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Title: The Negro at Work in New York City
A Study in Economic Progress
Author: George Edmund Haynes
Release Date: February 28, 2008 [eBook #24712]
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Studies in History, Economics and Public Law
Edited by the Faculty of Political Science of
Columbia University
Volume XLIX Number 3
Whole Number 124
THE NEGRO AT WORK IN NEW YORK CITY
A Study in Economic Progress
by
GEORGE EDMUND HAYNES, Ph.D.
Sometime Fellow of the Bureau of Social Research,
New York School of Philanthropy;
Professor of Social Science in Fisk University
[Illustration]
New York
Columbia University
Longmans, Green & Co., Agents
London: P.S. King & Son
1912
Copyright, 1912
by
George Edmund Haynes
PREFACE
This study was begun as one of the several researches of the Bureau of
Social Research of the New York School of Philanthropy, largely at the
suggestion of Dr. Samuel McCune Lindsay, the director, to whose
interest, advice and sympathy its completion is largely due. Sincere
thanks are due the Bureau for making the investigation possible.
The material was gathered between January, 1909, and January, 1910,
except about four weeks in August, 1909, during the time that I was
pursuing studies at the School of Philanthropy and at Columbia
University.
The investigation necessarily involved many questions concerning the
personal affairs of many Negroes of New York and it is a pleasant duty
to acknowledge the unvarying cheerfulness with which they rendered
assistance in securing the facts.
I wish to acknowledge especially the help of Dr. William L. Bulkley in
making possible many of the interviews with wage-earners, of Dr.
Roswell C. McCrea for criticism and encouragement in preparation of
the monograph, and of Dr. E.E. Pratt, sometime fellow of the Bureau of
Social Research; Miss Dora Sandowsky for her careful and painstaking
tabulation of most of the figures. They should not be charged,
however, with responsibility for any of the errors that may be
detected by the trained eye.
The study as now published is incomplete. Part I, the Negro as a
Wage-earner and Part II, the Negro in Business, were to be
supplemented by Part III, the Negro in the Professions. But the time
absorbed in gathering the material for the first two parts prevented
the securing of a sufficient amount of personally ascertained data for
the third; it seemed best to concentrate on the first two for the sake
of thoroughness.
The summaries following the data on the several points and at the end
of each chapter, and the conclusion at the end of the volume contain
some repetitions which may be open to criticism, but they have been
retained with the hope of making the monograph useful to those who
wish to know the conclusions from the succession of figure upon figure
and percentage upon percentage, without necessarily going through
these details. At the same time, anyone who may wish to weigh the
inferences in the light of the facts has the details before him.
Conditions among Negroes in Philadelphia have been adequately studied
in the work of Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Dr. R.R. Wright, Jr. It is to be
hoped that some time soon the need of similar inquiries in other
cities--East, West, North and South--may be realized and that
provision may be made in this way for the guidance of the growing
impulses of those who wish to better conditions in urban centers.
I am aware that there are good reasons for criticism of these pages.
But what has been done was done in the search for the truth, that the
enthusiasm of reform may be linked with the reliability of knowledge
in the efforts to better the future conditions of the city and the
Negro.
GEORGE EDMUND HAYNES.
FISK UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENN., APRIL 1, 1912.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I
PAGE
PREFACE 7-8
THE NEGRO AS A WAGE EARNER
CHAPTER I
THE CITY AND THE NEGRO--THE PROBLEM 13
CHAPTER II
THE NEGRO POPULATION OF NEW YORK CITY 45
CHAPTER III
GENERAL CONDITION OF WAGE-EARNERS
1. Sex and Age of Negro Wage-Earners 54
2. Nativity of Negro Wage-Earners 57
3. Marital Condition of Wage-Earners 60
4. Families and Lodgers 61
CHAPTER IV
OCCUPATIONS OF WAGE-EARNERS
1. A Historical View of Occupations 66
2. Occupations in 1890 and 1900 69
3. Occupations in 1905 72
CHAPTER V
WAGES AND EFFICIENCY OF WAGE-EARNERS
1. Wages in Domestic and Personal Service 78
2. Wages in Other Occupations 82
3. Efficiency of Wage-Earners 83
PART II
THE NEGRO IN BUSINESS IN NEW YORK CITY
CHAPTER I
THE CHARACTER OF NEGRO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
1. The Business Promise 93
2. A History of the Negro in Business 94
3. The Nature of the Establishments in 1909 98
4. Ownership of Establishments 100
5. Size of Business Enterprises 104
CHAPTER II
THE VOLUME OF BUSINESS
1. Valuation of Tools and Fixtures 109
2. The Amount of Merchandise on Hand 111
3. Gross Receipts in 1907 and 1908 113
CHAPTER III
DEALING WITH THE COMMUNITY
1. Age of Establishments 117
2. Permanence of Location 118
3. Business Methods 120
4. Credit Relationships 122
5. The Purchasing Public 123
CHAPTER IV
SOME SAMPLE ENTERPRISES
1. Individuals and Partnerships 127
2. The Negro Corporation 137
CONCLUSION 143
APPENDICES, A, B, C 149
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 154
INDEX 157
PART I
THE NEGRO AS A WAGE EARNER IN NEW YORK CITY
CHAPTER I
THE CITY[1] AND THE NEGRO--THE PROBLEM
The city of to-day, the growth of the past century, is a permanent
development. Dr. Weber has effectively treated the history, nature,
causes and effects of the concentration. He shows[2] that the
percentage of urban population has varied in different countries; and
that this is due mainly to the varying density of population and to
the diverse physical features of the countries which have been
differently affected by the Industrial Revolution and the era of
railroads. The causes of this concentration have been the divorce of
men from the soil, the growth of commercial centers, the growth of
industrial centers, and such secondary and individual causes as
legislation, educational and social advantages.
In the United States, city growth has been affected by all of the
several causes that have operated in other countries, modified at
times and in places by exceptional influences.[3]
In the discussions concerning the Negro and his movement cityward, it
is often assumed that his migration is affected by causes of a
different kind from those moving other populations; or that it is not
similar in respect to the movement of the white population under
similar conditions; or that the concentration can result only in dire
disaster both to himself and to the community into which he moves.
Such facts as are available suggest that these assumptions are
ill-founded. The efforts that are being put forth to improve rural
conditions and to advance agricultural arts among Negroes are highly
commendable and effective. The thesis of this chapter is that,
notwithstanding improvements resulting from these efforts for rural
districts, wherever similar causes operate under similar conditions,
the Negro, along with the white population, is coming to the city to
stay; that the problems which grow out of his maladjustment to the new
urban environment are solvable by methods similar to those that help
other elements of the population.
In the first place, so far as we know now, the general movement of the
Negroes, speaking for the South, does not seem to have been very
different from that of the whites. Professor Wilcox says,[4]
It is sometimes alleged that the migration to cities, which has
characterized nearly all countries and all classes of population
during the last half century, has affected Southern whites more
than Southern negroes, and that the latter race is thus being
segregated in the rural districts. That such a movement may have
gone on, or may now be in progress, in parts of the South can
neither be affirmed nor denied on the basis of the present
figures, but it may be said with some confidence that, as a
general statement applied to the whole South, it is not correct.
To be sure the negroes constitute 32.6 per cent of the
population of the country districts in the entire South and only
30.9 per cent of the city population, but an examination of the
figures (Census 1900) for the several divisions and states will
show that what is in some degree true of the South as a whole is
not true of most of its parts.
Therefore, it is of importance to note that the movement of white and
Negro populations toward cities tends to be coincident. We may get
some indication of these movements of white and Negro populations
cityward by comparing the growth of their numbers in the principal
Northern and Southern cities from 1860 to 1900.
The Negro population has shown a greater increase than the white in
each southern city taken separately for the entire period, 1860 to
1900, but together the movement of the white and Negro populations was
similar except between 1860 and 1870. That fourteen of the southern
cities show an excessive proportional increase of Negro population
between 1860 and 1870 is probably due (1) to the very small
proportionate Negro population in each of these cities in 1860, the
Negroes being almost entirely in the rural districts, and (2) to the
exceptional influences following the Civil War which uprooted the
rural Negro population that was proportionately larger than the white.
The truth of this is corroborated by the per cent of increase by
decades for these southern cities taken together. Comparisons with the
white population in Northern cities were not made because of the
influence of foreign immigration of whites. The per cent of increase
of the populations in Southern cities from 1860 to 1870 were white
16.7 per cent, Negro 90.7 per cent; from 1870 to 1880, white 20.3 per
cent, Negro 25.5 per cent; from 1880 to 1890, white 35.7 per cent,
Negro 38.7 per cent; from 1890 to 1900, white 20.8 per cent, Negro
20.6 per cent; from 1900 to 1910, white 27.7 per cent, Negro 20.6 per
cent. That is, when the proportion between the urban and rural
populations of blacks and whites becomes normal, and exceptional
influences no longer bear upon the Negro, the two populations show
about the same rate of increase in their migrations to these Southern
cities. The percent of increase of the Negro population for eight
Northern cities (counting all the boroughs of New York City as now
constituted as one) was as follows: 1860-1870, 51 per cent; 1870-1880,
36.4 per cent; 1880-1890, 32.3 per cent; 1890-1900, 59.2 per cent. The
larger liberty of Northern cities was coupled with the economic call
of better wages. And this probably may account for the fact that
Southern cities show an increase of whites of 7.7 per cent more than
of Negroes between 1900-1910. The migration to both Southern and
Northern cities is graphically illustrated in the accompanying
diagram.
[Illustration: Diagram I:
PER CENT INCREASE OF WHITES AND NEGROES]
The figures for Southern cities represented in the diagram are given
in Table I.
