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 The Atlanta University Publications, No. 17 
 THE 
 
 NEQRO AMERICAN 
 
 ARTISAN 
 
 A Social Study made by Atlanta Uni= 
 versity, under the patronage of the 
 Trustees of the John F. Slater Fund 
 
 Price, 75 Cents 
 
 The Atlanta University Press 
 
 ATLANTA, GA. 
 
 1912 
 
Kg* 
 
 FOR my part, then, I am a mem- 
 ber of the human race, and this 
 is a race which is, as a whole, con- 
 siderably lower than the angels, so 
 that the whole of it very badly needs 
 race-elevation. In this need of my 
 race I personally and very deeply 
 share. And it is in this spirit only 
 that I am able to approach our prob- 
 lem. 
 
 —Josiah Royce. 
 
 i 
 
 PS53 
 
 i£x iCtbrifl 
 
 SEYMOUR DURST 
 
The Atlanta University Publications, No. 1 7 
 
 THE 
 
 NEGRO AMERICAN 
 
 ARTISAN 
 
 Report of a Social Study made by Atlanta University 
 under the patronage of the Trustees of the John F. 
 Slater Fund; with the Proceedings of the 1 7th Annual 
 Conference for the Study of the Negro Problems, held 
 at Atlanta University, on Monday, May 27th, 1912 
 
 Edited hy 
 
 W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, Ph.D. 
 
 Diretlor of Publicity and Research, National Association for 
 the Advancement of Colored People 
 
 Augustus Granville Dill, A.M. 
 
 Associate Professor of Sociology in Atlanta University 
 
 The Atlanta University Press 
 
 ATLANTA. GA. 
 
 1912 
 
 Avery Architectural and Pine Arts Library 
 (in i oi Seymour B. Dursi Old York Library 
 
IT IS something more than mere 
 prediction to suggest that along 
 the lines of liberal surroundings, ed- 
 ucation, and culture lies the ultimate 
 solution of the labor problem. 
 
 -Thomas Nixon Carver. 
 
The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Contents 
 
 Page 
 
 Program of the Seventeenth Annual Conference 4 
 
 Preface 5 
 
 Resolutions 7 
 
 Bibliography 9 
 
 1. Scope of the Inquiry 21 
 
 2. The African Artisan 24 
 
 3. The Ante-bellum Negro American Artisan 28 
 
 4. The Economics of Emancipation .37 
 
 5. The Occupations of Negroes 41 
 
 6. Alabama 48 
 
 7. Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah .... 50 
 
 8. Arkansas 50 
 
 9. California 51 
 
 10. Connecticut and Massachusetts 52 
 
 11. Delaware, District of Columbia and Maryland 52 
 
 12. Florida 53 
 
 13. Georgia 54 
 
 14. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin 57 
 
 15. Iowa and Kansas 58 
 
 16. Kentucky 59 
 
 17. Louisiana 61 
 
 18. Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont 62 
 
 19. Mississippi 63 
 
 20. Missouri 65 
 
 21. New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 66 
 
 22. North Carolina 70 
 
 23. Ohio 70 
 
 24. Oklahoma 73 
 
 25. Oregon and the Northwest 74 
 
 26. South Carolina 74 
 
 27. Tennessee • . . 76 
 
 28. Texas 77 
 
 29. Virginia 79 
 
 30. West Virginia 81 
 
 31. The Negro and Organized Labor 82 
 
 32. Some Results of the Attitude of Unions 106 
 
 33. The Training of Negro American Artisans 115 
 
 34. The Economic Future of the Negro American 127 
 
 Index 143 
 
The Seventeenth Annual Conference 
 
 The Negro Artisan " 
 
 PROGRAM 
 
 First Session, 10:00 a. m. 
 
 President Ware presiding. 
 
 Subject: "The Training of Artisans." 
 
 "Methods of the Present Investigation." Mr. A. G. Dill, of Atlanta 
 
 University. 
 Address: Mr. Chester A. Coles, of Atlanta, Ga. 
 Address: Mrs. Florence Kelley, of New York City. 
 
 Second Session, 11:30 a. m. 
 
 Subject: "Health and Efficiency." (Separate meetings for men and 
 
 women.) 
 Address to men: Dr. Stephen A. Peters. 
 Address to women: Dr. Shelby Boynton. 
 
 Third Session, 3:00 p. m. 
 
 The Fifteenth Annual Mothers' Meeting. (In charge of Gate City Free 
 
 Kindergarten Association). Mrs. I. E. Wynn presiding. 
 Subject: "The Kindergarten and the Artisan." 
 
 1. Address: Mrs. Florence Kelley, New York City. 
 
 2. Report of the Treasurer: Mrs. Lizzie Burch. 
 
 3. Collection. 
 
 4. Kindergarten songs, games and exercises by one hundred and fifty 
 
 children of the five free kindergartens: 
 East Cain Street— Mrs. Ola Perry Cooke. 
 Bradley Street— Mrs. Hattie Sims Fountain. 
 White's Alley— Mrs. Idella F. Hardin. 
 Allen's Alley — Miss Willie Kelley. 
 Leonard Street Orphanage — Miss Rosa Martin. 
 
 Fourth Session, 8:00 p. m. 
 
 President Ware presiding. 
 
 Subject: "The Artisan and the Artisan's Problems." 
 
 Address: Mrs. Florence Kelley, New York City. 
 
 Music. 
 
 Address: Mr. Alexander D. Hamilton, Atlanta, (in. 
 
 Discussion. 
 
Preface 
 
 There is only one sure basis of social reform and that is 
 Truth — a careful, detailed knowledge of the essential facts of 
 each social problem. Without this there is no logical starting 
 place for reform and uplift. Social difficulties may be clear 
 and we may inveigh against them, but the causes proximate 
 and remote are seldom clear to the casual observer and usually 
 are quite hidden from the man who suffers from, or is sensi- 
 tive to, the results of the snarl. 
 
 To no set of problems are these truths more applicable than 
 to the so-called Negro problems. Perhaps the most immediate 
 of these problems is the problem of work. To many superfi- 
 cial men the problem is simple: The Negro is lazy; make him 
 ivork. Hence peonage, vagrancy laws and the like. To other 
 men, broader minded, but unacquainted with the facts, the 
 matter, while not simple, is clear: Negroes have a childish 
 ambition to do work for ivhich they are not fitted. Let us 
 train them to do ivork for ivhich they are fitted. 
 
 This study is an attempt to get at the facts underlying 
 such widespread thot as this by making a study of the trained 
 Negro laborer, his education, opportunity, wages and work. 
 The first attempt at this was made in 1902 and the results 
 appeared in No. 7 of the Atlanta University Publications. 
 The present study seeks to go over virtually the same ground 
 after an interval of ten years. 
 
 The study is, therefore, a further carrying out of the plan 
 of social study of the Negro American, by means of an 
 annual series of decennially recurring subjects covering, so 
 far as is practicable, every phase of human life. This plan 
 originated at Atlanta University in 1896. The object of 
 these studies is primarily scientific — a careful research for 
 
6 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 truth; conducted as thoroly, broadly and honestly as the 
 material resources and mental equipment at command will 
 allow. It must be remembered that mathematical accuracy 
 in these studies is impossible; the sources of information are 
 of varying degrees of accuracy and the pictures are wofully 
 incomplete. There is necessarily much repetition in the suc- 
 cessive studies, and some contradiction of previous reports by 
 later ones as new material comes to hand. All we claim is 
 that the work is as thoro as circumstances permit and that 
 with all its obvious limitations it is well worth the doing. 
 Our object is not simply to serve science. We wish not only 
 to make the truth clear but to present it in such shape as will 
 encourage and help social reform. In this work we have 
 received unusual encouragement from the scientific world, 
 and the publisht results of these studies are used in America, 
 Europe, Asia and Africa. Very few books on the Negro 
 problem, or any phase of it, have been publisht in the last 
 decade which have not acknowledged their indebtedness to 
 our work. 
 
 We believe that this pioneer work in a wide and im- 
 portant social field deserves adequate support. The Trustees 
 of the John F. Slater Fund have given us generous aid in the 
 last five years, which aid has been supplemented by the gen- 
 eral funds of the University. These latter funds are limited, 
 however, and needed in many other directions. What we 
 earnestly ask is an endowment for this research work. A 
 fund yielding $5,000 a year might under proper supervision 
 yield incalculable good and help the nation and the modern 
 world to a righteous solution of its problems of racial contact. 
 
Resolutions 
 
 The following resolutions are the expression of the mem- 
 bers, delegates and attendants upon the sessions of the seven- 
 teenth annual Conference: 
 
 The Seventeenth Annual Atlanta Conference has considered the 
 subject of the Negro artisan in a manner similar to the study of ten years 
 ago. We have come to the following conclusions: 
 
 1. Negro American skilled labor is undoubtedly gaining ground both 
 North and South. 
 
 2. This advance however is in the face of organized opposition and 
 prejudice. The organized opposition is illustrated by the determined 
 effort of the white locomotive firemen to displace Negro firemen, not for 
 inefficiency or any cause but race and color. Race prejudice is shown by 
 both employers and laborers in every line of skilled labor where the Negro 
 is seeking admission. On the other hand, in the Miners' Union and in 
 some building trades where the colored man has an assured footing, he is 
 well treated and is achieving economic independence. 
 
 3. What, then, should be the black man's attitude toward white 
 laborers and the labor movement? Seme people advise enmity and antag- 
 onism. This is a mistake. The salvation of all laborers, white and black, 
 lies in the great movement of social uplift known as the labor movement 
 which has increased wages and decreased hours of labor for black as well 
 as white. When the white laborer is educated to understand economic 
 conditions he will outgrow his pitiable race prejudice and recognize that 
 black men and white men in the labor world have a common cause. Let 
 black men fight prejudice and exclusion in the labor world and fight it 
 hard; but do not fight the labor movement. 
 
 We call attention to the advantages derived by the working class 
 from co-operation in every form in which it has been practiced — in the 
 building of homes, in buying the necessaries of life, in the selling of farm 
 products and in bargaining for wages. We note the gain made thru 
 teachers' associations and mothers' clubs, medical associations and far- 
 mers' unions and building and loan associations. We recommend to the 
 Negro American in general and to the Negro artisan in particular the 
 study of the principle of association as it has been applied in other coun- 
 tries as well as our own. 
 
 4. Manual training and industrial and technical education are great 
 needs of the colored people; but the movement in this line today, excellent 
 
8 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 as it is, is in some respects deficient. There are points to be remembered 
 in this connection: 
 
 (1) Industrial training cannot be made a substitute for intelligence. 
 The effort to abolish illiteracy receives great encouragement from the 
 
 figures of the thirteenth census which shows that from 1870 to 1910 illit- 
 eracy among Negro Americans had been reduced from eighty per cent to 
 thirty per cent, while the Negro population had more than doubled. 
 
 Illiteracy, however, is still so extensive that we call upon the govern- 
 ment of city, state and nation to work together to provide sufficient schools 
 for the elementary education of all persons below the age of twenty-one 
 years. Of equal importance with universal elementary education is the 
 need of higher and technical education in preparation for the professions 
 and industries, including the great and fundamental industry of home- 
 making. For this education, also, the active participation of city, state 
 and nation is urgently needed. 
 
 (2) Technical training for trades which are not in economic demand 
 is not a good investment. 
 
 There is an attempt in many quarters to restrict the training of 
 Negroes in general intelligence — even in reading, writing and arithmetic — 
 to the narrowest possible limits and to substitute industrial training. This 
 will not make intelligent working men but will encourage ignorance. It 
 is not good business to train a race simply in the poorly paid, the declining 
 and the undesirable vocations. This will increase poverty and discontent. 
 
 5. Finally, this Conference notes with pride and satisfaction the 
 increase of property-holding among Negro Americans, which fact so 
 effectually sets at naught the familiar charge of laziness and inefficiency. 
 
 (Signed) W. E. B. Du Bois, New York, N. Y. 
 Florence Kelley, New York, N. Y. 
 A. G. Dill, Atlanta, Ga. 
 
A Select Bibliography of the Negro American Artisan 
 
 Part I 
 
 Arranged alphabetically by authors 
 
 A Brief Sketch of the schools for black people and their descendants, 
 
 established by the Society of Friends, etc. Phila., 1857. 32 pp. 
 Agricola (pseudonym). An impartial view of the real state of the black 
 
 population in the U. S., etc. Phila., 1824. 26 pp. 
 Allen, W. G. The American prejudice against color. London. 107 pp. 
 
 1853. 
 Alvord, J. W. Letters from the South relating to the condition of the 
 Freedmen, addressed to Gen. Major 0. 0. Howard. Washington, 
 1870. 42 pp. 
 America's Race Problems. N. Y., 1901. 187 pp. 
 
 Atlanta University Publications: No. 2: Social and physical condition of 
 Negroes in cities. 1897. 72, 14 pp. 
 No. 3. Some efforts of American Negroes for their own social better- 
 ment. 1898. (2) 66 pp. 
 No. 4. The Negro in Business. 1899. (3) 77pp. 
 No. 5. The College-bred Negro. 1900. (2) , 115 (3) pp. 
 No. 6. The Negro Common School, etc. 1901. ii, (2), 120 pp. 
 No. 7. The Negro Artisan. 1902. 192 pp. 
 
 No. 9. Notes on Negro Crime, Particularly in Georgia. 1904. 68 pp. 
 No. 12. Economic Co-operation among Negro Americans. 184 pp. 
 
 1907. 
 No. 13. The Negro American Family. 152 pp. 1908. 
 No. 14. Efforts for Social Betterment among Negro Americans. 136 
 
 pp. 1909. 
 No. 15. The College-bred Negro American. 104 pp. 1910. 
 No. 16. The Common School and the Negro American. 140 pp. 1911. 
 Bacon, Benjamin C. Statistics of the colored people of Philadelphia, 
 taken by and published by order of the Board of Education of the 
 Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of the Abolition of Slavery. 
 Philadelphia, 1856. Seconded. Phila., 1859. 24 pp. 
 Baker, Ray Stannard. Following the Color-line. New York, 1908. 
 Banks, Chas. Negro Town and Colony. Mound Bayou, Miss. 10 pp. 
 Barringer, Dr. Paul. The American Negro: his past and future. Raleigh, 
 
 1900. 23 pp. 
 Bassett, John S. Slavery and Servitude in the Colony of South Carolina. 
 Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1896. 
 Slavery and Servitude in the Colony of North Carolina. Bait., 1896. 
 
 86 pp. Series 14. No. 4, 5. Authorities cited, p. 3. 
 History of Slavery in North Carolina. Johns Hopkins University 
 Studies. Bait., 1899. Ill pp. Studies in historical and political 
 science. Authorities, pp. 110-111. Series 17, No. 7, 8. 
 
1 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Blair, Lewis H. The prosperity of the South dependent upon the eleva- 
 vation of the Negro. Richmond, Va., 1889. 147 pp. 
 
 Boas, Franz. Commencement Address at Atlanta University, May, 1906. 
 Atlanta University Leaflet, No. 19. 15 pp. 
 
 Brackett, Jeffrey Richardson. The Negro in Maryland. A study of the 
 institution of slavery. Bait., 1889. (5) 268 pp. (Johns Hopkins 
 University Studies, extra vol. 6). 
 The status of the slave, 1775-1789. (Essay V. in Jameson's Essays 
 in the constitutional history of the United States, 1775-1789) . Bos- 
 ton, 1889. Pp. 263-311. 
 Notes on the progress of the colored people of Maryland since the 
 war; a supplement to the "Negro in Maryland: a study of the in- 
 stitution of slavery." Johns Hopkins Press, Bait., 1890. Pp. 96. 
 
 Brousseau, Kate. L'education des Negres aux Etats-unis. Paris, 1904. 
 396, (1) pp. 
 
 Brown, Frederick John. The northward movement of the colored popu- 
 lation. A statistical study. Bait., 1897. 50 pp. 
 
 Brown, H. M. A plea for industrial education among the colored people. 
 New York, 1884. 30 pp. 
 
 Bruce, P. A. Economic History of Virginia in the 17th century. New 
 York, 2 vol. 1896. 
 The plantation Negro as a freeman. New York, 1889. 262 pp. 
 
 Bruce, Roscoe Conkling. Service by the educated Negro. Tuskegee, 1903. 
 17 pp. 
 
 Bruce, W. Cabell. The Negro problem. Bait., 1891. 33 pp. 
 
 Buckingham, J. S. Slave States of America. London, 1842. 
 
 Buecher, Carl. Industrial Evolution. Translated byS. M. Wickett, New 
 York, 1904. 393 pp. 
 
 Bumstead, Horace. Higher education of the Negro, its practical value. 
 Atlanta, 1870. 15 pp. 
 
 Cable, George Washington. The Negro Question. New York, 1888, 32 
 pp. New York, 1890. 173 pp. 
 
 Campbell, Robert F. Some aspects of the race problem in the South. 
 Pamphlet, 1899. Asheville, N. C. 31 pp. 
 
 Chandler, J. W. This is a white working-man's government Washing- 
 ton, 1866. 14 pp. U. t. p. 
 
 Cincinnati Convention of Colored Freedmen of Ohio, Proceedings, Jan. 14- 
 19, 1852. Cincinnati, 1852. 
 
 Colored People's Blue Book and Business Directory of Chicago, 111. 1905. 
 
 Commons, John R. et al. Documentary History of American Industrial 
 Society. 10 Vols. Cleveland, 1910. 
 
 Condition of the people of color in Ohio. With interesting anecdotes. 
 Boston, L839. 42 pp. 
 
 Cooley, II. S. Slavery in New Jersey. Johns Hopkins University Studies. 
 Bait., L896. 60 pp. Series 11. Bibliography, pp. 59, 60." 
 
 Crisis, The. Organ of the National Association for the Advancement of 
 Colored People. Now York, 1910 et seq. 
 
Bibliography 1 1 
 
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12 The Negro American Artisan 
 
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 Vol. I, pp. 1038-1061). 
 United States Bureau of Education. Annual Reports, 1887-1911. 
 United States Bureau of Education. Education of the colored race. 
 
 Wash., 1901. Reports, 1899-1900. 
 United States Bureau of Education. Education of the colored race. 
 
 Wash., 1902. Reports, 1900-1901. 
 United States Census. Reference to the Negro American: 
 
 Volume on cotton production and land and labor. Volume on popula- 
 tion, part II: Ages, illiteracy, occupations. 
 Special reports: Volume on occupations. 
 Statistical Atlas Bulletins. 
 
 No. 8. Negroes in the United States, by W. F. Willcox and W. E. B. 
 Du Bois. Wash/, 1904. 333 pp. 
 United States: Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, 1902. 19 vols. 
 Wash. 
 For references to Negroes, see particularly: 
 
 7. On the Relation and Condition of Capital and Labor in Manufac- 
 tures and General Business. 1071 pp. 
 
 8. On the Chicago Labor Disputes of 1900. 612 pp. 
 
 12. On the Relations and Conditions of Capital and Labor in the 
 
 Mining Industry. 747 pp. 
 14. On the Relations and Conditions of Capital and Labor in Manu- 
 factures and General Business. 809 pp. 
 Vance, W. R. Slavery in Kentucky. 1896. 
 
 Vass, S. N. The Progress of the Negro Race. Raleigh, 1906. 31 pp. 
 Washington, B. T. Address delivered at the opening of the Atlanta Ex- 
 position, Sept. 18, 1895. In Atlanta Constitution, Sept. 19, 1895. 
 Future of the American Negro. Boston, 1899. 244 pp. 
 Education of the Negro. Albany, 1900. 44 pp. 
 Negro Education not a Failure. Tuskegee, Ala., 1904. 13 pp. 
 Working with the Hands. New York, 1904. 246 pp. 
 The Story of the Negro. New York, 1909. 
 Washington, B. T., and Du Bois, W. E. B. The Negro and the South. 
 Weatherford, W. D. Negro Life "in the South. New York, 1910. 
 Webster, Noah, Jr. Effects of Slavery on Morals and Industry. Hart- 
 ford, 1793. 
 Weeden, William B. Economic and Social History of New England, 1620- 
 
 1789. Boston, 1890. 
 West, Gerald M. The Status of the Negro in Virginia during the Colonial 
 
 Period. New York, 1897. 76 pp. 
 Williams, George W. History of the Negro Race in America. New York 
 and London, 1882. 
 
1 6 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Work, Monroe N. Negro Year Book. Tuskegee, Ala., 1912. 215 pp. 
 Wright, Carroll D. The Industrial Evolution of the United States. 
 
 Chatauqua, 1897. 362 pp. 
 Wright, R. R., Jr. The Negro in Pennsylvania. Phila., 1912. 250 pp. 
 
 Part II. Periodical Literature 
 
 A. M. E. Church Review: The Negro as an inventor. R. R. Wright. 
 
 2:397. 
 American: Trade schools for Negroes. 19:353. 
 American Historical Review: Problem of Southern economic history. 
 
 A. H. Stone. 13:779-97. 
 American Journal of Political Economy: 
 
 Education of Negroes. A. A. Gundy. 1:295. 
 Solution of Negro problem. W. A. Curtis. 3:352. 
 American Journal of Political Science: Philadelphia Negroes. K. B. 
 
 Davis. 8:284. 
 American Journal of Social Science: 
 Negro exodus (1879). 11:1, 22. 
 
 Higher education of Negroes. H. L. Wayland. 34:68. 
 Present problem of the education of Negroes. W. H. Baldwin. 37 :52. 
 Education of Negroes. C. D. Warner. 38:1. 
 Education of Negroes. K. Miller. 39:117. 
 American Journal of Sociology: 
 
 The Negro Artisan. W. E. B. Du Bois. 8:854-6. 
 Industrial reorganization in Alabama after the Civil War. W. L. 
 Fleming. 10:473-500. 
 American Magazine of Civics: Education of Negroes. J. L. M. Curry. 
 
 8:168. 
 American Missionary: 56 vol. 1856-1912. 
 American Statistical Association, Publications of: American Negroes. 
 
 M. M. Dawson. 5:142. 
 Andover Review: 
 
 Negroes at school. Horace Bumstead. 4:550. 
 Education of Negroes. A. Salisbury. 6:256. 
 Industrial education of Negroes. 14:254. 
 Annals of the American Academy of Political Science: 
 Philadelphia Negro. W. E. B. Du Bois. 5:100-2. 
 Study of Negro problems. W. E. B. Du Bois. 11:1. 
 Race problem. 15:807-10. 
 
 Relation of the Whites to the Negroes in the South. W. E. B. Du Bois. 
 L8:121-40. 
 iution of Negro labor. C. ECelsey. 21:55-76. 
 rro education in the South. W. B. Hill. 22:320-9. 
 
 in the trade unions in Now York. M. W. Ovington. 27:551-8. 
 
Bibliography 1 7 
 
 Training of the Negro laborer in the North. H. M. Browne. 27 :579-89. 
 
 Industrial conditions of the Negro in New York City. W. L. Bulkley. 
 27:590-6. 
 
 Relation of industrial education to national progress. B. T. Wash- 
 ington. 33:1-12. 
 
 Negro mine labor, central Appalachian coal field. G. T. Surface. 
 33:338-52. 
 
 Negro labor and the boll weevil. A. H. Stone. 33:391-8. 
 
 Economic needs of the South. W. H. Glason. 35:167-71. 
 
 Labor supply and labor problems of the South. E. M. Banks. 
 35:143-9. 
 Arena: 
 
 The race problem of Negroes. W. C. P. Breckinridge. 2:39. 
 
 The race problem of Negroes. Wade Hampton. 2:132. 
 
 Progress of the Negro. G. W. Forbes. 2:134-41. 
 
 The race problem of Negroes. J. T. Morgan. 2:385. 
 
 The race problem of Negroes. W. S. Scarborough. 2:560. 
 
 Negroes in the United States. N. S. Shaler. 2:660. 
 
 Educational possibilities of Negroes. B. T. Washington. 21:455. 
 Atlantic: 
 
 The Free'dmen of Port Royal. Edward L. Pierce. 12:291. 
 
 Problems of Negroes. N. S. Shaler. 54:696. 
 
 Negroes: What they are doing for themselves. S. J. Barrows. 
 67:805. 
 
 Education of Negroes. W. T. Harris. 69:721. 
 
 Awakening of the Negro. 78:322. 
 
 Strivings of the Negro people. W. E. B. Du Bois. 80:194. 
 
 Training of Black Men. W. E. B. Du Bois. 90:289-97. 
 
 Fruits of industrial training. B. T. Washington. 92:453-62. 
 Bankers' Magazine: Economical aspects of the Negro. 33:933. 
 Cassier's Magazine: American Negro Artisan. T. J. Calloway. 25:435-45. 
 Catholic World: 
 
 Education of Negroes. J. R. Slattery. 56:28. 
 
 Present and future conditions of Negroes in the United States. J. 
 R. Slattery. 58:219. 
 
 Negroes in Baltimore. J. R. Slattery. 66:519. 
 Century: 
 
 Signs of progress among Negroes. B. T. Washington. 37:472. 
 
 Industrial color line in the North. J. S. Stemons. 60:477. 
 Charities: 
 
 The Negro in the cities of the North. 15:1. 
 
 Kowaliga, a community with a purpose. W. E. Benson. 15:22-<±. 
 
 Industrial conditions among Negro men in Boston. J. Daniels. 15:35-9. 
 
 Negro in times of industrial unrest. R. R. Wright, Jr. 15:69-73. 
 
 Manual training for Negro children. D. E. Gordon. 15:84. 
 Christian Examiner: Freedman and free labor at the South. 76:344. 
 
18 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Conservative Review: Social condition of the Negroes before the war 
 
 3:211. 
 Contemporary: 
 
 The race problem of Negroes. G. W. Cable. 53:443. 
 
 American Negro of today. P. A. Bruce. 77:284. 
 Cosmopolitan: Problems in education. B. T. Washington. 33:506. 
 Crisis, The. Organ of the National Association for the Advancement of 
 
 Colored People. 1910 et seq. 
 Current Literature: Economic work of the Negro. B. T. Washington. 
 
 32:85. 
 DeBow's Review: 
 
 Importation of African laborers. 24:421. 
 
 The South demands more Negro labor. E. Deloney. 25:491. 
 Education: 
 
 Industrial education of Negroes. W. P. Johnston. 5:636. 
 
 Education of Negroes. C. G. Andrews. 6:221. 
 Educational Review: 
 
 New education in the South. P. B. Barringer. 21:233. 
 
 Education of the Negro in its historical aspects. D. L. Kiehle. 27:299. 
 
 Social and industrial capacities of Negroes of the South. 45:383. 
 
 Negro apprenticeship system. J. Spedding. 66:477. ■ 
 Forum: 
 
 Progress of the Negroes of the South. A. D. Mayo. 10:335. 
 
 The Negro and Education. K. Miller. 30:693. 
 Gunton's Magazine: 
 
 Coleman cotton mill. Sept., 1902. 
 
 Colored men as cotton manufacturers. J. Dowd. 23:254-6. 
 
 Negro as an artisan. 24:452. 
 
 Georgia State Industrial College for Negroes. L. B. Ellis. 25:218-26. 
 Harper's Weekly: 
 
 Georgia race strike. 53:5. 
 
 Georgia strike arbitration. July 3, 1909. 
 Independent: 
 
 Industrial education for the African. J.E.Rankin. April 2, 1891. 43:3. 
 
 Condition of the Negro: What he is doing for himself and what is 
 being done for him. Testimony from both races. (A symposium). 
 43:477. 
 
 Negro manual training experiment in Texas. 47:5552. 
 
 Industrial training. W. E. Hutchison. 58:92-4. 
 International Monthly: American Negro and his economic value. B. T. 
 Washington. 2:672-86. 
 
 Negro as an industrial factor. 2:672. 
 International Review: Negro exodus (1879). 7:373. 
 Lippincott: Industrial question. 59:266. 
 Manufacturers' Record: Colored help for textile mills. ( Baltimore, Md.) , 
 
 Sept. 22, is-.):;. 
 Methodist Quarterly: Negro exodus (1879). 39:722. 
 
Bibliography 1 9 
 
 Missionary Review: 
 
 What industrial training is doing for the Negro. H. B. Frissell. 
 27:574-8. 
 
 What intellectual training is doing for the Negro. W. E. B. Du Bois. 
 27:578-82. 
 Nation: 
 
 Negro exodus (1879). 28:242, 386. 
 
 Negro labor in Southern manufactures. 53:208. 
 
 Negro and the trade unions. 76:186. 
 
 Rural industrial school. 88:401-2. 
 N. Ecclesiastical Review: Freedmen and Southern labor problems. 
 
 3:257. 
 New World: Education of Negroes. 9:625. 
 New York Times: The black North. (Studies of Negroes in Northern 
 
 cities). 1901. 
 North American Review: Negro as a mechanic. 156:472. 
 Our Day: Industrial education of Negroes. B.T.Washington. 16:79. 
 Outlook : 
 
 Negroes an industrial factor. C. B. Spahr. 62:31. 
 
 Negro cotton mill. 67:468. 
 
 Savings of black Georgia. W. E. B. Du Bois. 69:128-30. 
 
 Negro in business. J. T. Montgomery. 69:733-4. 
 
 Aims of Negro education. H. B. Frissell. 74:937-9. 
 
 Training of Negroes for social power. W. E. B. Du Bois. 75:409-14. 
 
 Negro enterprise. B. T. Washington. 77:115-8. 
 
 Helping the Negro to help himself. C. C, Smith. 78:727-30. 
 
 Economic future of the Negro. 82:102-3. 
 
 New phase of industrial education. Kowaliga. J. C. Barrows. 
 83:896-8. 
 
 Work and education. 88:526-7. 
 
 Forced labor in America and the Alabama contract law. 90:846-8. 
 
 Definite progress among Negroes. 92:770-1. 
 
 Georgia Railroad strike. 92:310-2. 
 Political Science Quarterly: 
 
 Negro artisan. 9:699-701. 
 
 Slave labor problem in the Charleston district. U. B. Phillips. 
 22:416-39. 
 
 Local study of the race problem in Georgia. R. P. Brooks. 26:193-221. 
 Popular Science Monthly: 
 
 Negro artisan. W. E. B. Du Bois. 19:699-701. 
 
 Negro since the Civil War. N. S. Shaler. 57:29-39. 
 Public Opinion: Knights of Labor and Negroes. 2:1. 
 Review of Reviews: Negro progress on the Tuskegee plan. Albert 
 Shaw. 9:436. 
 
 American Negro at Paris. W. E. B. Du Bois. 22:575-7. 
 Science: Industrial training and the Negro problem in the United States. 
 E. L. Blackshear. 23:606-7. 
 
20 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Scribners: Negroes of the South under free labor. D. C. Barrows, Jr. 
 
 21:830. 
 Slater Fund: 
 
 Proceedings and occasional papers of. 
 No. 3. Education of Negroes since 1860. Curry. 
 Proceedings and occasional papers of. No. 6. 
 Occupations of Negroes. Gannett. 
 South Atlantic Quarterly: Industrial development in Alabama during the 
 
 Civil War. W. L. Flemings. 3:260. 
 Southern Workman: 
 
 Industrial training and the race question. E. L. Blackshear. July, 
 
 1906. 
 The industrial opportunity for Negroes in Philadelphia. J. B. Leeds. 
 
 July, 1911. 
 Some labor tendencies in the South. G. S. Dickerman. Oct., 1907. 
 Industrial condition of Negro women in New York. Samuel H. 
 
 Bishop. Sept., 1910. 
 The Negro in Chicago. R. R. Wright, Jr. Oct., 1906. 
 Value of educating the Negro. B. T. Washington. Oct., 1904. 
 Local conditions among Negroes in four counties of Georgia. W. T. 
 
 B. Williams. Nov., 1906. 
 Negro craftsmen in New York. Helen A. Tucker. Oct., Nov., 1907. 
 New York Negro Colony. M. W. Ovington. Nov., 1909. 
 Pleas for Negro trade schools in cities. R. C. Bruce. Dec, 1904. 
 Relation of industrial education to the economic progress of the South. 
 
 T.J.Jones. Dec, 1908. 
 The Negro in Gloucester county, Virginia. W. T. B. Williams. Feb., 
 
 1906. 
 Economic progress of the South. T. J. Jones. March, 1909. 
 Forty years of Negro progress. R. R. Wright, Jr. March, 1907. 
 Place of industrial training in higher Negro education. W. E. Hutch- 
 ison. April, 1906. 
 Relation of industrial education to the nation's progress. B. T. 
 
 Washington. April, 1908. 
 Industrial education in schools of Columbus. C. B. Gibson. May, 1908. 
 Spectator: 
 
 Capacity of Negroes. 75:927. 
 Progress among Negroes. 63:852. 
 Tradesman (Chattanooga, Tenn.) : 
 Negro labor. July 15, 1889. 
 Negro labor. July 20, 1891. 
 
 The Negro skilled laborer in the South. Oct. 15, 1902. 
 World's Work: 
 
 Negro as he really is. W. E. B. Du Bois. 2:848-66. 
 
 Successful training of the Negro. B. T. Washington. 6:3731-61. 
 
 Georgia Negroes and their fifty millions of savings. W. E. B. Du Bois. 
 
 18:11550-4. 
 
The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Section 1. Scope of the Inquiry 
 
 In 1902 Atlanta University made a study of the Negro 
 artisan. Ten years later we come back to the same study, 
 with a desire to ascertain the present condition of the Negro 
 American artisan, to inquire into his training and experience, 
 and to set forth in positive, scientific statements the actual 
 economic and social conditions of this important group of 
 American citizens, — their problems and their prospects. The 
 present investigation is based upon the following data in ad- 
 dition to other miscellaneous sources: 
 
 1. Studies of African life. 
 
 2. Ante-bellum American historical studies. 
 
 3. Local studies. 
 
 4. The Reports of the Census Department of the United 
 States. 
 
 5. The catalogs of Negro institutions. 
 
 6. Replies to the following general questionnaire sent to 
 interested citizens thruout the United States: 
 
 Dear Friend: 
 
 Atlanta University is making a study of the Negro Artisan. Will 
 you kindly answer the following questions and return the blank to us at 
 your earliest convenience? 
 
 1. Name of place State 
 
 2. Are there many Negro skilled laborers here? 
 
 3. What trades do they follow chiefly? 
 
 4. Is the Negro gaining or losing as a skilled laborer? Why so? 
 
 5. What results can you see of industrial school training? 
 
 6. Are young men entering the trades? 
 
 7. What success are the Negro artisans in your community having? 
 
 8. Will you kindly write on the other side of this paper the names 
 and addresses and trades of all the Negro artisans in your city or town? 
 Your name and address. 
 
 Note. — An Artisan is a skilled laborer— a person who works with his hands but has at- 
 tained a degree of skill and efficiency above that of an ordinary manual laborer— as, for 
 instance, carpenters, masons, engineers, blacksmiths, etc. Omit barbers, ordinary laborers 
 in factories, who do no skilled work, etc. 
 
22 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 7. Replies to the following questionnaire sent to the heads 
 of Negro institutions: 
 
 Dear Friend: 
 
 Atlanta University is making a study of the Negro Artisan. Will you 
 kindly answer the following questions and return the blank to us at your 
 earliest convenience? 
 
 1. Name of institution. 
 
 2. Address. 
 
 3. How many of your graduates or former students are earning a 
 living entirely as artisans? 
 
 4. How many of the above mentioned are: Carpenters, blacksmiths, 
 brickmakers, masons, engineers, firemen, dressmakers, iron and steel 
 workers, shoemakers, painters, plasterers, coopers, tailors? 
 
 5. Where are most of these artisans located at present? 
 
 6. How many of the rest of your graduates or former students are 
 earning a living partially as artisans? 
 
 7. What trades and other work do they usually combine? 
 
 8. What difficulties do your graduates meet in obtaining work as 
 artisans? 
 
 9. Do they usually join trades unions? 
 
 10. How many of them teach industries in schools? 
 
 11. Will you kindly furnish us with a list of your graduates from 
 industrial courses, with occupations and present addresses? 
 
 8. Replies to the following questionnaire sent to Negro 
 Artisans: 
 
 Dear Friend: 
 
 For several years past Atlanta University has made an annual study 
 of some phase of Negro life in America. The results of these studies 
 have been published in book form and have received the attention of 
 thinking people thruout the civilized world. In this way we have been 
 able, we believe, to help the entire Negro race. This year the University 
 is making a study of the Negro Artisan. Your name has been sent to us 
 as one of the leading artisans in your community. Will you kindly answer 
 the following questions and return the blank to us at your earliest conve- 
 nience? By so doing you will greatly help this work. 
 
 1. Name? 
 
 2. Address? 
 
 3. Age? Sex? 
 
 4. Married, single, widowed or divorced? 
 
 5. Trade? 
 
Scope of the Inquiry 23 
 
 6. (a) Do you work for yourself? 
 
 Do you own your own tools? 
 Do you hire other workers? 
 What is your average income? 
 (b) Do you work for wages? 
 What wages do you receive? 
 Time unoccupied per year? 
 
 What wages do the whites receive for the same kind of 
 work? 
 
 7. How did you learn your trade? 
 
 8. Did you attend a trade school? 
 How long? 
 
 Where? 
 
 9. Do you belong to a trade union? 
 If so, what union? 
 
 Do whites belong? 
 
 Can you join with the whites? 
 
 If you do not belong to a union, why not? 
 
 10. Do you work with whites? 
 
 Do you work chiefly for whites or for Negroes? 
 What is the feeling between the white and colored workers in 
 your trade? 
 
 11. Education: Common school? Higher training? 
 
 12. Do you own real estate? 
 
 13. Are the conditions for the Negro skilled worker growing better? 
 
 Why? 
 
 14. Remarks. 
 
 9. Study of Negro skilled labor, thru employer and em- 
 ployee. 
 
 10. Study of the relation of the Negro artisan to organized 
 labor in the United States. This study was made by means 
 of a blank questionnaire sent to labor organizations, national, 
 state and local, thruout the country. 
 
