large part or all of their time to some work connected with the enterprise. As far as possible this was confined to paid employees, but in a few cases the question of wages of those employed could not be successfully ascertained on account of reticence of the employer. No record was made of whether or not the time of the proprietor was also put into the business since in this respect there was great variation among establishments.

Only a small proportion, 77 out of 309 establishments, were without employees. Yet very few, 21 in all, employed five or more persons. The largest number, 87, had only one regular employee, 65 establishments had two employees, 29 had three and 16 had four persons regularly employed. The number of employees of 14 firms was not ascertained.

Floor space occupied by many establishments is a good index of size, especially in New York City. Of course, in the case of such establishments as brokers, employment agencies and express and moving-van firms that require an office only, this is not a criterion. But for many other establishments in a city where square feet of floor space is carefully figured upon in the cost of the product, such a measure has considerable value in estimating business enterprises. In securing the measurement of floor space in the different establishments it was not possible to make an actual measurement in many instances. In some cases the proprietors knew accurately the length and breadth of the place they occupied; in other cases where measurements could not be taken estimates of length and breadth were made, taking a rough view of the frontage and depth of the building or apartment occupied.

A goodly number of enterprises, such as dressmakers, milliners, shoemakers and tailoring "bushelers" carried on their business in the front room of a ground-floor flat and lived, often with families, in the rear rooms. In those cases, only the floor space of the room used for business purposes was included in the estimate.

Establishments to the number of 17 were estimated as having less than 150 square feet of floor space; six of these were offices of brokers and express and moving-van firms. The greatest number of establishments, 186 in all, were estimated to occupy between 150 and 499 square feet of floor space. Thirty-one establishments occupied between 500 and 999 square feet of floor space; 17 between 1,000 and 1,999 square feet; 4 between 2,000 and 2,999 square feet; 10 between 3,000 and 4,999 square feet; 8 occupied 5,000 or more square feet; 36 were not known—a total of 309 establishments.

Thus, it is seen that the typical Negro business enterprise occupies small floor space, since 234, or 75.7 per cent, of the 309 establishments occupied 999 square feet or less. Table XXII (p. 107) is included to show the details as to floor space in square feet occupied by each class of establishment.

Monthly rental is also a fair indication of the size of a business establishment. In a few cases in which the proprietor said he was owner of the building, a rental was estimated for the portion of the building used for the particular enterprise; in the cases, mentioned above, where the proprietor lived in the rear rooms only a part of the whole rental was estimated as a charge upon the business establishment. So that the figures here given are good measurements of their kind. The facts about 86 establishments could not be secured. With the remaining 223, we meet again the evidence of small size of typical establishments, for 180 establishments, or 80.7 per cent, had a monthly rental of $39 or less, and 30 others had a monthly rental between $40 and $79; 16 out of the 223 establishments had a rental of $80 or more per month, and of these 7 paid $150 or more per month.

TABLE XXII. ESTIMATED SQUARE FEET OF FLOOR SPACE OF 309 NEGRO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.

-+ Estimated square feet of floor space. -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ 1000 Less 150 500 sq. ft. Class of establishment. than sq. ft. sq. ft. to 150 to 499 to 999 1999 sq. ft. sq. ft. sq. ft. sq. ft. -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ Barber shops 44 3 2 Brokers 3 11 2 Coal, wood and ice 2 8 3 1 Dressmaking and millinery 4 2 Employment agencies 1 10 1 Express and moving vans 3 4 1 Groceries 1 29 4 1 Hairdressing, etc. 1 3 1 Hotels and lodging houses 1 Pool and billiard rooms 1 1 5 Printers 3 2 Restaurants and lunch rooms 1 19 3 1 Saloons and cafes 1 1 Tailoring, pressing, etc. 20 1 Undertakers 3 4 2 Miscellaneous 5 27 3 2 -+ -+ -+ -+ -+ Total 17 186 31 17 -+ -+ -+ -+ -+