TABLE I. NUMBER AND PER CENT. INCREASE OF WHITE AND NEGRO POPULATIONS,
PRINCIPAL SOUTHERN CITIES, 1860-1900.[A]
----------+---------------+-------------++---------------+-------------
| Population | Increase || Population | Increase
| 14 cities. | 1860-1870. || 15 cities. | 1870-1880.
+-------+-------+-------+-----++-------+-------+-------+-----
| 1860. | 1870. | No. | Per || 1870. | 1880. | No. | Per
| | | | cent|| | | | cent
----------+-------+-------+-------+-----++-------+-------+-------+-----
White |610,015|712,015|102,000| 16.7||715,887|867,403|145,081| 20.3
| | | | || | | |
Negro |141,709|270,212|128,503| 90.7||272,433|341,907| 69,474| 25.5
----------+-------+-------+-------+-----++-------+-------+-------+-----
| Population | Increase || Population | Increase
| 15 cities. | 1880-1890. || 16 cities. | 1890-1900.
+---------------+-------+-----++---------------+-------+-----
| 1890 | | Per || 1900 | | Per
| | No. | cent|| | No. | cent
----------+---------------+-------+-----++---------------+-------+-----
White | 1,183,419 |307,542| 35.7|| 1,429,931 |246,512| 20.8
| | | || | |
Negro | 485,477 |132,316| 38.7|| 585,931 |100,054| 20.6
----------+---------------+-------+-----++---------------+-------+-----
| Population | Increase
| 16 cities. | 1900-1910.
+------------------------------+--------------+--------------
| 1910. | No. | Per cent
+------------------------------+--------------+--------------
White | 1,817,155 | 387,224 | 27.7
| | |
Negro | 706,352 | 120,821 | 20.6
----------+------------------------------+--------------+--------------
[A] Table is based on figures compiled from Eighth Census,
_Pop._, pp. 9, 19, 46, 74, 132, 195, 215, 452, 487, 519; Tenth
Census, vol. i, _Pop._, pp. 416-425; Eleventh Census, vol. i,
_Pop._, pp. 451-485; Twelfth Census, vol. i, pt. 2, _Pop._, pp.
cxix-cxxi and _Bulletin 8, Negroes of the United States_, pp.
230-232. For 1860, compare Hoffman, _Race Traits and Tendencies
of the American Negro_ p. 10.
Both the diagram and the table support the conclusion that the
movement of the white and Negro populations to these cities have been
similar under similar conditions and influences.
In like manner such statistics as are available show that the causes
that have concentrated the white population in urban centres have
operated likewise to send the Negro thither.
I. The Divorce of the Negro from the Soil.--With other rural
populations improvements in agriculture have made fewer workers
necessary. In the case of the Negro, the main moving force from the
rural districts since 1860 has been the breaking down of the old
régime. The decades from 1840 to 1890, except 1870 to 1880, or the
period of the "industrial paralysis" after the panic of 1873, were
decades of remarkable urban growth in the United States.[5] The first
two decades of this time were the years of violent slavery agitation.
Then followed the Civil War and the boon of freedom, which gave rise
to an unusual mobility of Negro labor. The inevitable _Wanderlust_
which sudden social upheaval entails was increased by Ku-Klux
terrorism and the breaking down of the slave plantation system.[6]
Thousands of the wandering freedmen flocked to the Union army posts
which were located in towns and cities.
This was only the beginning. The landless freedman furnished occasion
for the creation of the share-tenant and crop-lien systems. In many
cases these handicaps often became intolerable under dishonest
merchants, unscrupulous landlords, and ill-treatment by overseers.[7]
All this tended to loosen the hold of the Negro tenant upon the soil.
Simultaneously with these dominant forces in agriculture, another
began to be felt. The one crop of cotton or tobacco taxed the land in
many sections year after year until it was worn out. In 1899, 70.5 per
cent of Negro farmers reported cotton as the principal source of
income. Tobacco formed the principal source of income of 16 per cent
of Negro farmers in Virginia, of 30.1 per cent in Kentucky and of 18.7
per cent in Maryland.[8] Compared with the growing industrial
pursuits, these old agricultural lands no longer offer attractive
returns.[9]
Again, where thrift, improvement in agricultural methods and knowledge
develop, just as among other farmers, there begins to be a surplus of
hands to the cultivator, and Negroes turn toward better paid
employment in the urban centres.
It is true that there are large uncultivated, virgin areas of the
Southwest, especially in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas,
and Texas, that are calling loudly for farm labor. The population
these areas can support is very considerable and the returns to labor
are better than in many of the older agricultural sections. Granting
this, the tendency of modern civilization and improvements in
facilities for transportation favors the urban centers. So that
migration is easier toward the city than away from it or toward these
untilled agricultural areas. _The Negro is in the population stream._
II. The Migration of the Negro to Industrial and Commercial
centers.--A study of the growth of the Southern cities shows
influences at work similar to those of other sections. Statistics of
manufactures of the United States Censuses are not altogether
conclusive or reliable, but they measurably indicate conditions. We
turn to these records for light upon the Southern situation.
A study of the value of manufactured products of sixteen Southern
cities shows that there was a marked increase during the twenty-five
years from 1880 to 1905. The industrial centers, Chattanooga,
Tennessee, and Birmingham, Alabama, have come into prominence in the
decade, 1890-1900, and show an increase in value of products of 17.8
per cent and 78.9 per cent respectively. The comparatively small
increase during 1890-1900 for Richmond, Va.; Charleston, S.C.; Augusta
and Savannah, Ga., and Mobile, Ala., was probably due to unknown local
causes and to a reaction during the industrial crisis of 1892-1894
from the excessive increases of the preceding decade. Yet these cities
along with nine of the others show remarkable increase in the total
value of products for the entire twenty years from 1880 to 1900.
Richmond, with an increase of 39 per cent and Savannah, with an
increase of 90.3 per cent, were the only cities which had an increase
of less than one hundred per cent in value of products during the
score of years from 1880 to 1900. The total increase in value of
products from 1880 to 1900 for 14 of the cities (Chattanooga and
Birmingham being omitted) was 143.3 per cent. The following
comparative statement in Table II shows the increase in the value of
products of manufactures in sixteen Southern cities from 1880 to 1905,
and gives the detailed figures which are the bases of the preceding
conclusion. (See p. 21.)
Along with the increase of production has gone the growth in the
average number of wage-earners in manufacturing establishments. Each
city made a decided advance in the average number of wage-earners in
manufactures during the twenty years from 1880 to 1900. In that
period, out of fourteen cities, two increased over 300 per cent in the
average number of wage-earners, two cities increased over 240 per cent
in the average number of wage-earners, five cities increased over 100
per cent and the remaining five cities showed an increase of 76.3 per
cent, 57 per cent, 39.8 per cent, 18.8 per cent, and 7.5 per cent
respectively. Chattanooga, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala., from 1890 to
1900 increased 5.2 per cent and 105.6 per cent respectively. Omitting
these, the other fourteen cities taken together increased in the
number of wage-earners during the twenty years from 1880 to 1900, 60.9
per cent. Table III, which follows, brings into full view this large
and constant increase in the average number of wage-earners in
manufacturing establishments, exclusive of proprietors, salaried
officers, clerks, _etc._
TABLE II. TOTAL VALUE OF PRODUCTS, INCLUDING CUSTOM WORK AND
REPAIRING, OF MANUFACTURES IN SIXTEEN SOUTHERN CITIES, 1880-1905.[A]
--------------+----------------------------------------------------------
| Total value of products.
+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------
Cities. | | | | Per cent |
| 1880. | 1890. | 1900. | increase | 1905[B]
| | | |1880-1900.|
--------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------
| $ | $ | $ | | $
| | | | |
Wilmington | 13,205,370| 24,568,125| 34,053,324| 157.9 | 30,390,039
Baltimore | 78,417,304|141,723,599|161,249,240| 105.6 |151,546,580
Washington[C] | 11,882,316| 39,331,437| 47,667,622| 301.2 | 18,359,159
Norfolk | 1,455,987| 5,100,408| 9,397,355| 545.4 | 5,900,129
Richmond | 20,790,106| 27,792,672| 28,900,616| 39.0 | 28,202,607
Charleston | 2,732,590| 9,005,421| 9,562,387| 249.9 | 6,007,094
Atlanta | 4,861,727| 13,074,037| 16,707,027| 243.6 | 25,745,650
Augusta | 3,139,029| 9,244,850| 10,041,900| 219.9 | 8,829,305
Savannah | 3,396,297| 6,319,066| 6,461,816| 90.3 | 6,340,004
Louisville | 35,423,203| 54,515,226| 78,746,390| 122.3 | 83,204,125
Chattanooga | | 10,216,109| 12,033,780| 17.8[D] | 15,193,909
Memphis | 4,413,422| 13,244,538| 17,923,058| 306.1 | 21,348,817
Nashville | 8,597,278| 14,590,823| 18,469,823| 114.8 | 23,109,601
Birmingham | | 7,034,248| 12,581,066| 78.9[D] | 7,592,958
Mobile | 1,335,579| 3,826,399| 4,451,062| 233.3 | 4,942,331
New Orleans | 18,808,096| 48,295,449| 63,514,505| 237.7 | 84,604,006
--------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------
Total |208,458,304|427,882,407|531,760,971| 143.3[E] |521,316,314
--------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------
[A] Compiled from Census Reports: 1880, 10th Census,
_Manufactures_, pp. xxiv, xxv; 1890-1900, 12th Census, vol.
viii, _Manufactures, Part ii_, pp. 7, 108, 115, 134, 279, 301,
335, 831, 848, 908; 1905, 12th Census, _Manufactures, Part ii_,
pp. 20, 142, 152, 179, 339, 361, 403, 1025, 1056, 1127.
[B] In Tables ii and iii the figures of Manufactures from 1880
to 1900 are not exactly comparable with those of 1905, because
the census of 1905 was limited to manufacturing establishments
and excluded all neighborhood work and establishments for
custom work and repairing. Hence percentage of increase was not
worked out for this period.