 The statements of present conditions which are made in 
 these pages under the various state headings are taken from 
 the replies of interested friends and correspondents of the 
 Atlanta Conference, both North and South. The Negro arti- 
 sans themselves have also contributed much valuable infor- 
 mation concerning local conditions. 
 
24 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Section 2. The African Artisan 
 
 A Select African Bibliography 
 
 Africanus, Leo: "Geographical Historie of Africa." London, 1600. 
 
 Barth, Heinrich: "Travels and Discoveries in the North and Central Africa." 
 
 New York, 1859. 
 Bowen: "Missionary Labor in Africa." Charleston, 1857. 
 Deniker: "The Races of Man." London, 1900. 
 Dowd, Jerome: "The Negro Races." New York, 1937. 
 Featherman: "Social History of the Races of Mankind. Nigritians, etc." 
 
 London, 1887. 
 Kingsley: "Travels in West Africa." London, 1900. 
 
 "West African Studies." London, 1901. 
 Livingstone: "Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa." New 
 
 York, 1858. 
 Park: "Life and Travels." New York, 1858. 
 Quatrefages: "The Pygmies." New York, 1895. 
 Ratzel: "The History of Mankind." 3 Vols. London, 1897. 
 Reclus: "The Earth and its Inhabitants." New York, 1892. 
 Rohlfs: "Reise von Mittelmeer noch dem Tschad-See und Golf von Guinea." 
 
 Leipzig, 1875. 
 Schweinfurth: "The Heart of Africa." New York, 1874. 
 Stanley: "In Darkest Africa." New York, 1890. 
 
 Staudinger: "Im Herzen der Haussa Lander." Oldenburg and Leipzig, 1891. 
 Stuhlmann: "Mit Emin Pasha ins Herz von Africa." Berlin, 1894. 
 
 A study of the Negro American artisan quite naturally 
 begins with the entrance of the Negro into American life. 
 Twelve years after the founding of Jamestown in Virginia 
 and one year prior to the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, 
 the first cargo of Negro slaves was brot to the American con- 
 tinent. Sold to the settlers in the Virginia colony, these Ne- 
 groes joined in the work of building the nation, a work which 
 demanded both brain and brawn. Endowed with physical 
 strength, this new American group was no mean asset to the 
 economic forces of the new world, considered especially in the 
 light of the strenuous demands of the strenuous period. 
 
 What had been the experience of the members of this 
 group, so rapidly increasing by birth and by the activities of 
 slave-catcher and slave-trader? Had there been anything in 
 the African life which would render the Negroes capable of 
 taking a part in the building of homes, the acquiring of wealth, 
 the developing of the new land, the building of the nation? 
 Is there any evidence of mechanical skill among the African 
 natives? A glimpse into African life may help us to answer 
 these questions; for among the Pygmies, the Hottentots, the 
 
The African Artisan 25 
 
 Bushmen, the Ashantis and in practically all parts of the con- 
 tinent of Africa, we find concrete evidences of that ability 
 which makes for artisanship. 
 
 While the Pygmies, still living in the age of wood, make 
 no iron or stone implements, they seem to know how to make 
 bark cloth and fibre baskets and simple outfits for hunting 
 and fishing. Among the Bushmen the art of making weapons 
 and working in hides is quite common. The Hottentots are 
 further advanced in the industrial arts, being well versed in 
 the manufacture of clothing, weapons and utensils. In the 
 dressing of skins and furs as well as in the plaiting of cords 
 and the weaving of mats we find evidences of their work- 
 manship. In addition, they are good workers in iron and 
 copper, using the skeepskin bellows for this purpose. The 
 Ashantis of the "Gold Coast" know how to make "cotton 
 fabrics, turn and glaze earthenware, forge iron, fabricate 
 instruments and arms, embroider rugs and carpets, and set 
 gold and precious stones. " J Among the people of the banana 
 zone we find rough basket work, coarse pottery, grass cloth, 
 and spoons made of wood and ivory. The people of the mil- 
 let zone, because of uncertain agricultural resources, quite 
 generally turn to manufacturing. Charcoal is prepared by 
 the smiths, iron is smelted and numerous implements are 
 manufactured. Among them we find axes, hatchets, hoes, 
 knives, nails, scythes and other hardware. Cloaks, shoes, 
 sandals, shields and water and oil vessels are made from 
 leather which the natives have dressed. Soap is manufac- 
 tured in the Bautschi district, glass is melted, formed and 
 colored by the people of Nupeland, and in almost every city 
 cotton is spun and woven and dyed. Barth tells us that the 
 weaving of cotton was known in the Sudan as early as the 
 eleventh century. There is also extensive manufacture of 
 wooden ware, tools, implements and utensils. 
 
 Leo Africanus writing of Timbuctu in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury said: "It is a woonder to see what plentie of Merchandize 
 is dayly brought hither and how costly and sumptuous all 
 
 1 Reclus: "The Earth and its Inhabitants," Vol. 3, p. 241. 
 
26 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 things be Here are many shops of artificers and 
 
 merchants and especially of such as weave linnen and cloth." 1 
 
 Kuka, on the west shore of Lake Tchad, and Sokoto, in 
 the northwestern part of the empire of the same name, are 
 the principal manufacturing centers of this district. Here 
 cotton is spun and woven into cloth; skins are tanned and 
 manufactured into boots, shoes and saddles; and implements, 
 ornaments and tools are wrot of iron. 
 ^\ Thruout the continent of Africa we find evidences of the 
 industrial ability of the natives. Anthropologist and geolo- 
 gist, scientist and man of letters, alike record the achieve- 
 ments of the African people along this line. 
 
 The industries of the native Africans were greatly dis- 
 turbed during the activities of the slave trade. Dowd in his 
 sociological study, "The Negro Races," says: 
 
 During the activities of the slave trade there was a noticeable de- 
 cline in native manufactures thruout Africa, especially along the coast 
 regions. The natives gave up to a large extent their primitive industries 
 and depended upon the sale of slaves as a means of supplying what they 
 wanted in the line of manufactured goods. 2 .... During the flour- 
 ishing days of slave exportation to America, the industrial arts declined 
 as well as the cultivation of the soil. One of the effects of the contact 
 with European peoples and products was at first to cause the natives to 
 imitate the articles of foreign manufacture, such as glass and gunpowder, 
 and but for the slave trade and other mistaken policies of the white man 
 which disorganized the whole economic life of the natives there is no tell- 
 ing what strides would have been made in all lines of industry. Since 
 the abolition of the external slave trade, the revival of industrial activi- 
 ties among the people of the Sudan has been hindered by the wars between 
 the pastoral Fellatahs and native blacks. :! 
 
 Dr. Franz Boas, whose knowledge of man has been a 
 source of inspiration to many a social reformer, in speaking 
 of the African Negro, says: 
 
 The achievements of races are not only what they have done during 
 the short span of two thousand years, when with rapidly increasing num- 
 bers the total amount of mental work accumulated at an ever increasing 
 rate. In this the European, the Chinaman, the East Indian, have far 
 outstripped other races. But back of this period lies the time when man- 
 kind struggled with the elements, when every small advance that seems 
 
 'Africanus: "Geographical Historic of Africa," pp. 2S7-29). 
 2 Dowd: The Nearro Races, Vol. 1, p. 94. ■■ll>i<l. P. 108. 
 
The African Artisan 27 
 
 to us now insignificant was an achievement of the highest order, as great 
 as the discovery of steam power or of electricity, if not greater. It may 
 well be, that these early inventions were made hardly consciously, cer- 
 tainly not by deliberate effort, yet every one of them represents a giant's 
 stride forward in the development of human culture. To these early ad- 
 vances the Negro race has contributed its liberal share. While much of 
 the history of early invention is shrouded in darkness, it seems likely that 
 at a time when the European was still satisfied with rude stone tools, the 
 African had invented or adopted the art of smelting iron. 
 
 Consider for a moment what this invention has meant for the advance 
 of the human race. As long as the hammer, knife, saw, drill, the spade 
 and the hoe had to be chipped out of stone, or had to be made of shell or 
 hard wood, effective industrial work was not impossible, but difficult. A 
 great progress was made when copper found in large nuggets was ham- 
 mered out into tools and later on shaped by melting, and when bronze 
 was introduced; but the true advancement of industrial life did not begin 
 until the hard iron was discovered. It seems not unlikely that the people 
 that made the marvelous discovery of reducing iron ores by smelting 
 were the African Negroes. Neither ancient Europe, nor ancient western 
 Asia, nor ancient China knew the iron, and everything points to its intro- 
 duction from Africa. At the time of the great African discoveries to- 
 wards the end of the past century, the trade of the blacksmith was found 
 all over Africa, from north to south and from east to west. With his 
 simple bellows and a charcoal fire he reduced the ore that is found in 
 many parts of the continent and forged implements of great usefulness 
 
 and beauty Nothing, perhaps, is more encouraging than a 
 
 glimpse of the artistic industry of native Africa. I regret that we have 
 no place in this country where the beauty and daintiness of African work 
 can be shown; but a walk thru the African museums of Paris, London 
 and Berlin is a revelation. I wish you could see the scepters of African 
 kings, carved of hardwood and representing artistic forms; or the dainty 
 basketry made by the people of the Kongo river and of the region near 
 the great lakes of the Nile; or the grass mats with their beautiful pat- 
 terns. Even more worthy of our admiration is the work of the black- 
 smith, who manufactures symmetrical lance heads almost a yard long, or 
 axes inlaid with copper and decorated with filigree. Let me also mention 
 in passing the bronze castings of Benin on the west coast of Africa, 
 which, altho perhaps due to Portuguese influences, have so far excelled 
 in technique any European work, that they are even now almost inimita- 
 ble. In short, wherever you look, you find a thrifty people, full of energy, 
 
 capable of forming large states In place of indolence you 
 
 find thrift and ingenuity, and application to occupations that require not 
 only industry, but also inventiveness and a high degree of technical skill. 1 
 
 'Atlanta University Leaflet, No. 19. 
 
28 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Section 3. The Ante=bellum Negro Artisan 
 
 The Negro slave was the artisan of the South before the 
 war. Both on the plantation and in the towns and cities there 
 was a constant demand for his service. While the average 
 workmanship was low and suited only to rough plantation life, 
 it is nevertheless true that on many of the better plantations 
 and in many of the towns and cities there were first-class 
 Negro skilled workmen. 
 
 Prior to the war there were a large number of Negro mechanics in 
 the southern states; many of them were expert blacksmiths, wheel- 
 wrights, wagon-makers, brick-masons, carpenters, plasterers, painters 
 and shoemakers. They became masters of their respective trades by 
 reason of sufficiently long service under the control and direction of ex- 
 pert white mechanics. During the existence of slavery the contract for 
 qualifying the Negro as a mechanic was made between his owner and the 
 master workman. 1 
 
 The South was lacking in manufactures, and used little machinery. 
 Its demand for skilled labor was not large, but what demand existed was 
 supplied mainly by Negroes. Negro carpenters, plasterers, bricklayers, 
 blacksmiths, wheelwrights, painters, harnessmakers, tanners, millers, 
 weavers, barrelmakers, basketmakers, shoemakers, chairmakers, coach- 
 men, spinners, seamstresses, housekeepers, gardeners, cooks, laundresses, 
 embroiderers, maids of all work, were found in every community, and 
 frequently on a single plantation. Skilled labor was more profitable than 
 unskilled, and therefore every slave was made as skillful as possible 
 under a slave system. 2 
 
 Bruce in his economic history of Virginia in the seven- 
 teenth century speaks as follows of the Negro mechanics in 
 that colony: 
 
 The county records of the seventeenth century reveal the presence of 
 many Negro mechanics in the colony during that period, this being espe- 
 cially the case with carpenters and coopers. This was what might be 
 expected. The slave was inferior in skill, but the ordinary mechanical 
 needs of the plantation did not demand the highest aptitude. The fact 
 that the African was a servant for life was an advantage covering many 
 deficiencies; nevertheless, it is significant that large slaveholders like 
 Colonel Byrd and Colonel Fitzhugh should have gone to the inconvenience 
 and expense of importing English handicraftsmen who were skilled in the 
 very trades in which it is certain that several of the Negroes belonging to 
 
 'Ex-Governor Lowry, of Mississippi, in North American Review, 156:472. 
 
 -C.T. Winston in Annals of American Academy, July, 1901, p. ill. 
 
The Ante-bellum Negro Artisan 29 
 
 these planters had been specially trained. It shows the low estimate in 
 which the planters held the knowledge of their slaves regarding the 
 higher branches of mechanical work. 1 
 
 It is stated that among the slaves of the first Robert Bev- 
 erly was a carpenter valued at £30, and that Ralph Wormeley 
 of Middlesex county owned a cooper and a carpenter each 
 valued at £35. Colonel William Byrd mentions the use of 
 Negroes in iron mining in 1732. In New Jersey slaves were 
 employed as miners, iron-workers, sawmill hands, house and 
 ship carpenters, wheelwrights, coopers, tanners, shoemakers, 
 millers and bakers, among other employments, before the 
 Revolutionary War. As early as 1708 there were enough 
 slave mechanics in Pennsylvania to make the freemen feel 
 their competition severely. In Massachusetts and other states 
 we hear of an occasional black artisan. 
 
 During the early part of the nineteenth century the Negro 
 artisans increased. In the District of Columbia many "were 
 superior mechanics, .... Benjamin Banneker, the Ne- 
 gro astronomer, assisting in surveying the District in 1791." 
 Olmsted, in his journeys thru the slave states, just before the 
 Civil War, found slave artisans in all the states. In Virginia 
 they worked in tobacco factories, ran steamboats, made 
 barrels, etc. On a South Carolina plantation he was told by 
 the master that the Negro mechanics "exercised as much 
 skill and ingenuity as the ordinary mechanics that he was used 
 to employ in New England." In Charleston and some other 
 places they were employed in cotton factories. In Alabama 
 he saw a black carpenter — a careful and accurate calculator 
 and excellent workman; he was bought for $2,000. In Louis- 
 iana he was told that master mechanics often bot up slave 
 mechanics and acted as contractors. In Kentucky the slaves 
 worked in factories for hemp-bagging, and in iron works on 
 the Cumberland river, and also in tobacco factories. In Mobile 
 an advertisement read: ' 'good blacksmiths and horse-shoers for 
 sale on reasonable terms."" 2 
 
 1 Bruce: Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century. II., pp. 405-6. 
 -Atlanta University Publications, No. 7, pp. 13-14. 
 
30 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 An official register of free persons in Richmond county, 
 Ga., 1819, printed in the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, March 13, 
 1819, furnishes the following statistics: 1 
 
 Boat corkers 1 
 
 Carpenters 12 
 
 Harnessmakers 1 
 
 Millwrights 2 
 
 Saddlers 2 
 
 Seamstresses .31 
 
 Weavers 9 
 
 Total 58 
 
 The entire labor in a cotton factory located in Maury county, 
 Tennessee, in 1827 was performed by slaves. 
 
 Thruout the slave states there seems to have been a con- 
 stant demand for Negro apprentices. The following adver- 
 tisements are but examples: 
 
 APPRENTICES WANTED. -The subscriber carrying on the blacksmith's 
 business in all its branches on Reynold street, near Calffrey and Bus- 
 tin's hotel, would willingly receive three Negro fellows as apprentices. 
 The owners may confidently rely that every necessary attention will be 
 given to their instruction. J. J. Perin. [Advertisement from the 
 Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle. March 2, 1811]. ' 2 
 
 WANTED IMMEDIATELY-As an apprentice to the blacksmith's busi- 
 ness, a smart, active boy, of from twelve to fifteen years of age, who 
 can come well recommended. A black boy of this description will be 
 taken. Wanted also, a Journeyman who understands his business and 
 has good recommendations for honesty, industry and sobriety. A black 
 man would not be rejected. Ellis Maddox, Nashville. [Advertise- 
 ment from the Tennessee Gazette and Mero District Advertiser (Nash- 
 ville), October 24, 1804]. • 
 
 In many places in the South, white mechanics and Negro 
 mechanics worked side by side with little or no friction. A 
 letter of H. Crowell to the editor of the Federal Union, Mil- 
 ledgeville, Ga., dated March 18, 1836, speaks of a boat build- 
 ing establishment on the Flint river where there were "ten 
 or fifteen white mechanics, and some twenty or more Negroes, 
 working well. ' ' Buckingham in discussing labor in the cotton 
 mills at Athens, Ga., in 1839, says: 
 
 •Documentary History of American Industrial Society, Vol. II, pp. 143-147. 
 '-' Printed in Documentary History of American Industrial Society, Vol. II, pp. 348-9. 
 Ihnl. P. 849. 
 
The Ante-bellum Negro Artisan 31 
 
 . . . There is no difficulty among them on account of color, the 
 white girls working in the same room and at the same loom with the 
 black girls; and boys of each color, as well as men and women, working 
 together without apparent repugnance or objection The Ne- 
 groes here are found to be quite as easily taught to perform all the re- 
 quired duties of spinners and weavers as the whites, and are just as tracti- 
 ble when taught. 1 
 
 Of the Negroes in New York City from about 1835 until 
 1841, it is said: 
 
 The occupations included three carpenters and joiners, five boot and 
 shoemakers, five tailors, .... one engraver, one watch and clock 
 maker, one sign painter, two dress and cloakmakers. 2 
 
 The slave mechanics were often hired out by their masters 
 and in many cases were allowed to hire their own time. Such 
 encouragement naturally resulted in the growth of a privil- 
 eged class among the slaves and this class produced many of 
 the Negro leaders of the ante-bellum days: Vesey, Nat Tur- 
 ner, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, as examples. Among 
 this class were many who, free in everything but name, 
 acquired property, reared families and often lived in comfort. 
 
 The lot of these slave mechanics was by no means an easy 
 one, for they had continually to encounter the opposition of 
 white mechanics. The legislatures of Pennsylvania and 
 Maryland were prevailed upon by white mechanics to pass 
 enactments aimed at the Negro mechanics and thruout the 
 South were concrete evidences of such opposition. 
 
 The jealousy of the white artisans toward Negro competi- 
 tion is shown by the following open letter from a citizen of 
 Athens, Ga., printed in the Southern Banner (Athens), Janu- 
 ary 13, 1838: 
 
 To the Contractors for Mason's and Carpenter's Work, Athens: 
 
 Gentlemen: — I desire your candid consideration of the views I shall 
 here express. I ask no reply to them except at your volition. I am 
 aware that most of you have strong antipathy to encourage the masonry 
 and carpentry trades of your poor white brothers, that your predilections 
 for giving employment in your line of business to ebony workers have so 
 cheapened the white man's labor, or expatriated hence with but a few 
 solitary exceptions, all the white masons and carpenters of this town. 
 
 1 Bucking-ham, J. s. : Slave States of America, Vol. II, p. 112. 
 
 -Haynes, George Edmund: "The Negro at Work in New York City," p. 67. 
 
32 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 The white man is the only real, legal, moral and civil proprietor of 
 this country and state. The right of his proprietorship reaches from the 
 date of the studies of those white men, Copernicus and Gallileo, who in- 
 dicated from the seclusion of their closets the sphericity of the earth: 
 which sphericity hinted to another white man, Columbus, the possibility 
 by a westerly course of sailing, of finding land. Hence by white man 
 alone was this continent discovered; by the prowess of white men alone 
 (tho not always properly or humanely exercised), were the fierce and 
 active Indians driven occidentally: and if swarms and hordes of infuriated 
 red men pour down now from the northwest, like the wintry blast thereof, 
 the white man alone, aye, those to whom you decline to give money for 
 bread and clothes, for their famishing families, in the logic matter of with- 
 holding work from them, or employing Negroes, in the sequel, to cheapen 
 their wages to a rate that amounts to a moral and physical impossibility 
 for them either to live here and support their families— would bare their 
 breasts to the keen and whizzing shafts of the savage crusaders— defend- 
 ing Negroes, too, in the bargain, for if left to themselves without our 
 aid, the Indians would or can sweep the Negroes hence, ''as dew drops 
 are shaken from the lion's mane." 
 
 The right, then, gentlemen, you will no doubt candidly admit, of the 
 white man to employment in preference to Negroes, who must defer to 
 us since they live well enough on plantations, cannot be considered im- 
 peachable by contractors. It is a right more virtual and indisputable 
 than that of agrarianism. As masters of the polls in a majority, carry- 
 ing all before them, I am surprised the poor do not elect faithful members 
 to the legislature, who will make it penal to prefer Negro mechanic la- 
 bor to white men's. But of the premises as I have now laid them down, 
 you will candidly judge for yourselves, and draw a conclusion with me, 
 that white bricklayers and house-joiners must henceforward have ample 
 work and remuneration; and yourselves and other contractors will set the 
 example, and pursue it for the future without deviation. 
 
 Yours respectfully, J. J. Flournoy. 
 
 In 1845 the Georgia legislature passed an act aimed at 
 Negro mechanics. 
 
 "An act to prohibit colored mechanics and masons, being slaves or 
 free persons of color, being mechanics or masons, from making contracts 
 for the erection of buildings, or for the repair of buildings, and declaring 
 the white person or persons directly or indirectly contracting with or em- 
 ploying them, as well as the master, employer, manager, or agent for said 
 slave, or guardian for said free person of color, authorizing or permitting 
 the same, guilty of a misdemeanor. 
 
 "Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives of the state of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby 
 enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the first day 
 
The Ante-bellum Negro Artisan 33 
 
 of February next, each and every white person who shall hereafter con- 
 tract or bargain with any slave mechanic, or mason, or free person of 
 color, being a mechanic or mason, shall be liable to be indicted for a mis- 
 demeanor; and on conviction, to be fined, at the discretion of the court, 
 not exceeding two hundred dollars." 
 
 Then follows another clause imposing the like penalties on 
 the owners of slaves, or guardians of free persons of color, 
 who authorize the contracts prohibited by this statute. 
 
 Charles Lyell, commenting upon the law said: 
 
 1 may first observe, in regard to this disgraceful law, which was only 
 carried by a small majority in the Georgian legislature, that it proves that 
 not a few of the Negro race have got on so well in the world in reputa- 
 tion and fortune, and in skill in certain arts, that it was worth while to 
 legislate against them in order to keep them down, and prevent them 
 from entering into successful rivalry with the whites. It confirms, there- 
 fore, most fully the impression which all I saw in Georgia had left on my 
 mind, that the blacks are steadily rising in social importance in spite of 
 slavery or, to speak more correctly, by aid of that institution, assuming, 
 as it does, in proportion as the whites become civilized, a more and more 
 mitigated form 
 
 I have heard apologists in the North endeavoring to account for the 
 degraded position which the Negroes hold, socially and politically, in the 
 free states, by saying they belong to a race which is kept in a state of 
 slavery in the South. But, if they really desired to accelerate emanci- 
 pation, they would begin by setting an example to the southern states, 
 and treating the black race with more respect and more on a footing of 
 
 equality Many white mechanics who had emigrated from the 
 
 North to the slave states, declared to me that every opening in their 
 trades was closed to them, because the black artisans were employed by 
 their owners in preference. Hence, they are now using in Georgia the 
 power given to them by an exclusive franchise, to pass disabling statutes 
 against the blacks, to prevent them from engaging in certain kinds of 
 work. In several states, Virginia among others, I heard of strikes where 
 the white workmen bound themselves not to return to their employment 
 until the master had discharged all his colored people. Such combinations 
 will, no doubt, forward the substitution of white for Negro labor, and 
 may hasten the era of general emancipation. But if this measure be pre- 
 maturely adopted, the Negroes are a doomed race, and already their sit- 
 uation is most critical. 1 
 
 Another evidence of white opposition to Negro mechanics 
 is seen in the petition signed by about two hundred mechanics 
 
 1 Lyell, Charles: "A Second Visit to the United States.' 
 
34 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 and laborers and presented to the city council of Atlanta, Ga., 
 March 5, 1858. 
 
 We, the undersigned, would respectfully represent to your honorable 
 body that there exists in the city of Atlanta a number of men who, in the 
 opinion of your memorialists, are of no benefit to the city. We refer to 
 Negro mechanics whose masters reside in other places, and who pay 
 nothing toward the support of the city government, and whose Negro 
 mechanics can afford to underbid the regular resident citizen mechanics 
 of your city to their great injury, and without benefit to the city in any 
 way. We most respectfully request your honorable body to take the 
 matter in hand, and by your action in the premises afford such protec- 
 tion to the resident mechanics of your city as your honorable body may 
 deem meet in the premises, and in duty bound your petitioners will ever 
 pray. 
 
 In Ohio about 1820 to 1830 and thereafter the white me- 
 chanics' societies combined against Negroes. In Philadelphia 
 the series of fearful riots against Negroes was due in large 
 part to the jealousy of white working men and several riots 
 and disorders on the part of white mechanics aimed against 
 Negroes occurred in New York, Washington and other cities. 
 
 Notwithstanding great opposition, the Negro artisan man- 
 aged to keep in evidence. The following letter is of interest: 1 
 
 During the days of slavery the Negro mechanic was a man of im- 
 portance. He was a most valuable slave to his master. He would always 
 sell for from two to three times as much in the market as the unskilled 
 slaveman. When a fine Negro mechanic was to be sold at public auction, 
 or private sale, the wealthy slave owners would vie with each other for 
 the prize and run the bidding often up into high figures. 
 
 The slave owners early saw the aptitude of the Negro to learn handi- 
 craft, and fully appreciating what vast importance and value this would 
 be to them (the masters) selected their brightest young slavemen and had 
 them taught in the different kinds of trades. Hence on every large plan- 
 tation you could find the Negro carpenter, blacksmith, brick and stone 
 mason. These trades comprehended and included much more in their 
 scope in those days than they do now. Carpentry was in its glory then. 
 What is done now by varied and complicated machinery was wrot then by 
 hand. The invention of the planing machine is an event within the 
 knowledge of many persons living today. Most of our wood-working 
 machinery has come into use long since the days of slavery. The same 
 work done now with the machine, was done then by hand. The carpen- 
 ter's chesl of tools in slavery times was a very elaborate and expensive 
 
 From Mr. J. I). Smith, stationary engineer, Chicago, 
 
The Ante-bellum Negro Artisan 35 
 
 outfit. His "kit" not only included all the tools that the average carpen- 
 ter carries now, but also the tools for performing all the work done by 
 the various kinds of "wood-working" machines. There is little oppor- 
 tunity for the carpenter of today to acquire, or display, genius and skill 
 in his trade as could the artisan of old. 
 
 One only needs to go down South and examine hundreds of old south- 
 ern mansions, and splendid old church edifices, still intact, to be convinced 
 of the fact of the cleverness of the Negro artisan, who constructed nine- 
 tenths of them, and many of them still provoke the admiration of all who 
 see them, and are not to be despised by the men of our day. 
 
 There are few, if any, of the carpenters of today who, if they had the 
 hand tools, could get out the "stuff" and make one of those old style 
 massive panel doors, —who could work out by hand the mouldings, the 
 stiles, the mullions, etc., and build one of those windows, which are to be 
 found today in many of the churches and public buildings of the South; 
 all of which testify to the cleverness of the Negro's skill as artisan in the 
 broadest sense of the term. For the carpenter in those days was also the 
 "cabinet maker," the wood turner, coffin maker, generally the pattern 
 maker, and the maker of most things made of wood. The Negro black- 
 smith held almost absolute sway in his line, which included the many 
 branches of forgery, and other trades which are now classified under dif- 
 ferent heads from that of the regular blacksmith. The blacksmith in the 
 days of slavery was expected to make any and everything wrot of iron. 
 He was to all intents and purposes the "machine blacksmith," "horse- 
 shoe r," "carriage and wagon ironer and trimmer, " "gunsmith," "wheel- 
 wright;" and often whittled out and ironed the hames, the plowstocks, and 
 the "single-tree" for the farmers, and did a hundred other things too 
 numerous to mention. They were experts at tempering edge tools, by 
 what is generally known as the water process. But many of them had 
 secret processes of their own for tempering tools which they guarded 
 with zealous care. 
 
 It was the good fortune of your humble servant to have served his 
 time as an apprentice in a general blacksmithing shop, or shop of all 
 work, presided over by an ex-slave genius known thruout the state as a 
 "master mechanic. " In slavery times this man hired his own time,— 
 paying his master a certain stipulated amount of money each year, and 
 all he made over and above that amount was his own. 
 
 The Negro machinists were also becoming numerous before the down- 
 fall of slavery. The slave owners were generally the owners of all the 
 factories, machine shops, flour-mills, saw-mills, gin-houses and threshing 
 machines. They owned all the railroads and the shops connected with 
 them. In all of these the white laborer and mechanic had been supplanted 
 almost entirely by the slave mechanics at the time of the breaking out 
 of the Civil War. Many of the railroads in the South had their entire 
 train crews, except the conductors, made up of the slaves — including 
 
36 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 engineers and firemen. The "Georgia Central" had inaugurated just such 
 a movement, and had many Negro engineers on its locomotives and Negro 
 machinists in its shops. So it will be seen at once that the liberation of 
 the slaves was also the salvation of the poor white man of the South. It 
 saved him from being completely ousted, as a laborer and a mechanic, by 
 the masters, to make place for the slaves whom they were having trained 
 for those positions. Yet, strange as it may seem to us now, the great 
 mass of poor white men in the South who were directly and indirectly 
 affected by the slave mechanic, — being literally forced out of the business, 
 took up arms and fought against the abolition of slavery. 
 
 While the poor whites and masters were fighting, these same black 
 men were at home working to support those fighting for their slavery. 
 The Negro mechanic could be found, during the conflict, in the machine 
 shops, building engines and railroad cars, in the gun factories making 
 arms of all kinds for the soldiers, in the various shops building wagons, 
 and making harness, bridles and saddles, for the armies of the South. 
 Negro engineers handled the throttle in many cases to haul the soldiers 
 to the front, whose success, in the struggle going on, meant continued 
 slavery to themselves and their people. All of the flour mills, and most of 
 every other kind of mill of the South, was largely in charge of black men. 
 
 Much has been said of the new Negro for the new century, but with 
 all his training he will have to take a long stride in mechanical skill before 
 he reaches the point of practical efficiency where the old Negro of the old 
 century left off. It was the good fortune of the writer once to fall into 
 the hands of an uncle who was master of what would now be half a dozen 
 distinct trades. He was generally known as a millwright, or mill builder. 
 A millwright now, is only a man who merely sets up the machinery, and 
 his work is now confined mostly to the hanging of shafting, pulleys and 
 belting. In the days of slavery the millwright had to know how to con- 
 struct everything about the mill, from foundation to roofs. This uncle 
 could take his men with their "cross-cut saws" and "broad axes" and go 
 into the forests, hew the timbers with which to build the dams across the 
 rivers and streams of water, to erect the "mill house" frames, get out 
 all the necessary timber and lumber at the saw-mill. Then he would, 
 without a sign of a drawing on paper, lay out and cut every piece, every 
 mortise and tenon, every brace and rafter with their proper angles, etc., 
 with perfect precision before they put the whole together. I have seen 
 my uncle go into the forest, fell a great tree, hew out of it an immense 
 stick or shaft from four feet to five feet in diameter, and from twenty to 
 thirty feet long, having as many as sixteen to twenty faces on its surface, 
 or as they termed it, "sixteen" and "twenty square." He would then 
 take it to the mill seat and mortise it, make the arms, and all the intricate 
 parts for a great "overshot" water wheel to drive the huge mill machin- 
 ery. This is a feat most difficult even for modern mechanics who have a 
 thoro knowledge of mathematics and the laws of mechanics. 
 
The Economics of Emancipation 37 
 
 It is difficult for us to understand how those men with little or no 
 knowledge of mathematics, or mechanical rules, could take a crude stick 
 of timber, shape it, and then go to work and cut out a huge screw and 
 the "Tap-blocks" for those old style cotton presses. 
 
 Section 4. The Economics of Emancipation 
 
 Emancipation found many Negro artisans of varying de- 
 grees of skill and efficiency scattered thruout the United 
 States. So far as the South was concerned, the Negro slave 
 had been for years the actual artisan; and it was the black 
 artisan who met peculiar conditions in the readjustment which 
 followed the war measure by which four million black men 
 were set free. For a time, of course, the old conditions re- 
 mained and the Negro artisan, not infrequently patronized by 
 his former master, still held undisputed sway. Three circum- 
 stances, however, soon disturbed the situation: 
 
 (1) The competition of white mechanics. 
 
 (2) The efforts of the Negro for self-protection. 
 
 (3) The new industrial development of the South. 
 
 First: The opposition of white mechanics to Negro work- 
 men which was evident in ante-bellum days became more 
 intense after the emancipation of the slaves and in the compe- 
 tition which followed, the untutored, inexperienced black me- 
 chanic found himself outdistanced by his thriftier white com- 
 petitor, sometimes by fair means, sometimes by foul. With- 
 out the protection, and with less and less of the patronage of 
 his former master, the Negro artisan found himself being 
 gradually supplanted by the white working man. 
 
 Secondly: The Negro artisan found himself at a political 
 disadvantage. Having no political power with which to de- 
 fend himself, he was still at the mercy of his white competi- 
 tor, who was armed with the ballot. Seeing that his safety 
 and, in the long run, his very economic existence depended 
 upon the possession of the ballot, the Negro made desperate 
 efforts to secure that power. These efforts of the Negro to 
 secure the ballot further complicated his economic position. 
 
38 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Thirdly: The new industrial development of the South 
 made new demands upon the mechanic. Old methods of 
 production gave way to new ones and the Negro mechanic, 
 schooled in the economy of the ante-bellum days and knowing 
 so little of mills and machinery, found himself unprepared to 
 meet the demands of the new economy. Nevertheless into 
 this field he made his way. How far he has been able to take 
 his place in the ranks of the American artisans, the census 
 reports from 1870 to 1910 will show. 
 
 The Negro American after slavery made four distinct and 
 different efforts to reach economic safety. The first effort 
 was thru the preferment of the selected house servant class; 
 the second was by means of competitive industry; the third 
 was by means of land-holding; and the fourth was by means 
 of what may be called the group economy. 
 
 (1) The one person who under the slave regime came 
 nearest escaping from the toils of the system and the disa- 
 bilities of the caste was the favorite house servant. This 
 arose from four reasons: 
 
 (a) The house servant was brot into closest contact 
 
 with the culture of the master's family. 
 
 (b) He had more often the advantages of town and 
 
 city life. 
 
 (c) He was able to gain at least some smattering of 
 
 an education. 
 
 (d) He was frequently a blood relative of the master 
 
 class. 
 
 It is not surprising, then, that the natural leadership of 
 the emancipated race fell to this class. Indeed the brunt of 
 reconstruction fell on their shoulders. When the history of 
 the reconstruction period is written according to truth and 
 not according to our prejudices it will be clear that no group 
 of men ever made a more tremendous fight against more over- 
 whelming odds. 
 
 It seemed natural at this time that this leading class of 
 upper servants would step into the economic life of the nation 
 from this vantage ground and play a leading role. This they 
 
The Economics of Emancipation 39 
 
 did in several instances, the most conspicuous being the bar- 
 ber, the caterer and the steward. For the most part, however, 
 economic society refused to admit the black applicant on his 
 merit to any place of authority or advantage. He held his 
 own in the semi-servile work of barber until he met the charge 
 of color discrimination from his own folk and the strong com- 
 petition of Germans and Italians; while the caterer was dis- 
 placed by the palatial hotel in which he could gain no foothold. 
 On the whole, then, the mass of house servants found the 
 doors of advancement closed in their faces. The better tenth, 
 both themselves and thru their better trained children, 
 escaped into the professions and thus found economic inde- 
 pendence. The mass of servants remained servants or turned 
 toward industry. 
 
 (2) The second attempt of the freedmen was made along 
 the lines of industrial co-operation. It was a less ambitious 
 attempt than that of the house servants and comprehended 
 larger numbers. It was characterized by a large migration 
 to cities and towns and entrance into work as teamsters, rail- 
 way section hands, miners, saw-mill employees, porters and 
 hostlers, etc. This class met and joined in the towns the 
 older class of artisans, most of them connected with the 
 building trades, and together these classes attempted economic 
 advance. Excepting the farmers, it is this class that has 
 attracted most attention, that has met all the brunt of the 
 economic battle and that is usually referred to in studies of 
 this sort. What the outcome of this second attempt at eco- 
 nomic freedom will be can only be divined by calling attention 
 to the third method by which the Negro has searched for the 
 way of life. 
 
 (3) Meantime, however, the freed hands had started for- 
 ward by a third way: that of land ownership. -Most of those 
 who got any start became share tenants and a fourth of these 
 succeeded in buying land. Those who bot land approximated 
 economic independence, formed the closed plantation economy 
 of the olden times, but with colored owner, colored laborers, 
 and colored tenants. In an increasing number of cases the 
 
40 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 colored store came in to help them and thus a complete system 
 of what may be called the group economy was established. 
 
 (4) The group economy, the fourth method, is of striking 
 importance. However, outside the country districts it is little 
 understood. It consists of such a co-operative arrangement 
 of industries and services within the Negro group that the 
 group tends to become a closed economic circle largely inde- 
 pendent of the surrounding white world. The recognition of 
 this fact explains many of the anomalies which puzzle the 
 student of the Negro problems. 
 
 One used to see numbers of Negro barbers; one is tempted 
 to think that they are all gone. Yet today there are more 
 Negro barbers in the United States than ever before but at 
 the same time a larger number than ever before cater solely 
 to Negro trade, where they have a monopoly. Because the 
 Negro lawyer, physician and teacher serve a colored clientage 
 their existence is half forgotten. The new Negro business 
 men are not successors of the old; there used to be Negro 
 business men in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore cater- 
 ing to white trade. The new Negro business man caters to 
 Negro trade. So far has this gone that today in every city of 
 the United States with a considerable Negro population the 
 black group is serving itself with religious ministration, medi- 
 cal care, legal advice and education of children; and to a 
 growing degree with food, houses, books and newspapers. 
 So extraordinary has been this development that it forms a 
 large and growing part in the economy in the case of fully 
 one-half of the Negroes of the United States and in the case 
 of between 50,000 and 100,000 town and city Negroes. Rep- 
 resenting at least 300,000 persons, the group economy ap- 
 proaches a complete system. To these may be added the bulk 
 of the 200,000 Negro farmers who own their farms. They 
 form a natural group economy and they are increasing the 
 scope of it in every practical way. 
 
