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Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1729-8806
AccessType
Campus-Only Access for Five (5) Years
Document Type
dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
History
Year Degree Awarded
2023
Month Degree Awarded
May
First Advisor
Barbara Krauthamer
Second Advisor
John Higginson
Third Advisor
Priyanka Srivistava
Fourth Advisor
Traci Parker
Subject Categories
African American Studies | Cultural History | Labor History | Social History | United States History | Women's History
Abstract
This dissertation examines the wage-earning domestic work performed by African American women in the early twentieth century. Despite social and cultural perceptions of domestic work as unskilled, this work discredits the perception. The laborers of the occupation primarily reside in southern states, except for those who migrated North and West during the first Great Migration. This work examines the lived experiences of African American women domestic workers in Texas. Through an examination of organization and institutional records, case studies and media, the narrative of domestic work is crafted. Specifically, the federal intervention regarding vocational training is explored. The organizations featured include the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Urban League, and the National Youth Administration (NYA). Attention is given to the impacts of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on the occupation of domestic labor in Texas as well. By focusing on the three largest African American populated metropolitan areas Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas I examine the domestic labor market through employment advertisements and agencies to determine the working environment and competition, if any. Finally, I examine ways these domestic workers contributed to the Civil Rights struggle in Texas through resistance and advocacy for their paid labor.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/35121393
Recommended Citation
Scruggs, Camesha, ""We Poor Negro Women Have to Work": African American Women Domestic Workers in Texas, 1900-1940" (2023). Doctoral Dissertations. 2856.
https://doi.org/10.7275/35121393
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/2856
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.