[C] Figures for Washington, D.C., apply to the District of
Columbia and include governmental establishments.
[D] Increase 1890-1900.
[E] Increase per cent for 14 cities from 1880 to 1900,
exclusive of Chattanooga and Birmingham.
TABLE III. AVERAGE NUMBER OF WAGE-EARNERS[A] ENGAGED IN MANUFACTURES
IN SIXTEEN SOUTHERN CITIES, 1880-1905.[B]
------------------------+----------------------------------------------
| Average Number of Wage-earners.
+-------+-------+----------+----------+--------
| | | | Per cent |
| 1880. | 1890. | 1900. |increase, |1905.[D]
| | | |1880-1900.|
------------------------+-------+-------+----------+----------+--------
Wilmington. Del. | 7,852| 13,370| 16,055 | 104.5 | 13,554
Baltimore, Md. | 56,338| 76,489| 78,738 | 39.8 | 65,224
Washington, D.C. | 7,146| 20,406| 24,693 | 245.5 | 17,281
Norfolk, Va. | 752| 2,391| 4,334 | 476.3 | 3,063
Richmond, Va. | 14,047| 16,891| 16,692 | 18.8 | 12,883
Charleston, S.C. | 2,146| 4,684| 5,027 | 134.2 | 3,450
Atlanta, Ga. | 3,680| 7,957| 9,356 | 154.2 | 11,891
Augusta, Ga. | 4,518| 5,714| 7,092 | 57.0 | 4,839
Savannah, Ga. | 1,130| 2,419| 2,870 | 154.1 | 3,330
Louisville, Ky. | 17,103| 24,159| 29,926 | 7.5 | 24,985
Chattanooga, Tenn.[C] | | 5,200| 5,472 | 5.2 | 6,984
Memphis, Tenn. | 2,268| 5,497| 8,433 | 271.8 | 8,153
Nashville, Tenn. | 4,791| 7,275| 8,447 | 76.3 | 8,435
Birmingham, Ala.[C] | | 3,247| 6,675 | 105.6 | 3,987
Mobile, Ala. | 704| 2,719| 2,827 | 301.5 | 2,496
New Orleans, La. | 9,504| 22,342| 19,435[E]| 104.5 | 17,631
------------------------+-------+-------+----------+----------+---------
| | | | |
Total |131,979|212,313|233,925 | 60.9[F] |208,186
------------------------+-------+-------+----------+----------+---------
[A] Does not include proprietors, salaried officers, clerks,
_etc._
[B] 1880, Tenth Census, _Manufactures_, pp. xxiv, xxv; 1890 and
1900, 11th Census, _Manufactures, Part ii_, pp. 7, 108, 115,
134, 279, 300, 335, 831, 848, 908; 1905, 12th Census, vol.
viii, _Manufactures, Part ii_, pp. 20, 142, 152, 179, 339, 361,
403, 1025, 1056, 1127.
[C] No return for 1880.
[D] Figures for 1905 are less and are not comparable with
preceding figures, because in 1905 all neighborhood work and
establishments for custom work and repairing were excluded.
[E] Does not include cotton compressing in 1900.
[F] Fourteen cities; Chattanooga and Birmingham are omitted.
The industrial pull of Southern cities, then, is shown both by the
increase in the average number of wage-earners and in the total value
of manufactured products.
There is no reason to doubt that commercial enterprise has operated
and kept pace with industrial activity in causing the growth of these
urban centers. Figures for the trade of these sixteen Southern cities
are not available. However, we have side lights upon the commercial
life in the amount of railroad building that has taken place in the
South since 1860. In 1860, there were only 8,317 miles of railroad in
the thirteen states from Maryland and Delaware to Arkansas and Texas.
In 1900, there were 46,735.86 miles in the same territory, an increase
of 461.9 per cent. From 1900 to 1905 this increased to 55,239.22 miles
or 18.2 per cent in the five years.[10] Likewise the traffic
operations, including total tonnage, and freight, passenger, express
and mail earnings of selected groups of railways covering most of this
territory, increased very rapidly from 1890 to 1900. In the ten years,
from 1890 to 1900, the tonnage increased from 63,597,120 tons to
121,180,317 tons or 90.5 per cent; and total earnings went from
$113,616,184.45 in 1890 to $168,606,233 in 1900, an increase of 48.4
per cent in ten years.
As these industrial and commercial forces affect the population, the
Negro without doubt shares to a considerable extent the influence.
That the Negro has been a large labor factor in the South is a patent
fact. All the data available indicate that he has been affected by
economic influences similar to those which have moved the white
population toward the urban centers.
The most decisive set of facts is the growth in the number of whites
and Negroes in gainful occupations in Southern cities. The census
returns of 1890 and 1900 for a number of Southern cities were
sufficient for an inference. For some occupations figures for 1890
were not available, and in other occupations some cities were not
reported in 1890. So a selected list of occupations was taken.
The comparisons of those occupations selected are striking. Among the
males, for domestic and personal service occupations, from 1890 to
1900, the white wage-earners increased 42.3 per cent and the Negro
wage-earners increased 31.1 per cent. Here we see the influence of the
growth of wealthy classes in the industrial and commercial centers,
who require increasing numbers to supply their developing wants. In
trade and transportation occupations, while the number of white
wage-earners increased 25.2 per cent from 1890 to 1900, the Negro
wage-earners increased 39.1 per cent during the same decade. For the
same period, in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits, the white
workers increased 6.1 per cent and the Negro workers increased 12.1
per cent. This indicates the dependence of the growing industry of the
South upon its black male workers and shows how strong upon them is
the economic pull.
For the females, the increases are no less telling, especially for
Negro workers. In ten selected occupations for Southern cities, the
white female workers decreased 29.1 per cent and the Negro female
workers increased 36 per cent from 1890 to 1900. The decrease for the
whites was due to an excessive decrease among dressmakers, milliners
and seamstresses, which may be a discrepancy of the census returns.
The full list of selected occupations in Southern cities for 1890 and
1900 are given in full in Table IV, following:
TABLE IV. INCREASE OF WHITE AND NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, SOUTHERN CITIES, 1890-1900.[A]
KEY:
A: No. of cities.
B: Per cent increase.
----------------------------+----------------------------------------------
| Male.
+----+--------------------+--------------------
| | Native white. | Negro.
| +-------+-------+----+-------+-------+----
Occupation. | A | 1890. | 1900. | B | 1890. | 1900. | B
----------------------------+----+-------+-------+----+-------+-------+----
Domestic and personal | | | | | | |
service | -- | 29,407| 41,854|42.3| 54,179| 71,047|31.1
Barbers, hairdressers | 10 | 1,436| 2,208| -- | 1,946| 2,317| --
Bartenders | 8 | 1,688| 2,486| -- | 277| 389| --
Laborers (not specified) | 10 | 19,843| 27,759| -- | 35,868| 51,346| --
Restaurant and saloon | | | | | | |
keepers | 9 | 1,577| 2,107| -- | 377| 474| --
Servants and waiters | 10 | 1,395| 1,128| -- | 15,358| 16,071| --
Watchmen, policemen, | | | | | | |
detectives, etc. | 10 | 3,441| 6,166| -- | 353| 450| --
Trade and transportation | -- | 71,291| 89,294|25.2| 18,305| 25,459|39.1
Agents, collectors and | | | | | | |
commercial travelers | 10 | 8,571| 13,031| -- | 287| 411| --
Bankers, brokers and | | | | | | |
officials (bank) | 8 | 2,309| 1,824| -- | 76| 13| --
Draymen, hackmen, | | | | | | |
teamsters | 10 | 6,385| 8,117| -- | 11,246| 14,545| --
Messengers, packers, | | | | | |
porters, etc.[B] | 9 | 3,302| 4,486| -- | 3,554| 6,225| --
Steam railway employees | 10 | 11,033| 11,532| -- | 2,213| 3,048| --
Street railway employees | 8 | 1,987| 3,366| -- | 85| 170| --
Bookkeepers, accountants, | | | | | |
etc.[C] | 10 | 37,704| 46,638| -- | 844| 1,057| --
Manufacturing and | | | | | | |
mechanical pursuits | -- | 55,236| 64,288|16.3| 11,548| 12,887|11.6
Bakers and butchers | 9 | 4,111| 4,512| -- | 632| 640| --
Blacksmiths[D] | 10 | 3,722| 4,003| -- | 852| 935| --
Boot and shoemakers and | | | | | |
repairers | 10 | 2,195| 1,816| -- | 1,184| 965| --
Carpenters and joiners | 10 | 12,947| 12,394| -- | 3,029| 2,762| --
Cotton and textile mill | | | | | |
operatives | 7 | 2,648| 2,534| -- | 258| 281| --
Engineers, firemen | | | | | | |
(not locomotive) | 10 | 3,379| 5,151| -- | 881| 1,224| --
Iron and steel workers | 9 | 3,366| 4,808| -- | 779| 752| --
Machinists | 10 | 5,086| 8,088| -- | 92| 174| --
Marble and stone cutters | 5 | 1,009| 906| -- | 150| 149| --
Masons (brick and stone) | 6 | 2,663| 2,362| -- | 731| 1,264| --
Painters, glaziers, | | | | | |
varnishers | 10 | 6,807| 7,372| -- | 875| 782| --
Plasterers | 7 | 672| 633| -- | 886| 811| --
Plumbers, gas and steam | | | | | |
fitters | 7 | 1,925| 2,646| -- | 113| 151| --
Saw and planing mill | | | | | |
employees | 7 | 2,543| 4,409| -- | 749| 1,062| --
Tailors | 10 | 2,163| 2,654| -- | 337| 307| --
----------------------------+----+-------+-------+----+-------+-------+----
Total | -- |155,934|195,436|25.3| 84,032|109,393|30.2
----------------------------+----+-------+-------+----+-------+-------+----
----------------------------+----------------------------------------------
| Female.