The Occupations of Negroes 41 
 
 Section 5. The Occupations of Negroes 
 
 I recommend to them (the people so declared to be free) that, in all 
 cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. 1 
 
 The entrance of the Negro into gainful occupations in a 
 large way followed the abolition of slavery. Handicapped by 
 lack of previous training and beset by desperate economic 
 conditions, the freed blacks launched forth as free workers 
 on a paid labor basis. The census figures from 1870 to 1900 
 have given evidence of the Negro's place in gainful occupa- 
 tions. The following statistics are taken from the census of 
 1900 : 2 
 
 Occupations of American Negroes, 1900 
 
 Agricultural pursuits 2,143,154 or 53.7 per cent. 
 
 Professional service 47,219 " 1.2 
 
 Domestic and personal service 1,317,859 " 33.0 
 
 Trade and transportation 2"8,989 " 5.2 
 
 Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits 275,116 " 6.9 
 
 Occupations of Native Whites (Native Parents), 1900 
 
 Agricultural pursuits 6,004,039 or 43.3 
 
 Professional service 803,288 " 5.8 
 
 Domestic and personal service 1,841,853 " 13.3 
 
 Trade and transportation 2,400,018 " 17.3 
 
 Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits 2,823,131 " 20.3 
 
 Occupations of Native Whites (Foreign Parents), 1900 
 
 Agricultural pursuits 1,100,608 or 20.8 
 
 Professional service 259,434 " 4.9 
 
 Domestic and personal service ... 913,645 " 17.2 
 
 Trade and transportation 1,225,351 " 23.1 
 
 Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits 1,801,886 " 34.0 
 
 Occupations of Foreign Whites, 1900 
 
 Agricultural pursuits 1,074,211 or 18.7 
 
 Professional service 143,893 " 2.5 
 
 Domestic and personal service 1,435,407 " 25.0 
 
 Trade and transportation 915,151 " 16.0 
 
 Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits 2,168,153 " 37.8 
 
 These statistics show that the per cent of Negroes engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits is greater than the per cent of any 
 other group of American citizens so engaged. The same is 
 true for domestic and personal service. The former is ex- 
 plained, of course, by the large rural Negro population; the 
 latter, by the strenuous economic conditions which confront 
 the ever increasing mass of black people who move to the 
 urban centers. Professional service claims 1.2 per cent of the 
 Negro workers, an appreciable increase over 1890. 
 
 1 From the Emancipation Proclamation. 2 The figures for 1910 are not yet available. 
 
42 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 SEX, GENERAL 
 
 NATIVITY AND 
 
 COLOR 
 
 Agricultural 
 Pursuits 
 
 Professional 
 Service 
 
 Domestic 
 
 and Personal 
 
 Service 
 
 Trade and 
 Transpor- 
 tation 
 
 Manufactur- 
 ing and 
 Mechanical 
 Pursuits 
 
 Number 
 
 Per 
 Ct. 
 
 Number 
 
 Per 
 
 Ct. 
 
 Number 
 
 Per 
 Ct. 
 
 Number 
 
 Pk r 
 
 Ct. 
 
 Number 
 
 Per 
 Ct. 
 
 Both sexes (all persons) * 
 
 Native white— native 
 parents 
 
 Native white— foreign 
 parents 
 
 Foreign white .... 
 
 Negroes 
 
 Males- 
 Native white — native 
 
 parents 
 
 Native white— foreign 
 
 parents 
 
 Foreign white .... 
 Negro 
 
 10,381,765 
 
 100.0 
 
 1,258,538 100.0 
 
 6,004,039 57.8 
 
 1,100,608 
 1,074,211 
 2,143,154 
 
 10.6 
 10.4 
 20.6 
 
 5,685,429 60.4 
 
 Females- 
 Native white— native 
 
 parents 
 
 Native white— foreign 
 
 parents 
 
 Foreign white .... 
 Negro 
 
 1,071,210 
 1,032,484 
 1,561,153 
 
 318,610 
 
 29,398 
 41,727 
 
 582,001 
 
 11.4 
 11.0 
 16.6 
 
 32.6 
 
 3.0 
 4.3 
 59.5 
 
 806,288 
 
 259,434 
 143,896 
 47,219 
 
 530,570 
 
 146,357 
 117,973 
 31,625 
 
 275,718 
 
 113,077 
 25,923 
 15,594 
 
 64.1 
 
 20.6 
 11.4 
 3.7 
 
 64.1 
 
 17.7 
 14.2 
 3.8 
 
 64.0 
 
 26.3 
 6.0 
 3.6 
 
 5,580,657 
 
 1,841,853 
 
 913,645 
 435,407 
 317,859 
 
 1,258,045 
 
 554,424 
 967,838 
 635,933 
 
 583,808 
 
 359,221 
 467,569 
 681,926 
 
 100.0 
 
 33.0 
 
 16.4 
 25.7 
 23.6 
 
 36.1 
 
 15.9 
 
 27.8 
 18.2 
 
 27.9 
 
 17.1 
 22.3 
 32.6 
 
 4,766,964100.0 
 
 2,400,018 50.4 
 
 1,225,351 
 915,151 
 208,989 
 
 2,168,869 
 
 1,020,507 
 852,035 
 204,852 
 
 231,149 
 
 204,844 
 
 63,116 
 
 4,137 
 
 25.7 
 19.2 
 4.4 
 
 7,085,309 
 
 2,823,131 
 
 1,801,886 
 
 2,168,153 
 
 275,116 
 
 50.9 2,305,779 
 
 23.9 
 
 20.0 
 
 4.8 
 
 40.7 
 12.6 
 0.8 
 
 1,324,889 
 
 1,886,769 
 
 241,934 
 
 517,352 
 
 476,997 
 
 281,384 
 
 33,182 
 
 100.0 
 
 25.4 
 3'). 6 
 
 39.9 
 
 23.0 
 
 32.7 
 
 4.2 
 
 39.4 
 
 36.4 
 21.4 
 2.5 
 
 'Including Chinese, Japanese and Indians. 
 
 Dividing the Negro wage-earners by sex we have: 
 
 Males Females Total 
 
 Professions 1.2 1.2 1.2 
 
 Agriculture 58.3 44.2 53.7 
 
 Trade and transportation 7.7 0.3 5.2 
 
 Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits 9.0 2.5 6.9 
 
 Domestic and personal service 23.8 51.8 33.0 
 
 Total 100.0 100.0 100.00 
 
 These statistics show that in 1900 about twelve per cent of 
 the Negroes engaged in gainful occupations were engaged in 
 trade and transportation and manufactures and mechanical 
 pursuits, an increase of about two per cent over those so 
 engaged in 1890. There is shown a decrease of about three 
 and one-half per cent in agricultural pursuits, largely explained 
 by the cityward movement of the Negro, which also explains 
 in part the slight increase in the number of Negroes engaged 
 in domestic and personal service. Taking all the states of 
 the union we have the following figures for 1900: 
 
The Occupations of Negroes 
 Negro Wage=earners, 1900 
 
 43 
 
 BY STATES 
 
 All Occupations 
 
 Males Females 
 
 Trade and 
 Transportation 
 
 Males Females 
 
 Manufacturing 
 
 and Mechanical 
 
 Pursuits 
 
 Males Females 
 
 United States 
 
 Continental United States 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Arizona 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 California 
 
 Colorado 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 Delaware 
 
 District of Columbia . . 
 
 Florida 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Idaho 
 
 Illinois 
 
 Indiana 
 
 Indian Territory . . . . 
 
 Iowa 
 
 Kansas 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 Maine 
 
 Maryland 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 Michigan 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Missouri 
 
 Montana 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 Nevada 
 
 New Hampshire . . . . 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 New Mexico 
 
 New York 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 North Dakota 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Oklahoma 
 
 Oregon 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 South Carolina ... 
 
 South Dakota 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 Texas 
 
 Utah 
 
 Vermont 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Washington 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 Wyoming 
 
 2,675,497 
 
 256, 
 1, 
 
 116, 
 3, 
 3, 
 4, 
 9, 
 25, 
 74, 
 
 302, 
 
 23 
 
 55, 
 2 
 
 221 
 
 1,316,872 
 
 1,316,840 
 
 150,294 
 
 167 
 
 46,546 
 
 1,349 
 
 1,344 
 
 3,047 
 
 3,864 
 
 23,448 
 
 26,844 
 
 163,234 
 
 30 
 
 9,725 
 
 6,838 
 
 2,283 
 
 1,083 
 
 4,43ii 
 
 36,712 
 
 100,888 
 
 171 
 
 35,658 
 
 5,747 
 
 1,678 
 
 568 
 
 150,041 
 
 21,272 
 
 212 
 
 903 
 
 17 
 
 156 
 
 13,211 
 
 129 
 
 23,059 
 
 87,178 
 
 3) 
 
 10,449 
 
 1,262 
 
 159 
 
 24,624 
 
 1,928 
 
 138,560 
 
 55 
 
 65,744 
 
 67,709 
 
 71 
 
 105 
 
 80,239 
 
 216 
 
 3,273 
 
 235 
 
 55 
 
 205,017 
 
 204,852 
 
 13,639 
 
 40 
 
 5,431 
 
 603 
 
 527 
 
 1,026 
 
 770 
 
 5,999 
 
 6,293 
 
 19,004 
 
 7 
 
 5,119 
 
 2,941 
 
 401 
 
 582 
 
 1,661 
 
 9,654 
 
 9,899 
 
 92 
 
 8,682 
 
 2,325 
 
 618 
 
 429 
 
 10,301 
 
 7,260 
 
 74 
 
 381 
 
 5 
 
 40 
 
 3,839 
 
 71 
 
 7,669 
 
 9,250 
 
 13 
 
 4,751 
 
 405 
 
 71 
 
 9,033 
 
 764 
 
 8,238 
 
 26 
 
 16,281 
 
 10,886 
 
 16 
 
 39 
 
 16,930 
 
 121 
 
 2,455 
 
 106 
 
 85 
 
 225 
 
 82 
 
 19 
 10 
 28 
 17 
 
 214 
 94 
 
 468 
 1 
 
 184 
 
 47 
 
 6 
 
 14 
 
 34 
 
 123 
 
 164 
 1 
 
 147 
 99 
 19 
 23 
 
 196 
 79 
 2 
 14 
 
 L15 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 201 
 
 19 
 
 219 
 
 233 
 
 107 
 
 1 
 
 548 
 
 ' 18 
 2 
 
 241,963 
 
 241,934 
 
 26,140 
 
 57 
 
 7,159 
 
 410 
 
 571 
 
 648 
 
 865 
 
 2,565 
 
 11,403 
 
 23,021 
 
 10 
 
 4,; 
 
 2,617 
 
 1,078 
 
 1,430 
 
 2,955 
 
 9,975 
 
 11,331 
 
 68 
 
 7,780 
 
 1,555 
 
 656 
 
 114 
 
 9,687 
 
 5,917 
 
 55 
 
 289 
 
 6 
 
 35 
 
 2,065 
 
 238 
 
 4,419 
 
 15,924 
 
 12 
 
 5,366 
 
 199 
 
 59 
 
 9,150 
 
 352 
 
 13,807 
 
 19 
 
 15,892 
 
 6,906 
 
 20 
 
 31 
 
 27,835 
 
 348 
 
 6,376 
 
 74 
 
 109 
 
 33,186 
 
 33,182 
 
 1,453 
 
 15 
 
 445 
 
 130 
 
 55 
 
 138 
 
 67 
 
 1,691 
 
 1,202 
 
 2,680 
 
 1 
 
 753 
 
 339 
 
 39 
 
 60 
 
 220 
 
 1,165 
 
 2,498 
 
 10 
 
 1,146 
 
 532 
 
 146 
 
 67 
 
 1,188 
 
 614 
 
 18 
 
 48 
 
 5 
 
 11 
 
 369 
 
 3 
 
 1,401 
 
 2,609 
 
 1 
 
 715 
 
 20 
 
 13 
 
 1,277 
 
 148 
 
 2,237 
 
 1 
 
 1,808 
 
 813 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 4,869 
 
 29 
 
 99 
 
 21 
 
 According to the twelfth census there were in the United 
 States in 1900 215,369 skilled Negro artisans distributed by 
 occupations as follows: 
 
44 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Negro Artisans in the United States— Census of 1900 
 
 Occupations No. Occupations No. 
 
 Architects, designers, etc 52 Clock and watch makers and repairers . 109 
 
 Electricians 185 Gold and silver workers 66 
 
 Engineers (civil, etc.), and surveyors . 120 Tin plate and tinware makers 924 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 21,114 Other metal workers 353 
 
 Masons (brick and stone) 14,357 Bookbinders 86 
 
 Painters, glaziers and varnishers . . . 5,784 Boxmakers (paper) 60 
 
 Paper hangers 586 Engravers 22 
 
 Plasterers 3,757 Paper and pulp mill operatives. . . . 261 
 
 Plumbers and gas and steam fitters . . 1,193 Printers, lithographers and pressmen . 1,221 
 
 Roofers and slaters 3 8 Bleaching and dye works operatives . 446 
 
 Mechanics 377 Cai pet factory operatives 43 
 
 Brick and tile makers, etc 9,970 Cotton mill operatives 1,425 
 
 Glassworkers 427 Hosiery and knitting mill operatives . 36 
 
 Marble and stone cutters 1,257 Silk mill operatives 136 
 
 Potters 212 Woolen mill operatives 169 
 
 Blacksmiths 10,104 Other textile mill operatives 330 
 
 Iron and steel workers 12,327 Dressmakers 12,572 
 
 Machinists 1,2 3 Hat and cap makers 22 
 
 Steam boiler makers 335 Milliners 180 
 
 Stove, furnace and grate makers . . . 248 Seamstresses 11,538 
 
 Tool and cutlery makers 198 Shirt, collar and cuff makers 181 
 
 Wheelwiights 376 Tailors and tailoresses 1,845 
 
 Wireworkers 144 Other textile workers 159 
 
 Boot and shoe makers and repairers . . 4,574 Broom and brush makers 213 
 
 Harness and saddle makers and repair- Charcoal, coke and lime burners . . . 3,870 
 
 ers 273 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 10,227 
 
 Leather curriers and tanners 1,073 Glove makers 15 
 
 Trunk and leather case makers .... 23 Model and pattern makers 24 
 
 Cabinet makers 342 Photographers 247 
 
 Saw and planing mill employees .... 33,266 Rubber factory operatives 44 
 
 Coopers 2,964 Tobacco and cigar factory operatives . 15,349 
 
 Other woodworkers 2,803 Upholsterers 1,045 
 
 Brass workers 110 Other miscellaneous industries .... 21,939 
 
 It is seen here that the occupations which claim the largest 
 numbers of male Negro artisans are those connected with the 
 building trades: milling, carpentering, masonry and working 
 in iron and steel. The female workers classed as artisans are 
 engaged chiefly as dressmakers and seamstresses. When one 
 remembers, in the first place, the Negro's physical endowment, 
 and in the second place, the economic conditions which pre- 
 vailed during the slave regime, these statistics are rather as 
 one would expect. These two hundred thousand and more 
 Negroes engaged as skilled or semi-skilled workers occupy an 
 important place in their own racial group and are indeed no 
 small asset to the economic forces of the nation. Had their 
 training been better their social value, great as it is today, 
 would be even greater. 
 
 Taking the sixteen former slave states and the District of 
 Columbia we have the following table: 
 
The Occupations of Negroes 
 
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 en $ 
 
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 a 51: 51 31? .8 +3 
 
The Occupations of Negroes 
 
 47 
 
 The Ages of Negro Employees — 1900 
 
 Ages 
 
 10-15 
 
 16-24 
 
 25-34 
 
 35-44 
 
 45-54 
 
 55-64 
 
 65 years and over 
 Age unknown . . 
 
 Manufacturing and Mechani- 
 cal Industries 
 
 8,901 
 74,357 
 79,496 
 51,696 
 33,652 
 16,301 
 
 8,3' 2 
 
 2,444 
 
 Trade and Transportation 
 
 8,146 
 61,385 
 62,787 
 39,756 
 22,238 
 
 8,999 
 
 3,652 
 
 2,191 
 
 Negro Artisans by Age Periods — 1900 
 
 AGE PERIODS 
 
 10-14 
 Yrs. 
 
 Male— 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 
 
 Butchers 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 
 
 Cotton mill operatives 
 
 Machinists 
 
 Masons 
 
 Miners and quarrymen 
 
 Printers 
 
 Steam railway employees 
 
 Tailors 
 
 Textile mill operatives 
 
 Tobacco and cigar factory operatives . . 
 
 Female— 
 Dressmakers, milliners and seamstresses 
 Tobacco and cigar factory operatives . . 
 Tailoresses 
 
 Total 
 
 133 
 
 46 
 
 75 
 
 118 
 
 72 
 
 9 
 
 67 
 
 1,348 
 
 45 
 
 495 
 
 48 
 
 68 
 
 1,298 
 
 15-24 
 Yrs. 
 
 1,505 
 538 
 833 
 
 2,196 
 380 
 277 
 
 1,792 
 
 11,825 
 
 414 
 
 18,272 
 
 575 
 
 261 
 
 3,608 
 
 2,056 
 
 25-34 
 Yrs. 
 
 2,070 
 
 4,155 
 283 
 420 
 
 3,920 
 
 11,915 
 
 387 
 
 20,223 
 
 510 
 
 2' 9 
 
 2,562 
 
 8,311 
 1,214 
 
 35-44 
 Yrs. 
 
 1,882 
 791 
 531 
 
 4,627 
 178 
 310 
 
 3,633 
 
 6,191 
 166 
 
 9,802 
 185 
 132 
 
 1,496 
 
 ,914 
 
 823 
 
 65 
 
 45-54 
 Yrs. 
 
 1,927 
 970 
 350 
 
 4,672 
 116 
 160 
 
 2,680 
 
 3,400 
 65 
 
 4,067 
 100 
 111 
 788 
 
 2,378 
 
 368 
 
 34 
 
 4,569 51,450 57,967 35,726 22,186 10,983 5,536 188,417 
 
 55-64 
 Yrs. 
 
 65 yrs 
 and 
 
 1,656 
 
 831 
 
 172 
 
 3,201 
 
 29 
 
 58 
 
 1,429 
 
 987 
 
 29 
 
 1,076 
 
 60 
 
 55 
 
 295 
 
 976 
 11-1 
 15 
 
 1,179 
 
 451 
 
 70 
 
 1,910 
 
 14 
 
 19 
 
 720 
 
 260 
 
 12 
 
 261 
 
 42 
 
 17 
 
 124 
 
 10,352 
 4,466 
 2,9f)0 
 
 20,879 
 1,072 
 1,253 
 
 14,241 
 
 35,926 
 1,118 
 
 54,196 
 
 1,520 
 
 853 
 
 10,171 
 
 24,064 
 
 5,093 
 
 313 
 
 The table on page 45 shows the Negro artisans in the 
 sixteen former slave states and the District of Columbia. In 
 view of the constant migration of Negroes to urban centers 
 it is interesting to note the distribution of Negro artisans 
 in such places. The table which appears on page 46 is com- 
 piled from the twelfth census and gives the Negro artisans 
 of sixteen large cities in both the North and the South. The 
 figures show that the skilled Negro workers are to be found 
 chiefly in the southern cities, which fact accounts in large part 
 for the attitude of the local trades unions toward Negro 
 laborers. The table appearing on page 47 shows the ages of 
 Negro artisans. The average age among the Negro workers 
 is quite low and argues that the Negro youths are started to 
 work at an early age and so are denied the opportunities for 
 that education which should be afforded them in their forma- 
 tive years of adolescence. 
 
48 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Section 6. Alabama 
 
 The state of Alabama had 827,307 Negroes in 1900 and 
 908,275 in 1910. According to the census of 1900 the state 
 had the following skilled and semi-skilled Negroes: 1 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Male — 
 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) . . 
 
 Barbers 
 
 Steam railway employees 
 
 Brick and tile makers 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights . . . 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 
 
 Butchers 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill op's . . 
 
 Iron and steel workers 
 
 Machinists 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 
 
 7 
 657 
 
 6,313 
 544 
 898 
 335 
 217 
 
 1,807 
 168 
 
 4,439 
 
 S59 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 
 
 Painters 
 
 Plasterers 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 
 
 Printers 
 
 Steam boiler makers . . . 
 
 Engineers and firemen ( stationary) 
 
 Female — 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses . . 
 Milliners 
 
 73 
 
 389 
 
 204 
 
 82 
 
 43 
 
 eo 
 
 714 
 
 1,318 
 
 General Conditions 2 
 
 Birmingham : Many skilled Negro laborers here— carpenters, masons, 
 blacksmiths, plasterers and machinists. Negro skilled laborers are losing 
 because of unions and poor pay. Industrial school training has made very 
 little improvement on the old, self-made artisan. Not many of the young 
 men from this district are entering the trades. Negro artisans are not 
 having much success when compared with the white artisans. It is hard 
 for a colored man to get skilled labor here under a white contractor. 
 
 Florence: There are not many skilled Negro laborers here. They 
 follow chiefly, blacksmithing, carpentering and shoemaking. Negro 
 skilled labor is losing here, because those most skilled are carried else- 
 where because of better wages and steadier work. Industrial school 
 training has made very little if any difference here. The young men are 
 not entering the trades but those already in are succeeding well. 
 
 Mobile: Many Negro skilled laborers are here— brick masons, black- 
 smiths, carpenters, horseshoers and wheelwrights. The Negro skilled 
 laborers are gaining here, because the requirements for skilled labor are 
 met by industrial school training. The young men enter the trades pre- 
 viously named, in great numbers, and are taking the place of the old-time 
 workmen, thereby showing the public the need of more industrial schools 
 since modern times demand new ideas. 
 
 Montgomery: Many Negro skilled laborers here— carpenters, brick 
 masons and painters. Negro skilled laborers are gaining, because they 
 
 'The figures given in this section and following sections are taken from the "Twelfth 
 Census of the United States, 1900. Special Reports. Occupations." They are the only 
 available figures. 
 
 -The statements of general conditions given in this and following sections are taken from 
 the replies received from correspondents of the Conference. 
 
Alabama 49 
 
 are increasing in number and doing more work for their own race. In- 
 dustrial school training helps in acquiring wealth, but it does not make 
 one liberal and unselfish. The young men are entering the trades and the 
 artisans in this community are having more than medium success. 
 
 Talladega. —Average number of Negro artisans here— carpenters, 
 blacksmiths and brick masons. Negro skilled laborers are not gaining 
 fast, because of common race prejudice and general lack of steadiness. 
 Very little results of industrial school training visible outside of schools 
 founded by industrial school graduates. The young men are entering the 
 trades and the colored artisans on the whole are successful. 
 
 Tuskegee. — Many Negro skilled laborers here — carpenters, brick 
 masons, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, shce makers and cabinet makers. 
 They are gaining because they are becoming more and more efficient in 
 the trades. The results of industrial school training are that many men 
 and women are being sent out as skilled workers. The young men are 
 entering the trades in large numbers. The Negro artisans in this com- 
 munity are doing well. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 1 
 
 Birmingham. — Contracting Electrician. I do not belong to a union, 
 tho I have been asked to join. The unions are not particular about col- 
 ored electricians and they would not furnish me with help should I belong 
 to them, which would handicap my business. I am now wiring the Ala- 
 bama Penny Savings Bank building ($50,000) and a dormitory ($30,000). 
 I just finished the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church ($50,000) and Sixth 
 Avenue Church ($40,000), besides many residences ranging from $500 to 
 $10,000 for both white and colored people. 
 
 Montgomery. —Painter. Conditions are growing better for the Ne- 
 gro skilled worker because the men who are entering the trades now are 
 steady and intelligent. The local trade conditions among Negroes are 
 encouraging. Practically all of the brick work, lathing and plastering is 
 done by Negroes. In painting and carpentering the whites and blacks are 
 about equal. Plumbing is practically a white trade here. Electricians 
 are divided with a big white majority. 
 
 Selma. —Merchant Tailor. I employ sixteen workmen and do an 
 average business of $16,000 or $17,000 per year. I work five white tailors 
 and the rest colored. Conditions are growing better for the Negro 
 skilled workers because they are growing more proficient. 
 
 •The replies printed in this section and following sections are taken from the questionnaires 
 which were filled out and returned by Negro artisans. 
 
50 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Section 7. Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah 
 
 The Negro population of these states in 1900 and 1910 was 
 as follows: 
 
 States 
 
 Arizona 
 
 Colorado 
 
 Nevada 
 
 New Mexico 
 
 Utah 
 
 1900 
 
 1910 
 
 1,848 
 
 2,067 
 
 8,570 
 
 11,453 
 
 134 
 
 513 
 
 1,610 
 
 1,628 
 
 672 
 
 1,143 
 
 Total 12,£34 16,804 
 
 The census of 1900 recorded the following Negro skilled or 
 semi-skilled workmen in these five states (and territories) : 
 
 Male- 
 Barbers 202 
 
 Steam railway employees 8) 
 
 Brick and tile makers 10 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 21 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 10 
 
 Butchers 4 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 38 
 
 Iron and steel workers 165 
 
 Machinists 5 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 1C9 
 
 Male- 
 Painters 9 
 
 Plasterers 18 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 5 
 
 Printers 6 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) ... 22 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers, seamstresses and milliners 73 
 Pi inters 2 
 
 Section 8. Arkansas 
 
 Arkansas had 366,856 Negroes in 1900 and 442,891 in 1910. 
 According to the census of 1900 the state had the following 
 skilled and semi-skilled Negro laborers: 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 Male — 
 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 1 
 
 Barbers 411 
 
 Steam lailway employees 2,318 
 
 Brick and tile makers 93 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 323 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 81 
 
 Butchers . . . 71 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 569 
 
 Iron and steel workers 39 
 
 Machinists 41 
 
 Male- 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons 
 
 Milleis 
 
 Painters 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 
 
 Pi inters 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . 
 
 Female— 
 Diessmakers and seamstresses . 
 Milliners 
 
 184 
 4 
 
 103 
 29 
 26 
 
 278 
 
 399 
 
 7 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Fort Smith. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here; a few carpen- 
 ters, masons and blacksmiths. He is gaining as a skilled laborer because 
 of manual training in schools. As results of industrial school training, 
 the boys who enter are inclined to work and remain in school longer, and 
 when out, readily find employment. There is a perceptible increase in 
 the number of young men entering carpentry. The Negro artisans are 
 having fair success here. 
 
 Poplar GROVE. -Not many Negro skilled laborers here; a few car- 
 penters and brick-layers. Skilled labor among Negroes is gaining because 
 
Arkansas, California 5 I 
 
 their work is proving more efficient. A vindication of Negro labor in the 
 trades is a result of industrial school training. The young men are enter- 
 ing the trades very slowly. The artisans in this community are earning 
 a livelihood and stand second to none. Our best buildings are the work of 
 Negro artisans. Our near-by villages have discarded all other artisans 
 where the Negro skilled labor can be obtained. 
 
 Texarkana. — Many Negro skilled laborers here — tailors, carpenters, 
 masons and smiths. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer because 
 of the sharpness of competition. Industrial school training causes marked 
 efficiency and steady employment with good pay for service. The young 
 men are entering the trades. The artisans are receiving good pay and 
 steady employment. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Brinkley. — Builder and Contractor. I can build anything from a 
 pier to a bank. I am a member of tne B. and M. I. U. of America, which 
 organization admits both white and Negro members. Conditions are 
 hardly growing better because bias, selfish interests tend to push the 
 Negro hard. 
 
 Endora. — Tailor. Conditions are growing better here because the 
 people in this section are looking for the real artisan regardless of color 
 and learning to appreciate the substantial rather than the superficial. 
 
 Section 9. California 
 
 The state of California had 11,045 Negroes in 1900 and 
 21,645 in 1910. The census of 1900 recorded the following 
 skilled or semi-skilled Negro laborers for the state: 
 
 California 
 
 Male- I Male- 
 Engineers and firemen (C. and M.) ... 1 Painters 23 
 
 Baibers 170 ! Plasterers 20 
 
 Steam railway employees 46 
 
 Brick and tile makers 9 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 31 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 19 
 
 Butchers 7 
 
 Caipenters and joiners 41 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives . 1 
 
 In n and steel workers 8 
 
 Machinists 2 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 33 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 3 
 
 Printers 7 
 
 Steam boiler makers 1 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) ... 6 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses 98 
 
 Milliners 2 
 
 Printers 3 
 
 Tailoresses 8 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Oakland and San Francisco. —Few Negro skilled laborers here— 
 carpenters, painters and plasterers. Negro skilled labor is gaining as a 
 result of industrial training because the industrial schools add more skill 
 to all lines of work. A few young men are entering the trades. The 
 Negro artisans are not having very great success here because they are 
 barred by union labor organizations. 
 
52 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Section 10. Connecticut and Massachusetts 
 
 The Negro population of these states in 1900 and 1910 was 
 
 as follows: 
 
 States 1900 1910 
 
 Connecticut 15,226 15,174 
 
 Massachusetts 
 Total. . . . 
 
 31,974 
 
 47,200 
 
 38,< 42 
 
 The census of 1900 recorded the following skilled or semi- 
 skilled Negro laborers in these two states: 
 
 Connecticut and Massachusetts 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) .... 5 
 
 Barbers 383 
 
 Steam railway employees 114 
 
 Brick and tile makers 19 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 55 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 203 
 
 Butchers 28 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 148 
 
 Cabinetmakers 3 
 
 Cotton and other textile operatives ... 46 
 
 Iron and steel workers 101 
 
 Machinists 63 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 235 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 2 
 
 Painters 125 
 
 Plasterers 9 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 39 
 
 Printers 45 
 
 Steam boiler makers 3 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . .144 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses 438 
 
 Milliners 16 
 
 Printeis 2 
 
 Tailoresses 26 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 New Haven. — Not many Negro artisans here in proportion to the 
 population. They are mostly carpenters, masons and painters. The Ne- 
 gro skilled laborer is just about holding his own because the younger 
 element is not looking toward the trades. The success of the Negro 
 artisan, on the whole, is fair. 
 
 Haverhill. — Fair number of Negro skilled laborers here. They are 
 engaged chiefly in the manufacture of shoes and are just holding their 
 own. Industrial school training would give the Negro a decided advan- 
 tage here. The young men are not entering the trades very fast; they 
 are more inclined to do menial labor. The artisans are having fair success. 
 
 PlTTSFlELD. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here. The Negro 
 skilled laborer is losing because race prejudice discourages him. 
 
 Section 11. Delaware, District of Columbia and Maryland 
 
 The Negro population of these geographical divisions in 
 1900 and 1910 was as follows: 
 
 States 1900 1910 
 
 Delaware 3",697 81,183 
 
 District of Columbia 86,7<>2 94,446 
 
 Maryland 286,064 282,249 
 
 Total 352.463 867,876 
 
Florida 53 
 
 The census of 1900 recorded the following skilled or semi- 
 skilled Negro workers: 
 
 Delaware, District of Columbia and Maryland 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 7 
 
 Barbers 1,202 
 
 Steam Railway employees 884 
 
 Brick and tile makers 855 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 289 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 288 
 
 Butchers 151 
 
 Caipenters and joiners 560 j 
 
 Cabinet makers 23 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 15 
 
 Iron and steel workers 86') 
 
 Machinists 44 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 982 
 
 Male— 
 
 Millers 22 
 
 Painters 241 
 
 Plasterers 210 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 103 
 
 Printers 122 
 
 Steam boilermakers 1 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 562 
 
 Female — 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses .... 2,646 
 
 Milliners 6 
 
 Printers 19 
 
 Tailoresses 15 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Washington. —Not many Negro skilled laborers here. They are 
 losing because of labor unions. Very little results of industrial school 
 training is perceptible save in the increase in school attendance. A few- 
 young men are becoming engineers. Those in the trades are doing well. 
 
 Baltimore. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here — carpenters, 
 cement layers, shoemakers and printers. The Negro is losing as a skilled 
 laborer because of insufficient opportunity for intensive industrial train- 
 ing. Industrial school training has caused an awakened interest of edu- 
 cated classes in the need for artisans in the community. The young men 
 are entering the trades in a very slight degree only. The Negro artisans 
 are producing satisfactory results because they show possibility of per- 
 forming employment in practically any line. 
 
 Section 12. Florida 
 
 There were 230,730 Negroes in Florida in 1900 and 308,669 
 in 1910. The census of 1900 recorded the following skilled or 
 semi-skilled Negro laborers: 
 
 Florida 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 6 
 
 Barbers 352 
 
 Steam railway employees : 2,118 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights . . 1% 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 99 
 
 Butchers 120 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 1,15'' 
 
 Machinists 39 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 287 
 
 Male- 
 Painters 218 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 37 
 
 Pi inters 29 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 394 
 
 Female- 
 Dress makers and seamstresses .... 891 
 Milliners 2 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Greenville. —There is a friendly feeling between the white and col- 
 ored laborers here, largely due to the Negro's preparation. The conditions 
 are growing better for the Negro skilled workers because they can do 
 more work and in many cases better work. 
 
54 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Section 13. Georgia 
 
 The state of Georgia had a Negro population of 1,034,813 
 in 1900 and of 1,176,987 in 1910. According to the census of 
 1900 there were the following skilled and semi-skilled Negro 
 workers in the state: 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Male — 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 6 
 
 Baibers 1,116 
 
 Steam railway employees 6,366 
 
 Biick and tile makeis 639 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 1,230 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 664 
 
 Butchers 353 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 3,385 
 
 Cabinet makers 54 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 3 5 
 
 Iron and steel workers 281 
 
 Machinists 154 
 
 Maible and stone cutters 1,508 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 126 
 
 Painters 855 
 
 Plasterers 3>>9 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 139 
 
 Pi inters 68 
 
 Steam bciler makers 33 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 836 
 
 Female — 
 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses . . . . 2,234 
 
 Milliners 7 
 
 Piinteis 3 
 
 Tailoresses 25 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Albany.— Many skilled Negro laborers here— carpenters, masons and 
 blacksmiths. Negro skilled labor is gaining because the number is in- 
 creasing. Industrial school training has caused very marked results. 
 Many young men are enteiing the trades. The success among the artisans 
 at present is much better than it has been in many years. 
 
 Americtjs. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here; a few carpenters, 
 masons and blacksmiths. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer. In- 
 dustrial school training has produced good results. Few young men are 
 entering the trades. The artisans are having good success. 
 
 Covington.— Not many skilled Negro laborers here; a few carpenters. 
 The Negro skilled laborer is gaining because the attendance in trade de- 
 partments is increasing. Industrial school training has caused improve- 
 ment in the homes. Many young men are entering the trades. The 
 artisans find ready employment. 
 
 Dawson. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — carpenters, brickma- 
 sons, blacksmiths and tailors. They are gaining because of the increase 
 in intelligence. Very little results of industrial school training evident 
 in this community. The young men are entering the trades. The Negro 
 artisans are succeeding well. 
 
 Fort Valley.— Many skilled Negro laborers here. They are chiefly 
 builders. The Negro skilled laborer is losing here because he does not fit 
 himself to compete with the trained white artisan. Those who are able 
 to hold their own are those who have had some industrial school training. 
 A great many young men are entering the trades, but they are going in 
 as apprentices and can hardly attain the efficiency to cope with the 
 trained artisan. The Negro trained laborer is having splendid success. 
 
Georgia 55 
 
 Harlem. — Many skilled Negro laborers here for the size of the town — 
 carpenters, printers, masons, blacksmiths and engineers. They are 
 gaining because of competency and reliability. As results of industrial 
 school training there are better buildings, better kept homes and scien- 
 tific farming. The young men enter the trades now and then and are 
 having great success. They are all kept busy. 
 
 Hartwell. — Many skilled Negro laborers here— carpenters and ma- 
 sons. In many instances they are losing because of the lack of constancy. 
 Industrial school training creates thrift and industrial habits. Not many 
 young men in this section entering the trades. The Negro artisan is 
 having moderate success here. 
 
 La Grange. — About a dozen Negro skilled laborers here— carpenters, 
 bricklayers and plasterers. They are losing here because of race antipa- 
 thy and a love for their own by the other race. Not many results of 
 industrial school training visible as yet. Few such students have come 
 here. Not very many young men are entering the trades. The artisans 
 are making a moderate living. 
 
 Macon. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — brickmasons, carpenters, 
 tailors, blacksmiths, plasterers and painters. I am unable to say 
 whether or not he is gaining, but the demand is much greater than the 
 supply. The majority of the graduates of industrial schools are either in 
 the civil service or studying or practicing some profession. Not many 
 young men entering the trades. Most of the brick work and plastering 
 is done by colored artisans. Can find them at work on the largest and 
 finest buildings. We have at least two Negro contractors, whose patrons 
 are almost exclusively of the other race. 
 
 Stanfordville. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here. They fol- 
 low farming chiefly. The Negro skilled laborer is losing here, because 
 before the Civil War it was customary to put Negro boys under a good 
 artisan as apprentices to learn certain trades. With freedom these con- 
 ditions passed away and Negro men as a whole are not inclined for their 
 boys to learn trades. Very little results of industrial training perceptible. 
 The sewing and cooking departments of many of the American Mission- 
 ary Association schools produce very marked results among the Negro 
 women. The Negro artisans receive all the patronage of the community 
 from both races. Efficient work is all that is required. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Albany. — Contractor and Builder. There are more colored workmen 
 here than white, hence the feeling is fairly good. Conditions are grow- 
 ing better for the Negro skilled worker. This is the day of the survival 
 of the fittest in the mechanical world and especially here in southwest 
 Georgia. 
 
56 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Americus. —Contracting Plasterer and Brick Mason. I am a mem- 
 ber of Union No. 19, Georgia, B. and M. I. U. of the United States of 
 America. Conditions are improving slightly. The Negro can do more 
 and better work in a given time and have less to say about it and give 
 the contractor less trouble. While some contractors favor the white me- 
 chanic as a general thing the work is more progressive with the Negro at 
 his post. The Negro workers need to learn about plan reading and thoroly 
 fit themselves for their work. 
 
 Americus. —Contractor and Builder. Conditions seem to be standing 
 because white workers are coming in and preventing the Negro workers 
 from having so much to do. Perhaps the colored workman would do 
 better if he possessed more stability and reliability. There would be a 
 greater demand for his work. 
 
 Atlanta. — Bricklayer. Conditions are growing better for the Negro 
 skilled worker because the class of work done at present demands the 
 skilled workman. I was secretary of B. and M. I. U. No. 6 of Georgia 
 for five years, said union being colored. Whites and Negroes have sepa- 
 rate unions but their laws and government are the same, each receiving 
 charter and regulations from the executive board of the B. and M. I. U. 
 of America. 
 
 Atlanta. —Plumber. I have made several attempts to join the union 
 but have been refused because of my color. Conditions are growing bet- 
 ter for the Negro workers because skill is able to compete with skill and 
 the men of the other race who are in the field find that they must forget 
 prejudice, etc., in order to keep abreast with their rivals. A few years 
 ago the supply houses in Atlanta would not sell material of any kind to a 
 Negro master plumber but now they vie with each other in giving us the 
 best of goods at the lowest possible wholesale prices. 
 
 Atlanta. — Brick Mason. There is the same prejudice and discrim- 
 ination as in other fields of labor. Negro contractors are barred even 
 from the architects' offices. About one per cent of these offices are open 
 to Negroes. In some cases it has come under my observation that even 
 if a Negro has equal ability and in some instances a lower bid he is barred 
 or the job is given to his white opponent. 
 
 Bainbridge. — Horse Shoer. There is a very good feeling between 
 the white and colored workers here. There is a class of white and colored 
 people here that can get together and settle any difference. I came to 
 this town about ten years ago by an invitation from the mayor and chief 
 of police to establish a business. They have stood by me as they would 
 stand by a white man. 
 
 Gibson. Blacksmith and Buggy Builder. So far as blacksmithing is 
 concerned it is simply a matter of efficiency of the workman. Conditions 
 are growing better because the masses are being educated to the imme- 
 
linois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin 
 
 57 
 
 diate needs of their community, thus making themselves useful. I have 
 been establisht here four years. All of the county's work in general 
 repairing on road machines, carts, dumps, wheelers is done at my place. 
 Oxford. — Carpenter and Builder. Conditions are growing better 
 because the richer and better class of whites has now reached the place 
 where the skill of the workman and not the color of his skin is considered. 
 I finished one of the finest white churches in Covington and a twelve-room 
 dwelling for a white banker's son. I can use any man's blue print if it 
 can be worked by the scale. 
 
 Section 14. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin 
 
 The Negro population in these states in 1900 and 1910 was 
 
 as follows: 
 
 States 
 
 Illinois . . 
 Indiana . . 
 Michigan . 
 Minnesota. 
 Wisconsin 
 
 Total. . 
 
 1900 
 
 1910 
 
 85,078 
 
 109,041 
 
 57,505 
 
 60,280 
 
 15,816 
 
 17,115 
 
 4,959 
 
 7,084 
 
 2,542 
 
 2,900 
 
 196,420 
 
 According to the census of 1900 these states had the follow- 
 ing Negro skilled or semi-skilled workers: 
 
 Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, .Minnesota, Wisconsin 
 
 Male— 
 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 7 
 
 Barbers 2,135 
 
 Steam railway employees 1,030 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 226 
 
 Brick and tile makers 187 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 82 
 
 Butchers 147 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 353 
 
 Cabinet makers 18 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 20 
 
 Iron and steel workers 441 
 
 Machinists 83 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 824 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 38 
 
 Painters 289 
 
 Plasterers 257 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 63 
 
 Printers 94 
 
 Steam boiler makers 6 
 
 Engineers and firemen ( stationary ) . 575 
 
 Female— 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses 
 
 Milliners 
 
 Printers 
 
 Tailoresses , 
 
 1,179 
 
 24 
 
 7 
 
 14 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Chicago. —Not many Negro skilled laborers here— carpenters, plum- 
 bers, brick-layers and plasterers. The Negro artisan is losing because 
 of labor unions and competition. Industrial school training is producing 
 good results where skilled workmen are turned out. Very few young 
 men are entering the trades. The artisans are having small success in a 
 general way. Some few are doing excellently. 
 
 Minneapolis. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here— carpenters, 
 plasterers and contractors. As a skilled laborer the Negro is gaining 
 because of his superior work. Not many young men are entering the 
 trades. The artisans are succeeding well. 
 
58 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 St. Paul. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here— shoe makers, tai- 
 lors, cleaners and pressers. The Negro skilled laborer is not gaining 
 because of a lack of "get up." No results of industrial school training 
 are evident. The Negro young men are not entering the trades. 
 
 Section 15. Iowa and Kansas 
 
 The Negro population of Iowa and Kansas for 1900 and 
 1910 was as follows: 
 
 States 1900 
 
 Iowa 12,693 
 
 Kansas 52,003 
 
 Total 64,696 
 
 1910 
 
 15,078 
 
 54,504 
 
 69,582 
 
 According to the census of 1900 these two states had the 
 following skilled or semi-skilled Negro laborers: 
 
 Iowa and Kansas 
 
 Male- 
 Barbers 496 
 
 Steam railway employees 540 
 
 Brick and tile makers 96 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 128 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 44 
 
 Butchers 79 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 127 
 
 Cabinet makers 2 
 
 Iron and steel workers 80 
 
 Machinists 17 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 291 
 Millers 20 
 
 | Male- 
 Painters 55 
 
 Plasterers 157 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 20 
 
 Printers 30 
 
 Steam boiler makers 3 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 138 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses 
 
 Printers 
 
 Tailoresses 
 
 199 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Des Moines. — About thirty Negro skilled laborers here — two carpen- 
 ters, six masons, three linotypers, one printer, five chauffeurs, one lathe 
 worker, five modiste's and seven manicurists. Very few young men are 
 entering the trades. The artisans are succeeding very well. 
 
 Atchison. — The Negro skilled laborer is in evidence here. The 
 largest blacksmith and repair shop in the state of Kansas is in this city. 
 It is kept by a Negro whose income is said to be more than $8,000 a year. 
 
 Lawrence. —Not many skilled Negro laborers here — blacksmiths, 
 marble cutters, electric wirers, plumbers and carpenters. The Negro is 
 gaining as a skilled laborer because he has begun to recognize the need 
 for efficiency in order to be steadily employed. The results of industrial 
 school training are very apparent — increased efficiency, increased self re- 
 spect and aspiration, and respect from the opposite race. The artisans 
 here are successful in keeping busy all of their time. They are promoted 
 and their salaries are frequently raised. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Des Moines. — Dressmaker. There is no union here of members of 
 my trade. It there were, I could join along with the white workers. 
 
Kentucky 59 
 
 They treat me as well as they treat each other and the Negro woman 
 who learns her trade well has the same chance that the white girls have. 
 I have worked at my trade for more than ten years. I have held positions 
 in some of the largest white establishments in this state as manager and 
 as head waist maker and have always been well treated. 
 
 Des Moines. —Mechanic. Conditions are growing better. Negroes 
 hold good positions when competent, providing they are self-respecting 
 and stick to business. I am hopeful for Negro skilled workmen. We 
 should have more of them. I believe, tho, the Negroes should organize 
 and own and operate business for themselves. 
 
 Section 16. Kentucky 
 
 The state of Kentucky had 284,706 Negroes in 1900 and 
 261,656 in 1910. According to the twelfth census the state 
 had the following skilled or semi-skilled Negro laborers: 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 4 
 
 Barbers 812 
 
 Steam railway employees 2,384 
 
 Brick and tile makers . 342 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights ... 539 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 76 
 
 Painters 234 
 
 Plasterers 285 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 37 
 
 Printers 21 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 116 Steam boiler makers 5 
 
 But-hers 98 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 701 
 
 Cabinetmakers 11 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 117 
 
 Iron and steel workers 370 
 
 Machinists 35 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 757 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 431 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses .... 721 
 
 Milliners 7 
 
 Printers 2 
 
 Tailoresses 4 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Bowling Green. —Many skilled Negro laborers here— carpenters, 
 blacksmiths and stone masons. They are gaining because the skilled 
 laborer has no trouble in getting work. All who desire to work are kept 
 busy. Those artisans coming from our industrial schools are doing well; 
 the better prepared they are the better they succeed. Not very many 
 young men entering the trades, but a surprising number considering the 
 sentiment. Sentiment is getting better and they are succeeding. 
 
 Frankfort. — Many Negro skilled laborers here in proportion to the 
 population— carpenters, plasterers, engineers, stone masons, firemen, 
 shoe makers, paper hangers and decorators. The Negro skilled laborers 
 are losing slightly because they are not as steadily employed as heretofore 
 and many have moved to other towns and cities. Industrial school train- 
 ing causes those having trades to receive better wages and to be more 
 self-sustaining and independent. Fewyoungmen are entering the trades; 
 not enough, tho. Most of the artisans are substantial citizens, possessing 
 homes of their own besides other property. Many of these homes are 
 unusually modern, commodious and good. 
 
60 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Hawesville. —Three Negro skilled laborers here— two blacksmiths 
 and a tinner. They are gaining because the demand for their labor is 
 increasing. Industrial school training causes better pay and greater de- 
 mand for their service. The young men are entering the trades slowly 
 but the success is encouraging. 
 
 Henderson. — An average number of Negro skilled laborers here — 
 carpenters and blacksmiths. They are seemingly holding their own. 
 Few young men enter the trades. The artisans are succeeding when 
 efficient. 
 
 Lebanon. — Few Negro skilled laborers here— plasterers, carpenters 
 and stone masons. They are losing because the older skilled laborers are 
 dying and the young men have not learned the trades. The young men 
 are not entering the trades. The success of the artisans is only moderate. 
 
 Lexington. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — plumbers, black- 
 smiths, tinners, carpenters, painters, brick-layers, stone masons, silver 
 smiths and tailors. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer because 
 there are more here now than fifteen years ago. Industrial school train- 
 ing has produced good results. The people are learning that labor is 
 honorable, understanding that by the sweat of the brow you must earn 
 what you eat. The artisans are succeeding finely. 
 
 Richmond. — Many skilled Negro laborers here— carpenters, masons, 
 engineers, blacksmiths, tailors, upholsterers and tinners. The skilled 
 laborer is gaining because he is much in demand. If a Negro can do good 
 work he need not fear the white man, but he loses when his work does 
 not come up to the white man's. We need more skilled laborers here. 
 There are wide fields open to the skilled laborer here. We have to give 
 our work to the white man because the Negro cannot do it. The industrial 
 school training is doing a great thing for the young Negro. He is going 
 out into the world and doing business for himself. He is his own boss 
 and is making good money. Where he at one time worked under a boss 
 for three dollars per week, he is now making under his own management 
 ten and fifteen dollars per week. Many young men are entering the 
 trades. The Negro artisans are succeeding very well. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Frankfort. Shoe Maker and Repairer. There is a friendly feeling 
 between the white and colored workers in my trade here. I have had 
 white shoe makers work for me. My shop is equipt with modern ma- 
 chines and I made them pay for themselves. I enjoy a nice trade from 
 both white and Negro patrons. 
 
 Frankfort. General Contractor and Builder. Conditions are not so 
 good here because of growing race prejudice and because there are not 
 young men enough learning the trade. I came to Frankfort in 1883 and Cor 
 
Louisiana 
 
 61 
 
 eight years thereafter my work was for white contractors. Since that 
 time I have been contracting for myself and have had as many as seventy- 
 five men under my employ at one time. None of the white contractors 
 in Frankfort now will employ colored mechanics. 
 
 Hawesville. — Blacksmith. There exists a friendly feeling here 
 between colored and white workers. I think conditions are growing bet- 
 ter for the Negro laborer because he does better work with less conten- 
 tion with contractors. 
 
 Henderson. — Blacksmith. There is an exceedingly friendly and 
 congenial feeling between the white and colored workers here, hardly any 
 prejudice existing as far as trade relations are concerned. As I see it 
 the country is demanding efficiency and satisfactory results and if the 
 Negro mechanic can produce these he is sure to get recognition and con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Section 17. Louisiana 
 
 The state of Louisiana had 650,804 Negroes in 1900 and 
 713,874 in 1910. The twelfth census (1900) recorded the fol- 
 lowing skilled or semi-skilled Negroes for the state: 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 14 
 
 Barbers 515 
 
 Steam railway employees 3,086 
 
 Brick and tile makers 339 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 700 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 304 
 
 Butchers 195 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 1,711 
 
 Cabinet makers 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 
 
 Iron and steel workers 
 
 Machinists 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons. 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 31 
 
 Painters 354 
 
 Plasterers 271 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 27 
 
 Printers 60 
 
 Steam boiler makers 7 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . 504 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses .... 2,241 
 
 Milliners 12 
 
 Tailoresses 99 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Baton Rouce. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — carpenters, brick 
 masons, plasterers, painters and decorators. The Negro artisan is hold- 
 ing his own here because there are not so many white artisans and the 
 Negro gives full satisfaction. Very many young men are entering the 
 trades. The Negro skilled laborers are having fair success. 
 
 Monroe. —Many skilled Negro laborers here — carpenters, masons, 
 painters, plasterers, etc. The Negro skilled laborer is gaining because 
 of his efficiency in whatever he has a chance to do. Whenever the trained 
 man is given work he does it commendably no matter where trained, in 
 school or out. The training is the necessity and should be given to all. 
 The young men are entering the trades. The Negro artisan is having 
 
62 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 such success as should be reasonably expected from one who does his duty 
 with an open chance before him. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Baton Rouge.— Contractor and Brick-layer. I do not belong to a trade 
 union at present for the union went to the bad here more than a year ago. 
 At that time we had quite a number of whites in our organization, tho 
 we Negroes had the majority. I think conditions are growing better for 
 the Negro skilled worker. He does his work as a rule with more taste 
 and does more in an allotted time. That within itself is the solution of 
 the work problem. The man who has work to be done employs as a rule 
 the man who puts up the most complete package. The majority of the 
 mechanics in Baton Rouge are colored and they own an enormous amount 
 of real estate. We have any quantity of jack-leg white carpenters who 
 dislike working with the colored brother but they need his assistance to 
 such an extent that they work with him, tho with reluctancy. In other 
 words, they simply can't do without the colored man in the trades. We 
 have two colored men here who have been contracting for twenty years. 
 They are highly considered by the white people and do principally all of 
 the city work. They are now engaged in putting another story on one of 
 the largest hotels in the city. 
 
 Monroe. — Plasterer. I do not belong to a trade union because I do 
 not endorse the methods adopted by trade unions to enforce their claims. 
 An amicable relation exists between the white and colored workers of my 
 trade in this place. I fear conditions are not growing better for the 
 Negro skilled worker because of the very small number with a liberal 
 education that are engaged in the trades. 
 
 New Orleans. — Electrician. I do not belong to a trade union because 
 the union here will not admit a Negro. I believe the conditions for the 
 Negro skilled worker are growing better because the world is now looking 
 for the man who can deliver the goods. My experience in this city has 
 been interesting. My work is inspected and approved by a board known 
 as the Louisiana Fire Prevention Bureau. The city electrician also 
 approves my work. 
 
 Section 18. Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont 
 
 The Negro population in these states in 1900 and 1910 was 
 as follows: 
 
 States t900 nun 
 
 Maine 1,819 1,864 
 
 New Hampshire 662 564 
 
 Rhode Island 9,1 92 9,629 
 
 Vermont 826 1,621 
 
 Total 11,899 13,078 
 
Mississippi 
 
 63 
 
 According to the census of 1900 these states contained the 
 following skilled or semi-skilled Negro workers: 
 
 Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont 
 
 Male- 
 Barbers 106 
 
 Steam railway employees 33 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 19 
 
 Brick and tile makers 1 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 13 
 
 Butchers . * 11 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 34 
 
 Cabinet makers 2 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives . 24 
 
 Iron and steel workers 16 
 
 Machinists 17 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 59 
 
 Male- 
 Painters 38 
 
 Plasterers 3 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 6 
 
 Printers 3 
 
 Steam boiler makers 1 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) ... 25 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses 136 
 
 Milliners 3 
 
 Printers 1 
 
 Tailoresses 4 
 
 Section 19. Mississippi 
 
 The state of Mississippi had a Negro population of 907, 630 
 in 1900 and of 1,009,487 in 1910. According to the census of 
 1900 there were the following skilled or semi-skilled Negro 
 workers in the state: 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) . . 3 
 
 Barbers 486 
 
 Steam railway employees 4,681 
 
 Brick and tile makers 460 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 663 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 152 
 
 Butchers 183 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 1,497 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 14 
 
 Iron and steel workers 48 
 
 Machinists 52 
 
 Male — 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 392 
 
 Millers 15 
 
 Painters 227 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 27 
 
 Printers 27 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary ). . 479 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses 
 Milliners 
 
 1,112 
 8 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Holly Springs. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here — black- 
 smiths, carpenters and brick masons. The Negro is gaining as a skilled 
 laborer because his services are always in demand. Industrial school 
 training has produced efficiency and reliability. Only a few young men 
 are entering the trades. 
 
 Indianola. — Many Negro skilled laborers here — contractors, foremen, 
 carpenters, brick-layers, electricians, engineers, blacksmiths, agricultur- 
 ists, etc. The Negro artisan is gaining in proportion to his skill. There 
 are more demands for laborers trained in industrial schools than for the 
 unskilled. Some of the young men are entering the trades. The artisans 
 of this community are attaining competence and material and business 
 rating of a high order. 
 
 Natchez. — About twenty Negro skilled laborers here — carpenters, 
 masons, plasterers, painters, blacksmiths and chauffeurs. The skilled 
 
64 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Negro laborers are gaining here because of proficiency. Industrial school 
 training turns out better workmen. The young men are entering the 
 trades. The Negro artisans are having fair success here. 
 
 Vicksburg. — Many skilled laborers here — carpenters, blacksmiths, 
 masons, paper hangers, cement workers, plasterers, painters and uphols- 
 terers. In some respects they are losing because of prejudice. First, 
 eleven years ago there was not a contractor here who did not work Ne- 
 groes, now the leading contractor does not employ a single Negro carpen- 
 ter. Secondly, because the Negro as a carpenter does not acquire the 
 skill of the finished workman. There are more Negro brick-layers than 
 white and they get work with all the contractors. The best cement 
 worker and plasterer in town is a Negro. The third reason that the Ne- 
 gro is losing is that there are no young men entering the trades to fill the 
 old workmen's places. Not many workmen here who have attended in- 
 dustrial schools. The Negro artisans are having fair success; that is, 
 they make money. The brick masons and cement workers do not accu- 
 mulate very much. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Indianola. — Carpenter. A fairly good feeling exists between the 
 white and colored workers in this section. Conditions are growing bet- 
 ter for the Negro skilled worker because ability is the thing needed and 
 most contractors (private parties) have seen that the skilled Negro me- 
 chanic is a money saver. 
 
 Natchez. — Mason. I am a member of Natchez Union, No. 7, being 
 permitted to join with the white workers. I think conditions are growing 
 better for the Negro skilled laborer. 
 
 Vicksburg. — Contracting Brick-layer. There is a good feeling be- 
 tween the white and colored workers here and the conditions are growing 
 better for the Negro skilled workers. I am president of the Brick-layers' 
 Union, to which both whites and Negroes belong. 
 
 Vicksburg. — Decorator. Conditions are growing better for the Ne- 
 gro skilled laborer because thoro training is giving him confidence in him- 
 self and is demonstrating the Negro's ability to render competent service. 
 When I began this work I had no intention whatever of remaining in the 
 trade; but finding it a lucrative trade I applied myself diligently, always 
 with a desire to excel. As a result my reputation as a workman grew 
 and today I cannot accept all the work offered me. 
 
 Yazoo City. —Contractor and Builder. Conditions are growing bet- 
 ter for the Negro skilled worker because he is learning to see how well 
 he can do what is entrusted to him instead of how little he can do for the 
 money that is paid him. I teach my men to do their work so well that 
 no one else can improve upon it; the importance of doing their best at all 
 times. I believe it is largely this that keeps me busy. 
 
Missouri 65 
 
 Section 20. Missouri 
 
 The state of Missouri had a Negro population of 161,234 
 in 1900 and of 157,452 in 1910. The census of 1900 recorded 
 the following skilled and semi-skilled Negro workers for the 
 state: 
 
 Missouri 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) .... 2 
 
 Barbers 910 
 
 Steam railway employees 769 
 
 Brick and tile makers 275 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 187 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 55 
 
 Butchers 116 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 219 
 
 Cabinet makers 5 
 
 Cotton and other textile operatives 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 29 
 
 Painters 66 
 
 Plasterers 212 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 30 
 
 Printers 37 
 
 Steam boiler makers 3 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . . 411 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses 412 
 
 Iron and steel workers 243 I Milliners 2 
 
 Machinists 23 Printeis 2 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 798 I Tailoresses 4 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Boonville. — Several Negro skilled laborers here— two carpenters, 
 two masons, two engineers and a plumber. The Negro is gaining as a 
 skilled laborer. The number has increased slightly in ten years. As re- 
 sults of industrial school training we have an engineer and a carpenter. 
 Only three young men are entering the trades. The artisans here are 
 succeeding well. 
 
 Chillicothe. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here — a few black- 
 smiths, engineers and masons, a few gardeners and farmers, while the 
 majority are day laborers. The Negro is losing as a skilled laborer be- 
 cause he is not pursuing it extensively. In this section he is not taking 
 up the work. Those who do follow it find employment readily. There 
 are no persons here from an industrial school. The young men are not 
 entering the trades. The Negro skilled laborer is succeeding where he 
 can do the work. 
 
 Dalton. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here — carpenters, plas- 
 terers and painters. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer because 
 of large openings. Many results visible in every way of industrial school 
 training, especially in the trained farmers. Some young men are entering 
 the trades. The Negro artisan is succeeding well in this community. 
 
 Maryville. — Practically no Negro skilled laborers here — a few plas- 
 terers and house-cleaners. Those laboring in these occupations are very 
 proficient. There is no gain in the number because organized white labor 
 does all of the skilled work and there are too few Negroes to organize. 
 There are no Negro workmen trained in industrial schools in this city. 
 The young men are not entering the trades. What Negro artisans there 
 are are having splendid success. 
 
66 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 St. Louis. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here— brick-layers, 
 carpenters, plumbers, blacksmiths, paper-hangers and plasterers. The 
 Negro is not gaining as a skilled laborer because of lack of motive and 
 inclination. Industrial school training promises much. Not many young 
 men are entering the trades. The Negro artisan as far as he is efficient 
 is succeeding splendidly. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Boonville. — Contracting Brick-layer and Plasterer. There is a good 
 feeling here between the white and colored workers in my trade. I fre- 
 quently hire white plasterers. Conditions are growing better for the 
 Negro skilled laborer. 
 
 Dalton. — Carpenter. I do not belong to a union, tho I could join 
 with the whites. An agreeable feeling exists between the races in my 
 trade. Conditions grow better as the Negro workers master their trade's. 
 
 St. Louis. — Stone Cutter. I am a member of the Building Laborers' 
 International Protective Union, Local No. 3, a Negro union. Negroes 
 cannot join with the whites. The conditions can hardly be said to be 
 growing better here for there are not enough Negroes in the trades to 
 make it so. I could put many to work if they were qualified. We have 
 a few plasterers and brick-layers working here, but they cannot get into 
 the unions here on account of past dealings with white unions in regard 
 to colored hod carriers' union. We have seven-tenths of the work here 
 now. 
 
 St. Louis. — Electrician. I do not belong to the union because Ne- 
 groes are not admitted to Electrical Workers' Union in the state of 
 Missouri. Conditions are growing better because the Negroes are build- 
 ing more homes and business places for themselves in St. Louis. Negro 
 plumbers are in great demand here, there being only one finished plumber 
 here at present. The Negro tradesmen need a leader to go to the front 
 for them and I think they will be able to get into the unions then. I 
 could get three times as much work if I could join the Electrical Workers' 
 Union. As I am the only finished Negro electrician here I cannot fight 
 the union alone. There are six other unfinished Negro electricians here 
 who do very good work. 
 
 Section 21. New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 
 
 The Negro population of New York, New Jersey and 
 Pennsylvania in 1900 and 1910 was as follows: 
 
 States 1900 una 
 
 New York 99,232 131.' 
 
 New Jersey 69,844 89,760 
 
 Pennsylvania 156,845 193,!»os 
 
 Total 325,921 417,849 
 
New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 67 
 
 The census of 1900 recorded the following Negro skilled or 
 semi-skilled laborers for these three states: 
 
 New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 20 
 
 Painters 430 
 
 Plasterers 172 
 
 Plumbers and g-as fitters 119 
 
 Printers 200 
 
 Steam boiler makers 9 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 797 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 26 
 
 Barbers 2,461 
 
 Steam railway employees 674 
 
 Brick and tile makers 2,744 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 244 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 169 
 
 Butchers 112 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 438 
 
 Cabinet makers 22 I Female — 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 43 I Dressmakers and seamstresses . . . . 2,754 
 
 Iron and steel workers 1,764 I Milliners 24 
 
 Machinists 157 Printers 4 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 1,644 , Tailoresses . 32 
 
 Two recent studies of the economic status of the Negro in 
 York City 1 show that in the skilled trades "the Negro is con- 
 spicuous by his absence. Only four in every thousand where 
 
 there should be eighteen The census division of 
 
 mechanical pursuits shows only a few colored men working 
 at trades, and the paucity of the numbers is often attributed 
 by the Negro to a third obstacle in the way of his progress, 
 the trade union." 2 Hence in New York City "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. Both of these 
 influences are severe handicaps in the face of the competition 
 in this advanced industrial community."' 5 As to the wages 
 and efficiency of the Negro workers in New York City, Dr. 
 Haynes says: 4 
 
 The wages of skilled trades do not affect the larger part of the Negro 
 population, because so small a percentage are engaged in these occupa- 
 tions 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 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. 
 
 The following statistics for Negroes in New York City are 
 of interest: 
 
 1 Miss Ovingrton: Half a Man. Dr. Haynes: The Negro at Work in New York City. 
 -Ovintfton: Op. cit., pp. 89, 95. ; Haynes: Op. cit., pp. 76, 77. 
 
 •Haynes: Ibid, pp. 82, 83, 89. 
 
68 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 OCCUPATIONS OF NEGROES-NEW YORK 
 CITY, 19 i0 
 
 Engineers, firemen (not locomotive) 
 
 Masons (brick and stone) 
 
 Painters, glaziers and varnishers 
 
 Plasterers 
 
 Blacksmiths 
 
 Butchers 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 
 Iron and steel workers 
 
 Paper-hangers 
 
 Photographers 
 
 Plumbers, gas and steam fitters 
 Printers, lithographers and pressmen 
 
 Tailors 
 
 Tobacco and cigar factory operatives 
 
 Fishermen and oyster-men 
 
 Miners and quarry-men 
 
 Machinists 
 
 Number oj 
 Negroes to 
 each 1,000 
 workers in 
 each occupa- 
 tion 
 
 Ovington, M. W.: Half a Man. P. 90. 
 
 Negro Wage=earners, 10 Years of Age and Over, Engaged in Selected Occupations 
 York City, 1890 and 1900 
 
 New 
 
 OCCUPATIONS 
 
 1890 
 
 1900 
 
 11 
 
 
 28 
 
 9 
 
 20 
 
 99 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 33 
 
 146 
 
 20 
 
 11 
 
 61 
 
 7 
 
 455 
 
 70 
 29 
 94 
 
 177 
 51 
 31 
 94 
 
 189 
 69 
 18 
 
 227 
 47 
 
 150.0 
 
 Blacksmiths 
 
 222.2 
 370.0 
 
 Painters, glaziers, varnishers 
 
 Plasterers 
 
 Plumbers, gas and steam fitters 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 
 
 Tobacco and cigar factory operatives .... 
 Tailors 
 
 78.8 
 410.0 
 181.8 
 184.8 
 
 29.4 
 245.0 
 
 Upholsterers 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) 
 
 Machinists 
 
 63.3 
 
 272.1 
 571.4 
 
 Total 
 
 1,096 
 
 140.8 
 
 Haynes, G. E.: The Negro at Work in New York City. P. 71. 
 Occupations of Negro Wage=earners, 15 Years of Age and Over— Manhattan, 1905 
 
 Pursuits 
 
 
 
 No. 
 
 Pursuits 
 
 No. 
 
 Male- 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 . 5 
 
 . 18 
 
 . S 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 . 48 
 
 . 19 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 32 
 
 8 
 
 . 12 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 Male- 
 Masons (brick) 
 
 . . 8 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Carpenters 
 
 Painters and decorators 
 
 . . 26 
 
 . . 7 
 
 
 Plumbers (steam and gas fitters) . . 
 
 Printers and compositors 
 
 Shoe makers and repairers 
 
 Tailors 
 
 . . 6 
 
 
 
 
 . . 14 
 
 Engineers (stationary) . . . 
 Firemen (stationary) . . . . 
 Factory employees (not spec 
 
 Red) 
 
 . . 6 
 
 . . 20 
 
 . . 22 
 
 Female— 
 Dressmakers 
 
 Garment workers 
 
 Milliners 
 
 Seamstresses 
 
 
 
 
 
 . . 164 
 
 Cigar makers 
 
 
 
 . , IS 
 
 5 
 
 Machinists 
 
 Mechanics (automobile, bicy 
 
 sie, 
 
 etc.) . 
 
 . . 16 
 3 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 Haynes: lbnl. Pp. 74-76. 
 
New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 69 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 New Rochelle. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here — a few car- 
 penters. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer because the number 
 has increased within the last four years. The young men are not enter- 
 ing the trades. The artisans are succeeding fairly well. 
 
 Orange. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here — a few masons and 
 carpenters. The Negroes have nothing to gain or lose because the labor 
 unions won't admit them and the few who are acting independently are 
 either incompetent or unreliable or both. Apparently there are no Ne- 
 groes of industrial school training here; a few industrious or "industrially" 
 trained would undoubtedly be of service. The young men are not 
 entering the trades. The artisans who are willing to work are kept 
 busy. 
 
 Schenectady. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here — a few car- 
 penters and masons. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer. The 
 young men are not entering the trades. The artisans are having fair 
 success. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Orange. — Painter and Decorator. We have tried hard to get into 
 the painters' union but have been held out on account of color. However, 
 I use union men. As a rule the white workers do not like to see Negroes 
 on the job, but no better for them. If you can do the work you will get 
 it to do. 
 
 Orange. — Carpenter. I could join with the whites in the union if I 
 wished to do so. I have no need to as I am kept busy, being my own 
 boss. If a workman is capable he can work anywhere. I take contract 
 for all manner of mechanical work and furnish men for any and all lines 
 as well as all materials, such as painting, brick-laying, plastering, slating, 
 excavating and macadamizing. 
 
 Orange. — House Painter. I do not belong to a union. Probably I 
 could join. Out of the union, I have a better chance to work colored men 
 on my jobs and a better chance to get jobs. The white man in my trade 
 seems to be satisfied so long as the colored man will content himself in 
 doing those little jobs down the alleys. Only in part are the conditions 
 growing better. It is seldom the Negro worker gets a chance to show 
 his ability to do things as well or better than the white man. I find more 
 prejudice existing among the white tradesmen toward the colored trades- 
 men than from any other source. It remains, however, for the majority 
 of our mechanics to gain the confidence of the employer thru honesty and 
 punctuality, being always true to the trust however large or small it may 
 be as were our fathers. 
 
70 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Section 22. North Carolina 
 
 The state of North Carolina had a Negro population of 
 624,469 in 1900 and of 697,843 in 1910. The twelfth census 
 recorded the following skilled and semi-skilled Negro workers 
 for the state: 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 2 
 
 Barbers 707 
 
 Steam railway employees 3,268 
 
 Brick and tile makers 825 
 
 Blacksmiths and w h eel w rights .... 719 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 330 
 
 Butchers 165 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 1,500 
 
 Cabinet makers 13 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 157 
 
 Iron and steel workers 90 
 
 Machinists 52 
 
 Male- 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons. 1,112 
 
 Millers 
 
 Painters 
 
 Plasterers 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 
 
 Printers 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses . . . 
 
 Milliners 
 
 Tailoresses 
 
 81 
 
 382 
 
 169 
 
 48 
 
 39 
 
 9 3 
 
 753 
 2 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Chapel Hill. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — masons and car- 
 penters. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer because he seems to 
 have a love for the trades. The results of industrial school training are 
 good. Many young men are entering the trades. The artisans are suc- 
 ceeding in that they have all they can do. 
 
 Kings Mountain. — Few Negro skilled laborers here — carpenters, 
 masons, engineers and blacksmiths. The Negro is gaining as a skilled 
 laborer because he is in demand. Industrial school training is causing 
 more and better work to be done by our race. The young men are enter- 
 ing the trades. The artisans are having good success here. 
 
 Winton. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here — a few masons, 
 painters, carpenters and farmers. The Negroes are gaining in farming 
 but losing in the other pursuits. The reason for this is not known unless 
 it is that farming is the leading industry of this section. No industrial 
 school training has been given to the boys. The girls are doing well in 
 cooking and sewing. Only a few young men are entering the trades. 
 The Negro artisans make a comfortable living. 
 
 Section 23. Ohio 
 
 There were 96, 901 Negroes in the state of Ohio in 1900 and 
 111,443 in 1910. According to the twelfth census the state 
 had in 1900 the following skilled and semi-skilled Negro 
 workers: 
 
Ohio 71 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Male- I Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 5 Painters . . 205 
 
 Barbers 1,359 ! Plasterers 305 
 
 Steam railway employees 202 
 
 Brick and tile makers . 135 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights ... 233 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 101 
 
 Butchers 44 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 242 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 16 
 
 Iron and steel workers 699 
 
 Machinists 55 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 692 
 
 Millers 9 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 25 
 
 Printers 37 
 
 Steam boiler makers 7 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 369 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses .... 573 
 
 Milliners 17 
 
 Printers 2 
 
 Tailoresses 23 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Gallipolis. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here. They are 
 losing because work of all sorts is scarce. There are no graduates of 
 industrial schools here. The young men are entering the trades very 
 slowly. Two or three engineers and two carpenters have establisht excel- 
 lent reputations in their respective trades. 
 
 Ironton. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here— carpenters, plas- 
 terers and brick masons. The Negro is losing as a skilled laborer 
 because of old age, death and the failure of the young men to take up the 
 trades. The Negro artisans are having very little success. 
 
 Oberlin. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here— a few carpenters, 
 painters, shoe makers and masons. The Negro is losing as a skilled la- 
 borer because it requires time, energy, money and encouragement to 
 acquire skill. Pleasure and amusement are more sought after. The 
 young men are not entering the trades. The Negro artisans are having 
 good success. 
 
 Portsmouth. — Many Negro skilled laborers here — stationary engi- 
 neers, blacksmiths, horse-shoers, automobilists, plasterers and tinners. 
 The Negro is holding his own as a skilled laborer. No artisans trained in 
 industrial schools here. A few young men are entering the trades. The 
 artisans here are generally employed. 
 
 Springfield. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — carpenters, iron 
 molders, blacksmiths, brick masons, stone masons and plasterers. The 
 Negro as a skilled laborer is decidedly gaining because there are many 
 more than formerly and in different trades. A few years ago we had no 
 iron molders, now we have more than fifty who are making their living 
 at this trade and the number in the other trades has increased. There 
 are some from training schools here who seem to be prospering. The 
 young men are entering the trades, but not in as large numbers as they 
 should. The artisans here seem to be making a living from their trades. 
 A few are making more than a living. There is a colored contracting 
 carpenter who takes rank second to none in his trade. He builds the best 
 houses in the city. 
 
72 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Ironton. — Plasterer. There exists a jealous feeling on the part of 
 the white workers toward the colored. We have to bid a little cheaper 
 or be very superior in workmanship to the whites. Conditions are grow- 
 ing worse because of prejudice. 
 
 Oberlin. — Carpenter. The union would be open to Negroes. An 
 agreeable feeling exists between the white and colored workers here. 
 For efficient men conditions are growing better. I would say conditions 
 in Oberlin are all one could expect. 
 
 Portsmouth.— Plasterer. I do not belong to a union because I think 
 them detrimental to our race. The feeling between white and colored 
 workers is fairly good where there is no union. I think conditions are 
 growing better for the Negro skilled worker. Thru negligence the con- 
 dition of the Negro here is not what it could be but there are some who 
 are progressing rapidly. 
 
 Portsmouth. — Horse-shoer. There is no union here for my trade. 
 I could join if there were. The feeling between white and colored workers 
 is good. I think conditions are growing better because capital does not- 
 care for texture of hair or color of skin. Good, fast work is wanted. 
 The better and faster the work, the more money for the employer. I am 
 serving time as apprentice but my wages are good. 
 
 Springfield. — Piano Plate Molder. I do not belong to the union 
 because I can not be recognized by the molders' union in this state but I 
 can in Illinois. There is an ill feeling between the white and colored 
 workers in my trade. I can work only in open shops. Yet conditions 
 are growing better because the Negro is grasping every opportunity and 
 the manufacturers are giving him a show in order to hold down strikes. 
 I have been working at the trade for eleven years. I have been making 
 plates for parlor grand pianos for some time. 
 
 Springfield.— Molder. I cannot join the molders' union. The union- 
 ization of men in this trade was to oppose the Negro as well as to protect 
 the trade against unskilled labor. At the present time it is purely preju- 
 dice that operates against us. In many localities the feeling between the 
 white and colored workers is bitter, while in others there seems to be the 
 best of feeling. Universally there is much bitterness. I think conditions 
 are growing better for the Negro skilled worker because: (1) He is 
 English speaking. (2) He is obedient. (3) He is trusty. (4) He will 
 not strike. (5) He is not hard to satisfy. ((5) He is the best mechanic 
 where the opportunity is allowed him. I truly advocate schooling not 
 only in this but in all branches of trades, especially for the Negro. It is 
 not only expected of you to know more and to do better work than the 
 white man. It is required of you. So to go into the trade world equipt 
 you will be able to confront and battle down every opposition. 
 