+----+--------------------+--------------------
| | Native white. | Negro.
| +-------+-------+----+-------+-------+----
Occupation. | A | 1890 | 1900 | B | 1890 | 1900 | B
----------------------------+----+-------+-------+----+-------+-------+----
Housekeepers and | | | | | | |
stewardesses | 10 | 1,475| 1,956 | -- | 752| 513| --
Laborers (not specified) | 10 | 332| 712 | -- | 676| 901| --
Laundresses | 10 | 1,543| 2,409 | -- | 25,968| 41,386| --
Nurses and midwives | 10 | 781| 2,472 | -- | 1,097| 3,691| --
Servants[E] | 10 | 10,176| 9,983 | -- | 47,198| 56,729| --
Saleswomen | 7 | 2,633| 4,808 | -- | 37| 28| --
Dressmakers, milliners, | | | | | | |
seamstresses | 10 | 41,313|22,007 | -- | 6,528| 6,859| --
Tailoresses | 6 | 2,814| 2,950 | -- | 164| 131| --
----------------------------+----+-------+-------+----+-------+-------+----
Total | -- | 61,067|47,297 |29.1| 81,027|110,238|36.0
| | | [F] |[F] | | |
----------------------------+----+-------+-------+----+-------+-------+----
NOTES FOR TABLE IV.
[A] Figures for 1890 from Eleventh Census, _Pop., Part ii_, pp.
630-703; for 1900, Twelfth Census, _Occupations_, Table 43. The
cities are from the list in Tables III and IV _supra_.
[B] Includes office-boys, shippers, and helpers in stores in
1900, probably not separated in 1890.
[C] Includes clerks and copyists.
[D] Includes some wheelwrights for all cities except one.
[E] Includes waitresses in 1900.
[F] Decrease.
The evidence, then, that the economic call of Southern cities has
received response from Negroes as from whites is fairly conclusive.
That the economic motive of the Negro has had a large place in causing
his migration to urban centers is further shown by the testimony of
Negro wage-earners in a Northern city.
In a personal canvass in New York City, 365 wage-earners were asked
their reasons for coming to New York City. In reply to the question
put in this direct manner 210 out of the total 365 wage-earners gave
replies; of these, 99 or 47.1 per cent gave answers that are easily
classified as economic. The other replies have been grouped under
"family" reasons, 68 or 32.4 per cent, and "individual" reasons, 43 or
20.5 per cent. Many cases in the last two groupings, as appear below
(pp. 31-32), would probably be seen to have an underlying economic
cause, if we knew more of their history. The 99 answers classed as
economic were as follows:
TABLE V. ECONOMIC REASONS GIVEN BY 99 WAGE-EARNERS FOR COMING TO NEW
YORK CITY, 1909.
To "get work" or "find work" 38
To secure "better wages" or "more money" 19
With former employers 18
To complete trade training 2
To engage in work previously assured 4
To "better my condition" 15
"Business low at home" 1
"Wanted to buy house at home by (with) money made here" 1
"Seeking business" 1
---
Total 99
This evidence is further corroborated by a record of the wages of 64
of the 365 wage-earners before and after their coming to New York
City. For 38 males and 26 females statements of the wages received
just previously to their coming to New York City and of their present
wages were secured. These figures are presented because they suggest
that a wider survey of such facts would probably be in line with the
body of data given above. For instance, of 37 men, the median weekly
wage before their coming to New York City was in the wage-group $6.00
to $6.99, and after coming, the median weekly wage increased so that
it was in the wage-group $10.00 to $10.99. Of the 26 women, the median
weekly wage was in the wage-group $4.00 to $4.99 before their coming
to New York City and advanced so that it was in the group $6.00 to
$6.99 after coming. These facts indicate a decided response to the
higher wage attraction of New York City. It should be remarked that
the wage-earner in his migration to secure higher wages seldom takes
into consideration the higher cost of living in New York City. Table
VI, following, gives the details of the comparison:
TABLE VI. WEEKLY WAGES RECEIVED BY 64 INDIVIDUALS BEFORE AND AFTER
COMING TO NEW YORK CITY, 1909.
---------------------------+--------------+--------------
| |
| Males. | Females.
+-------+------+-------+------
Wages. | | | |
|Before.|After.|Before.|After.
---------------------------+-------+------+-------+------
Less than $3.00 | -- | -- | 9 | --
$3.00-$3.99 | 8 | -- | 3 | 3
$4.00-$4.99 | 3 | -- | 3 | 3
$5.00-$5.99 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3
$6.00-$6.99 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 7
$7.00-$7.99 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 6
$8.00-$8.99 | 4 | -- | -- | 2
$9.00-$9.99 | -- | 4 | 2 | 2
$10.00-$10.99 | 3 | 5 | -- | --
$11.00-$11.99 | 1 | 4 | -- | --
$12.00-$12.99 | 1 | 2 | -- | --
$13.00 and over | 4 | 9[A]| -- | --
---------------------------+-------+------+-------+------
Total | 37 | 38 | 26 | 26
---------------------------+-------+------+-------+------
[A] One individual replied "less than now in New York City."
In the economic movement to the Northern cities, the activity of
employment agencies (especially for female domestic help) with
drummers and agents in Southern communities has served to spread tales
of high wages and to provide transportation for large numbers.[11]
Again, many who have been to the urban centers return for visits to
their more rural home communities with show of better wages in dress,
in cash and in conversation[12].
The conclusion of the matter, therefore, is that the Negro is
responding to the call of commerce and industry and is coming to the
urban centers under economic influences similar to those that move his
fellows.
III. Secondary or Individual Causes of the Negro's Movement
Cityward.--It requires only a brief survey of the legislation in
several of the Southern states to understand that this has played a
part in uprooting the population from the soil and transplanting it in
the urban centers.
The trend of legislation everywhere has been to make the city
attractive at the expense of the rural districts. First among these
measures have been the improved educational facilities provided by
municipal authorities. In the South, this has come since 1865. Parks
and recreation centers are rapidly being added. General regulation of
rights and privileges has been made with the city in the foreground,
and many another measure has favored the urban centers.
Labor legislation in the South that affects the Negro population has
been of two kinds, aside from the laws to regulate or prohibit the
exodus of laborers through the activity of labor agents or
runners[13]: (1) that applying to the industrial centers and serving
to make conditions of labor on railroads, in mines, and other places
where Negroes are employed more attractive and payment of wages more
certain and frequent than in the case of labor upon the farm and
plantation; (2) that dealing with the relations of landlord and tenant
which in practical operation often makes the life of the tenant and
farm-hand very hard. Coupled with the ignorance of the usual Negro
peasant, these laws are sometimes tools of coercion.[14]
Another line of secondary or individual causes is shown in the reasons
for coming to New York City given by wage-earners mentioned above (p.
27). The tabulation of answers indicates that the influences drawing
individuals to New York City are, on the one hand, family
relationships. These cases, 68 or 32.4 per cent of the 210 replies
noted above, have been classified as those who came because of
parents, because of husband or wife, or because of other relatives. On
the other hand, there are the individual inclinations. The latter, 43
or 20.5 per cent of the 210 replies, are grouped under restlessness,
attraction of New York City, unattractiveness of former residence, and
miscellaneous. These groupings and designations are given as
suggestive only to facilitate the understanding of the mental attitude
of the Negro wage-earner. Their more or less economic tinge may be
seen. The reasons classified as "family" and as "individual" are
reported in detail in Table VII, following:
TABLE VII. REASONS GIVEN IN 1909 BY WAGE-EARNERS SHOWING WHY THEY CAME
TO NEW YORK CITY, 1909.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------+---
|
Family reasons (68 or 32.4 per cent, of 210). | T
| o
-----------------------+----------------------+------------------------+ t
| | | a
On account of parents. |On account of husband | On account of other | l
| or wife | relatives. | .
-----------------------+----------------------+------------------------+---
| | |
"Brought here by |"Relatives of wife |"A son here" 2|
parents" 12| here" 1| |
| |"To visit a brother |
"With mother" 6|"Wife here" 1| and remained" 5|
| | |
"Came with mother |"To follow husband" 1|"Had a sister here" 9|
who was here" 4| | |
|"Came with husband" 7|"My health was bad |
"Father was here" 2| | and came to live |
|"My husband was | with sister" 1|
"On account of death | working on a ship | |
of father" 1| coming here" 1|To live with other |
| | relatives on account |
"Father transferred | | of death of mother 4|
in revenue service" 1| | |
| |Through influence |
| | of other relatives 10|
-----------------------+----------------------+------------------------+---
| | |
Total 26| Total 11| Total 31|68
-----------------------+----------------------+------------------------+---
-----------------------------------------------------------------------+---
| T
| o
Individual reasons (43 or 20.5 per cent of 210). | t
| a
-----------------------+----------------------+------------------------+ l
| | |
Restlessness.--16 | Attraction of New | Former residence, | 4
| York City.--15 | unattractive.--6 | 3
| | | .
-----------------------+----------------------+------------------------+---
| | |
"Thought I would like |"I wanted to come out |"To say I was leaving |
the place as a | this way." | home like everybody |
change;" wanted "to | | else." (From |
be goin somewhere." |"Wanted to come to a | St. Martin's Island.) |
| larger (place); to | |
"Was in Rhode Island | travel to see the |"Got tired of Boston |
and wanted a change." | world." | and came to New York." |
| | |
"Thought I'd like to |"Passing through |"Got tired of Virginia; |
make a change." | several summers; | came to visit friend; |
| stopped." | remained." |
"Wanted to make a | | |
change." |"Came out with |"Got tired of |
| friends who were | Baltimore; thought I'd |
"To change cities and | coming; been back | see some of New York." |
see New York." | and forth." | |
| |"Got tired of home, |
"Thought I would like |"Was running on the | that's all." |
change; to be going | boat to New York | |
somewhere." | and stopped for a |"To get away from home |
| while." | for a change." |
"Just for a change." | | |
|"Just to see New +------------------------+
"Just for a change." | York; was traveling | |
| and stopped." | Miscellaneous.--6 |
"Thought I'd make a | | |
change; came North |"Took a notion to +------------------------+
to try it." | come; wanted to | |
| come North." |"Came to get married." |
"Just to be coming." | | |
(To New York) |"Liked New York after |"Stopped on way to |
| seeing it as a | Boston, robbed in |
"For recreation; to | sailor in the Navy." | Jersey City." |
change cities." | | |
|"Thought I would like |"Came to America to go |
"Traveling and | New York." | to school." (From S. |
stopped." | | Hampton, Bermuda.) |
|"Thought I'd like New | |
"Split the difference | York." | |
of time." | |"To learn |
|"Wanted to see the | architecture." |
"Felt like traveling." | place." | |
| |"To visit friends; got |
"Had a roaming |"To see the place and | married." |
mind--came here from | be with sister." | |
Chicago." | |"To see and learn and |
|"To see the city; | improve my ability." |
"Felt like traveling." | friend wrote me of | |
| sights of the great | |
| city." | |
| | |
|"Heard talk of | |
| enjoyable life | |
| here." | |
| | |
|"Came here from | |
| Cincinnati; had read | |
| a great deal of New | |
| York City and wanted | |
| to see it." | |
-----------------------+----------------------+------------------------+
Another individual cause operates especially upon the more able and
intelligent classes and sends them to Northern cities. The restriction
by "Jim Crow" legislation and by custom of the rights and privileges
of persons of color in Southern communities leads some of them to
migrate North. They long for a larger liberty for themselves and
particularly for their children, which the hard conditions of Southern
communities do not give. They come North to gain this and to escape
the proscriptions.[15] They settle in the cities. A similar force
probably operates in a few sections of the South to send Negro
families to the security of the urban centers.[16]
The final conclusion from these facts concerning the causes operating
upon the Negro population has been clearly indicated in the above
discussion. Such fundamental economic and social causes do not cease
to operate suddenly. So far as the development of the South is
concerned, the agricultural, industrial and commercial movement is in
its infancy, and it will doubtless be of an indefinite growth. The
secondary and individual causes will continue to play their part. The
Negro will be affected in a manner similar to that of the Southern
white population. Any rural improvement or "back-to-the-land" movement
should recognize that along with the whites, Negroes will continue to
migrate to the urban centers and that they will come to the cities in
comparatively large numbers to stay. The problem alike of statesman,
race leader, and philanthropist is to understand the conditions of
segregation and oppositions due to race prejudices that are arising as
a sequel to this urban concentration and to co-operate with the Negro
in his effort to learn to live in the city as well as the country.
Although it requires serious attention, the situation is a hopeful
one. Improvement in the living and working conditions has its effect
upon the health and morals of Negroes just as it has in the case of
other elements of the population. Intelligence is essentially a matter
of education and training. Good housing, pure milk and water supply,
sufficient food and clothing, which adequate wages allow, street and
sewer sanitation, have their direct effect upon health and physique.
And municipal protection and freedom from the pressure of the less
moral elements of the environing group go a long way toward elevating
standards of morality. In spite of the limits which the neglect and
prejudice of a white public sets to opportunities for improvement,
Negroes do show progress along these lines.
Speaking first of the health of Negroes in cities, an index is given
in the general death-rate.[17] In the period from 1871 to 1904, the
death rate for the white and Negro populations of several Southern
cities is summarized by Mr. Hoffman.[18] Of the consolidated
death-rate of the white population, he says,
For only two cities are the returns complete for the entire
period of thirty-four years. The tendency of the rate has been
_persistently downward_ from 26.7 per 1,000 in 1871 to 20.6 in
1886 and 17.4 in 1904. Commencing with the rate for the year
1871, the general death-rate of the white population of
Southern cities shows an _upward direction_ at different times
_during twelve years_, and a _downward_ direction _during
twenty-one years_, following in this respect practically the
same course as the corresponding death-rate for Northern and
Western cities combined. The year of _maximum mortality_ was
_1878_, due to a yellow fever epidemic, while the year of
_minimum mortality_ was, as in the case of the Northern and
Western cities, _1903_.
In reference to the table for the Negro population he says,[19]
Without exception, the death-rates are materially in excess of
the corresponding death-rates of the white population, but there
has also been in this case a _persistent decline_ in the general
death-rate from 38.1 per 1,000 in 1871 to 32.9 in 1886 and 28.1
in 1904. Commencing with the rate for the year 1871, the general
death-rate of the colored population of Southern cities at
different times assumed an _upward_ direction _during fifteen
years_ and a _downward_ direction _during eighteen years_,
departing in this respect from the corresponding mortality of
the white population of Southern cities and the general
population of Northern and Western cities, the tendency of which
was more distinctly towards a definite improvement. The year of
_maximum mortality_ for the colored population was _1873_, while
the year of _minimum mortality_ was _1903_.
The general correspondence and few divergencies of the two death-rates
are more clearly seen from the following diagram,[20] adapted from
Hoffman's study already cited:
[Illustration: Diagram II:
THE GENERAL DEATH RATE OF AMERICAN CITIES 1871-1904]
Other data[21] for two of the cities investigated by Mr. Hoffman, and
for three other cities (Atlanta, Ga., Charleston, S.C., and Richmond,
Va.) from 1882 to 1905 furnish results similar to his and indicate
likewise that while the general death-rate for the Negro population is
uniformly in excess of that of the white, _there is a tendency
downward_. For example, in Atlanta, Ga., the death-rates from 1882 to
1885 were for the white population, 18.22 per 1,000, Negro, 37.96;
from 1886 to 1890, white, 19.25, Negro, 33.41; from 1891 to 1905,
white, 18.03 per 1,000, Negro, 32.76. Baltimore, Md., Charleston,
S.C., Memphis, Tenn., and Richmond, Va., show a similar decrease,
except that the white and Negro populations of Baltimore show an
increase in the third period, 1891 to 1905, and the rate of the Negro
population of Charleston increased in the second period, 1886 to 1890.
We see, then, that while the death-rate of Negroes in Southern cities
has been considerably in excess of that of the whites, there has been
at the same time a similar tendency toward improvement.
And where there is unprejudiced effort the death-rate among Negroes is
affected favorably by improved living conditions. The chief
health-officer of Richmond, Va., Dr. E.C. Levy, has sounded a note
which is not mere prophecy.[22] He said, in 1906, "There is no doubt
whatsoever but that the introduction of better sanitation among the
colored people would have great influence on their high death-rate,
but whether, after all, it can be brought down as low as the white
rate, is a matter which can not be foretold." Again, in 1907, he says,
We must clearly face the issue that the first fruits of improved
sanitation in Richmond will most probably be seen in a lowering
of the death-rate among the colored people, as conditions among
them are so much worse at present, but this in turn will
gradually react on the white race.
And, in 1908, this significant paragraph occurs in his report:
The white death-rate in Richmond during 1908 was 17.48 per 1000;
the colored rate was 29.21 per 1000. Although the colored rate
was thus 67 per cent higher than the white rate, the decrease in
the colored rate from 1907 was greater than the decrease in the
white rate, the 1907 rates being 18.11 for whites and 32.99 for
Negroes.
Out of a total decrease of 166 in the number of deaths in 1908
compared with 1907, the white decrease was 27, while the colored
decrease was 139. From the time that I entered office I have
predicted that improved sanitation would benefit the Colored
race more quickly than the white, and the figures above given
justify this conclusion.
The statement of this health officer points to experience rather than
to prejudiced notions about the physical weaknesses of Negroes.
From both the statistician and the sanitarian, therefore, comes the
word that while the health of Negroes in cities is worse than that of
whites, it shows a tendency to improve similar to that of the white
population when a fairly impartial treatment is accorded.
As with health, so with other phases of the Negro's city life. There
is no place for pessimism. Improvements in intelligence and in moral
conditions can not be counted by case and set down in figures and
tables.[23] But any one at all familiar either by reading or
recollection with the condition of the Negro at the beginning of his
freedom, who now takes an impartial and unprejudiced view of his
intellectual and social life in urban communities, will come to no
other conclusion than that in the face of peculiar whims and
prejudices a large and increasing number in the group is arising to
the full consciousness of a freeman and has assimilated the best that
America affords in morals and intelligence; and that they are vitally
concerned for the uplift of themselves and their people, persistently
seeking to partake of all that makes for progress.[24]
For the whole Negro population in cities some light is thrown upon
developments by the few facts at hand on crime among Negroes.[25]
Statistics of crime are, of course, of limited worth in judging of
moral conditions. Arrests and prison commitments have many factors
which figures do not show and are quite as much a commentary upon the
white communities at large as upon the unfortunate Negro law-breakers.
Yet, along with other facts, these records of crime are a part of the
social barometer.
An analysis of three periods of crime (prior to 1866-1867; 1867 to
1880, and 1880 to 1903) made by Mr. Monroe N. Work gives indicative
results. Speaking of arrests per thousand of the Negro population in
nine cities, he says,[26]
Taking the period from 1866 to 1882, it appears that at some
time during this period the arrest-rate, with the possible
exception of St. Louis, for each of the cities decreased. From
1882 to 1892-1896 there was, with some exceptions, a marked
increase in the arrest-rates of the several cities. This was
especially true of Chicago, Cincinnati, Washington and St.
Louis. From 1892-1896 to 1902-1903 there appears to have been a
general tendency for the Negro arrest-rates of these cities to
decrease. It appears that, on the whole, we are warranted in
concluding that for the nine cities considered, the rate of
Negro arrests per thousand of the Negro population is
decreasing.