Oklahoma 73 
 
 Section 24. Oklahoma 1 
 
 There were 55, 684 Negroes in Oklahoma in 1900 and 137, 612 
 in 1910. The census of 1900 recorded the following skilled 
 or semi-skilled Negro workers: 
 
 Oklahoma 
 
 Male — 
 
 Barbers 131 
 
 Steam railway employees 341 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 56 
 
 Brick and tile makers 10 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 17 
 
 Butchers 18 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 61 
 
 Machinists 3 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 54 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 1 
 
 Painters 9 
 
 Plasterers 13 
 
 Printers 9 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) ... 22 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses .... 50 
 Milliners 2 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Clarksville. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here — a few are 
 carpenters. They are gaining because they have increased in number 
 and efficiency. Industrial school training opens more and better oppor- 
 tunities for labor. The young men are not entering the trades. The 
 artisans are meeting with medium success. 
 
 Guthrie. — Few Negro skilled laborers here— carpenters and black- 
 smiths. They are gaining because they are able to compete with the 
 white laborers. Industrial school training causes better homes and more 
 pride. Not many young men are entering the trades. Prejudice and la- 
 bor unions hinder the success of the Negro artisans. 
 
 Hennessey. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here— painters, car- 
 penters, paper-hangers, plasterers and automobile repairers. They are 
 gaining because of their superior skill. Industrial school training gives 
 the Negro the necessary technical knowledge of his trade. Few young 
 men are entering the trades. The artisans are succeeding fairly well 
 here. 
 
 Okmulgee. -Many Negro skilled laborers here — plumbers, painters, 
 blacksmiths, carpenters, engineers and tailors. The Negro is holding his 
 own as a skilled laborer. This being a new place most of those in the 
 trades gained knowledge of them elsewhere. As results of industrial 
 school training the younger men give evidence of more intelligence in 
 their work. Not many young men are entering the trades. The artisans 
 are succeeding well. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Guthrie. — Carpenter. I do not belong to a union because I cannot 
 join with the whites and the Negro workmen are so divided they will not 
 come together and form a union among themselves. The feeling between 
 the white and colored workers in my trade is not good. When a Negro 
 
 'Including statistics for Indian Territory. 
 
74 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 is classed as a good workman the white workmen at once plan to get him 
 out of town. Conditions for the Negro skilled worker are growing better 
 because there are enough of them getting together to support each other 
 which is enabling them to take contracts of much value. The greatest 
 pull back to the Negro is the lack of preparation. 
 
 Hennessey. — Brick and Cement Contractor. I am barred from the 
 union on account of color. A bad feeling exists between the white and 
 colored workers. Extreme prejudice seeks to exclude us from employ- 
 ment. 
 
 Section 25. Oregon and the Northwest (Idaho, Montana, Ne= 
 braska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washing= 
 ton, Wyoming) 
 
 The Negro population of these states in 1900 and 1910 was 
 as follows: 
 
 States 
 
 Idaho 
 
 Montana . . . 
 Nebraska . . . 
 North Dakota. 
 Oregon . . . . 
 South Dakota 
 Washing-ton . . 
 Wyoming . . . 
 
 Total 
 
 1900 
 
 1910 
 
 293 
 
 646 
 
 1,523 
 
 1,834 
 
 6,269 
 
 7,689 
 
 286 
 
 617 
 
 1,105 
 
 1,519 
 
 465 
 
 817 
 
 2,514 
 
 6,058 
 
 940 
 
 2,235 
 
 13,395 
 
 21,415 
 
 According to the census of 1900 these states had the fol- 
 lowing skilled or semi-skilled Negro laborers: 
 
 Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wyoming 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) .... 1 
 
 Barbers 310 
 
 Steam railway employees 72 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 19 
 
 Brick and tile makers 9 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 7 
 
 Butchers 24 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 24 
 
 Iron and steel workers 10 
 
 Machinists 5 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 59 
 
 Millers 1 
 
 Male- 
 Painters 21 
 
 Plasterers 47 
 
 P lumbers and gas fitters 5 
 
 Printers 12 
 
 Steam boiler makers 2 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) 44 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses 87 
 
 Milliners 8 
 
 Tailoresses . . ". 1 
 
 Section 26. South Carolina 
 
 The state of South Carolina had a Negro population of 
 782,321 in 1900 and of 835,843 in 1910. According to the cen- 
 sus of 1900 there were the following skilled and semi-skilled 
 Negro workers in the state: 
 
South Carolina 75 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 Male — I Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 5 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 1,069 
 Barbers 537 , Millers 87 
 
 Steam railway employees 2,930 
 
 Brick and tile makers 567 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 803 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 340 
 
 Butchers 267 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 2,695 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 346 
 
 Iron and steel workers 40 
 
 Machinists 54 
 
 Painters 693 
 
 Plasterers 125 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 47 
 
 Printers 54 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 657 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses . . . 1,992 
 Milliners 3 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Aiken. —Many Negro skilled laborers here— carpenters, masons, 
 painters and smiths. They are gaining. Industrial school training causes 
 them to secure homes and property; to educate the young and surround 
 themselves with more of the comforts and in some instances the luxuries 
 of life. The young men are not entering the trades as they should. The 
 artisans are succeeding well. 
 
 Beaufort. —Not many Negro skilled laborers here — brick-layers, 
 blacksmiths, carpenters, engineers, painters, plumbers, shoemakers, tai- 
 lors, tinners and wheelwrights. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer 
 because he does four-fifths of all the work in his line. He has proven his 
 efficiency and hence gets the work. Those who have had training in in- 
 dustrial schools are in greater demand than the others Many young men 
 are entering trades in industrial schools. The artisans are succeeding 
 well here. 
 
 Florence. —Many Negro skilled laborers here — blacksmiths, carpen- 
 ters, masons, painters, tinners and firemen. The Negro is holding his 
 own as a skilled laborer because he is in demand for the work. Industrial 
 school training has caused some improvement in the quality of the work 
 done by men with technical knowledge of the subject. The young men 
 are not entering the trades as fast as the times demand. The Negro 
 artisans are having very good success. 
 
 Liberty Hill. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here — carpenters, 
 painters, engineers, masons and blacksmiths. The majority are farmers. 
 The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer and is receiving higher wages. 
 Industrial school training causes more skilled laborers. The young men 
 are entering the trades. The Negro artisans are having considerable 
 success because they have no white competition. 
 
 McCormick. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here— farming and 
 carpentry are their chief trades. They are gaining because they are 
 awakening to the fact that skill and competency are required in order to 
 survive. Where the Negro goes with industrial training he is preferred 
 and appreciated. The physical poise and carriage are conspicuous. The 
 young men are entering the trades. The Negro artisans are having good 
 success. They work with the white artisans with great acceptability. 
 
76 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Newberry. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here— carpenters, 
 blacksmiths, bricklayers and painters. The Negro is losing as a skilled 
 laborer because the other races are taking to the trades. Very little re- 
 sults of industrial training are evident. The young men are not entering 
 the trades. The artisans are having fair success here. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Aiken. — Blacksmith. The conditions are growing better for the Ne- 
 gro skilled workers here because they are doing the best and practically 
 all of the work around here. 
 
 Beaufort. — Tinsmith and Plumber. Conditions are growing better 
 as the Negro workers prove themselves efficient and responsible. I find 
 that the trained or skilled workman is always in demand. 
 
 Charleston. — Horse-shoer and Farrier. There is a good feeling 
 existing between the white and colored workers. Conditions are growing 
 better for the Negro skilled laborers because all avenues are open to 
 them. The Negro is the controlling workman in Charleston along all trades. 
 
 Section 27. Tennessee 
 
 The state of Tennessee had a Negro population of 480,243 
 in 1900 and of 473,088 in 1910. According to the census of 
 1900 there were the following skilled and semi-skilled Negro 
 workers in the state: 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 Male— 
 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 5 
 
 Barbers 993 
 
 Steam railway employees 5,542 
 
 Brick and tile makers 532 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 980 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 315 
 
 Butchers 160 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 1,308 
 
 Cabinet makers 30 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 31 
 
 Iron and steel workers 1,242 
 
 Machinists 87 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 1,387 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 100 
 
 Painters 340 
 
 Plasterers 235 
 
 Plumbers and g-as fitters 137 
 
 Printers 45 
 
 Steam boiler makers • 94 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . 709 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses ... 1,377 
 
 Milliners 7 
 
 Tailoresses 6 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Johnson City. — Not many Negro skilled laborers here. There are 
 a few brick masons. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer because 
 those desiring skilled labor would rather have a Negro, all things being 
 equal. The results of industrial school training are very evident in all 
 departments of service. The young men are entering the trades. The 
 Negro artisans are succeeding. They have all they can do. Some of the 
 largest and best houses in the city were built by Negro artisans. 
 
 Memphis. —There are many Negro skilled laborers here — carpenters, 
 brick masons, engineers, blacksmiths, printers and painters. They are 
 
Tennessee 77 
 
 gaining because of the growing demand for them and because of their 
 efficiency. Industrial school training has made a very little improvement 
 over the old artisan. Not many young men of this district are entering 
 the trades. Negro artisans are having much success here. 
 
 Nashville. —Many skilled Negro laborers here — carpenters, painters, 
 blacksmiths, machinists and florists. They are gaining because they are 
 increasing in number and efficiency. Industrial school training has made 
 avast improvement over the old self-made artisan. Many young men are 
 entering the trades. The artisans in this district are having much 
 success. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Johnson City. —Brick-mason. I do not now belong to a union tho I 
 formerly belonged to one. We failed to get a square deal from our white 
 brother workmen and after fifteen years of failure along this line I with- 
 drew from the union. Conditions here are not so good for the feeling 
 between the white and colored workers is very bad and growing worse. 
 
 Memphis. —Brick-mason. I belong to the Brick-layers, Stone-masons 
 and Plasterers' International Union, No. 1, being permitted to join with 
 the whites. In my trade and union a good feeling exists between the 
 races. Memphis, according to my observation, is the best city in the 
 world for a colored mechanic. Here he is recognized by every union ex- 
 cept the plumbers' union, altho there are at least seventy-five or eighty 
 extra good colored plumbers here doing nicely. 
 
 Memphis. — Contractor. I formerly belonged to the Carpenters' 
 Union, No. 152, the whites and blacks having separate unions. Condi- 
 tions are growing better for the Negro skilled workers because they are 
 delivering the same goods that the whites are. They are more careful 
 with their work now than ever before. 
 
 Section 28. Texas 
 
 There were 620,722 Negroes in Texas in 1900 and 690,020 
 in 1910. According to the twelfth census the state had the 
 following skilled or semi-skilled Negro laborers: 
 
 Texas 
 
 Male- 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) . . 4 
 
 Barbers 1,068 
 
 Steam railway employees 4,353 
 
 Brick and tile makers 279 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 526 
 
 Boot and shoe makers 95 
 
 Butchers 170 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 764 
 
 Cabinet makers 9 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 29 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 19 
 
 Painters 164 
 
 Plasterers 30 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 61 
 
 Printers 44 
 
 Steam boiler makers 30 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary ) . . 306 
 
 Female — 
 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses .... 751 
 
 Iron and steel workers 107 | Milliners 5 
 
 Machinists 62 Printers. . 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 309 ! Tailoresses 
 
78 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Beaumont. —Not many skilled Negro laborers in this community — 
 chiefly carpenters and blacksmiths. As a skilled laborer the Negro is 
 losing because of the numerous labor organizations of the whites. Indus- 
 trial school training has evident results here. Young men are entering 
 the trades in goodly numbers. The artisans here are having much suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Cameron. — A few skilled Negro laborers here. The Negro is losing 
 as a skilled laborer because he cannot meet the overwhelming competition 
 of the white laborers. Industrial school training is helping the situation 
 greatly. Young men are entering the trades steadily. Negro artisans are 
 succeeding fairly well. 
 
 Corsicana. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here — chiefly carpen- 
 ters and plasterers. The Negro is losing as a skilled laborer here because 
 they are few in number and the work mostly has to be done by white 
 laborers. Industrial school training has very apparent results here. 
 Young men are entering the trades slowly. Negro artisans are having 
 medium success. 
 
 Dallas. — Not many skilled Negro laborers in this community— mostly 
 carpenters. They are losing because the white laborers are more effi- 
 cient. No results of industrial school training can be seen here. The 
 Negro artisans are having very poor success. 
 
 Houston. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — carpenters, harness 
 makers, plumbers and contractors. They are gaining because of the in- 
 creasing demand for their services and their high efficiency. The majority 
 of these skilled laborers have had industrial school training. Many young 
 men are entering the trades. Negro artisans of this community are 
 having much success, being employed by both races. 
 
 Navasota. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here -carpenters, 
 blacksmiths, engineers, harness makers, painters and tailors. Because 
 of the increased demand the Negro as a skilled laborer is gaining. Indus- 
 trial school training has many good results — increased efficiency, more 
 self-respect and higher aspirations. Young men are steadily entering the 
 trades. Negro artisans are prosperous. 
 
 San Antonio. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — carpenters, paint- 
 ers, plumbers and masons. The skilled Negro laborer is gaining because 
 of higher proficiency, the greater need for his services and the general 
 building up of this section. The results of industrial school training are 
 excellent. Many young men are entering the trades. The Negro artisan 
 here is succeeding fairly well. 
 
 Waco. — Many Negro skilled laborers here — carpenters, blacksmiths, 
 brick-masons, tailors and butchers. The skilled Negro laborer is holding 
 his own here. The results of industrial school training are very poor.. A 
 
Texas 79 
 
 fair number of young men are entering the trades. Negro artisans are 
 having medium success. 
 
 Waxahachie. — Many Negro skilled laborers in this district— carpen- 
 ters, plasterers and blacksmiths. Negro skilled laborers are gaining 
 because of the great increase in their number. Industrial school training- 
 has made a great improvement on the old self-made artisan. A fair 
 number of young men are entering the trades. Negro artisans are having 
 fair success. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Beaumont. — Carpenter. I believe conditions are growing better for 
 the Negro skilled worker. Several real estate companies here have all 
 their building done by colored workmen. The employers say that the 
 Negro is honest in his work and that it is not necessary to stand over him 
 to make him work. 
 
 Dallas.— Paper-hanger and Decorator. There is a great demand 
 for Negro skilled labor because in Dallas there is a great deal of local 
 work such as repair work. If you can do the work your color doesn't 
 matter. This applies to all trades. I have been contracting here for 
 twelve years and today I have the largest resident trade of any workman, 
 white or black, in Dallas. In the spring and fall I can't secure help 
 enough to keep up with my work. I could work a dozen men six months 
 in the year. 
 
 Houston. —Contractor and Builder. Negroes have no union here and 
 the whites do not allow Negroes to join their unions. A good feeling ex- 
 ists between the white and colored workers. There is no trouble at all. 
 I employ white and Negro laborers and they work together peacefully. 
 Conditions are growing better for the Negro skilled laborer because he is 
 proving that he is able to do the work and is doing his work the very best. 
 
 Section 29. Virginia 
 
 The state of Virginia had 660,722 Negroes in 1900 and 
 671,096 in 1910. The census of 1900 recorded the following 
 skilled and semi-skilled Negro workers for the state: 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Male — 
 
 Engineers (civil and mechanical) ... 10 
 
 Barbers 1,094 
 
 Steam railway employees 5.418 
 
 Brick and tile makers 863 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 1,222 
 
 Boot and shoe makers . 623 
 
 Butchers 239 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 1,619 
 
 Cabinet makers 239 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 69 
 
 Iron and steel workers 1,173 
 
 Machinists 86 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . . 967 
 
 Male- 
 Millers 112 
 
 Painters 250 
 
 Plasterers 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters ...... 
 
 Printers 
 
 Steam boiler makers 
 
 Engineers and firemen ( stationary ) 
 
 Female — 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses . . . 
 
 Milliners 
 
 Printers 
 
 Tailoresses 
 
 508 
 96 
 55 
 12 
 
 797 
 
 1,445 
 2 
 6 
 
80 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Bristol. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here — carpenters, brick- 
 masons and blacksmiths. They are losing as skilled laborers, being 
 barred out of the trades unions. The results of industrial school training 
 are fairly good. Young men are entering the trades very slowly. Negro 
 artisans here are succeeding fairly well. 
 
 Charlotte. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here — chiefly carpen- 
 ters and blacksmiths. The Negro is gaining as a skilled laborer because 
 he competes favorably with the white artisans. Many good results of 
 industrial school training are evident. Young men are entering the trades 
 in increased numbers. Negro artisans are having much success. 
 
 Farmville. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — chiefly carpenters 
 and masons. They are gaining because of the great demand for their 
 efficient service. Industrial school training has made very poor results 
 here. Many young men are entering the trades. Negro artisans here 
 are having excellent success. 
 
 Petersburg. — A fair number of skilled Negro laborers here — chiefly 
 painters, carpenters and blacksmiths. There is very little to indicate 
 that we are near a great industrial school, tho we are. Young men are 
 not entering the trades. The Negro artisans here are kept busy. I re- 
 cently noticed on a large building being erected that all of the plasterers 
 working on it were Negroes. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Charlotte. —Blacksmith. I have never cared to consider the unions 
 for I own and operate my own shop and have all the work I can do. There 
 is no color line here for first-class workers. The Negro youth seems to 
 be leaving the trades to the white people. Proficient workers are in de- 
 mand. My advice to the young men of my race would be to learn to be 
 masters of the trades and then stick to them. 
 
 Farmville. — Blacksmith. There is a very good feeling providing 
 one knows and does well what he is doing in the trades. I think conditions 
 are growing better for the Negro skilled workers because in most cases 
 they can do just as good work as any and their expense is not so great, 
 therefore they are engaged. 
 
 Farmville.— Painter and Decorator. There is a reasonably fair 
 feeling with the best white workmen. I think conditions are growing 
 better because the Negro workman who is thoroly prepared seems to give 
 better satisfaction in this community. 
 
 Petersburg. — Practical Horse-shoer. I do not belong to a union 
 because I think it does not profit a black workman to belong. It would 
 be ixttcr for him, I believe, if no union had ever existed. The Negro 
 skilled laborers are meeting improving conditions because so many of 
 
West Virginia 
 
 8 
 
 them are learning under skilled workmen and hence doing good work. I 
 know my business from start to finish and can make any patent of shoes 
 from my anvil that is on the market. 
 
 Section 30. W^st Virginia 
 
 The state of West Virginia had a Negro population of 
 43,499 in 1900 and of 64,173 in 1910. The twelfth census 
 recorded the following skilled and semi-skilled Negro workers 
 for the state: 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 Male- 
 
 Male- 
 
 4 
 
 Steam railway employees 1,555 
 
 Brick and tile makers 12 
 
 Blacksmiths and wheelwrights .... 83 
 
 Painters 
 
 Plasterers 
 
 Plumbers and gas fitters 
 
 19 
 
 30 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 Butchers 10 
 
 Steam boiler makers 
 
 Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 
 
 Female- 
 Dressmakers and seamstresses .... 
 
 Milliners 
 
 Printers 
 
 1 
 
 Carpenters and joiners 76 
 
 Cabinet makers 1 
 
 Cotton and other textile mill operatives 1 
 Iron and steel workers 11 
 
 92 
 
 76 
 2 
 
 Marble and stone cutters and masons . 101 
 
 1 
 
 General Conditions 
 
 Bluefield. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here — a few carpenters. 
 The Negro is losing as a skilled laborer because he is not allowed to enter 
 the trades unions. Industrial school training has made no improvement 
 here. Young men are entering the trades very slowly. The Negro arti- 
 san is having very poor success. 
 
 Charleston. — Many skilled Negro laborers here — chiefly carpenters, 
 brick masons and paper-hangers. As a skilled laborer the Negro is 
 gaining because of the increase in number and efficiency. Industrial 
 school training has added to the efficiency of the Negro. A fair number 
 of young men are entering the trades. The success of Negro artisans 
 here is fairly good. 
 
 Hill Top. — Not many skilled Negro laborers here — chiefly carpenters, 
 brick masons, painters and printers. The Negro is gaining as a skilled 
 laborer because of the increased opportunities in the trades. Industrial 
 school training has produced some very apparent results. Young men 
 are entering the trades in large numbers. Negro artisans are having 
 moderate success. 
 
 Replies of Artisans 
 
 Charleston. — Machinist and Lineman. Conditions are not so good 
 as they should be because the whites are banded together in a union 
 which strictly bars Negroes. The trade which 1 have mastered best is 
 that of lineman and telephone work in general but owing to such a great 
 
82 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 opposition in this section by the linemen's union to Negro labor I have 
 been completely barred from the telephone work after having served nine 
 years in that capacity. My experience in this matter is the experience of 
 others of my race. 
 
 Charleston. — Painter and Decorator. I do not belong to a union 
 because of the race prejudice as displayed by whites and because I feel 
 that trade unions as now conducted are detrimental to Negro workmen. 
 Conditions are growing better for the Negro skilled workers because 
 locally the field is ample for more workers and the Negro is preferable 
 when he can meet the demands. The young men of our race must not 
 grow discouraged in the trades because they do not meet with immediate 
 success but must learn to "stick to their bush" for results. 
 
 Institute. —Carpenter. I have never tried to join the unions for I 
 have always received the wages for which I asked. Negro skilled workers 
 are meeting better conditions. What the Negro needs now is higher 
 practical training so as to be able to measure arms with any one. 
 
 Section 31. The Negro and Organized Labor 
 
 The Negro workman has had to encounter racial prejudice 
 on the part of his white fellow workmen from early colonial 
 days until the present time. 1 In the present study an attempt 
 has been made to ascertain: 
 
 (1) The attitude of Negro workmen toward labor organi- 
 
 zations. 
 
 (2) The attitude of labor organizations toward Negro 
 
 laborers. 
 
 The results of the former have appeared in the replies of 
 Negro artisans printed in sections 6-30.- The results of the 
 latter are collected in this section (Section 31.) 
 
 Some unions admit Negroes in considerable numbers as 
 the following selected reports show: 
 
 The Tunnel and Sub-way Constructors' International Un- 
 ion, New York City, reports about two hundred Negro mem- 
 bers. "In our trade they are as good as there is in the busi- 
 ness. " 
 
 The Tobacco Workers report four or five hundred Negro 
 members, but this is a decrease from the one thousand five 
 
 'See Atlanta University Publications, No. 7, pp. 15:5-157. Also pages 28-37 of this study. 
 'See pages 48-82. 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 83 
 
 hundred which they had in 1900. They report that the Negro 
 workmen "do fairly well." 
 
 The United Mine Workers of America report that there are 
 twenty-five thousand colored members and that eighty per 
 cent of the largest local union in the organization, with one 
 thousand, five hundred and eight members are Negroes. 
 The secretary-treasurer reports that the Negro workers are 
 "intelligent, honorable, progressive and good workmen.' ' 
 The United Mine Workers of America place a fine on any 
 local which discriminates on account of color. 
 
 The Brotherhood of Railroad Freight Handlers has fifty 
 Negro members. 
 
 The Hod Carriers' and Building Laborers' Union reports 
 "about a thousand members," but gives no further informa- 
 tion. 
 
 The International Union of Pavers, Rammermen, Flaggers, 
 Bridge and Stone Curb Setters reports one hundred and fifty 
 Negro members as against four hundred in 1900. 
 
 The Brick-layers, Masons and Plasterers' Union reports 
 several hundred Negro members. The Negroes make "aver- 
 age and fair" laborers. "Our constitution provides that any 
 discrimination against a man on account of color subjects the 
 offending union to a one-hundred dollar fine. The chief and 
 only objection to colored men was on account of color. This 
 objection is likely to be overcome in time." 
 
 There are other unions that have Negro members. In some 
 cases, however, the whites are not elated over the Negro mem- 
 bership. A union man from central Indiana writes as follows: 
 
 I take more than a mere passing interest in the Negro race, more 
 especially those of them who are wage-earners. No true trade unionist 
 will object to the Negro belonging to a labor union. I mean by a true 
 trade unionist one who understands the economic or industrial question. 
 All the men whom I have heard object to the Negro joining a labor union 
 or refusing to work with a Negro, were in all cases men who did not 
 understand or comprehend the first principles of the so-called "labor 
 question." In my own craft (cigar making) as far back as 1867 we ex- 
 punged the word "white" from our International Constitution. There 
 are many Negroes who are members of the Cigar Makers' International 
 Union and we who believe in the uplift of humanity are pleased to have 
 
84 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 them with us. For a number of years a Negro, William Jones by name, 
 was international treasurer of the Cigar Makers' International Union. 
 His home was in Mobile, Ala., but of course he was elected largely by the 
 votes of northern men. This objection to the Negro in unions is not only 
 ridiculous but is criminal and is born of hatred, jealousy and ignorance. 
 The Negro wage-earner is a competitor with his white brother (or sister) 
 and in order for us whites to maintain our standard of living and secure 
 anything approaching humane conditions of labor, we must of necessity 
 organize and educate the Negro wage-earner. 
 
 This clap- trap about race superiority is silly. If the white man is so 
 much superior to the Negro in a given calling or in all industrial pursuits 
 he need fear nothing from his Negro competitor. I have seen specimens 
 of mechanism and other tests of the Negro's ability and I say without 
 fear of successful contradiction that where the Negro is industrious and 
 temperate in his habits he is capable of advancing and becoming proficient 
 in the same proportion as any other race. I find again that in those 
 unions where Negroes are admitted to membership and are given and 
 guaranteed all privileges with any other member, that they make loyal 
 and trustworthy union men. One of the staunchest unions we have in 
 Indiana is the Negro Building Laborers' Union of Indianapolis. Among 
 the miners are some of the most active and loyal union men in the United 
 Mine Workers of America. I might mention among these Charles Griffin 
 and John Adams of Brazil, Ind., and James Bishop of Clinton, who was 
 treasurer of his local union for a number of years and who turned over 
 every penny to his successor in office when he retired from the position: 
 more than could be said of several of his white predecessors. 
 
 In this city we have not a great many Negroes but we have lots of 
 Negro haters, I regret to say. In the Trades Assembly that has nineteen 
 affiliated unions, Brother E. L. James (Negro) has held the position of 
 statistician of the organization for four years. In the barbers' union 
 here the whites (not all of them) refuse to turn out on Labor Day because 
 of the presence of the Negro, but I am pleased to state that their course 
 in this is not approved of by the unionists in the other unions and the 
 active white members of the barbers' union do not join the others in this 
 matter. As I said in the beginning, the men and women who really 
 understand the economic question do not hold this prejudice against the 
 Negro and the people who do hold this prejudice would be just as bitter 
 against the Italian, Polish or any other race if the Negro were not here. 
 You are at liberty to make whatever disposition of this letter you may 
 deem proper. 
 
 Wishing God-speed to all who are striving for the uplift of humanity, 
 I am, Yours sincerely, 
 
 A few Negro members are scattered here and there in a 
 number of unions. 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 85 
 
 The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners' sec- 
 retary writes: 
 
 Our constitution does not discriminate against Negro membership, 
 altho to the best of my knowledge, so far as the United States is con- 
 cerned, they are a very rare exception, probably owing to the fact that 
 we have but very few locals establisht in the South. I have never heard 
 any uncomplimentary remarks made against any Negro that has been 
 admitted into our organization, either as a trade unionist or as to his 
 ability as a carpenter, but as previously stated they have been so few in 
 number that it would be impossible for me to attempt to give you any 
 reliable information regarding this matter. 
 
 The secretary-treasurer of the International Typographical 
 Union is a little non-committal in his answers: 
 
 Competent persons of both races have always been eligible to mem- 
 bership in our organization. This office does not keep any record showing 
 how many males, females or Negroes are connected with the organiza- 
 tion. All persons, under our laws, must receive the same wages, pay the 
 same dues and enjoy the same benefits. A local union can reject any 
 applicant for membership if it so desires. The rejected applicant has the 
 right of appeal to the executive council and that body has authority to 
 order his admission if it believes he has been dealt with unjustly by the 
 local union. In some of our southern unions there are objections to the 
 admission of Negroes. This is a natural condition which time will proba- 
 bly eliminate. 
 
 The Boot and Shoe Makers' Union has a few Negro mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Some unions are composed of city or state employees. In 
 such cases few colored members are usually admitted. There 
 are, for instance, three members of the Firemen's Association 
 of Chicago, 111., and eight members of the City Firemen's 
 Protective Association in Wilkinsburg, Pa. 
 
 Four union men are reported in Carlinville, 111. ; six union 
 pavers are reported in Cleveland, Ohio; a very few belong to 
 the Western Federation of Miners; twelve belong to the Gran- 
 ite Cutters; twelve belong to the Newspaper and Mail Dealers' 
 Union, New York; twelve to the Building Laborers of Port- 
 land, Oregon; twenty-five to the Paving Cutters' Union. 
 
 Quite a number of Negroes belong to Wood, Wire and 
 Metal Lathers' International Union; a few belong to the Ger- 
 man Tailors' Union; the Metal Polishers' Union has one col- 
 
86 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 ored member; the Tobacco Strippers' Union of Tampa, Fla., 
 has seventeen colored members; the Janitors' Protective Un- 
 ion of San Francisco, CaL, has three colored members; the 
 American Brotherhood of Slate Workers has fifty; the Inter- 
 national Brick, Tile and Terra Cotta Workers' Alliance has 
 forty or fifty; the Quarry Workers' International Union has 
 a "small number;" the International Brotherhood of Foun- 
 dry Employees probably has a few. The International Broth- 
 erhood of Book Binders has four. 
 
 The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union writes: 
 
 There are few if any Negroes in our trade. At least I don't know of 
 any just now. I knew that in Philadelphia two years ago some Negro 
 women were taken in shirt waist factories to replace strikers. I do not 
 know if they are still there. 
 
 A typical attitude of the unions with a few Negro members 
 is that of the molders. The editor of the International Mold- 
 ers' Journal writes: 
 
 The International Molders' Union of North America, now in its fifty- 
 third year of existence, has never in its laws discriminated against the 
 Negro molders. As membership in the organization depends upon the 
 votes of the members in the local union where application for membership 
 is made, it has followed that very few, in fact an inconsiderable number, 
 have been initiated by our local unions in the South where the Negro 
 molders are to be found. Here and there, in the east, north, central 
 west and Pacific coast Negroes have been taken into membership and 
 placed on an equality with the other members so far as the union was 
 concerned. 
 
 During recent years a large number of Negroes have worked at 
 molding in Chattanooga, Tenn., and many efforts have been made to 
 organize them. Some eleven years ago I made strenuous efforts to organ- 
 ize the Negro molders of Chattanooga but failed. We found considerable 
 prejudice on the part of our membership and a suspicion as to the genu- 
 ineness of our motives by the Negro. Within the last year we have 
 
 placed a southerner, Mr. — , in the southern field and he gave 
 
 special attention to the matter of organizing the Negroes in Chattanooga 
 with considerable success and also with much opposition from the foun- 
 dry men. In fact, the foundry men informed the Negroes that if they 
 joined our organization they would no longer work at the trade in Chatta- 
 nooga. We have struck several foundries to protect the Negro to mem- 
 bership in our organization and at present we are paying strike benefits 
 to a number. 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 87 
 
 Our first difficulty which we had to overcome in connection with the 
 Negro molderwas to impress upon the southern molder that the question 
 was one of economics, it was a question of industrial equality and not one 
 of social equality, and that our organization did not exist for any purpose 
 except to educate the workmen, regardless of their race or color, to act 
 collectively in the industrial field for the purpose of improving their term 
 of employment. 
 
 Some of our unions in the South who a few years ago would have re- 
 fused to initiate Negro molders have since that time not only done so, but 
 placed themselves on record as favoring the initiation of Negroes. 
 
 It is interesting to consider the replies made by the labor 
 organizations. Many answer directly, many give evasive 
 answers, others say that the question of Negro members has 
 not been considered, and still others reply simply no Negro 
 members. In other cases it is reported that few or no Negroes 
 work at the trade. Illustrations follow: 
 
 Gardeners' Protective Union. — We have only a small membership 
 and up to this time no Negro has applied for admission to our union. 
 However, in my experience of years as a gardener, I have never heard 
 of a good Negro gardener. 
 
 Watch Case Engravers' International Association of America.— The 
 
 Negroes, in my opinion, should receive as much consideration and as good 
 treatment as any other human. They have dark skin, but have all other 
 faculties the same as the best white man that ever lived. They are neg- 
 lected in education due to the fact that there is so much pride and vanity 
 in too many of our own race and color. 
 
 Gas and Water Workers, Oakland, Cal.— Our business comprises the 
 manufacture and distribution of gas, and in the event of a Negro being 
 employed, he would be welcomed to membership in our local. 
 
 Wire Drawers. — No religion or color deprives any body from belong- 
 ing to our union and it should not in any union. 
 
 United Cloth Hat and Cap Makers of North America.- During the 
 existence of our organization no Negroes have ever applied for admission 
 to our union. As a matter of fact we are not aware of any Negroes em- 
 ployed in the cap industry, as it is a more or less skillful trade. As a 
 matter of principle we do not draw any line between race and race; we 
 consider all races alike and it is my firm belief that Negroes can make 
 good workers and good union members. 
 
 International Association of Steam, Hot Water and Power Pipe 
 Fitters and Helpers. —In place of objections it is necessary that they 
 should join to attain the results desired. 
 
88 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 International United Brotherhood of Leather=\vorkers in Horse 
 
 Goods. — No discrimination. Every local union is competent to pass upon 
 the applicants for membership, can reject or accept for reasons satisfac- 
 tory to the local. 
 
 Stove Mounters' International Union.— We have no laws concern- 
 ing this question. 
 
 Flour and Cereal Mill Employees. — "Have not had to make a test. " 
 They state the objections to Negroes "because they belong to a class of 
 themselves" and do not see how these objections are likely to be overcome. 
 
 The Fur Dressers' Union of Brooklyn, N. Y., says the question has 
 not yet been considered. 
 
 The International Union of Elevator Constructors says: Our locals 
 have the right to refuse any candidate, let him be black or white. All 
 candidates are balloted on and are questioned as to their qualifications. 
 
 The undecided attitude is represented in . the case which 
 follows: 
 
 The Machinists' Helpers and Laborers' Union of Washington, Ind., 
 
 says that Negroes cannot join their union "at present." The reply 
 further gives an interesting history. "We have not had any Negroes in 
 this shop until six months ago. Some of them are good workmen. Like 
 all classes of people there are bad workmen. As for the objections, we 
 have not had any applications yet, and the people here have not been 
 used to working with the Negroes and the northern folks are stubborn 
 about going into any union with the Negro. When these shops were 
 built they went into a contract not to hire any Negroes or foreign men for 
 twenty years and the contract was lived up to until the strike here two 
 years ago. Since the strike was settled they have been hiring some Ne- 
 groes, but the most of the Negroes that are living here are well-to-do and 
 own good farms and they do not bother with the shops much; but those 
 that are woiking in the shops are good, well-to-do folks and peaceful; 
 but as far as organizing there has not been anything said to them about 
 going in and they do not knew anything about the federation. There are 
 not more than about twenty Negroes working in the shops." 
 
 The same union in St. Thomas, Ontario, has no Negro members but 
 declares "our constitution will take a candidate irrespective of creed, 
 color or nationality." 
 
 Other difficulties are hinted at: 
 
 The Journeymen Tailors' Union of America says that Negroes may 
 join their union: "Negro tailors are principally in the southern states. 
 We have some members in Macon, Augusta and a few other towns in the 
 Carolinaa and one or two in Chicago. We have discovered that in some 
 instances the man who employs a few colored tailors discriminates against 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 89 
 
 them if they join the union, hence it is hard to interest them to become 
 members." 
 
 The separate Negro local is one method of solution: 
 
 The International Union of Steam Engineers has one colored local 
 in Washington, D. C. "Colored men whom I have met in our craft have 
 been able mechanics and good trade unionists." 
 
 The American Brotherhood of Cement Workers has this provision 
 in its constitution: "In localities where colored men are working at ce- 
 ment work colored locals can be formed, provided, however, such mem- 
 bership shall be granted transfer to colored locals only." 
 
 The Wood , Wire and Metal Lathers' International Union says : ' 'With 
 one or two exceptions we have found the colored men unable to maintain 
 an exclusive colored organization. We have establisht several colored 
 locals in the South, but only two of them have ever made a success, one 
 in Savannah and the other in Charleston, the one in Savannah having 
 been in existence since our international was formed. I attribute much 
 of its success to the influence of one strong character in their ranks, W. 
 E. Searles, who has been secretary for a number of years. We estab- 
 lisht an exclusive colored local in Philadelphia, at the request of both 
 the white and colored lathers in that city; but it was an absolute failure. " 
 
 The Building Employees' Union of New York has no Negro members 
 and explains: "In 1909 we had about twelve Negro members (janitors) in 
 our union. We had trouble getting or rather keeping a meeting hall on 
 account o'f them and formed them in a branch as we do have branches of 
 different languages. They met two or three times and dropt out. We 
 are quite willing to help in forming a branch again." 
 
 Outside forces sometimes compel separation as hinted at 
 here: 
 
 There are no Negro members connected with the unions in Herrin, 
 111. The secretary writes: "Being a miner mysef will say there is no 
 objection to Negroes in the miner's organization as long as they can 
 find towns or cities where there is no objection to them living. Our con- 
 tract with the operators provides for no discrimination on account of 
 creed, color or nationality. So does our constitution provide the same." 
 
 The general argument is often put in this way: 
 The Negro is employed by the large packing industries extensively 
 for in many cases he has the highest paid positions, notably in Kansas 
 City, Kan., and East St. Louis, 111. He is equally as skillful as the white 
 man and in many cases the employer prefers him. It would thus be the 
 height of folly for our organization to legislate against him. As to the 
 number we have with us we cannot state as in the smaller cities they are 
 affiliated directly with the local union and no mention is made of color in 
 
90 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 their report to the general office. Of course there are localities in the 
 South and Southwest where local prejudice prevents their becoming mem- 
 bers of the local union, but in all cases they can form locals by themselves 
 and be chartered by the international organization. 
 