The rates of jail commitments for Baltimore, Charleston, and St.
Louis have increased slowly since the seventies until the
nineties, and now apparently are beginning to decrease slightly.
The workhouse commitments for Philadelphia, Washington, Cincinnati,
Louisville, Chicago and St. Louis "show a similar tendency to
decrease." Penitentiary commitments[27] for Baltimore and Chicago
show, on the whole, a decreasing trend. "The rate of annual
commitments to the state penitentiary of Illinois from the city of
Chicago in 1873 was 4.4; in 1902 the rate was 1.6," the highest rate
being in 1873. Mr. Work continues,
The rate of annual commitments to the penitentiary from
Baltimore in 1888 was 1.1; in 1902 the rate of annual
penitentiary commitments from this city was 1.3; the highest
rate of annual penitentiary commitments from Baltimore was 2.0
in 1899. Since 1898-1899 there has been a decrease in the
annual Negro penitentiary commitments for both cities. The rate
per thousand of the Negro population for the number of prisoners
received in the Kansas penitentiary was available for four
years, as follows: in 1889 and 1890 the rate of annual Negro
commitments to the Kansas penitentiary was 1.5; in 1891 and 1892
the rate was 1.3. The rate per thousand of the Negro population
for the number of prisoners received annually in the Indiana
penitentiary was available for three years, as follows: in 1900
the rate was 2.1; in 1901 the rate was 2.5; and in 1902 the rate
was 2.0.
Mr. Work remarks finally,[28]
Summarizing our results, it is seen that police arrests, jail,
workhouse and penitentiary commitments appear to have increased
during the period from 1890 to 1892-1896. The highest rates of
arrests and commitments were about 1893. Since 1894-1896 the
tendency of both arrests and commitments to decrease has been
notable. The crime-rate for murder is also probably decreasing.
It appears, therefore, that the conclusion that crime is
probably decreasing among the Negroes of the United States is
warranted. The crime-rate of Negroes, North and South, appears
at present to be about the same, although the rate of police
arrests for some Southern cities is higher than that for the
Northern cities. The claim that there is greater criminality
among the Negroes of the North than those of the South is
probably not true. The fallacy on which this claim was based was
in comparing the criminal rate of the Negroes of the North, who
live almost entirely in cities, with the criminal rate of the
Negroes of the entire South, the great majority of whom live in
rural communities.
Besides, differences in age-grouping are usually ignored.
On the whole, therefore, there is firm ground for hope as the Negro
becomes adjusted to the urban environment.
Since, then, these economic and social causes bid fair to continue
their influence for an indefinite time, the concentration of Negroes
in urban centers makes imperative the need of knowledge and methods of
dealing with the problems that face the Negro and the Nation in these
growing urban centers.[29] These questions of how to live in the city
are problems of health, of intelligence and of morals. They are
economic, social, political, educational and religious. The present
essay is an attempt to study carefully the economic problems arising
out of the Negro's adjustment in his struggles to make a living and to
live in the city as seen in the commercial Metropolis of America; to
find out at what he is employed there; to inquire of his efficiency
and success, and of the attitude of employer and fellow employee. As
we find Negroes rising from the plane of the employed to that of the
employer, these questions arise: How does he get into business and
what lines does he enter? With what success does he meet? What
resourcefulness does he show? What are the reasons for his failures?
We want to know what are his relations with the business world with
which he deals and the consuming public to whom he caters. These and
many other things can be ascertained only by painstaking
investigation.
This study aims to be a small contribution to the end that efforts for
betterment of urban conditions may be founded upon facts. The material
has been treated in two parts--that relating to wage-earners and to
business undertakings. In the former the United States Census reports,
a personal canvass, and the unpublished schedules for 2,500 families
of the New York State Census of 1905, were used as sources; for the
latter a block to block canvass was made and records of the business
enterprises were secured by personal interviews.
FOOT-NOTE ON THE MANNER AND CAUSES OF CITY CONCENTRATION OF
POPULATION[30]
The manner of growth has been two-fold: (1) By natural increase
through the lowering of the death-rate due partially to improved
housing conditions, progress in personal hygiene of the poorer classes
and in city sanitation and inspection; (2) by migration: that is,
short distance movements by progressive stages from the more rural
districts toward the larger centers.[31] In the case of the great
cities this may mean increase in density of the most populated
areas.[32]
The causes of concentration in cities are the following:
I. The Divorce of Men from the Soil.[33] The diminishing relative
importance of elementary wants, improvements in scientific cultivation
and in agricultural machinery, and the opening of distant and virgin
fields by better transportation have reduced the relative number of
workers needed on the soil.
II. The Growth of Commercial Centers.[34] This went hand in hand with
the Agrarian Revolution. Trade has been the basis of city founding.
The prevailing influence in determining location has been "_a break in
transportation_." Where goods are transferred and where, in addition,
ownership changes hands, urban centers grow up. Wealthy classes arise
which require others to supply their increasing and varied wants.
III. The Growth of Industrial Centers.[35] The passage of industry
from the household, handicrafts and domestic systems to that of the
factory, with the invention of power machinery and modern methods of
transportation and communication, draws population away from the rural
districts to the industrial centers.
IV. Secondary or Individual Causes.[36] (a) The shifting demand for
transfer of labor from agricultural to industrial production was met
by the economic motive of workers. (b) Political action has influenced
city growth; legislation affecting trade and the migration of labor;
centralization of governmental machinery in the cities; legal forms of
land tenure, _etc._ (c) Social advantages such as better education,
varied amusements, higher standard of living, intellectual
associations and pursuits, draw people to urban centers, while desire
for the contact of the moving crowds, for the excitement and apparent
ease of city life, serve to make the rural districts distasteful.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The most comprehensive study of city growth is _The Growth of
Cities in the 19th Century_, by A.F. Weber, vol. xi, _Columbia
University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law_ (New York,
1899), pp. 1-478. The meaning of city and urban population is that
used by Weber: An agglomerated population of two thousand to ten
thousand for towns, more than ten thousand for cities, more than one
hundred thousand for great cities. _Cf._ p. 16.
[2] See footnote at the end of this chapter. Weber, _op. cit._, pp.
146-154.
[3] Weber, _op. cit._, pp. 167-68; 173-74; 201-207. See also footnote
at end of chapter.
[4] Twelfth Census, _Bulletin 8, Negroes in the United States_, p. 29.
[5] Weber, _op. cit._, pp. 24-27, 162.
[6] Coman, _Industrial History of the United States_, Revised edition,
(New York, 1910), pp. 308-9.
[7] Kelsey, The Negro Farmer, (Chicago, 1903), pp. 5-103; _vide_ pp.
24-28. Du Bois, _The Negro Farmer_ in _Bulletin 8_, (Twelfth Census),
pp. 79-81.
[8] DuBois, _op. cit._, p. 77.
[9] Kelsey, _Some Causes of Negro Emigration: Charities_, New York,
vol. xv, no. 1, pp. 15-17; _cf._ DuBois, _op. cit._, pp. 73-74.
[10] _Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1909, table 143_, p.
261.
[11] Kellor. _Out of Work_, pp. 73, 83.
[12] Cf. Tucker, _Negro Craftsmen in New York_, in _Southern Workman_,
September, 1907, p. 550.
[13] For statute provisions of state governments, see _Twenty-second
Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, Labor Laws of the United
States_, pp. 129, sec. 4165; 133-135, secs. 6345-6856; 146-147, secs.
3695-3696, 3905, 4057; 153, secs. 5357-58, 5383; 155-56; acts of 1901,
no. 101, secs. 1-3; acts of 1905, no. 49, secs. 1-3; 157-59, act no.
219, sec. 1; act no. 225, secs. 7-18; 278, secs. 2530, 2641-42; 281,
sec. 3233-34; 291, sec. 4732; 495-501, secs. 1350, 2722-2739A; 706,
sec. 2139; 1228-29, secs. 2717-2720; 1231-32, secs. 338, 358; 1251-52,
secs. 3794, 4339-42; 1339-40, sec. 3657D. _Vide_ also, _Digest and
Summaries of Certain Classes of Laws Affecting Labor_,--_Mechanics'
Liens_, pp. 37-38, 43, 44, 49, 50, 55, 61-62, 70-72, 74.
[14] The laws referred to are framed in terms of the regulation of
contracts of employment, violation of contract, and contracts of
employment with intent to defraud. Breach of contract in either set of
cases is usually a misdemeanor (criminal act instead of a civil tort)
with a penalty of fines (or imprisonment in Florida). Often in
practical operation, they place the tenant and farm laborer at the
discretion or mercy of the landlord. The writer has made repeated
visits to many rural communities in Ala., Ga., Fla., Miss., and La.,
and has observed how these legislative measures serve as barriers to
thrift among the landless Negro farmers. A number of the youths have
expressed their conviction that since their fathers and mothers have
accumulated nothing after years of labor on the land, they do not
intend to stay on the plantation to repeat the process. For provisions
of statutes: See Commissioner of Labor, _op. cit._, pp. 133-34, secs.
6845-46; 147, sec. 5030; 284, chaps. 703-704, secs. 1146-1148.
[15] _Economic Analysis of American Prejudice_, by Dr. Wm. L. Bulkley,
in _The Colored American Magazine_, July, 1909, pp. 17, 19. 20-21.
[16] _Cf. Darkest America_, by Kelly Miller in _New England Magazine_,
April, 1904.
[17] _Vide_ Hoffman, _The General Death Rate of Large American
Cities_, 1871-1904, in _Quarterly Publications of the American
Statistical Association_, new series, vol. x, no. 73, March, 1906. Mr.
Hoffman says: "While the general death-rate is of very limited value
for the purpose of comparison in the case of different localities, it
is, I am satisfied, after a very careful investigation and much
experience, of quite considerable value in making local comparison of
the present health conditions with the past."
[18] _Op. cit._, pp. 5-8. The cities are Baltimore, 1871-1904; New
Orleans, 1871-1904; District of Columbia, 1876-1904; Louisville, Ky.,
1890-1904; Memphis, Tenn., 1876-1904.
[19] _Op. cit._, pp. 7-8. (Italics are mine.)
[20] In the _Biennial Report of the Board of Health of New Orleans,
La., 1906-1907_, this diagram of Mr. Hoffman is reproduced with the
following comment: (p. 113) "The colored mortality has not only been
excessive, but has borne no relation whatever to the white mortality
curve, being on the ascending scale at times when the white mortality
was clearly on the decrease." A comparison with Mr. Hoffman's words
about the two death-rates quoted above and a glance at the curves
supply sufficient commentary upon this biased view.
[21] _Mortality Among Negroes in Cities_, Atlanta University Pubs.,
no. 1, (Atlanta, Ga., 1896), p. 51; _vide_ pp. 21-25; and 2nd ed.,
1903, pp. 11-15.
[22] _Annual Reports of the Health Department of the City of Richmond,
Va._, 1906, p. 22; 1907, p. 34; 1908, pp. 39-40.
[23] _Cf._ Ray Stannard Baker, in _American Magazine_, Feb. and March,
1908, and _Following the Color Line_, (New York, 1909), pp. 54-55.
[24] For a large body of facts and opinions on this point see _Atlanta
University Pubs., no. 8_, pp. 64-79; 108-110; 154-190. Personal
observation during residence of the past twelve years in Louisville,
Ky., Memphis and Nashville, Tenn., Atlanta, Ga., Chicago, and New
York, and during visits to Baltimore, Md., Washington, D.C., Norfolk
and Richmond, Va., Savannah and Augusta, Ga., Chattanooga, Tenn.,
Birmingham and Mobile, Ala., New Orleans, La., and smaller cities has
afforded the author of this essay considerable opportunity to know at
first-hand this phase of Negro city life.
[25] _Atlanta University Pubs., no. 9, Notes on Negro Crime: Crime in
Cities_, by M.N. Work (Atlanta, Ga., 1904), pp. 18-32; _cf._ pp.
49-54. _Vide_ also Kellor, _Experimental Sociology_, pp. 250 _ff._
[26] _Op. cit._, p. 22.
[27] _Ibid._, pp. 26-29 _passim._
[28] _Op. cit._, p. 32.
[29] Philadelphia is the only city which has had adequate study.
_Vide_ DuBois, W.E.B., _The Philadelphia Negro_, (Philadelphia, 1889)
and Wright, R.R., Jr., _The Negro in Pennsylvania, a Study in Economic
History_ (Philadelphia, 1912).
[30] _Vide_ Weber, _op. cit., passim._
[31] _Ibid._, 232 _ff._; 241 _ff._; 283 _ff._; 346-364, _passim._
[32] A suggestive study on this phase of the city problem has been
published recently: _Industrial Causes of Congestion of Population in
New York City_, by E.E. Pratt, Ph.D., (New York, 1911), pp. 5-262.
[33] Weber, _op. cit._, pp. 161-169; 223.
[34] _Ibid._, pp. 171-173; 181-182; 223-224.
[35] Weber, _op. cit._, pp. 184-191.
[36] _Ibid._, pp. 210, 213-222.
CHAPTER II
THE NEGRO POPULATION OF NEW YORK CITY
The Negro population of New York City has had a history similar to
that of other Northern cities. Beginning with a small body of slaves,
it has since had its problems growing out of the presence of an
increasing number of Negroes in the midst of the environing white
group. In 1629, The Dutch West India Company pledged itself to furnish
slaves to the Colonists of New Amsterdam.[37] A similar resolution was
passed by the colony council in 1648[38] and by 1664 slavery had
become of sufficient importance to receive legislative regulation in
the Duke of York Code.[39] Both by further importations and by natural
increase the Negro population grew until in 1704 it numbered about
1,500; in 1741 it was estimated at about 2,000, and in 1757 about
3,000. Beginning with the first Federal Census of 1790 there was an
increase shown by each census except those of 1820 for Brooklyn and of
1850 and 1860 for other parts of New York City, mainly Manhattan.
The figures show a striking contrast in growth between Brooklyn and
the other parts of New York City as now constituted, exclusive of
Brooklyn. The former had a comparatively small Negro population until
after 1860, but from 1790 the Negro population although small
increased steadily, except the one decade between 1810 and 1820. This
was a decrease of only 92 or 4.9 per cent of a population less than
2,000. Only one increase, from 1800 to 1810, was less than 13 per
cent. Beginning with 5,915 at the Federal census of 1790, the Negro
population of the other parts of New York City has shown a high per
cent of increase in numbers, above 15 per cent, at eight of the twelve
succeeding censuses, and 8.1 per cent and 5.5 per cent at two others.
The decreases from 1840 to 1850, 13.2 per cent, and from 1850 to 1860,
7.5 per cent, were probably due to the unfavorable sentiment against
the Negroes which arose during the abolition agitation of these
periods and which had its effect on the Negro's movements to and from
the city. The small increase from 1860 to 1870, 5.5 per cent, was very
probably the result of the same causes--of the Civil War disturbances
and the New York Draft riots, which deterred Negroes from coming to
New York City and sent many Negro residents away.[40] The figures for
Manhattan show a similar trend at each census. However, except the
periods noted above, there has been a general trend toward increase in
both Manhattan and Brooklyn. The Negro population has become a smaller
and smaller part of the total population from decade to decade since
1810, but this is because the several streams of foreign immigrants
have been large and not because the increase of the Negro population
has been small.
Table VIII, which follows, shows the growth of the total and the Negro
populations, and brings the full figures to view:
TABLE VIII. TOTAL AND NEGRO POPULATION OF NEW YORK CITY, AS AT PRESENT
CONSTITUTED, 1704-1910.[A]
-----+--------------------------------++--------------------------------
| New York City, exclusive of ||
| Brooklyn. || Brooklyn.
-----+----------------+---------------++----------------+---------------
| | Increase of || | Increase of
Year.| Population. | Negro || Population. | Negro
| | population. || | population.
-----+---------+------+-------+-------++---------+------+-------+-------
| | | | Per || |Negro.| | Per
| Total. |Negro.|Number.| cent || Total. | [B] |Number.| cent
-----+---------+------+-------+-------++---------+------+-------+-------
1704 | -- | 1,500| -- | -- || -- | -- | -- | --
1741 | -- | 2,000| 500|33.3 || -- | -- | -- | --
1757 | -- | 3,000| 1,000|50.0 || -- | -- | -- | --
1790 | 44,906| 5,915| 2,915|97.2 || 4,495| 1,478| -- | --
1800 | 73,476| 8,626| 2,711|45.9 || 5,740| 1,811| 333|25.5
1810 | 111,431|12,116| 3,490|40.4 || 8,303| 1,853| 42| 2.3
1820 | 140,869|13,100| 984| 8.1 || 11,187| 1,761| 92| 4.9[C]
1830 | 221,743|16,082| 2,982|22.8 || 20,535| 2,007| 246|13.9
1840 | 343,501|18,595| 2,573|15.6 || 47,613| 2,846| 839|41.8
1850 | 557,233|16,131| 2,464|13.2[C]|| 138,882| 4,065| 1,219|42.8
1860 | 895,657|14,927| 1,204| 7.5[C]|| 279,122| 4,999| 934|22.9
1870 |1,058,182|15,755| 828| 5.5 || 419,921| 5,653| 654|13.1
1880 |1,312,203|22,496| 6,741|42.8 || 599,495| 9,153| 3,500|61.9
1890 |1,668,867|26,330| 3,834|17.0 || 838,547|11,307| 2,154|23.5
1900 |2,270,620|42,299| 15,969|60.6 ||1,166,582|18,367| 7,060|62.5
1910 |3,132,532|69,700| 27,403|64.8 ||1,634,351|22,702| 4,335|23.6
-----+---------+------+-------+-------++---------+------+-------+-------
[A] Figures 1704-1757 from Du Bois, _Notes_, _etc._, p. 1.
[B] Negro not reported separately 1790 to 1850; includes
"slaves" and all other "Free Colored" which does not involve
serious error in the earlier censuses.
Census figures 1790-1910 are from the latest revisions of the
Bureau of the Census. Figures for same area, outside of
Manhattan and Brooklyn, are estimates of censuses 1790-1890.
Figures for 1900 and 1910 are exact.
[C] Decrease.
To summarize the point, while the Negro population has become a
smaller relative part of the total population each decade since 1810,
it has shown a decided trend toward a large actual increase.
The distribution of the Negro population has varied with its increase
and with the growth of the city. But almost from the beginning,
probably the environing white group has segregated the Negroes into
separate neighborhoods. The figures available for Brooklyn do not
permit a positive inference, but in Manhattan, while the areas
populated by Negroes have shifted somewhat from decade to decade,
there have been distinctively Colored sections since 1800.[41]
An idea of this segregation is shown in the fact that in 1900, 80.9
per cent of all the Negro population of Manhattan was contained within
12 out of 35 Assembly Districts and that in 1890 seven wards of
Manhattan contained fully five-sixths of the Negro population of the
Borough. The largest number of Negroes, 13.8 per cent of the total
number, were living, in 1900, in the Nineteenth Assembly District with
numbers approximating this in the Eleventh, which contained 10.4 per
cent, the Twenty-seventh, which had 9.2 per cent, and the
Twenty-third, which had 8.7 per cent of the Negro population. The
Negro population for Manhattan, 36,246, was distributed in 1900 by
assembly districts as is shown in Table IX (p. 49).