 Personally I might say that so long as a man is competent tp take 
 my situation I care not what his color may be— white, black or yellow. 
 I want him to become a member of the organization as the rules and 
 usages make it possible for him to do. In our organization (the Amalga- 
 mated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workers of North America) the Negro 
 stands on the same plane with the white man. Our obligation states 
 emphatically that a member of our organization agrees not to discriminate 
 against a fellow worker on account of his creed, color or nationality. 
 
 Many unions frankly exclude Negroes. 
 
 Negroes are not admitted to membership in the Order of Railway 
 Conductors of America. Eligibility to membership in this order is gov- 
 erned by the laws as adopted by the Grand Division of said order and 
 which provides that "any white man shall be eligible to membership who 
 is at the time of making application actually employed as conductor of a 
 train of a steam surface railway." 
 
 The Cutting, Die and Cutter Makers answer, "Nothing doing on the 
 Negro." 
 
 The Brotherhood of Railway Car Men of America has neverhad any 
 Negro members at all and does not admit them now. An officer writes: 
 "I have never lived in the South myself and do not know very much about 
 thern. Will say that I think the reason Negroes have never been admit- 
 ted into the order is because our southern brothers will not agree to it. 
 We have never had any application for admission that I ever heard of." 
 
 The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineermen denies 
 Negroes admission by their constitution and by-laws. The general sec- 
 retary says: "Our delegates in convention have always objected to them 
 becoming members." 
 
 The International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers, Iron Ship Builders 
 and Helpers of America reports that Negroes are not admitted to the 
 union and that their membership is provided "by secret work." Some 
 of the officers, however, are working to organize in Newport News, Va., 
 ship builders who are colored into a separate union. "Our laws, at the 
 present time, would not permit the organizing of the Negro, but we hope 
 to see that lodge. I expect the future generations to provide a better 
 way so that we can be together in one local. Of course, if they organize 
 under the banner of this order their traveling cards will only be in colored 
 locals. This is for the beginning, but in future years I expect this will 
 be eliminated. There is only color against them, that is all anyone can 
 say and we cannot work it out by violent or drastic measures; we must 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 91 
 
 take time to work it out. I am a southern man out and out, raised and 
 
 educated in . I worked with the Negroes and they made good union 
 
 men, and always in their places when called on. There is a future for the 
 race but it must not be forced on the white race." 
 
 The Federation of Labor of Madison, Wis., reports no colored members 
 in any of the local unions and says that they bar Negroes from member- 
 ship and that some of them refuse to recognize the traveling card of the 
 Negro mechanic. This is on account of color and the objection "is not 
 likely to disappear. These men form their own local unions if there are 
 enough to do so," says the secretary, and then he launches forth: "I 
 also wish to state that the American Federation of Labor does not bar 
 any nationality no matter what creed, color or sex, and separate charters 
 may be issued to unions composed exclusively of colored members. The 
 American Federation of Labor spends large sums to organize all wage- 
 earners without regard to class, race or sex, etc. These people, if organ- 
 ized, will become better workmen." 
 
 The American Wire Weavers' Protective Association admits only 
 white males. 
 
 The Paving Cutters' Union of the United States and Canada: An 
 
 officerof that union says: "We have no law against them. Haven't had 
 much experience with the Negro. I think there are good and bad among 
 them as there are among the whites. But what colored men I have ob- 
 served in our trade, they do not seem to have the same proficiency in 
 handling the tools as the white man. From our members in the South, 
 particularly in Georgia, whose minds on the Negro question possibly may 
 be biased to a more or less extent, I am led to believe that the Negro is 
 unable to grasp the principles of unionism. He (the Negro) believes in 
 the theory that half a loaf is better than none. He is not capable, they 
 say, of being a good union man, working out his own salvation. Possibly 
 the day is coming when he will equal the white man, mentally. The Ne- 
 gro, speaking in connection with his chances industrially, labors under 
 great disadvantages. In the first place, the white man will not, especially 
 those in the South (I refer especially to our own members), tolerate the 
 Negro to be on the same level as himself. The fact is that the Negro is not 
 wanted in the trades. He is all right as long as he is satisfied to occupy 
 a position less than or below that occupied by the white man; under such 
 conditions he and the white man get along very well together. When I speak 
 of the colored man not seemingly being able to handle the tools with the 
 same proficiency as the white man, I perhaps should qualify that state- 
 ment by mentioning the fact that in order that a man — any man— be pro- 
 ficient at a trade it is necessary for him to learn in his young days,— grow 
 up with the trade as it were. Those of the colored people who have been 
 able to a more or less degree to learn our trade have done so under ad- 
 verse conditions. They, as far as I know, have never been trained in 
 
92 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 their young days. Those who have managed to break into the trade have 
 picked it up as best they could while working as helpers to the mechanics. ' ' 
 
 It is probable that ninety per cent of the Negroes of the 
 United States are residents of the South and so it is of interest 
 to note the attitude of unions in that section. The reports 
 from the South are of special interest. 
 
 The Waycross, Ga., Trade and Labor Assembly reports that half 
 of the brick-layers and forty-seven of the carpenters are Negroes. Ne- 
 groes are, however, refused admission to many of the unions and some of 
 the unions refuse to recognize the traveling card. The secretary thinks 
 Negro workers are "treacherous and unreliable — can't make mechanics 
 and are poor imitators." These objections will "never" disappear. 
 
 Sedalia, Mo., has no Negro union men, but the secretary of the labor 
 organizations writes: "In some localities perhaps there still exists that 
 race prejudice kept alive by the employing class in order that they may 
 array race against race for the exploitation of both. Economic pressure 
 will eventually compel a closer union between all races — including the 
 Negro— for their emancipation from wage slavery; and the Negro will 
 be found fighting just as valiantly for the emancipation of the toilers as 
 those who fought to break the shackles from four million blacks." 
 
 The Georgia Federation of Labor has one Negro local. The secre- 
 tary says: "The Georgia Federation does not bar Negro locals or mixt 
 locals. In a good many of the carpenters' and painters' unions there are 
 Negro members. I have only one local that is composed entirely of 
 Negroes. Some of the locals absolutely bar Negroes from membership. 
 The chief objection that I hear urged against them is the difficulty expe- 
 rienced in controlling them in case of strike and in preventing them from 
 working under the standard wage scale in their locality." 
 
 The Trade Assembly at Fort Worth, Tex., has no Negro members 
 altho it has had them in the past. The objections are said to be "social. " 
 "Negro delegates of common labor and hod carriers and mortar mixers 
 have been admitted to the Trade Assembly and Building Trades Council 
 when affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, but in the skilled 
 trades Negroes have not been admitted." 
 
 The Federal Labor Union of Dallas, Tex., "keeps Negroes out" by a 
 provision in the by-laws and by the refusal of members to elect Negroes. 
 The reason for this is thus stated by the secretary: "The ingrained 
 prejudice towards anything that looks to the members like an approach 
 towards social equality. I think that this prejudice against allowing Ne- 
 groes to join unions is unreasonable and that the pressure of economic 
 forces will remove it. As Negroes become more skilled they will become 
 more and more the competitors of the whites in the labor market and if 
 I hey are not organized, either in unions with whites or in unions parallel 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 93 
 
 with the whites and bound by the same obligations and getting protection 
 from corresponding white unions, they will cut the throats of the whites 
 just as very poor immigrants do in the East or the North. The rise of 
 Negro unions for self-protection will probably hasten this day. Time and 
 education will go far to produce co-operation among Negroes and whites 
 for self-protection just as the progress of industry has forced them to co- 
 operate in all sorts of work for the bosses." 
 
 There are no Negro members in the Central Trades and Labor Coun= 
 cils of Roanoke, Va., and none in the local unions. If any applied there 
 might be objections on account of color, but such objections are "likely 
 to arise" as time goes on. 
 
 From a town in Oklahoma where there are no Negro union men 
 comes the following account: "In general we have not had much dealings 
 with the Negro. One Negro was refused admission to the halls who car- 
 ried a card fully paid up. That was when we were under a charter of the 
 International Liberty Union. The most important part was that the 
 Negro referred to above was a deputy organizer whose commission had 
 not yet expired." 
 
 The Trades and Labor Council of Memphis, Tenn., has twenty-five 
 or thirty Negro members in affiliated unions. The writer thinks that 
 prejudice against Negro union men will disappear in time. 
 
 On the other hand, the secretary of the Marshall, Texas, Trades and 
 Labor Council does not think these objections will disappear. He says 
 that one "cannot make them stick as union men; will scab in spite of all 
 that can be done." This council has no affiliated Negro unions. 
 
 The Central Labor Union of Miami, Fla., also has no Negro members. 
 The secretary says that admitting Negroes has a " tendency to lower 
 wages and self-respect of white mechanics and casts a stigma of associa- 
 tion," and he hopes that these objections will never disappear. 
 
 The Labor Assembly of Lavvton, Okla.,has no Negro union men and 
 says "we are not troubled with them to any extent." 
 
 In Greenville, Texas, Negroes cannot join the unions but may have 
 unions of their own. The secretary writes: "The Negro makes a first- 
 class union man when organized and properly instructed. In times of 
 strikes and trouble he is a stayer. I long to see the day when all of the 
 colored people are organized industrially and politically and cease to be 
 thrown about by every ism that comes along; but this will continue until 
 he is organized and educated." 
 
 From Temple, Texas, we learn that Negroes are kept out 
 of unions: 
 
 The objection is the color-line, caused by southern traditions. Nearly 
 all men raised south of Mason and Dixon's line do not want to give the 
 Negro any chance to become expert mechanics. The South needs a great 
 
94 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 awakening to its own necessities from the laboring man's standpoint. I 
 have been successfully connected with the labor movement for several 
 years in all parts of the country as far as the southern born mechanic is 
 concerned. First, they will not attend their local meetings; second, they 
 want someone else to take the lead and bear all the brunt of battle. If 
 an important subject is to come up on meeting night just a quorum is 
 present perhaps out of thirty or forty members. It's the lack of union 
 interest and principle. Have worked hard here for a year and only with 
 the help of rounders have been able to organize the printers and musicians; 
 clerks and bookkeepers, stenographers, factory employees seem to be 
 afraid of losing their jobs. 
 
 The Teachers' Union of San Antonio, Texas, says no Negroes may 
 join this union. "They would not think of applying here. It is unthink- 
 able because it means social equality which saps the foundations of race 
 purity. Neither mongrel Negroes nor mongrel whites are desirable. ' ' The 
 writer does not think that these objections are likely to be overcome in 
 time and "certainly hopes not." 
 
 An officer of the Texas State Federation of Labor writes as follows: 
 "It is generally understood that the white trades unions of Texas do not 
 admit colored people to membership. Once in a while a Federal Labor 
 Union is organized which admits on equal terms both races, but no such 
 organization has ever lasted long and there is none now in the state. 
 There are a few Federal Unions, Longshoremen's Unions and Barbers' 
 Unions composed entirely of colored people. These are admitted to 
 membership and representation in the Texas State Federation of Labor 
 on equal terms with white unions. Colored people, however, do not apply 
 for membership in white unions and therefore none has ever been refused 
 admission. Legally unions cannot refuse to admit a Negro if he is other- 
 wise qualified, but a majority of no union would admit that a Negro was 
 qualified for membership. Unions cannot legally refuse to recognize the 
 traveling card of a union man, no matter if he is colored, but they would 
 scarcely tolerate his attending meetings or working on the same job with 
 other members. In some trades they make good workmen, which creates 
 all the more enmity against them. If they were not capable of becoming 
 skilled workers in any trade they would be more cheerfully tolerated by 
 the average union membership. The foundation objection to admitting 
 them to membership in unions is racial prejudice, which again is based 
 almost wholly on the competition for jobs which is so keenly felt by work- 
 ing men of both races. The Negro is marked with a color that distin- 
 guishes him from other poor working men and he is condemned because 
 he often works cheaper, is more docile (servile), takes abuse without 
 quitting and lives cheaper than white men. He also has inherited from 
 slavery days a lack of discrimination as to what is honestly his and is in- 
 clined to retaliate for cruel treatment by petty pilfering to help out his 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 95 
 
 starvation wages. The poor white man starves and helps himself to any 
 little thing he can pick up when he can no longer secure anything by ser- 
 vility, beggary or cajolery. The situation is quite deplorable and you see 
 the poor white man must have some one to kick. And there he is! Look 
 at the color of his skin. 
 
 "These objections will disappear with a general uplift of the condi- 
 tions of the poor. When the economic conditions are such that poverty 
 will be abolisht and there is no man without plenty of jobs at good wages, 
 racial prejudices will entirely disappear. Make monopoly get off the back 
 of the worker and no longer will any bad feeling exist between the races. 
 Until this is done thru an equitable system of taxation, relieving labor of 
 the burden and placing it upon monopoly, there is no hope of relief from 
 the present deplorable situation. 
 
 "Apply the single tax and racial prejudice will disappear and not 
 before. I have no time to elaborate this statement, but it is true. 
 
 "Yours truly, . " 
 
 The reports from the various city centrals furnish perhaps 
 the best conspectus of conditions and states of mind. 
 
 California 
 
 The Alameda County, California, Central Labor Council has Negro 
 members in the Teamsters, No. 1015 Clay street, Oakland; Cooks and 
 Waiters, No. 31, 128£ Telegraph avenue, Oakland; Journeymen Barbers, 
 No. 134, 1512 Broadway, and United Laborers, No. 13018, 311 Fourteenth 
 street. Applicants have not been refused to their "knowledge," altho 
 "there is a strong racial prejudice evidenced in some of the so-called 
 skilled craft unions. I have known some very good Negro workmen who 
 were blacksmiths, carpenters, brick-layers, plasterers, painters and 
 printers. My experience is that there is no line of skill in which the 
 Negro may not attain efficiency. The chief objection is racial; the cause 
 of this is the tendency toward miscegenation which is the natural out- 
 growth of social assimilation in the union meeting. I do not believe 
 that these objections will disappear in time from the fact that they inva- 
 riably enhance with result of experience in both white and black races. 
 Personally I sympathize with the Negro rather because his presence here 
 is the result of the white man's greed to which I find myself and all wage 
 workers victims. I feel no personal animosity toward him, tho I must 
 confess to aversion to social intercourse of a very close nature, possibly 
 based in the belie? that when nature created the races it was with the 
 intent that they be kept separate. I owe the race a debt of gratitude 
 which inspires a sympathy with all who are mentally fit and morally my 
 equal. I believe that as time goes on with education and the inculcation 
 of race responsibility in industrial affairs men will prove the economic 
 friends of the Negro. The only bar that now stands between him is his 
 
96 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 preference to supplant the white man in industry at a lesser price than 
 that establisht by unions; in short, his allowing himself to be misled into 
 scabbing- by those who have even less use for him than his white union 
 brother has. I believe that the American Federation of Labor plan to 
 induct him into separate unions where race prejudice prevents him joining 
 where white men dominate will raise the Negro in the estimation of all 
 union men. Thru organization into unions he will be taught our inter- 
 responsibility. 
 
 The secretary of the Central Labor Council of Los Angeles, Cal., 
 says: "We have one local union of Negro building laborers and hod 
 carriers of about one hundred and fifty members that is not affiliated 
 with the American Federation of Labor and for that reason is not affil- 
 iated with the central body. Yes, there are Negro members in the locals. 
 Cannot give the number but not a great many. Brick-layers, hod car- 
 riers, plasterers, carpenters, cigar makers, boot-blacks, teamsters, elec- 
 trical workers. Negroes are barred from only those whose international 
 constitution prohibits. We have done our best to get Negro workmen 
 interested but have not had a great deal of success. They seem to be 
 afraid to get into the organization for some reason or other. Thru the 
 locals we have taken the matter up with the international unions that 
 have a clause in their constitutions that bar Negroes, urging them to 
 remove the clause." 
 
 The Richmond, Cal., Contra Costa Central Labor Council has fifteen 
 cement workers and ten hod carriers. These are Negroes. They also 
 admit that the unions do bar Negroes from membership and have refused 
 admission to Negro applicants and that they do refuse to recognize the 
 traveling card of a Negro mechanic. "I organized the Cement Workers' 
 Union; at the beginning sent for the regular organizer to come from San 
 Francisco. His comment after looking over the men assembled among 
 whom I had six Negroes was, 'It looks too dark for me. ' This remark 
 of the organizer expresses the only objection I have ever heard. I would 
 put it, not in his language, but in my own, which is prejudice against race 
 and color. This man, a naturalized citizen, proposed to bar these men 
 who were born citizens. I told him to go back home and that I would 
 organize the union myself. He said that I would not get a charter but I 
 knew our rights under the law and put the application for a charter up to 
 headquarters in such a way that they knew I understood. Well, we got 
 the charter and have a very harmonious mixt union which has been in 
 existence now for three years. I state this case at some length, believ- 
 ing it would be the best explanation I could make. Prejudice is all I can 
 see against the race. The colored men are doing their work and satisfy- 
 ing the employer and are good union men, live strictly up to the rules, 
 pay their dues and attend meetings. The large cities of San Francisco 
 and Oakland, an hour and a half from Richmond, bar them wherever they 
 can. I am president of the Central Labor Council of this county; am also 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 97 
 
 a veteran of the Civil War and am still on the firing line for principles I 
 advocated over forty years ago." 
 
 The Sacramento, Cal., Trades and Federation Council has one hundred 
 Negro barbers as members, one hundred and fifteen in the cement 
 workers, forty-five hod carriers and fifty teamsters. 
 
 The San Francisco, Cal., Labor Council has no Negro members. The 
 secretary writes: "Whatever objections there may have been in the 
 past was due to race prejudice which has been overcome, the white mem- 
 bers realizing that if the Negro is going to live he must work and if they 
 don't let him work alongside of them during the time they are enjoying 
 industrial peace it is only natural for the Negro to take the place of the 
 white man when he is on strike. Also the Negro has stood the test as a 
 union man wherever he has been on strike and the local men here know 
 it. There are not many Negroes in San Francisco and very seldom do we 
 hear of a Negro artisan coming along. They generally make their home 
 in Los Angeles, where the climate is warmer. There they have a strong 
 membership in the unions and some very active representatives in the 
 central councils." 
 
 Colorado 
 
 The Colorado State Federation of Labor of Denver, Col., replies that 
 "there are Negro members in the local numbering one hundred. Several 
 Negroes are employed in coal mines in this state." 
 
 The Pueblo, Col., Trades and Labor Assembly is "composed of Ne- 
 groes to about thirty in number. The Steam Engineers' local, No. 21, 
 
 has one member. Brother , of the steam engineers, is considered a 
 
 first-class workman. Negroes make good building trades laborers." 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 The Central Labor Union of Derby, Conn., says: "There are four- 
 teen locals connected with this organization and about seven have Negro 
 members. They are the carpenters, brick-layers, stone masons, iron 
 molders, machinists, hotel employees and hod carriers. No Negro appli- 
 cant has been refused admission as far as I am able to find out; it's too dan- 
 gerous. As the capitalist does not look at color, we have to use the same 
 rules to play the game. Formerly in industry when all industries were 
 small, ideas were small, and the boss usually worked beside his men and 
 what the boss thot the men usually agreed with, and he was particular whom 
 he had to work with and, of course, that to a large extent kept the Negro 
 out. But as industries became diversified and the workers were divorced 
 from the boss and, in fact, never saw the boss, he did not care who did 
 the work so long as his profits were not interferred with; so when his 
 employees struck he filled their places with Negroes, who had been denied 
 membership in unions, and that is what will make every union eventually 
 open its doors to the Negroes. One of the most optimistic signs of the 
 
98 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 times I know of is the growing feeling in the trades union movement for 
 economic justice for the Negro. I will state from personal experience on 
 the Negro that up to four or five years ago no one was more prejudiced 
 against the Negro than myself and I thot it was just and proper to keep 
 him out of my union if possible. However, I have since that time joined 
 the Socialist party and have found out my mistake, that as the capitalist 
 class is no respecter of persons, neither can the workers be divided in 
 sex, race or color, but must constitute themselves into a political party 
 separate and distinct unto themselves and take over all the means of 
 production and distribution, thus insuring every man a job and means of 
 livelihood with time for recreation and self-culture. Then and then only 
 will the Negro worker and white worker be able to pave the way for the 
 real brotherhood of man." 
 
 The Central Labor Union of Waterbury, Conn., has no Negro mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Illinois 
 
 The Aurora, 111. , Trades and Labor Assembly has ' 'twenty -five Negroes 
 in Building Laborers' Union, about six in Teamsters' Union; both unions 
 are composed of white and black members. No objections as to color. 
 As a rule there is a good class of Negroes in Aurora." 
 
 The Carlinville, 111., Trades and Labor Assembly has "about fifteen 
 Negro members in the Federal Labor Union." 
 
 The Carrier Mills, 111., Central Labor Union has "probably about one 
 hundred and fifty altogether in Miners' Unions, Nos. 1059, 1112 and 2837. 
 Have no objections here at this place, but there are places in this country 
 where they are not allowed." 
 
 The Chicago Federation of Labor is a central body comprising over 
 two hundred and seventy local unions. "We have one local union com- 
 prising all Negro members, — the Asphalt Pavers and Helpers' Union, No. 
 25, — who are regularly affiliated with the international, who are affiliated 
 with the American Federation of Labor. We have Negro delegates from 
 several other organizations. I know of no union affiliated with the fed- 
 eration that prevents Negroes from joining; at least this office has never 
 received any complaint from that direction. We often try to organize the 
 Negro but find it difficult for one reason or another, principally, the em- 
 ployer is successful in always getting some Negro to tell others that 
 organized labor is not their friend, etc. The employer always has in 
 mind it is to his best interest to keep the Negroes unorganized." 
 
 The Danville, 111., Trades and Labor Council has about seven hun- 
 dred Negro members in Miners' Union and forty in the Brick, Tile and 
 Terra Cotta Workers' Alliance, but admits that they do bar Negroes 
 from membership and have had Negroes as applicants. "We recommend 
 that the Negro join the trades union of his trade whenever possible. We 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 99 
 
 also recommend that the Negro make a study of the different political 
 parties so when voting to vote intelligently and to back up his union with 
 political action." 
 
 The Springfield, 111., Federation of Labor has Negro members in the 
 local unions, consisting of miners, barbers, hod carriers and cement work- 
 ers. Some local unions do "bar Negroes from membership and Negro 
 applicants have been refused admission to the unions." 
 
 Indiana 
 
 From the Indianapolis, Ind., Central Labor Union comes the word 
 that they have Negro members composed of "hod carriers, building la- 
 borers, plasterers and the structural iron workers. The plasterers num- 
 ber five, the structural iron workers one, and the hod carriers and build- 
 ing laborers about one hundred and seventy-five. Once the bricklayers 
 refused a Negro member but the international lodge fined the local $150. 
 Color is sometimes an objection but the chief objection is the fact that 
 once the doors are opened wide too many would come and cause an over 
 supply of mechanics for the work in view. The objections will certainly 
 disappear in time. The objection held against the colored race is the 
 same as is held against the foreign races who are generally brot into 
 sections where labor troubles abound and the prejudice is more deep 
 seated against the colored man on account of the fact that he understands 
 the English language; but for every colored man who, to use a harsh 
 term, scabs there are two white men who do the same. The best solu- 
 tion is to see that the mechanic or artisan is thoroly schooled in all 
 branches of whatever trade he may learn and ability will certainly do more 
 for him than any agitation either for or against organizing him can off- 
 set. " 
 
 The Logansport, Ind., Trades Assembly has "twenty-one Negro mem- 
 bers in the Journeymen Barbers' Union, No. 48, out of a total of forty- 
 three; from four to five in Building Laborers' Union, according to state 
 of the trade." The railway orders do bar Negro members. The secretary 
 has never heard of the traveling card being refused in that city nor that the 
 electrical workers would bar Negroes. ' 'There are many objections offered, 
 but I have failed so far to hear a valid one. I am persuaded that it is pure 
 hatred and race prejudice in most instances. Ignorance lies at the bot- 
 tom of it all. The railway men put forth the rather weak argument that 
 the Negro is not reliable and cannot be trusted. This, of course, pertains 
 to railway train service. I hope these objections will disappear." 
 
 In Richmond, Ind., the Central Labor Union has no Negro members 
 and "there has been very little race trouble here; in fact, not as much 
 as occurs in the average northern city of this size. Negroes have not 
 applied for admission into the unions, therefore we have never heard any 
 objections." 
 
i 00 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Iowa 
 
 The Dubuque, la., Trades and Labor Congress has no Negro members 
 "at present." The secretary writes: ''Whilst quite a number of colored 
 people are employed in this city yet they do not seem to be impregnated 
 with unionism as we would like." 
 
 Kansas 
 
 The Emporia, Kansas, Trades and Labor Council has no Negro mem- 
 bers. The secretary- treasurer writes : ' 'Negroes should be treated white 
 but kept separate." 
 
 The Girard, Kansas, Industrial Labor Council has four Negro mem- 
 bers belonging to the Federal Labor Union, No. 12756. Unions do bar 
 Negroes from membership. 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 The State Branch American Federation of Labor of Boston, Mass., 
 sends the following message: "We know no race, no creed and no color." 
 
 The Haverhill, Mass., Central Labor Union has twenty-eight Negro 
 members in the Boot and Shoe Workers' Union. No Negro applicant has 
 ever been refused "on account of color." The chief objection to them is 
 "their willingness to take unfair jobs. " These objections may disappear 
 "by trade union education. " 
 
 The Central Labor Union of North Adams, Mass., has no Negro 
 members "at present." The objections being "none outside of not de- 
 siring social intercourse. But in the broad field of labor and labor organi- 
 zation I know of no objection, either to work with or to hold membership 
 in the same organization." 
 
 The Central Labor Union of Springfield, Mass., has Negro members 
 in unions of brick-layers, builders, laborers, carpenters, painters and 
 coal handlers. The secretary says: "From answers received from ninety- 
 five per cent of the local unions affiliated with their central body, not one 
 barred a Negro from membership if he was a capable mechanic and could 
 pass the regular examination given to all applicants. A case came to my 
 attention: Several on a job in a small town where a number of brick- 
 layers refused to work with a Negro and the labor union of which they 
 were members was fined $100." 
 
 Michigan 
 
 The Ann Arbor, Mich., Trades Council has one Negro member, a 
 carpenter. 
 
 Missouri 
 
 The Springfield, Mo., City Central Union has "a colored local of 
 building laborers and hod carriers with a membership of eighty. The 
 barbers have twenty members, but they do bar some applicants for mem- 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 101 
 
 bership. We have Negro workmen in the harness craft, molders and 
 blacksmiths that I know of and they are fair mechanics; and also bar- 
 bers and team drivers. Their color is the most often used in the rejecting 
 of colored men in a white local. The objections are not likely to disappear 
 altogether but they are not as common as formerly." 
 
 Montana 
 
 The secretary of the Anaconda, Mont., American Federation of La- 
 bor writes that they have "twenty-one Negro members at present as 
 compared with six in 1900. The average Negro of this vicinity makes a 
 first-class citizen as a whole and the Negroes are very industrious. 
 There are about forty-five Negro members of the Mill and Smeltermen's 
 Union employed by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company as engine 
 drivers and switchmen." 
 
 Federal Labor Union, No. 12968, of Miles City, Mont., has no Negro 
 members, objection being "color." "At present I am working with a 
 colored man and have been for two years past for the street department. 
 I find him a good working man. All crafts, including electricians, team- 
 sters, engineers and common laborers, are organized and all members 
 paid up. He sent in his application two years ago and was turned down 
 on account of color, but we recognized his rights and therefore he is 
 working right amongst strictly union men and is not bothered." 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 The Omaha, Neb., State Federation of Labor has no Negro members 
 ' 'at present' ' altho in 1900 they had ' 'several in building laborers. ' ' "No, ' ' 
 the unions cannot refuse to recognize the traveling card of a Negro union 
 man. "We want the Negroes to feel that we will protect them if they 
 will stand with us." 
 
 The Central Labor Union of Lincoln, Neb., has "probably ten" Ne- 
 gro members in the Plasterers' and Federal Labor Unions. The secretary 
 writes: "The only objection that I know of is the old story: 'A Negro is 
 not as good as a white man.' " 
 
 The South Omaha, Neb., Central Labor Union has Negro members, 
 numbering one in the barbers' union and one in the printers. The secre- 
 tary writes, "They are not usually good union men." 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 "The State Branch of the New Hampshire Federation of Labor in 
 Manchester, N. H., is a voluntary federation of unions in this state and 
 I do not know of any union in the state that bars the Negro workman 
 from membership, neither do I believe that there is any good reason to 
 bar any worker because of his color, if he is otherwise eligible to mem- 
 bership. I do not know how many Negroes are members of locals in this 
 state. We meet in convention once a year, and we have had a Negro 
 
1 02 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 delegate twice from a local of paving cutters, he being the only colored 
 man in the local. " 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 The Central Labor Union of Camden, N. J., sends the following 
 message: "We never have had any application from any local union that 
 was composed of colored people." 
 
 New York 
 
 The New York State Federation of Labor says: "This is a delegate 
 body and there is no distinction as to color or creed. Negro delegates 
 have been seated and none rejected." 
 
 Berlin, N. Y., Central Labor Union sends the following word: "If we 
 had more Negro members as good as the one we have I think it would be 
 better for the unions." 
 
 In Ithaca, N. Y., the Central Labor Union has Negro members in the 
 brick-layers and masons to the number of five and the barbers two. "No 
 objections and from experience I think it is general thruout the North. 
 In our Central Labor Union we have one colored delegate. He is from 
 the Barbers' Union; he is one of our best workers and highly appreciated 
 by all." 
 
 The Central Labor Council of Jamestown, N. Y., has Negro members 
 in the Barbers' Union. The secretary writes: "The objections are 
 'color. ' I believe this is a serious mistake. I myself have more respect 
 for the Negro than for the aliens who come to this country, as the Negro is 
 an American citizen and we should help to uplift him and respect him." 
 
 Central Trades and Labor Council of Kingston, N. Y., has a Negro 
 member "and he is recording secretary of the Butchers' Union; also one 
 who belongs to the Hod Carriers' Union and he is a hustler." 
 
 The Lancaster, N. Y., Central Labor Union has no Negro members 
 and says "there are some members here who do not like to come in con- 
 tact with the Negro as a member to our different locals. But the general 
 feeling is this way: If he is a man, black or white, and can show us good 
 credentials, we take him in." 
 
 In the Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Trade and Labor Council there are Negro 
 members— two carpenters, one sheet metal worker and one hod carrier. 
 
 The Salamanca, N. Y., Central Labor Council has no Negro members 
 "at present," the reasons given being "social." 
 
 The Federation of Labor, Troy, N. Y., has Negro members in the 
 barbers, waiters, teamsters and other unions. The objections are none. 
 "A delegate in this body, Mr. Adams, is one of our most efficient and re- 
 spected members. He is a full-blooded Negro and represents the Barbers' 
 Union, composed mainly of whites." 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 1 03 
 
 The White Plains, N. Y., Central Labor Union has Negro members: 
 "Laborers' Local Union, No. 9, has fifteen members. Also the hod car- 
 riers have ten members. The members of this body that have worked 
 with them say they are apt to be careless in their work. The Negro 
 members that attend this body attend meetings better than some of 
 the white men." 
 
 Ohio 
 
 The Akron Central Labor Union of Akron, Ohio, has Negro members 
 in the unions of barbers, steam engineers and lathers, altho there are "very 
 few." The traveling card of a Negro mechanic is not refused recogni- 
 tion "any more than whites." "There are no objections to the Negro if 
 he should want to be a union man, so far as I know. What few Negro 
 members we have in this city are good mechanics and make good mem- 
 bers. " 
 
 In Columbus, Ohio, the Federation of Labor has Negro members, 
 consisting of the musicians, who have fifteen members. The Hod Car- 
 riers' Union has all Negroes. The secretary writes: "I have never heard 
 of any objection in this community unless it is one of association. The 
 brewery workers have two Negro members in the powers' department as 
 firemen. We have no Negro problem in this state to amount to anything, 
 the chief objection being that of the whites not wanting to associate with 
 the Negro. ' ' 
 
 The Central Labor Union of Fremont, Ohio, has no Negro members 
 altho they used to have Negro members in the local unions. "When you 
 find one good one you will find one bad one." 
 
 The Mansfield, Ohio, Trades Council has no Negro members. The 
 secretary-treasurer says he does not know the objections. "What few 
 unions do bar them do so on orders from headquarters. What their objec- 
 tion is I do not know." 
 
 The Middletown, Ohio, Trades and Labor Council has Negro members 
 in the "hod carriers only." 
 
 The East Palestine, Ohio, Trades Council "has two locals partly com- 
 posed of Negroes; that is, about fifty members per local. There are two 
 in the barbers and four in the brick-layers and masons. We do not think 
 it would be policy to bar any nationality or color from labor organizations 
 as long as they conduct themselves in the right manner and use the organi- 
 zation to which they belong in the right manner and for the cause which 
 it advocates— the uplift of the working man and wages." 
 
 The Steubenville, Ohio, Trades and Labor Assembly has Negro 
 members in the unions of barbers, hod carriers and teamsters. The bar- 
 bers have thirteen, the hod carriers sixteen and the teamsters eight. The 
 local unions do bar Negroes from membership and Negro applicants have 
 been refused admission to the unions and the traveling cards are refused 
 in most cases. 
 
1 04 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Oregon 
 
 The Trades and Labor Council of Salem, Ore., has no Negro members. 
 "The bar-tenders' locals require that the Negroes form a separate union 
 and will not allow them in with the whites. The chief objection being, 
 as far as I know, simply the fact that they are black." 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 The Bradford, Pa., Trades Assembly has one or two Negro members. 
 They say some unions do bar Negro applicants, not all. "There are so 
 many lazy, worthless Negroes, who bring the whole race into disrepute. 
 The honest working Negro is treated squarely as far as my observations 
 go. They have been delegates to this body but the union they belonged 
 to disbanded. Whether the objections will disappear or not depends on 
 the Negro himself, I think." 
 
 The secretary of the Chester, Pa., Federation of Labor says: "I don't 
 know of any objection, as we have never yet been up against the question 
 of admitting them. The Negro in this section is as a rule usually working 
 at cart driving or laboring work in general, and as yet they have made 
 no attempt to get into the trades in general. But I must say if they tried 
 to join the unions in this city, I think we would have to be shown before 
 they would be taken in, as color prejudice is rather strong." 
 
 The Lancaster, Pa., Central Labor Union has no Negro members "at 
 present;" there were hod carriers but they have withdrawn and are now 
 a lodge. I can give no reason at all for objections, because we have no 
 applications from them and not many work in our own crafts that are 
 organized. We have had a national treasurer from Tampa, Fla., who 
 was a Negro artisan of my own craft of the International Cigar Makers' 
 Union of America, and have thousands of good union men of his race and 
 we don't bar them in any place. As for other crafts in other localities, I 
 could not say; but here we never get any applications for membership as 
 yet." He hopes these objections will disappear. 
 
 The Nanticoke, Pa., Federation of Labor has Negro members. They 
 state that local unions make their own rules, but they think none is 
 excluded in this state. 
 
 The Royersford and Spring City, Pa., Trades Council has no Negro 
 members. "The only objections that I ever heard of amongst the various 
 trades unionists here was because they are Negroes. What few Ne- 
 groes that I have ever had occasion to come in contact with in any of our 
 public works, I can personally say that I would much rather work with 
 the colored man than the majority of the dumpings of Europe that land 
 on our shores every day." 
 
 The Williamsport, Pa., Trades Union Assembly has Negro members 
 in the hod carriers' and barbers' unions. The secretary says: "In this 
 city I notice in particular the race is lazy and indifferent, as probably in 
 
The Negro and Organized Labor 1 05 
 
 other sections of which I know not. On the other hand, we have with us 
 a few Christian gentlemen — black faces, but white hearts, and who may 
 be trusted in the extreme." 
 
 In Wilkesbarre, Pa., the Central Labor Union has no Negro members 
 but has Negro delegates. Negro applicants can "form unions of Negroes 
 in all that do refuse to admit and get charters from international unions. 
 Most of the objections are racial and will disappear the more the Negro 
 takes part in the union movement." 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 The Woonsocket, R. I., Central Labor Union has no Negro members 
 and the secretary writes "there has never been any Negroes who applied 
 for admission to any of our local unions." 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 The Central Labor Union of Ashland, Wis., has no Negro members. 
 The secretary writes: "Some unions admit only white men, barring In- 
 dians and Chinese as well as Negroes. Lower plane of living makes 
 these willing to work at a lower wage and consequent lowering of stand- 
 ards. Racial prejudice is at the bottom. Race problem has no bearing 
 at so northern a point as this and receives little attention." 
 
 The Fond du Lac, Wis., Trades and Labor Council says: "Some have 
 one member or so, among whom are masons and brick-layers. The ob- 
 jections are none because we are all wage slaves regardless of creed or 
 color." 
 
 The Milwaukee, Wis., Federated Trades Council has Negro members 
 in the carpenters, hod carriers and cement workers. "There is no objec- 
 tion to admitting them to trade unions here. In fact they are engaged 
 in any trade. Every attempt is made to get them to join." 
 
 The Waukesha, Wis., Trade and Labor Council has no Negro assem- 
 bly. The secretary says: "We have no Negroes in our locals and never 
 had any applications." 
 
 Washington 
 
 The Central Labor Council of Seattle, Wash., has "some Negro mem- 
 bers, number unknown, but a sprinkling in painters, building laborers, 
 federal (common) labor and carpenters. This being a northern country 
 and the racial problem being of an oriental nature there is very little ob- 
 jection to the Negro on any grounds." 
 
 Porto Rico 
 
 The Central Labor Union of Porto Rico sends the following message: 
 "Our organization has ninety per cent Negro members. As a state we 
 have unions composed of ninety per cent of colored people. There are 
 Negro members in locals; in fact, more than three thousand are colored 
 
1 06 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 members in the trades of carpenters, masons, janitors, printers, machin- 
 ists and all trades. We have no division or difference of color lines in our 
 country. We could not tolerate such divisions of race anyway in this 
 country. Here in Porto Rico there are two classes of people, the rich 
 men and the poor men, and there are no other differences among the 
 people than those which come of social standing. We fight against the 
 ignorance of the people and against the exploitation and tyranny put in 
 practice for those who make capital." 
 
 The Caguas Central Labor Union of Porto Rico says: "Our members 
 are one thousand and we have three per cent of Negroes in the unions. 
 There are some in all unions." 
 
 Ontario 
 
 The Hamilton, Ontario, Trades and Labor Council has Negro mem- 
 bers but cannot state the exact number. They include cigar makers, 
 tobacco workers, lathers, barbers, teamsters and letter carriers. The 
 secretary writes: "I am instructed to inform you that Negro artisans 
 are not discriminated against in this city; that, if so, it has never been 
 brot to our notice." 
 
 Section 32. Some Results of the Attitude of Unions 
 
 What are some of the results of the attitude of organized 
 labor toward Negro members? As mentioned before, the 
 separate Negro local is one method of solution. The secretary 
 of a Negro local in New Orleans, the Street Track Repairers' 
 Union, writes: 
 
 In answer to your question blank, let me say that I am a Negro, 
 filling the office of corresponding secretary of our local union, working 
 hard by day and attending to my official duties at night, not feeling 
 the least impatient in so doing because I have the union at heart. I have 
 been and always will be for the union cause even if this local sinks. I 
 shall be with one that is above the tide if I have to send my application 
 to some other local of the American Federation of Labor. I always try 
 to keep my conscience clear with my fellow mates and brethren so that 
 they may not point the finger of scorn at me. 
 
 On the other hand, many Negroes are working peacefully 
 as members of mixed unions. Numerous instances of this 
 are noted in the replies of artisans printed in sections 6-30. 
 From Sheridan, Wyoming, comes the following message: 
 
 I would like to state that I have been a member in good standing of 
 Local No. 126% for the past four years. I am a charter member and 
 have boon a regular attendant upon the meetings save when I was absent 
 
Some Results of the Attitude of Unions 107 
 
 from the city. During this period there has never been the slightest ob- 
 jection raised whenever a Negro candidate was presented for member- 
 ship. You are at liberty to use this in any way you choose. 
 
 The relation of the Negro to organized labor in Pennsyl- 
 vania is discussed at length in Dr. Wright's "The Negro in 
 Pennsylvania. ' ' The following selections are taken from that 
 valuable study in economic history: 1 
 
 The great mass of Negro laborers are unorganized and come in con- 
 tact but little with the labor union. There are a few Negroes in Phila- 
 delphia who are members of some of the unions, viz., the carpenters, stone 
 masons, brick-layers, painters, cement layers, asphalt pavers, etc. On 
 the other hand, there are some unions which do not admit or have not 
 admitted Negroes, such as the machinists, locomotive engineers, etc. In 
 the more skilled trades the Negro union laborers number less than two 
 hundred in Philadelphia and less than three hundred in Pennsylvania. Of 
 unskilled labor the most thoroly organized group is that of the hod carriers. 
 Thruout the state there are Negro hod carriers. In Philadelphia there is 
 a local union composed chiefly of Negroes, with a Negro president. This 
 union, the Light Star Lodge, owns a four story brick hall, valued at about 
 $20,000. In Pittsburg also the Hod Carriers' Union is composed pre- 
 dominantly of Negroes, but is not as large as the Philadelphia lodge. 
 Next to the hod carriers come the miners. All of the Negro miners in 
 the state are union men and members of the United Mine Workers of 
 America. These are located chiefly in the western part of the state, 
 having their district headquarters at Pittsburg. The United Mine Work- 
 ers is one of the few unions in which the Negroes agree that they re- 
 ceive fair treatment. In some of these miners' unions there are Negro 
 officers and Negroes are always in attendance at the annual meetings. 
 
 Negroes have made some attempts at independent organizations. The 
 most successful of these is that among the hoisting engineers, steam and 
 gas engineers, started in Pittsburg in 1900 and incorporated in 1903 under 
 "The National Association of Afro- American Steam and Gas Engineers 
 and Skilled Laborers in America." While the intention is to organize 
 Negro labor on a racial basis, there is no antagonism to the general labor 
 movement. It is merely believed by the promoters to be better for 
 Negro workmen. This union has been of slow growth, however. There 
 are only three locals in the state; two at Pittsburg, having fifty members, 
 and one at Reading. In Philadelphia there is an organization of hoisting 
 engineers which as yet is not connected with the Pittsburg union. There 
 are numerous societies and clubs among Negroes which are organized 
 along labor lines; but which are more social and beneficial clubs than la- 
 bor unions. The largest of these is the Hotel Brotherhood, establisht at 
 
 1 Wright, Dr. R. R., Jr.: The Negro in Pennsylvania, pp. 94-95, 98-100. 
 
108 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Philadelphia in 1881, and including- present or former hotel employees. It 
 pays sick and death benefits and acts as a kind of clearing house for hotel 
 labor. In 1906 the brotherhood purchased a club house at the cost of 
 $15,000. The bell-men, the Pullman car porters, the janitors, the private 
 waiters, the caterers, the coachmen and others in domestic and personal 
 service, have similar but smaller organizations. These organizations 
 serve largely as aids in securing work, but have made but little attempt 
 
 to regulate wages and apprentices 
 
 The general opinion of the Negro workers in the Pittsburg steel mills 
 who were interviewed by the writer is that the unions are a hindrance 
 rather than a help to the Negro. Several have been members and one 
 had been president of a southern union and a delegate to the National 
 Convention of Steel Workers; some had gone out on strikes for the union. 
 Their testimony is summarized as follows: 
 
 1. The organizations out of which the Amalgamated Association of 
 Steel and Iron Workers was formed did not admit Negroes. 
 
 2. After the Amalgamated Association was formed white union men 
 refused to work with Negro union men or to help protect Negro work- 
 men, thus making union membership of no industrial value to the Negro 
 workers. 
 
 3. All the new opportunities secured by Negroes have been gotten 
 in spite of the union, not with its aid. 
 
 4. Membership was offered to Negroes only after they had success- 
 fully won their places against unions and the pledges of membership gen- 
 erally broken by the white members. . - . . 
 
 . . . When the present investigation was made . . . very few 
 Negroes could be found who had recently applied to the unions for ad- 
 mission. . . . The . . . investigator . . . found a very pro- 
 nounced opinion prevalent among the Negroes that they were not welcome 
 in the unions. Now instead of applying for admission to the unions, the 
 Negroes take for granted that the unions are hostile and they do not seek 
 to join. 
 
 This attitude has the effect of preventing many Negroes from at- 
 tempting to follow their trade. The newcomer who has probably worked 
 at the trade of a carpenter in the South is informed as soon as he reaches 
 the state that he cannot work at his trade because of the hostility of the 
 labor unions. Having probably heard this also before he left the South, 
 after a desultory search he gives up under the impression that the union 
 is the cause of his inability to get work at his trade. The fact, however, 
 is that it is not always the union as much as the increased competition 
 and higher standard of efficiency of the more complex community into 
 which he has come. 
 
 The leaders of the labor movement both in Pittsburg and in Philadel- 
 phia are agreed that there is in theory no hostility on the part of the 
 union against the Negn). Must of them see clearly what a disadvantage 
 
Some Results of the Attitude of Unions 1 09 
 
 to the labor movement it would be to have Negroes hostile to the move- 
 ment or the movement hostile to the Negroes. They complain that the 
 Negroes have been used in many instances to injure their cause and they 
 know that, with increasing intelligence and skill, Negroes will be more 
 capable of retarding the movement for the uplift of labor. Most labor 
 leaders have to contend very largely with mediocre intelligence and often 
 gross ignorance among white men; with greed and selfishness, with human 
 nature as it is. They claim that as the ordinary white man who joins the 
 Christian church is not revolutionized in his idea about the Negro, so the 
 one who joins the union probably has undergone but little change in re- 
 gard to the Negro. They point out also that non-union white men are as 
 averse to working with Negroes as union white men. At any rate as 
 the situation now is the majority of Negroes are non-union and will 
 probably so remain until they develop enough strength independently so 
 that they can be of more definite help or hindrance to the union cause. 
 By keeping Negroes out of the trades competition is lessened for the men 
 in the union. As long as Negroes wait to be invited in by the unions 
 they will remain outside. Only by succeeding in spite of the indifference 
 of the union and even its occasional hostility can Negroes hope to be 
 recognized. 
 
 The situation in New York City is discussed by both Miss 
 Ovington and Dr. Haynes, whose interesting and valuable 
 works have been referred to in former pages. Miss Ovington 
 says: 1 
 
 To the colored man who has overcome race prejudice sufficiently to 
 be taken into a shop with white workmen the walking delegate who 
 appears and asks for his union card seems little short of diabolical; and 
 all the advantages that collective bargaining has secured, the higher 
 wage and shorter working day, are forgotten by .him. I have heard the 
 most distinguished of Negro educators, listening to such an incident as 
 this, declare that he should like to see every labor union in America de- 
 stroyed. But unionism has come to stay, and the colored man who is 
 asked for his card had better at once get to work and endeavor to secure 
 it. Many have done this already and organized labor in New York, its 
 leaders tell us, receives an increasing number of colored workmen. Miss 
 Helen Tucker, in a careful study of Negro craftsmen in the West Sixties, 
 found among one hundred and twenty-one men who had worked at their 
 trades in the city, thirty-two, or twenty-six per cent in organized labor. 
 The majority of these had joined in New York. Eight men out of the 
 one hundred and twenty-one had applied for entrance to unions and 
 not been admitted. This does not seem a discouraging number, tho we 
 do not know whether the other eighty-one could have been organized or 
 
 1 Ovington, M. W.: Half a Man, pp. 95- 
 

 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 not. Many probably were not sufficiently competent workmen. In 1910, 
 according to the best information that I could secure, there were one 
 thousand three hundred and fifty-eight colored men in the New York 
 unions. Eighty of these were in the building trades, one hundred and 
 sixty-five were cigar makers, four hundred were teamsters, three hundred 
 and fifty asphalt workers and two hundred and forty rock drillers and 
 tool sharpeners. 
 
 Negroes in L'nions— New York City 
 
 Occupations 
 
 1906 
 
 320 
 
 300 
 
 250 
 
 121 
 
 90 
 
 90 
 
 60 
 
 45 
 
 30 
 
 26 
 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1,385 
 
 1910 
 
 
 350 
 
 
 400 
 
 Rock drillers and tool sharpeners 
 
 Cigar makers 
 
 240 
 165 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 19 
 
 Double drum hoisters 
 
 Safety and portable engineers 
 
 37 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Sheet metal workers 
 
 1 
 
 Total 
 
 1,358 
 
 Entrance to some of the local organizations is more easily secured 
 than to others, for the trade union, while part of a federation, is autono- 
 mous or nearly so. In some of the highly skilled trades, to which few 
 colored men have the necessary ability to demand access, the Negro is 
 likely to be refused, while the less intelligent and well paid forms of labor 
 press a union card upon him. Again strong organizations in the South, 
 as the brick-layers, send men North with union membership who easily 
 transfer to New York locals. Miss Tucker finds the carpenters, masons 
 and plasterers' organizations easy for the Negro to enter. There is in 
 New York a colored local, the only colored local in the city, among a few 
 of the carpenters with regular representation in the Central Federated 
 Union. The American Federation of Labor in 1881 declared that "the 
 working people must unite irrespective of creed, color, sex, nationality or 
 politics." This cry is for self-protection, and where the Negroes have 
 numbers and ability in a trade their organization becomes important to 
 the white, [t may be fairly said of labor organization in New York that 
 it finds and is at times unable to destroy race prejudice, but that it does 
 not create it. 
 
 The following account is gleaned from the circumstances 
 in the recent New York hotel situation, at which time Negroes 
 
Some Results of the Attitude of Unions 1 1 1 
 
 were called in to take the places of striking white waiters. 
 Tho not dealing primarily with Negro skilled laborers, it is 
 illustrative of the relation existing between the Negro and 
 organized labor. 1 
 
 Now that the strike is in progress, representatives of the Interna- 
 tional Hotel Workers hasten to say that they are not interested in the 
 betterment of conditions for the white man alone, but that also they want 
 to help the colored man. This statement, coming just at this time, is 
 received by the colored waiters "with a grain of salt." The men recall 
 what took place among the colored molders of Chattanooga some time 
 ago. The white molders struck and colored men were put at the strikers' 
 work. Whereupon the white men took the Negroes into their union. 
 Shortly after this the colored molders, one by one, found that they were 
 losing their jobs until all the Negroes had been replaced by the original 
 strikers. Soon after these events a similar situation arose in Louisville 
 and the colored molders who had lost their jobs in Chattanooga were given 
 the jobs of the striking molders in Louisville. Immediately, as in Chatta- 
 nooga, the white men offered to take the Negroes into their union, but 
 this time the Negroes refused absolutely to enter into negotiations with 
 them. The result was that the colored men kept those jobs. 
 
 In the present situation in New York there seems to have been little 
 or no attempt on the part of the International Hotel Workers to bring 
 the Negroes into this organization. To be sure Negroes are not rejected 
 by the union and there are possibly two hundred and fifty colored mem- 
 bers, but they seem to have gained little for themselves or their racial 
 group by this membership. Even tho he is a union member the Negro is 
 not permitted to work with white waiters; he can get a job only where 
 all the waiters belong to his own color group. 
 
 The colored men who are taking the white men's places are being 
 paid the same amount, three dollars a day, which the white men had been 
 receiving. 
 
 The Molders' International Union of America, which has 
 made a long fight for excluding Negroes from membership, is 
 considering the question of admitting them. In their last 
 convention one speaker said: 
 
 The Negro has demonstrated that he is a capable mechanic and is 
 quite able to fill the place of the white laborer. The southern foundry 
 managers are making capital out of the race prejudice between the white 
 and the colored molders and if we do not raise the colored worker to our 
 standard he will drag us down to his. 
 
 We can hardly find language strong enough to express our opinion of 
 
 'Special investigation made for the Conference. 
 
1 1 2 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 the feudal lords when we consider the days when the laborer was bot and 
 sold with the land. Our evolution from a condition of slavery to the free- 
 dom that we now enjoy was slow, but we now withhold our aid from the 
 Negro, who is trying to gain the same freedom. 
 
 How can you get the Negro organized unless you are willing to meet 
 with him? His interests are identical with yours. Everyone knows that 
 this condition will have to be met, yet some of us want to postpone the 
 day and let others take the responsibility. Do not let your race preju- 
 dice warp your judgment. 
 
 We find the following observation in the "Negro Year 
 Book, 1912:" 1 
 
 Negroes during the year made gains in the field of organized labor. 
 At the 1910 annual meeting of the National Council of the American Federa- 
 tion of Labor a resolution was unanimously passed inviting Negroes and 
 all other races into the Labor Federation. The officers of the Federation 
 were instructed to take measures to see that Negro workmen as well as 
 workmen of other races were brot into the unions. Following out this 
 policy steps were taken to unionize the Negro working in the Pittsburg 
 district. At New Orleans in October the Negro longshoremen were ad- 
 mitted to the International Longshoremen's Union. T. V. O'Connor, 
 president of the International Union, was present and in his address urged 
 fair play between white and black laborers. He said: "We are not going 
 to take up social equality but we can if we achieve the proper organiza- 
 tion bring about industrial equality. To you colored men I will say that 
 the white man is ready and willing to assist you to get the same wages 
 and working conditions that he enjoys, but you must stand ready to assist 
 yourselves." 
 
 The following interesting passages, illustrative of the 
 better attitude towards Negro workers, are taken from ' 'An 
 Appeal to Timber and Lumber Workers, ' ' by Jay Smith, sec- 
 retary Brotherhood of Timber Workers: 
 
 The constitution of the Brotherhood of Timber Workers declares our 
 purpose to be the organization of all wage workers employed in and 
 around the timber and lumber industry into one big union regardless of 
 creed, color or nationality 
 
 Failing to split the workers' forces on craft lines, the next cry raised 
 by the bosses and their stool pigeons is the "Negro question," and so we 
 are often asked how will the Brotherhood handle the Negro and the white 
 men in the same organization. Answer: How do the capitalists or 
 employers handle them? 
 
 To the employer a working man is nothing but a profit-producing 
 animal and he doesn't care a snap of his finger what the animal's color 
 
 "Work, Monroe N.: The Ne^ro Year Book, 1912, pp. L8-19. 
 
Some Results of the Attitude of Unions 1 1 3 
 
 is — white, black, red, brown or yellow; native or foreign born, religious 
 or unreligious — so long as he (the worker) has strength enough to keep 
 the logs coming and the lumber going — that is all the bosses want or ask. 
 It is only when we see the slaves uniting, when all other efforts to divide 
 the workers on the job have failed, that we hear a howl go up as to the 
 horrors of "social equality." Not until then do we really know how 
 sacred to the boss and his hirelings is the holy doctrine of "white 
 supremacy." 
 
 This is always the tactics of the bosses: First, prevent the workers 
 from organizing any kind of union; failing in this, split them on craft lines 
 into as many so-called unions as possible, each with a separate contract 
 expiring on a different date with sympathetic strikes strictly prohibited; 
 and, then, failing in this, appeal to their race and religious hatred, for, if 
 the bosses can divide the workers, the bosses can win every time; but if 
 the bosses cannot divide the workers then the workers will win, and win, 
 and win until there are no more bosses. In fighting the workers the age- 
 long motto of the bosses has been: "Divide and conquer." .... 
 
 As far as the "Negro question" goes it means simply this: Either 
 the whites organize with the Negroes or the bosses will organize the Ne- 
 groes against the whites, in which last case it is hardly up to the whites 
 to damn the "niggers." .... 
 
 As to the "race question": Once upon a time a butcher threw a 
 bone out in the alley; a white dog and a black dog made a rush for it, 
 reached it at the same time and started a fight for its possession. While 
 they were making fools of themselves a big, lazy red dog sneaked up, 
 grabbed the bone and lit out with it. The white dog was a "white 
 supremacy" sucker, the black dog was a "social equality" sucker and 
 the red dog that got the bone was one of those gentlemen who in one 
 breath call the timber and lumber workers "pals" and "freemen" and 
 in the next threaten to shut down the mills and starve the workers to 
 death if they dare to think and act for themselves— in other words, a 
 capitalist, a boss. 
 
 An officer of the Free Federation of Workingmen of Porto 
 Rico, a union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, 
 who visited America recently as a delegate to the convention 
 of the Federation, makes an interesting reply to the Con- 
 ference: 
 
 . . . . I must say emphatically that there is not such a struggle 
 of color distinction in our country. We have, of course, the universal 
 distinction of classes. 
 
 Here a person is worth nothing in the commercial, industrial or pro- 
 fessional life if he has not sufficient intelligence and money. Money and 
 
1 1 4 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 intelligence, without regard to the color, are the real forces moving the 
 whole mechanism of our society, may a man be white or colored, red or 
 yellow 
 
 The working shop, the university, the theater, the library, the social 
 hall and every institution that promotes the welfare of mankind and the 
 happiness of the spirit, are here opened to all men in accordance with 
 their financial positions. 
 
 Our labor movement has more ideal than material basis. The organi- 
 zations in America are fighting for greater salary, less hours and sanitary 
 conditions; the Latin worker follows the brilliant ideal of founding socie- 
 ties and nations upon the rock of fraternity and absolute harmony to secure 
 the real emancipation, may it be social, economical or political. Our 
 struggles are noticed by two opposing bands: those who are rich and well 
 fed and those who are poor and misfortunate; those who oppress and those 
 who are oppressed. 
 
 The distinction of races, the social and political differences are doing 
 nothing but dividing mankind into opposite groups to bring forth the 
 Universal War. The only place in the world where a man is superior to 
 another on account of skin, is the United States of America. No other 
 country has such an inferior war, such an unchristian fight, tho it is true 
 that the Americans have a deep love for liberty, that they have admira- 
 ble institutions, a great commercial development and a monument of 
 rights unsurpassed in the world, i. e., the constitution that declares that 
 all men are equal, that they possess certain inalienable rights to work 
 and promote their welfare, but this constitution and all the free institu- 
 tions of the American people and the splendorous sun of their liberty is 
 totally eclipsed by the barbarous struggle of races with the inhuman 
 division of the white and the black. 
 
 "America, the cradle of liberty, is being the theater of the most bar- 
 barous and atrocious war." This is what they say in Europe among the 
 Latin and Saxon races of that old continent. It is what they say in J apan, 
 even in China, in India and in Northern Africa, where, as you know, the 
 first civilization was born 
 
 I certainly regret that I have had to extend these remarks, but I was 
 compelled to do it because your letter shows that you have the idea that 
 in Porto Rico exists the same hateful distinction of races. I wanted to 
 give you the right idea. We have struggles between the rich and the 
 poor, between capital and labor. 
 
 Hoping that this information may give you some light and help in the 
 work initiated by Atlanta University, and hoping also that the division 
 of races in some of the southern states may soon cease, I beg to 
 remain, Yours in humanity, 
 
The Training of Negro American Artisans 1 1 5 
 
 Section 33. The Training of Negro American Artisans 
 
 The success of the man who labors with his hands, even as 
 the success of any other worker, depends in no small degree 
 upon his training and his capability for the work to be per- 
 formed. The question of fitness is the determining factor 
 under a truly competitive economic system and in the long 
 run all other superficial barriers must pale into insignificance: 
 This will be more and more apparent in the case of the Negro 
 worker as the superficial barriers of race and color are done 
 away with and he is allowed to enter unhampered into the 
 fair field of economic competition. 
 
 In a social study of the Negro American artisan the ques- 
 tion of the training of these workers is of vital importance. 
 The Negro artisans studied were asked: How did you learn 
 your trade? The answers to this question fall into three 
 heads: (1) By apprenticeship (41 per cent.) ; (2) Picked up 
 trade (37 per cent. ) ; (3) Attended trade school (21 per 
 cent). 1 Many of the best and most successful of the Negro 
 artisans are among those who come under the first two 
 classes, those who learned their trades under the system of 
 apprenticeship and those who "picked up" their trades. 
 Numerous evidences of this fact may be seen both in ante- 
 bellum days and during the years that have passed since 
 emancipation. 
 
 Recent years have witnessed a marked increase of interest 
 in industrial school training for Negroes. Most of the higher 
 institutions of learning as well as the secondary schools for 
 Negroes have included industrial courses in their curricula. 
 The following tables, compiled from the Report of the United 
 States Commissioner of Education for 1911, give statistics 
 for those secondary and higher schools for the Negro race 
 that had students enrolled in the industries: 
 
 'These percentage figures apply to the artisans making reply to the Conference question- 
 naire and not to all the Negro American artisans. Taking all Negro artisans the percentage 
 figures for the first two classes would be larger. The third class would show a smaller per- 
 centage. 
 
116 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
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The Training of Negro American Artisans 
 
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120 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 The industrial courses offered in these schools are as 
 follows: 
 
 Number of 
 Industry Schools Offering 
 
 Carpentry 35 
 
 Dressmaking and Sewing 30 
 
 Blacksmithing and Forging 24 
 
 Printing 23 
 
 Cooking 23 
 
 Mechanical Drawing 18 
 
 Tailoring 14 
 
 Millinery 14 
 
 Painting 13 
 
 Shoe and Harness Repairing 12 
 
 Wheelwrighting 12 
 
 Bricklaying 12 
 
 Plastering 12 
 
 Laundering . 10 
 
 Sheet Metal and Machine Shop Work 7 
 
 Electrical Engineering . 6 
 
 Plumbing 5 
 
 Upholstery 4 
 
 Brickmaking 4 
 
 Steam Engineering 3 
 
 Basketry 3 
 
 Broom Making 2 
 
 Tinsmithing 2 
 
 Mattress Making 2 
 
 Mechanical Engineering 2 
 
 How far are these courses preparing and how far are they 
 designed to prepare Negro youth for the organized industry of 
 the South? During the twenty years from 1880 to 1900 there 
 was in the South a relative decrease in the importance of 
 agricultural and personal service and a large increase in trade 
 and transportation, manufacturing and professions. The 
 theory of the industrial training of Negro youth is that 
 Negroes should be trained to take skilled and intelligent part 
 in this development of trade and transportation and manu- 
 facturing. How far is this true in application? 
 
 If we carefully scan the list of industries taught we may 
 divide them into: 
 
 (1) Repair work and tinkering. 
 
 (2) House work. 
 
 (3) Trades and industries. 
 
 In nearly all cases the following courses are training simply 
 in repair work and tinkering: 
 
 Carpentry. Sheet metal and machine shop work. 
 
 Blacksmithing and forging. Plumbing. 
 
 Tailoring. Upholstering. 
 
 Shoe and harness repairing. Tinsmithing. 
 
 Wheelwrighting. Mattress making. 
 
The Training of Negro American Artisans 1 2 1 
 
 Modern wood-working involves elaborate machinery and 
 training in machine methods. In nearly all these schools 
 "carpentry" is confined to hand tools and bench work. 
 Blacksmithing and forging are taught by the simplest tools 
 and not by modern power methods. Tailoring is not taught 
 as modern garment making but as individual cutting and 
 mending. Shoe repairing is taught but there is but little or 
 no use made of shoe making machinery which is universally 
 in vogue. Wheels and wagons are made chiefly by hand and 
 at a cost which would make competition with machine made 
 wagons impossible. The same thing is true of most of the 
 other industries. Negro youth are being taught the technique 
 of a rapidly disappearing age of hand work. The training 
 has undoubtedly good physical and mental results but if used 
 as a means of livelihood it will command the poor and 
 decreasing wages of tinkers and repairers; and those who 
 follow these methods will be completely shut out of modern 
 machine industry. 
 
 Happily there are some exceptions to this general rule. 
 At Hampton, Tuskegee, Wilberforce and a few other schools 
 machine industry along modern lines is being taught in some 
 branches of wood- working and metal-working. For the most 
 part, however, the courses offered in this division are not 
 modern or remunerative. 
 
 The next group comprises, the house industries, —dress- 
 making, sewing, cooking and laundering. Here we see little 
 of settled idea or aim. These subjects might be taught with 
 the idea of training the mistresses of small homes, or with 
 the idea of training servants in rich homes, or with the idea 
 of making professional cooks and dress makers. These three 
 aims call for widely different courses of study. Usually, 
 however, a single course is laid down, the aim of training 
 servants is widely advertised and the net result is dubious. 
 
 The third set of industries taught comprises the following: 
 Printing, mechanical drawing, millinery, painting, bricklay- 
 ing, plastering, brickmaking, mechanical engineering, both 
 steam and electric, basketry and broommaking. 
 
1 22 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 In the case of printing, brickmaking and broommaking 
 there is the same difficulty as in the first group, save that 
 here hand work is still in fair demand. The linotype and the 
 monotype have not as yet displaced the hand typesetter, and 
 brickmaking and broommaking by hand are still able to com- 
 pete with machines. Nevertheless a proper training in the 
 industries cannot long omit machine teaching. In the case 
 of bricklaying hand work seems secure. Still, re-inforced 
 cement work should receive attention. In drawing, painting 
 and basketry industry touches upon the work of the artist 
 and in this field these schools need strengthening. The 
 Negro is humanly the artist and yet little is being done to 
 develop his sensitive perceptions. 
 
 The engineering courses are nearly all misnamed, being 
 much too short and elementary to deserve the larger desig- 
 nation. 
 
 To sum up: The industrial school is facing an age of 
 machinery. The teaching of mere hand work, save in limited 
 amounts and for educative purposes, is not training for 
 modern industry. The machine equipment for the larger 
 teaching is expensive; but how, for example, can modern 
 printing be taught without the linotype and the cylinder 
 press, and how can modern shoemaking be taught without 
 shoemaking machines? These are the difficult problems 
 facing Negro industrial schools. 
 
 The whole plan of study in these schools needs overhaul- 
 ing. Simply to accept the fact that schools should train for 
 practical vocations and then put in any industries taught any 
 way is not enough. Modern plants are necessary for the 
 teaching of modern industry and intelligent common school 
 training must precede it. It is possible that the different 
 schools could specialize. One might give instruction in 
 mechanical engineering and have a complete and modern 
 machine shop; another could have woodworking with the 
 complete and modern machinery necessary for the same. 
 Certainly the present incomplete makeshifts cannot long 
 survive. 
 
The Training of Negro American Artisans 123 
 
 The soundness of this criticism is shown by the results of 
 industrial teaching. Hampton has given four hundred and 
 sixty-seven trade certificates. Of these one hundred and 
 sixty-nine are following their trades, thirty-eight are still 
 studying, and sixty-three are teaching their trades. It would 
 seem then that economic industrial demand was at present 
 sufficient to absorb between thirty-six per cent and forty- 
 nine 1 per cent of those trained at the best Negro trade 
 school. 
 
 A recent publication from Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, 
 Alabama, makes the following observation: 
 
 Almost two-thirds of its 1,508 graduates and three-fourths of its 
 12,000 former students are directly or indirectly engaged in some form 
 
 of industrial work Three hundred and seventy-four 
 
 persons, 173 graduates and 201 former students have been considered. 
 They were distributed in the trades as follows: 2 bakers, 33 blacksmiths 
 and wheelwrights, 5 bookkeepers, 56 brickmasons, 1 cabinetmaker, 42 
 carpenters, 2 carriage makers, 1 chauffeur, 1 cook, 1 cooking demon- 
 strator, 1 cotton classer, 5 in domestic service, 31 dressmakers, 3 sta- 
 tionary engineers, 8 electricians, 1 elevator operator, 4 firemen, 9 har- 
 nessmakers, 1 hostler, 5 janitors, 1 laundress, 3 laundrymen, 9 machinists, 
 10 miners, 3 molders, 42 trained nurses, 11 painters, 6 plumbers, 10 
 printers, 3 sawmill workers, 19 shoemakers, 26 tailors, 8 tinsmiths, and 
 
 2 woodturners One hundred and two graduates and 
 
 former students are carrying on business in connection with trades. Five 
 are architects, one is in the bakery business, eighteen are conducting 
 blacksmithing and wheelwrighting businesses, eighteen are in the con- 
 tracting and building business, one is in the electrical business, one in 
 the florist business, eleven are milliners, five are in the printing business, 
 eight in the shoemaking business, and two are in the tinsmithing business. 2 
 
 An examination of the catalogs of other industrial 
 schools reveals the following facts concerning the number of 
 graduates and those of them at present following trades: :j 
 
 1 According as one does not or does count those teaching trades as following their trades. 
 There is argument on both sides. 
 
 - Work, Monroe N. Industrial Work of Tuskegee Graduates and Former Students. Pages 
 5, 25, 2x. 
 
 '■' These tables are not exhaustive. However, the figures of present occupations are taken 
 from the replies of the schools to theTkmference questionnaire or compiled from the lists of 
 graduates contained in the catalogs. 
 
124 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Talladega College 
 
 Total graduates 400 
 
 Carpenters 5 
 
 Masons 1 
 
 Engineers 1 
 
 Dressmakers 1 
 
 Burrell Normal School 
 
 Total graduates — 
 
 Dressmakers 1 
 
 Tailors (app) 1 
 
 Lincoln Normal School 
 
 Total graduates — 
 
 Blacksmiths 1 
 
 Painters 4 
 
 Masons 6 
 
 Plasterers 6 
 
 Dressmakers 8 
 
 Tailors 3 
 
 Payne University 
 
 Total graduates 152 
 
 Seamstresses 1 
 
 Blacksmiths 1 
 
 Florida 
 
 Pensacola Normal and 
 Industrial School 
 
 Total graduates . — 
 
 Carpenters 1 
 
 Dressmakers 2 
 
 robt. hungerford normal 
 and Industrial School 
 
 Total graduates — 
 
 Carpenters 3 
 
 Blacksmiths 2 
 
 Dressmakers 4 
 
 Printers 2 
 
 The Florida A. & M. College 
 
 Total graduates 154 
 
 Dressmakers 1 
 
 Carpenters 3 
 
 Masons 1 
 
 Tailors 3 
 
 Printers 1 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Atlanta University 
 
 Total graduates 678 
 
 Dressmakers 6 
 
 Morris Brown College 
 
 Total graduates 349 
 
 Dressmakers 5 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Ft. Valley High and 
 Industrial School 
 Total graduates 50 
 
 Dressmakers 3 
 
 Machinists 1 
 
 Masons ;{ 
 
 Carpenters .2 
 SPBLMAN Seminary 
 Total graduates 416 
 
 I licsMiial.crs 31 
 
 Milliners 1 
 
 Ballard Normal School 
 
 Total graduates 22 r 
 
 Carpenters 1 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Dressmakers 2 
 
 Atlanta Baptist College 
 
 Total graduates 355 
 
 Carpenters 1 
 
 Seldon Institute 
 
 Total graduates — 
 
 Carpenters 4 
 
 Painters 3 
 
 Masons 7 
 
 Plasterers 5 
 
 Dressmakers 14 
 
 Coopers 2 
 
 Tailors 6 
 
 Allen Normal and 
 Industrial School 
 
 Total graduates 55 
 
 Dressmakers 2 
 
 Shoemakers 1 
 
 Sandersville Industrial School 
 
 Total graduates — 
 
 Carpenters 4 
 
 Engineers 4 
 
 Painters 4 
 
 Blacksmiths 3 
 
 Shoemakers 2 
 
 Plasterers 6 
 
 Masons 10 
 
 Dressmakers 12 
 
 Tailors 2 
 
 Kansas 
 
 Western University and 
 
 State Industrial Dept 
 Total graduates 
 
 Shirtmakers 
 
 Dressmakers 
 
 Tailors . . . 
 
 Carpenters . 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 Straight University 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Dressmakers 1 
 
 Contractors 1 
 
 Carpenters 1 
 
 Sabine Normal and 
 
 Industrial Institute 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Carpenters 15 
 
 Masons 3 
 
 Firemen 1 
 
 Dressmakers ... 14 
 
 Blacksmiths 2 
 
 Shoemakers 5 
 
 Iron and Steel Workers 1 
 
 Brickmasons 3 
 
 Painters 4 
 
 Plasterers 3 
 
 Tailors 4 
 
The Training of Negro American Artisans 
 
 125 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Lincoln School 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Carpenters 9 
 
 Dressmakers 12 
 
 Painters 8 
 
 Plasterers 2 
 
 Alcorn A. & M. College 
 
 Total graduates 469 
 
 Carpenters 4 
 
 Shoemakers 3 
 
 Cabinet Makers 1 
 
 Mechanics 2 
 
 Painters 1 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Meridian Academy 
 
 Total graduates 187 
 
 Dressmakers 1 
 
 Milliners 1 
 
 Mechanics 1 
 
 Campbell College 
 
 Total graduates 48 
 
 Dressmakers 7 
 
 A. & M. College 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Mechanics 3 
 
 Engineers 1 
 
 Tinners 1 
 
 Carpenters 1 
 
 Contractors 1 
 
 Biddle University 
 
 Total graduates . 
 
 Mechanics 1 
 
 Printers 1 
 
 Roanoke Collegiate Institute 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Painters 1 
 
 152 
 
 1,075 
 
 Henderson Normal Institute 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Carpenters 2 
 
 Ohio 
 
 WlLBERFORCE UNIVERSITY 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Engineers 
 
 Milliners 
 
 Dressmakers 
 
 Carpenters 
 
 Brickmasons 
 
 706 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 Waters Normal and 
 Industrial Institute 
 
 Total graduates — 
 
 Dressmakers 3 
 
 St. Augustine's School 
 
 Total graduates 235 
 
 Carpenters 1 
 
 Dressmakers 4 
 
 Masons 5 
 
 State Colored Normal School 
 
 Total graduates 208 
 
 Carpenters 11 
 
 Masons 7 
 
 Shoemakers 3 
 
 Blacksmiths 4 
 
 Firemen 1 
 
 Painters 2 
 
 Tailors 2 
 
 Brickmakers 2 
 
 Dressmakers 8 
 
 Plasterers 4 
 
 Kittrell College 
 
 Total graduates 227 
 
 Mechanics 1 
 
 Seamstresses 1 
 
 Printers 1 
 
 J. K. Brick Agricultural, Indus- 
 trial and Normal School 
 
 Total graduates — 
 
 Painters 1 
 
 Carpenters 2 
 
 Blacksmiths 2 
 
 Dressmakers 2 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 Bettis Academy 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Carpenters 12 
 
 Engineers 3 
 
 Dressmakers 37 
 
 Blacksmiths 10 
 
 Firemen . . 1 
 
 Shoemakers 3 
 
 Tailors 4 
 
 Masons 25 
 
 Painters 8 
 
 Plasterers 13 
 
 Harbison College 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Carpenters 4 
 
 Blacksmiths 2 
 
 Masons 2 
 
 Shoemakers 1 
 
 Dressmakers 18 
 
 Friendship College 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Carpenters 4 
 
 Painters 2 
 
 Masons 1 
 
 Plasterers 1 
 
 Dressmakers 4 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Avery Institute 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Carpenters 6 
 
 Tailors 7 
 
 Cabinet Makers 1 
 
 Dressmakers 28 
 
 Ship Carpenters 1 
 
 Machinists 1 
 
 Patternmakers 1 
 
 Electricians 1 
 
126 
 
 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Benedict College 
 
 Total graduates 587 
 
 Printers 1 
 
 Carpenters 2 
 
 Colored Normal, Industrial, 
 
 Agricultural and Mechanical 
 College 
 
 Total graduates 527 
 
 Tailors 2 
 
 Masons 7 
 
 Blacksmiths 1 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 Lane College 
 
 Total graduates — 
 
 Carpenters 3 
 
 Blacksmiths 1 
 
 Dressmakers 2 
 
 Iron and Steel Workers 2 
 
 Knoxville College 
 
 Total graduates 417 
 
 Carpenters 4 
 
 Masons 5 
 
 Dressmakers ... 8 
 
 Plasterers 1 
 
 Blacksmiths 6 
 
 Engineers 4 
 
 Iron and Steel Workers 4 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Brickmakers 1 
 
 Firemen 1 
 
 Shoemakers 1 
 
 Printers 2 
 
 Fisk University 
 
 Total graduates 795 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Painters 1 
 
 Masons 1 
 
 Dressmakers 5 
 
 Texas 
 
 Prairie View State 
 
 Normal and Industrial 
 College 
 
 Total graduates 762 
 
 Contractors and Builders 1 
 
 Mechanics 1 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Paul Quinn College 
 
 Total graduates 158 
 
 Printers 1 
 
 Guadalupe College 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Mechanics 1 
 
 Wiley University 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Painters 3 
 
 Plumbers 1 
 
 Dressmakers 36 
 
 Carpenters 4 
 
 Brickmakers 6 
 
 Masons 6 
 
 Engineers 3 
 
 Firemen 3 
 
 Plasterers 2 
 
 Bishop College 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Printers 2 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Christiansburg Industrial 
 Institute 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Carpenters 3 
 
 Painters 3 
 
 Masons 1 
 
 Dressmakers 1 
 
 Virginia Normal and 
 Industrial Institute 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Printers 1 
 
 Blacksmiths 1 
 
 Dressmakers 3 
 
 Carpenters 2 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Milliners 1 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 Storer College 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Dressmakers 6 
 
 Carpenters 3 
 
 Masons 1 
 
 Mechanics 2 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 Colored Institute 
 
 Total graduates 
 
 Carpenters 7 
 
 Engineers 1 
 
 Blacksmiths 6 
 
 Dressmakers 8 
 
 Masons 4 
 
 Painters 7 
 
 Tailors 1 
 
 Iron and Steel Workers 1 
 
 130 
 
 143 
 
 275 
 
 67 
 
 439 
 
 274 
 
 The following table showing the number of Negro pupils 
 receiving industrial training in the school year 1910-11 is 
 taken from the Report of the United States Commissioner of 
 Education: 
 
The Training of Negro American Artisans 
 Negro Pupils Receiving Industrial Training, 1910=11 
 
 127 
 
 STATES 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 Delaware 
 
 District of Columbia. 
 
 Florida 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Indiana 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 Maryland 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Missouri ...... 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 North Carolina . . . 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Oklahoma 
 
 South Carolina . . 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 Texas 
 
 Virginia 
 
 West Virginia . . . 
 
 Total 
 
 Male 
 
 2,252 
 322 
 156 
 287 
 427 
 
 1,327 
 
 35 
 
 223 
 
 1,386 
 132 
 
 1,245 
 
 210 
 
 53 
 
 1,560 
 57 
 42 
 
 1,314 
 851 
 730 
 
 1,524 
 233 
 
 14,366 
 
 Female 
 
 3,129 
 
 616 
 60 
 
 261 
 
 608 
 
 2,531 
 
 20 
 
 316 
 1,948 
 
 210 
 1,222 
 
 268 
 
 89 
 
 2,457 
 
 144 
 18 
 1,933 
 1,223 
 1,637 
 2,137 
 
 209 
 
 21,036 
 
 Total 
 
 5,381 
 
 938 
 
 216 
 
 548 
 
 1,035 
 
 3,858 
 
 55 
 
 539 
 
 3,334 
 
 342 
 
 2,467 
 
 478 
 
 142 
 
 4,017 
 
 201 
 
 60 
 
 3,247 
 
 2,074 
 
 2,367 
 
 3,661 
 
 442 
 
 35,402 
 
 * U. S. Commissioner of Education, Report of 1911. 
 
 It would seem fair to conclude that from half to two-thirds 
 of the Negroes trained in industrial schools do not follow 
 their trades. This may be on account of other offers made 
 to them, such as teaching in rural schools. However, con- 
 sidering the poor pay in such competing occupations and the 
 rising wages of and growing demand for skilled artisans, one 
 cannot help reaching the conclusion that the Negro industrial 
 schools are not yet meeting the demands of modern industry. 
 
 Section 34. The Economic Future of the Negro American 
 
 What are the questions in the present problem of the 
 economic status of the Negro American? They may be 
 summed up in four groups: 
 
 1. The relation of the Negro to city and country. 
 
 2. The relation of the Negro to group and national economy. 
 
 3. The influence of race prejudice. 
 
 4. The question of efficiency. 
 
 City and Country 
 
 A fact of great importance in regard to the economic con- 
 ditions of the Negro American is his cityward movement. 
 According to the Thirteenth Census 2,689,229 or 27.3 per 
 
128 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 cent of the Negroes in the United States lived in urban cen- 
 ters in 1910, a decided increase over 1900. The cityward 
 movement of the Negro is explained by: x 
 
 1. The divorce of the Negro from the soil. 
 
 2. The trend of the Negro to industrial and commercial centers. 
 
 3. Secondary or individual causes: 
 
 (a) Attractiveness of urban centers. 
 
 (b) Labor legislation. 
 
 (c) Desire for economic improvement. 
 
 (d) Family relationships. 
 
 (e) Desire to escape from restrictive and oppressive legislation 
 and social customs. 
 
 This means an intensifying of the urban economic prob- 
 lem. This group of 2,689,229 town Negroes presents pre- 
 eminently all of the economic problems outside of those con- 
 nected with land holding and agriculture. 
 
 Moreover, the city Negroes include more than a third of 
 the intelligent Negroes of the United States and have a rate 
 of illiteracy of probably less than 25 per cent. Unquestion- 
 ably it is in the city that the more intricate problems of 
 economic life and race contact are going to be fought out. 
 On the other hand, the very presence of seven million Ne- 
 groes in the country districts makes the economic problem 
 there, tho simple in quality, of tremendous proportions in 
 quantity and of added significance when we see how the 
 country is feeding the city problems. 
 
 Group Economy and National Economy 
 
 Present conditions show that while the force of compe- 
 tition from without is of tremendous economic importance in 
 the economic development of the Negro American it is by no 
 means final. In an isolated country the industry of the 
 inhabitants can be supported and developed by means of a 
 protecting tariff until the country is able to enter into inter- 
 national trade with fully developed resources; that a similar 
 thing can be accomplisht in a group not wholly isolated but 
 living scattered among more numerous and richer neighbors 
 is often forgotten. There is therefore a double question in 
 
 1 See Haynes, G. E. The Negro at Work in New York City, pp. l.i-1 1. 
 
The Economic Future of the Negro American 1 29 
 
 regard to the Negro's economic advance. The first question 
 is: How far is the Negro likely to gain a foothold as one of 
 the economic factors in the nation's industrial organization? 
 The second is: How far can the Negro develop a group 
 economy which will so break the force of race prejudice that 
 his right and ability to enter the national economy are 
 assured? 
 
 Race Prejudice 
 
 Race prejudice, more than any other single factor, retards 
 the Negroes' development in the economic world. Outside 
 of all question of ability an American of Negro descent will 
 find more or less concerted effort on the part of his white 
 neighbors: 
 
 (1) To keep him from all positions of authority. 
 
 (2) To prevent his promotion to higher grades. 
 
 (3) To exclude him entirely from certain lines of industry. 
 
 (4) To prevent him from competing upon equal terms with white 
 workingmen. 
 
 (5) To prevent his buying land. 
 
 (6) To prevent his defence of his economic rights and status by the 
 ballot. 
 
 Efforts in these directions have been prest with varying 
 degrees of emphasis and have had varying degrees of success. 
 Yet they must all be taken into account in any economic study 
 of the Negro American. Strikes have repeatedly occurred 
 against Negro firemen, of whose ability there was no com- 
 plaint. The white office boy, errand boy, section hand, loco- 
 motive fireman all have before them the chance to become 
 clerk or manager or to rise in railway service. The Negro 
 has few such openings. Fully half of the trade unions in the 
 United States, counted by numerical strength, exclude 
 Negroes from membership and thus usually prevent them 
 from working at the trade. Another fourth of the unions 
 while admitting a few black men here and there practically 
 exclude most of them. In only a few unions, mostly un- 
 skilled, is the Negro welcomed, as in the case of the miners. 
 In a few others the economic foothold of the Negro has been 
 good enough to prevent his expulsion, as in some of the 
 
1 30 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 building trades. Agitation to prevent the selling of land to 
 Negroes has for a long time been evident over large districts 
 of the South and is still spreading. In an Atlanta campaign 
 in the not far distant past the most telling cartoon for the 
 influence of white voters was one which represented the 
 house of a particular candidate in process of erection by black 
 men. The black vote was of course disfranchised in this 
 contest, as it is in a large part of the South. 
 
 Negro Efficiency 
 
 The last element in the economic condition of the Negro 
 is the great question of efficiency. How efficient a laborer is 
 the Negro and how efficient can he become with intelligent 
 technical training and encouragement? That the average 
 Negro laborer today is less efficient than the average Euro- 
 pean laborer is certain. When, however, you take into 
 account the Negro's past industrial training, his present 
 ignorance, and the social atmosphere in which he works it is 
 not exactly fair to condemn him nor is it easy to say offhand 
 what is his possible worth. Certainly increasing intelligence 
 has made him increasingly discontented with his conditions 
 of work; the determined withdrawing of responsibility from 
 the Negro has not increased his sense of responsibility; the 
 systematic exploitation of black labor has decreased its 
 steadiness and reliability. Notwithstanding all this there 
 never were before in the world's history so many black men 
 steadily engaged in common and skilled labor as in the case 
 of the American Negro. Nor is there today a laboring force 
 which seems capable, under judicious guidance, of more 
 remarkable development. 
 
 Economic Groups 
 
 The Negroes of America may be divided into three dis- 
 tinct economic groups: 
 
 (1) The independents — farmers, teachers, clergymen, merchants and 
 professional men and women. 
 
 (2) The struggling artisans, industrial helpers, servants and farm 
 tenants. 
 
 (3) The common laborers. 
 
The Economic Future of the Negro American 1 3 I 
 
 The Independents 
 
 The independents number possibly 300,000 Negroes and 
 include 225,000 farmers, 25,000 teachers, 17,000 clergymen, 
 15,000 merchants and numbers of professional men and 
 women of various sorts. They are separated sharply into a 
 rural group of farmers and an urban group and are charac- 
 terized by the fact that with few exceptions they live by an 
 economic service done their own people. This is least true 
 in regard to the farmers but even in their case it is approxi- 
 mately true, for they, to an increasingly large degree, raise 
 their own supplies and use their produce as a surplus crop. 
 Usually thru this alone do they come into national economy. 
 This group is the one that feels the force of outward compe- 
 tition and prejudice least in its economic life and most in its 
 spiritual life. It is the head and front of the group economy 
 movement, comprehends the spiritual as well as the economic 
 leaders and is bound in the future to have a large and impor- 
 tant development, limited only by the ability of the race to 
 support it. However, in some respects this group is truly 
 vulnerable. Many of the teachers, for instance, depend upon 
 educational boards elected by white voters and many depend 
 upon philanthropy. There has been concerted action in some 
 of the rural districts of the South to drive out the best Negro 
 teachers and even in the cities the way of the independent 
 black teacher who dares think his own thots is made difficult. 
 In many cases Negro teachers under the great philanthropic 
 foundations are being continually warned that their bread 
 and butter depend on their agreeing with present public 
 opinion in regard to the Negro. There is growing up how- 
 ever, silently, almost unnoticed, a distinct Negro private 
 school system officered, taught, attended and supported by 
 Negroes. Such private schools have today at least 30,000 
 pupils and are growing rapidly— another example of group 
 economy as produced by the Negro American. 
 
 If we regard exclusively the urban group of these inde- 
 pendents we find that the best class of this group is fully 
 abreast in education and morality with the great middle class 
 
1 32 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 of Americans. They have furnisht notable names in liter- 
 ature, business and professional life and have repeatedly in 
 Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington and 
 other great urban centers proved their right to be treated as 
 American citizens on a plane of perfect equality with other 
 citizens. Despite this fact and despite the fact, too, that 
 this group is numerically small and without much inherited 
 wealth, it has been struggling under two overwhelming bur- 
 dens: First, upon this group has been laid the duty and 
 responsibility of the care, guidance and reformation of the 
 great stream of black rural immigrants from the South sim- 
 ply because they happen to be of the same race. There is no 
 claim or vestige of a claim that this small city group of risen 
 Negroes is responsible for the degradation of the plantation, 
 yet upon this small group the great work is placed. In the 
 case of other immigrants to our urban centers, each race must 
 care for its own and be responsible for its advancement, but 
 the helpers are given all aid and sympathy in their undertak- 
 ings and their hands are upheld. In the case of the Negro 
 however, every disability, every legal, social and economic bar 
 placed before the new immigrant must be endured by the 
 city group on whom the immigrants have been dumped. 
 And that group must be judged continually by the worst 
 class of those very immigrants whose uplift is calmly shifted 
 by the city at large. 
 
 What is the result? The talented tenth is submerged 
 under the wave of immigration. And this is the second bur- 
 den under which the group has labored. This has been the 
 experience in many cities of the North. In the South, how- 
 ever, the beating back of the leading group has not awaited 
 the excuse of immigration. On the general ground of impu- 
 dence or indolence members of this class of economic and 
 social leaders have been repeatedly driven out of the smaller 
 towns, while in the larger cities every possible combination 
 and tool from the Jim Crow laws to the secret society and the 
 boycott has been made time and time again to curtail the 
 economic advantages of the members of this class and to 
 
The Economic Future of the Negro American 1 33 
 
 make their daily life so intolerable that they would either 
 leave or sink to listless acquiescence. 
 
 What then, in view of these conditions, can this town 
 group do in self defence? It can organize the Negroes about 
 it into a self supplying group. This organization is actually 
 going on. So far has it gone that in cities like Washington,. 
 Richmond and Atlanta a Negro family which does not employ 
 a Negro physician is in danger of social ostracism; in the 
 North this is extending to grocery stores and similar busi- 
 nesses. Whereas only a few years ago Negroes transacted 
 insurance business with white companies, today more than 
 half of that business has passed to black companies. 
 
 There are persons who see nothing but the advantages of 
 this course. But it has grave disadvantages, too. It in- 
 tensifies prejudice and bitterness. For example: White 
 insurance agents and collectors in the South, for fear of 
 white opinion, would not take off their hats when they 
 entered Negro homes. The black companies have harpt on 
 this, publisht it, called attention to it and actually capitalized 
 it into cold cash. Again, this movement narrows the activity 
 of the best class of Negroes, withdraws them from much 
 helpful competition and contact, perverts and cheapens their 
 ideals — in fact provincializes them in thot and deed. Yet it 
 is today the only path of economic escape for the most gifted 
 class of black men and the development along this line is 
 certain to be enormous. 
 
 Turning to the rural group of this independent class the 
 Negro land owners are to be considered. Here first one runs 
 against one of those traditional statements which pass for 
 truth because unchallenged, namely, that it is easy for the 
 southern Negro to buy land. The letter of this statement is 
 true but the spirit of it is false. There are vast tracts of 
 land in the South that anybody, black or white, can buy for 
 little or nothing for the simple reason that such tracts are 
 worth little or nothing. Eventually these lands will become 
 valuable. But they are almost valueless today. For the 
 Negro, land to be of any value must have present value for 
 he is too poor to wait. Moreover it must be 
 
134 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 1. Land which he knows how to cultivate. 
 
 2. Land accessible to a market. 
 
 3. Land so situated as to afford the owner protection. 
 
 There are certain crops which the Negro farmer knows 
 how to cultivate; to these can be added certain food supplies. 
 Gradually intensive cultivation can be taught but this takes 
 a long time. It is idle to compare the South with Belgium or 
 France for the agricultural economy of those lands is the 
 result of centuries of training aided by a rising market and 
 by law and order, while the present agricultural economy of 
 the South is but a generation removed from the land murder 
 of a slave regime. No graduate of that school knows how to 
 make the desert blossom as the rose and the process of teach- 
 ing must be long and tedious. Meantime he must live on 
 such crops as he knows how to cultivate. In addition to the 
 poverty of the soil, bad roads, comparatively few railroads 
 and few navigable rivers throw much of this land out of use- 
 fulness. But even more important than all this: the Negro 
 farmer must seek the protection of community life with his 
 own people and this he finds in the black belt. It is pre- 
 cisely in this black belt, however, that it is most difficult for 
 him to buy land. For there it is that the capitalistic culture 
 of cotton with a system of labor peonage is so profitable that 
 land is high. In addition, in many of these regions it is con- 
 sidered bad policy to sell land to Negroes because a fever of 
 land owning "demoralizes' ' the labor system; so that in the 
 densest black belt of the South the percentage of land hold- 
 ing among Negroes is alarmingly low, a fact that has led to 
 curious moralizing on the shiftlessness of black men. 
 
 The increase of the average size of farms in many parts 
 of the South is illustrative of the astounding and dangerous 
 concentration of land holding in that section which is itself 
 more appalling when it is noted that many of these farms do 
 not belong singly to single owners but are owned in groups 
 of as high as forty or fifty by great landed proprietors. 
 Many of these landed proprietors refuse to sell a single acre 
 of land to black men. While there are of course large regions 
 where black men can buy land on reasonable terms, it is 
 
The Economic Future of the Negro American 1 35 
 
 usually land poorly situated as regards markets, or unhealth- 
 ful in climate, or so placed as to afford the owners poor 
 schools and lawless, overbearing white neighbors. 
 
 Add to these facts the results of the training and the 
 character of the Negro farmers. Black farmers are often 
 discust and criticised as tho they were responsible, trained 
 men who carelessly and viciously neglect their economic 
 opportunity. On the contrary they are for the most part 
 unlettered men, consciously and carefully trained to irrespon- 
 sibility, to whom all concepts of modern property and saving 
 are new and who need benevolent guardianship in their up- 
 ward striving. Such guardianship they have in some cases 
 received from former masters and in this way a considerable 
 number of the present land owners first got their land. In 
 the great majority of cases however, this guardianship has 
 consisted in deliberately taking the earnings of the Negro 
 farmer and appropriating them to the use of the landlord. 
 The argument was this: "These Negroes do not need this 
 money. If I give it to them they'll squander it or leave the 
 plantation; therefore I will give them just enough to be 
 happy and keep them with me. In any case their labor 
 rightfully belongs to me and my fathers and was illegally 
 taken from us." On the strength of this argument and by 
 such practices it is a conservative estimate to say that three- 
 fourths of the stipulated wages and shares of crops which 
 the Negro has earned on the farm since emancipation has 
 been illegally withheld from him by the white landlords, 
 either on the plea that this was for his own good or without 
 any plea at all. 
 
 Would this wealth have been wasted if given the laborer? 
 Waiving the mere question of the right of any employer to 
 withhold wages, take the purely economic question: Is the 
 community richer by such practices? It is not. The South 
 is poorer. The best Negroes would have squandered much 
 at first and most would have squandered all, but this would 
 have been more than offset by the increased responsibility 
 and efficiency of the resulting Negro landholders. Nor is 
 
I 36 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 this mere pious opinion. There is in the South in the middle 
 of the black belt, a county of some 700 square miles, 
 Lowndes County, Alabama. It contained in 1910 28,125 
 Negroes and 3,769 whites. It was formerly the seat of the 
 most strenuous type of American slavery— with absentee 
 owners, living at ease in Montgomery, great stretches of 
 plantations with 500 to 1000 slaves on each driven by over- 
 seers and riders. There was no communication with the out- 
 side world, little passing between plantations. The Negroes 
 were slothful and ignorant— even today, fifty years after 
 emancipation, the illiteracy among those over ten is about 
 51 per cent. It would be difficult to find a place where 
 conditions were on the whole more unfavorable to the 
 rise of the Negro. The white element was lawless, the 
 Negroes thoroly cowed, and up until recent times the body of 
 a dead Negro did not even call for an arrest. In this county 
 during the last twenty years there has been carried on a 
 scheme of co-operative land buying under the Calhoun School. 
 It was asked for by a few Negroes who could not get land; 
 it was engineered by a Negro graduate of Hampton; it was 
 made^possible by the willingness of a white landlord to sell 
 his plantation and actively further the enterprise by advice 
 and good will. It was capitalized by white northerners and 
 inspired by a New England woman. Here was every element 
 in partnership and the experiment began in 1892. It encoun- 
 tered all sorts of difficulties: the character and training of 
 the men involved; the enmity of the surrounding white popu- 
 lation with a few notable exceptions; the natural suspicion 
 of the black population born of a regime of cheating; the low 
 price of cotton; several years of alternate flood and drouth; 
 and the attempts of the neighboring whites to secure the 
 homesteads thru mortgages. 
 
 The twentieth annual report of the Principal of the Cal- 
 houn Colored School of Calhoun, Lowndes County, Alabama, 
 says: 
 
 While in 1892 the majority of the people lived in rented one-room 
 cabins, now by far the larger number are in cottages of from two to four 
 
The Economic Future of the Negro American 137 
 
 rooms and in some cases as many as six to eight rooms. Many of these 
 cottages were put up and are owned by the Negro occupants on land they 
 have bot thru the school. 
 
 The improvements have come slowly and by daily almost impercep- 
 tible growth, but just as truly have they come to stay and to increase. 
 All the land the school had for sale near its own locality 
 has been bot by the Negroes. Several men have this year finisht 
 their payments on land and on houses, and have paid in full the mort- 
 gages they were under. Only a few men have still a debt remaining 
 before they can really say, ' 'These are our own homes." In several 
 instances a man has sold a few acres of his land to lessen the debt upon 
 the whole, and this is a double help. It reduces his financial burden and 
 forces him into more intensive farming. 
 
 Not only from an economic point of view but from the 
 standpoint of the sociologist as well the experiment here in 
 Lowndes County has been both interesting" and successful. 
 The Negroes call it the "Free Land." There are no over- 
 seers and riders roaming about whipping the workers and 
 seducing black wives and daughters; there is an eight 
 months' school in their midst, a pretty new church, monthly 
 conferences, a peculiar system of self government, and a 
 family life of high moral tone. 
 
 What has been done in Lowndes County under the Cal- 
 houn School and the sensible guardianship of its wise leaders 
 could be duplicated in every single black belt county in the 
 South. It is to be hoped that such will be done and on that 
 hope is based one's faith in the economic future of this black 
 rural group. 
 
 The Struggling 
 
 The second great economic group among the Negroes of 
 America may be called "the struggling." It includes the 
 artisans, the industrial helpers, the servants and the farm 
 tenants. This group is characterized as follows: 
 
 1. It is sharply divided into a city and a country group. 
 
 2. While it has a large significance in the group economy of the 
 Negro American, its overwhelming significance is for the industry of the 
 nation as a whole. 
 
 3. Its great hindrance is the necessity of group substitution in the 
 place of individual promotion. 
 
 4. Its greatest enemy is the organized opposition of its white fellow 
 workmen. 
 
1 38 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 The rural group of this class of Negro Americans consists 
 of farm tenants. In a large number of cases farm tenancy 
 has been an aid to land buying; in many cases farm tenancy 
 has been a school of thrift and saving; in the majority of 
 cases it was the only available system after the war when the 
 Negroes were set free without landed possessions of their 
 own. Yet, when all this is said, it remains true that the sys- 
 tem of farm tenancy as practiced over the larger part of the 
 South today is a direct encouragement to cheating and peon- 
 age, a means of debauching labor, and a feeder of crime and 
 vagrancy. It demands for its support a system of mortgage 
 and contract laws and a method of administration which are 
 a disgrace to twentieth century civilization. For every man 
 whom the system has helped into independence it has pushed 
 ten back into virtual slavery. It is often claimed that honest 
 and benevolent employers and landholders have made this 
 system a means of uplift, development and growth. In 
 thousands of cases this is perfectly true; but at the same 
 time it remains true and terribly true that any system of free 
 labor where the returns of the laborer, the settlement of all 
 disputes, the drawing of the contract, the determination of 
 the rent, the expenditure of the employees or tenants, the 
 price they pay for living, the character of the houses they 
 live in, and their movements during and after their work are 
 left practically to the unquestionable power of one man who 
 owns the land and profits by the labor and who is in the exer- 
 cise of his power practically unrestrained by public opinion or 
 the courts and who has no fear of ballots in the hands of the 
 laborers or their friends— any such system is inherently wrong. 
 If men complain of its results being shiftlessness, listlessness 
 and crime, they have themselves to thank. To the man who 
 declares that he is acting justly and treating his tenants and 
 employees even better than they treat themselves, it is suf- 
 ficient answer to say that he is an exception to the rule; that 
 the majority of the landholders are as indifferent to the wel- 
 fare of their men as are employers the world over; and that 
 a deplorably large minority consciously oppress and cheat 
 
The Economic Future of the Negro American 1 39 
 
 them. The best employer or landholder suffers therefore 
 for the sins of the average. 
 
 The only salvation for these Negro tenants lies in land- 
 holding, and in this the Negroes have made commendable 
 strides. In 1890 Negro Americans owned 120,738 farms: in 
 1900 they owned 187,799 farms; in 1910 they owned about 
 220,000 farms, an increase of over 82 per cent. If the Ne- 
 groes thruout the whole of the rural South had been encour- 
 aged by such wise economic leadership as was the case in 
 Lowndes County, Alabama, referred to above, the record 
 would be even more encouraging. 
 
 The city group of this class of Negro workers consists of 
 perhaps 130,000 skilled artisans, 600,000 semi-skilled and 
 ordinary industrial helpers, and 500,000 servants. The ser- 
 vant class has lost most of its best representatives because it 
 offers a narrower and narrower method of uplift, This is 
 due in part to foreign competition and in part to the fact that 
 the temptations to Negro girls in domestic service are greater 
 than in any single industry. It must be remembered that the 
 mulatto is the product of house service in the South. 
 
 With the skilled and semi-skilled Negroes the industrial 
 history has been this: Groups of Negroes have been excluded 
 entirely from certain trades and admitted to others. Unfor- 
 tunately they have been able to hold their place in the second 
 set by working for lower wages, tho in certain industries 
 they have forced themselves without resorting to the lever of 
 low wages. This gave the trade unions a chance to fight 
 Negroes as scabs. In some battles the unions won and so con- 
 tinued to exclude Negroes. In other cases the Negroes won and 
 were admitted to the unions. Even in the union, however, 
 they have been and are today discriminated against in many 
 cases. In the near future the members of this class of Negro 
 workingmen are going to have the struggle of their lives and 
 the outlook indicates that by the fulcrum of low wages and 
 the group economy, coupled with increasing efficiency, they 
 will win. This means that the Negro is to be admitted to 
 the national economy only by degrading labor conditions. 
 
1 40 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 The alternative offered is shameful and could be easily avoided 
 if color prejudice did not insist upon group substitution for 
 Negroes in industry. That is, under present conditions a 
 single individual or a few men of Negro descent cannot 
 usually gain admittance to an industry. Only when they can 
 produce workmen enough to supply the whole industry or the 
 particular enterprise can the black man be admitted. Then 
 immediately this substitution is made the occasion of a change 
 in labor conditions — lower wages, longer hours and worse 
 treatment. It thus often happens that by refusing to work 
 beside a single black man, the workmen in an industry suffer 
 a general lowering of wages and working conditions. The 
 real economic question in the South is: How long will race 
 prejudice supply a more powerful motive to white working- 
 men of the South than decent wages and industrial conditions? 
 Today the powerful threat of Negro labor is making child 
 labor and the fourteen-hour day possible in southern factories. 
 How long will it be before the white workingmen of the South 
 discover that the interests that bind them to their black 
 brothers are greater than those that artificially separate them? 
 The answer is easy: That discovery will not be made until 
 the present wave of extraordinary prosperity and exploitation 
 passes and the ordinary every day level of economic struggle 
 begins. If the Negro can hold his own until then his develop- 
 ment is certain. 
 
 The Common Laborers 
 
 The third distinct economic group of American Negroes is 
 the group of common laborers numbering more than two mil- 
 lions. A million and a quarter are farm laborers and the 
 remainder are common laborers of other sorts. This group 
 includes half the breadwinners of the race and its condition 
 is precarious. In many of the country districts of the South 
 the laws concerning contracts, wages and vagrancy are con- 
 tinually forcing the lower half of these laborers into pauper- 
 ism and crime. In most of the southern states the law con- 
 cerning the breaking of a contract to work made between an 
 ignorant farm hand and a land owner and covering a year's 
 
The Economic Future of the Negro American 1 4 1 
 
 time is enforced to the letter and the breaking of such a con- 
 tract by the laborer is a penitentiary offense. A large pro- 
 portion of the homicides in the country districts of the South 
 in which Negroes are the slayers or the victims arise from 
 disputes over wage settlement. So intolerable has the con- 
 dition of the farm laborer of the South become, that he is 
 running away from the country and entering the cities, there 
 to add to the already complex problems of city life. One 
 frequently hears the demand for immigrants to fill the places 
 of these fleeing Negro farm hands. Notwithstanding all 
 efforts in this direction it is safe to say that no group of 
 immigrants will stand the present contract and crop lien sys- 
 tem. Certain it is that they will not stand the lawlessness 
 of the average country district of the South where every 
 white man is a law unto himself and where no Negro has any 
 rights which the worst white man is bound to respect. So bad 
 has this lawlessness become in some parts of the South that 
 concerted and commendable action has been taken against 
 white cappers and night riders and a few peonage cases 
 have reached the courts. These efforts, however, have but 
 scratched the surface of the real trouble — a trouble which lies 
 deep-seated in the social fabric of the South, a trouble which 
 so seriously retards the whole South in its economic advance- 
 ment and development. 
 
 On the whole there are four general cures for the economic 
 submersion of this class of Negro Americans. First, the 
 classes above must be given every facility to rise so as not to 
 bear down upon them from above. Secondly, the system of 
 law and law courts in the South by which it is practically 
 impossible in the country districts and improbable even in the 
 cities for a black laborer to force justice from a white em- 
 ployer must be changed. Thirdly, Negro children must be 
 given common school training. The states are not doing 
 their duty in this respect and the tendency in some of them 
 is to do less. ' 
 
 1 See Atlanta University Publication, No. 16, The Common School and the Negro American. 
 
142 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Finally, the black laborer must have a vote. It is impos- 
 sible for these two million and more black workingmen to 
 maintain themselves when thrust into modern competitive 
 industry so long as the state allows them no voice or influence 
 in the making of the laws or the interpretation and adminis- 
 tration of the same. 
 
 The value of land and buildings owned by Negroes in the 
 South in 1910 was $272,992,238, an increase of nearly 90 per 
 cent in a single decade. This does not include land owned 
 by Negro farmers and rented out. On a basis of the value 
 of farm property the total Negro wealth today may be esti- 
 mated at $570,000,000. Yet in much of the South the holders 
 of this wealth are as absolutely disfranchised as the worst 
 criminal in the penitentiary. They cannot say a word as to 
 the condition of the roads and highways which pass their 
 property, or as to the location or supervision of their schools 
 or the choice of teachers, or as to the selection of the 
 government officials or the fixing of the rate of taxation. 
 
 Summary 
 
 Half the Negro breadwinners of the nation are partially 
 submerged by a bad economic system, an unjust administra- 
 tion of the laws, and enforced ignorance. Their future 
 depends on common schools, justice, and the right to vote. 
 A million and three-quarters of men just above these are 
 fighting a fierce battle for admission to the industrial ranks 
 of the nation— for the right to work. They are handicapped 
 by their own industrial history which has made them often 
 shiftless and untrustworthy; but they can, by means of wise 
 economic leadership, be made a strong body of artisans and 
 land owners. Three hundred thousand men stand economi- 
 cally at the head of the Negroes, and by a peculiar self pro- 
 tecting group economy are making themselves independent of 
 prejudice and competition. 
 
 What can be said of any one of these groups of black 
 working men can be said of them all. In so far as they are 
 given opportunity and assured justice, in so far can the world 
 expect from them the maximum of efficiency and service. 
 
Index 
 
 African Artisan, The 24-27 
 
 Ages of Negro Employees 47 
 
 Alabama 48-49, 84, 123, 124, 136, 139 
 
 Ante-bellum Negro Artisan, The 28-37 
 
 Arizona 50 
 
 Arkansas 50-51 
 
 Artisans, Negro, in the United States 44 
 
 Atlanta 56, 130, 133 
 
 Atlanta University 21, 22, 27, 29, 82, 114, 117, 124, 141 
 
 Baltimore 40, 53 
 
 Bibliography, A Select 9-20, 24 
 
 California . 51, 87, 95-97 
 
 Chicago 34, 57, 85, 88, 132 
 
 Colorado 50, 97 
 
 Connecticut 52, 97-98 
 
 Delaware 52-53 
 
 District of Columbia 52-53 
 
 Economic Future of the Negro American 127-142 
 
 Economic Groups of Negro Americans 130 
 
 Economics of Emancipation, The 37-40 
 
 Efficiency, Negro 127, 130 
 
 Florida 53, 93, 124 
 
 Georgia 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 54-57, 91, 92, 124 
 
 Group Economy of Negroes 38, 40, 127, 128-129 
 
 Illinois 57, 89, 98-99 
 
 Indiana 57, 83, 99 
 
 Iowa 58-59, 100 
 
 Kansas 58, 89, 100, 124 
 
 Kentucky 59-61 
 
 Louisiana 61-62, 124 
 
 Maine 62-63 
 
 Maryland 52-53 
 
 Massachusetts 52, 100 
 
 Michigan 57, 100 
 
 Minnesota 57-58 
 
 Mississippi 63-64, 125 
 
 Missouri 65-66, 92, 100-101 
 
 Montana 74, 101 
 
] 44 The Negro American Artisan 
 
 Nebraska 74, 101 
 
 Negro Skilled Laborers by Selected Cities 46 
 
 Negro Skilled Laborers by Selected States 45 
 
 Nevada . . • 50 
 
 New Hampshire 62-63, 101-102 
 
 New Jersey 66-67, 69, 102 
 
 New Mexico 50 
 
 New Orleans 62, 106, 112 
 
 New York 66-69, 88, 102-103 
 
 New York City 31, 34, 40, 67-68, 82, 85, 89, 109-111, 132 
 
 North Carolina 70, 125 
 
 Occupations of Negroes 41-47 
 
 Ohio 34, 70-72, 103, 125 
 
 Oklahoma 73-74, 93 
 
 Ontario > . 106 
 
 Oregon 74, 104 
 
 Organized Labor, The Negro and 82-106 
 
 Pennsylvania 29, 66-67, 104-105, 107-109 
 
 Philadelphia 34, 40, 107, 108, 132 
 
 Pittsburg 107, 108, 112 
 
 Porto Rico 105-106, 113-114 
 
 Race Prejudice 127, 129-130 
 
 Results of the Attitude of Unions, Some 106-114 
 
 Rhode Island 62-63, 105 
 
 Schools 116-119 
 
 Scope of the Inquiry 21-23 
 
 South Carolina 74-76, 125 
 
 Summary 142 
 
 Tennessee 76-77, 86, 93, 126 
 
 Texas 77-79, 92, 93, 94, 126 
 
 Training of Negro American Artisans, The 115-127 
 
 Utah 50 
 
 Vermont 62-63 
 
 Virginia 24, 28, 29, 79-81, 90, 93, 126 
 
 Wage Earners by Sex, General Nativity and Color 42 
 
 Wage Earners, Negro, by States 43 
 
 Washington 74, 105 
 
 Washington, D. C 34, 53, 132, 133 
 
 West Virginia 81-82, 126 
 
 Wisconsin 57, 91, 105 
 
 Wyoming 74, 106-107 
 
STUDIES OF NEGRO PROBLEMS 
 
 The Atlanta University Publications 
 
 COPIES FOR SALE 
 
 No. 1. Mortality among Negroes in Cities; 51 pp., 1896. 
 Out of print. 
 
 Mortality among Negroes in Cities; 24 pp. (2d edi- 
 tion, abridged, 1903). 120 copies at 25c. 
 
 No. 2. Social and Physical Conditions of Negroes in Cities; 
 86 pp., 1897. 750 copies at 25c. 
 
 No. 3. Some Efforts of Negroes for Social Betterment; 66 
 pp., 1898. Out of print. 
 
 No. 4. The Negro in Business; 78 pp., 1899. Out of print. 
 
 No. 5. The College-bred Negro ; 115 pp. , 1900. Out of print. 
 
 The College-bred Negro; 32 pp., (2d edition, 
 abridged, 1902). 977 copies at 25c. 
 
 No. 6. The Negro Common School; 120 pp., 1901. Out of 
 print. 
 
 The Negro Artisan ; 200 pp. , 1902. 350 copies at 75c. 
 
 The Negro Church; 212 pp., 1903. 120 copies at $1.50. 
 
 Notes on Negro Crime ; 75 pp. , 1904. 754 copies at 50c. 
 
 No. 10. A Select Bibliography of the Negro American; 72 
 pp., 1905. 670 copies at 25c. 
 
 No. 11. Health and Physique of the Negro American; 112 
 pp., 1906. 49 copies at $1.50. 
 
 No. 12. Economic Co-operation among Negro Americans; 
 184 pp., 1907. 1200 copies at $1.00. 
 
 No. 13. The Negro American Family; 152 pp., 1908. 975 
 copies at 75c. 
 
 No. 14. Efforts for Social Betterment among Negro Ameri- 
 cans; 136 pp., 1909. 450 copies at 75c. 
 
 No. 15. The College-bred Negro American; 104 pp., 1910. 
 950 copies at 75c. 
 
 No. 16. The Common School and the Negro American; 140 
 pp., 1911. 1059 copies at 75c. 
 
 No. 17. The Negro American Artisan, 144 pp., 1912. 2000 
 copies at 75c. 
 
 ». 7. 
 
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 ESS 1 ? 
 
 7& 
 
 "^HE dear earth is very foolish. It 
 -*■ is making such a pother about 
 color and race and forgetting the spirit 
 in man. As tho for one moment of 
 the eternal moments it matters whether 
 a man's skin is black or white or red 
 or yellow, whether he lives in a palace 
 or a cabin. These things are not life. 
 They are only shadows. Forget them 
 and Stand in the sunlight of gentleness 
 and brotherhood— the light moSt pre- 
 cious. —Mary White Ovington. 
 
 
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