These figures give a clear idea of the segregated character of the
Negro population and show something of its present location. There has
been a decided shifting from the part of Manhattan between
Twenty-fifth, Forty-second streets, Sixth and Eighth avenues, and into
Harlem between One Hundred and Thirtieth, One Hundred and Fortieth
streets, Fifth and Eighth avenues during the past five years as
business interests have been taking possession of the zone around the
new Pennsylvania Railway Station, between Thirty-second and
Thirty-third streets. But as the Negroes have moved into blocks in
Harlem, the whites have moved out.
TABLE IX. DISTRIBUTION OF NEGRO POPULATION BY ASSEMBLY DISTRICTS OF
MANHATTAN, 1900.
-----------------------------+-------------+---------------
| Negro | Per cent of
Assembly District. | population. | total.
-----------------------------+-------------+---------------
5th Assembly District | 1,378 | 3.8
9th Assembly District | 1,673 | 4.6
11th Assembly District | 3,756 | 10.4
13th Assembly District | 2,584 | 7.1
17th Assembly District | 1,214 | 3.4
19th Assembly District | 4,982 | 13.8
21st Assembly District | 1,135 | 3.1
23rd Assembly District | 3,169 | 8.7
25th Assembly District | 2,950 | 8.1
27th Assembly District | 3,318 | 9.2
31st Assembly District | 1,483 | 4.1
32nd Assembly District | 1,680 | 4.6
All other Districts | 6,924 | 19.1
-----------------------------+-------------+--------------
Total | 36,246 | 100.
-----------------------------+-------------+---------------
The exact character and extent of the segregation of the Negro
population may be clearly seen from diagrams of this Harlem district,
and of the "San Juan Hill" district in the West Sixties, based upon
the latest figures of the Census of 1910. This is given in Diagrams
III and IV (pp. 50-51)[42]
With such a distribution of the clearly segregated Negro population,
the representative character of the 2,500 families chosen for closer
study becomes evident. These families, from figures based upon the
original returns of the New York State Census of 1905, were chosen
from the Eleventh, the Nineteenth, the Twenty-third, and the
Thirty-first districts. The last district was taken in preference to
several which contained larger numbers, because it included certain
streets that were typical of the Harlem section.
[Illustration: Diagram III:
DISTRIBUTION OF THE NEGRO POPULATION OF HARLEM
Corrected To June 1911]
[Illustration: Diagram IV:
DISTRIBUTION OF THE NEGRO POPULATION ON "SAN JUAN HILL"]
In all 2,639 families were tabulated. Of these 95 were excluded
because the heads of these families were of the professional or
business classes, 37 because they were too incompletely reported, and
7 because the heads were white. This reduced the number to 2,500
families, which consisted of 9,788 persons, exclusive of 17 white
members of these families. The data from the State Census schedules of
enumerators were tabulated in regular order as reported by them for
each block or part of block for the Negro families that were
designated as living in that street or block.
The families studied were from the following territory: Within the
Eleventh Assembly District, the area bounded by Thirtieth and
Thirty-eighth streets, Seventh and Tenth avenues; within the
Nineteenth Assembly District, Sixty-first, Sixty-second, and
Sixty-third streets, between Amsterdam and Eleventh avenues, commonly
called "San Juan Hill;" within the Twenty-third and Thirty-first
Assembly Districts, One Hundred and Thirtieth and One Hundred and
Thirty-third streets between Eighth and St. Nicholas avenues, and One
Hundred and Thirty-fourth and One Hundred and Thirty-fifth streets
between Fifth and Seventh avenues. These three segregated
neighborhoods in 1905 may be roughly characterized as follows: The
first was probably in the lowest grade of social condition; the second
did not show a decidedly predominant type, but ranged from the middle
grade toward the more advanced; the third was the most advanced.
A comparison in detail of the distribution by assembly districts of
the total Negro population and of the 2,500 selected families shows
also that the latter are representative of the several neighborhoods
and of the total population. Table X shows the distribution by
Assembly Districts of the 2,500 families for comparison with Table IX
above, which gave the total Negro population of Manhattan and its
distribution.
TABLE X. DISTRIBUTION BY ASSEMBLY DISTRICTS OF 2,500 NEGRO FAMILIES,
STATE CENSUS, 1905.
--------------------+------------------+------------------
Assembly District. | No. of families. | No. of persons.
--------------------+------------------+------------------
Eleventh | 927 | 3,329
Nineteenth | 1,018 | 4,024
Twenty-third | 326 | 1,581
Thirty-first | 229 | 854
--------------------+------------------+------------------
Total | 2,500 | 9,788
--------------------+------------------+------------------
In addition to the data of the State Census of 1905, a personal
canvass was made in 1909 of 73 families in their homes, having a total
of 212 persons. To these were added 153 individuals at one of the
evening schools of the city, a total of 365 persons. The localities
within which these 365 people lived corresponded in the main to the
location of the 2,500 families taken from the State Census of 1905;
that is, between Twenty-fifth, Forty-fifth streets, Fifth and Eighth
Avenues; Fifty-third, Sixty-fifth streets, west of Sixth Avenue and
between One Hundred and Thirtieth and One Hundred and Thirty-sixth
streets, Fifth and Seventh Avenues.
To sum up: The assembly districts chosen and the number of families
and individuals tabulated from each district are such as to give a
fairly accurate description of the clearly segregated wage-earning
Negro population of the districts. The study, then, is representative
of about one-fourth of the Negro population of Manhattan in 1905, and
is so distributed as to be reasonably conclusive for the wage-earning
element of the whole Negro population.
The next question is the composition of this toiling Negro population.
The general condition of the wage-earning element of this group will
now, therefore, engage our attention.
FOOTNOTES:
[37] _New York Colonial Doc._, i, 553.
[38] O'Callaghan, _Laws and Ordinances of New Netherlands, 1637-1674_,
p. 81.
[39] DuBois, _Some Notes on Negroes of New York City_, p. 5.
[40] The writer has testimony of contemporary witnesses of these
disturbances.
[41] _Vide_ DuBois, _Notes_, _etc._, p. 1.
[42] Diagrams III and IV were made by Mr. Eugene K. Jones, Field
Secretary of the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes.
CHAPTER III
GENERAL CONDITION OF WAGE-EARNERS[43]
I. SEX AND AGE OF NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS
In the 2,500 families composed of 9,788 individuals, the sex
distribution and age grouping[44] throw some light upon the life
conditions of the wage-earning class. That city life does not look
with favor upon a large juvenile element in the population is
generally believed. That the city draws mainly those of the working
period of life is also generally conceded. The number of children in
this Negro group under 15 years of age is 19 per cent, below normal
for great cities, and the upper age limit is also quite low, being
only 6.6 per cent between forty-five and fifty-four years, and 3.2 per
cent over fifty-five years. Thus the bulk of the population, 70.8 per
cent, both male and female, excluding 0.4 per cent doubtful and
unknown, falls between fifteen and fifty-four years, or within the
vigorous working period of life. This is fully set forth in Table XI,
which gives the sex distribution and age grouping in assembly
districts of the 9,788 individuals in these 2,500 families of the
Census of 1905:
TABLE XI. SEX DISTRIBUTION AND AGE GROUPING OF 9,788 NEGRO
WAGE-EARNERS IN MANHATTAN, STATE CENSUS, 1905.
---------------------+--------------+--------------+----------------
| Male. | Female. | Total.
Age group. +------+-------+------+-------+------+---------
| | Per | | Per | | Per
| No. | cent | No. | cent | No. | cent
---------------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+---------
Less than 15 years | 949 | 19.6 | 910 | 18.4 | 1859 | 19.0
15-24 | 988 | 20.4 | 1155 | 23.4 | 2143 | 21.9
25-34 | 1543 | 31.8 | 1546 | 31.2 | 3089 | 31.6
35-44 | 889 | 18.4 | 809 | 16.4 | 1698 | 17.3
45-54 | 333 | 6.9 | 311 | 6.3 | 644 | 6.6
55 and over | 128 | 2.6 | 188 | 3.8 | 316 | 3.2
Doubtful and unknown | 14 | 0.3 | 25 | 0.5 | 39 | 0.4
---------------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+---------
Totals | 4844 | 100. | 4944 | 100. | 9788 | 100.
---------------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+---------
Figures obtained from the personal canvass made in 1909 bear
comparison with those of the State Census of 1905. Substantial
agreement is to be noted between the two enumerations, except for the
larger percentage of those under 15 years of age in 1905 (19.6 per
cent male, 18.4 per cent female), and the smaller percentages in the
grouping thirty-five to forty-four years (18.4 per cent male, 16.4 per
cent female). Doubtless this effect is produced because so many of the
cases in 1909 were individuals attending evening school, who were
required to be above 14 years of age, and because few over forty-five
years of age are attracted to such a place. The other small difference
in percentages is due probably to the small number of individuals,
365, in the figures for 1909. The sex distribution and age grouping in
1909 is shown in Table XII, which follows:
TABLE XII. SEX DISTRIBUTION AND AGE GROUPING OF 365 NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS
IN MANHATTAN, 1909.
---------------------+--------------+--------------+----------------
| Male. | Female. | Total.
Age group. +------+-------+------+-------+------+---------
| | Per | | Per | | Per
| No. | cent | No. | cent | No. | cent
---------------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+---------
Less than 15 years | 18 | 10.2 | 21 | 11.2 | 39 | 10.7
15-24 | 35 | 19.8 | 37 | 19.7 | 72 | 19.7
25-34 | 54 | 30.5 | 50 | 26.6 | 104 | 28.5
35-44 | 40 | 22.6 | 41 | 21.8 | 81 | 22.2
45-54 | 11 | 6.2 | 21 | 11.2 | 32 | 8.8
55 and over | 10 | 5.6 | 4 | 2.1 | 14 | 3.8
Doubtful and unknown | 9 | 5.1 | 14 | 7.4 | 23 | 6.3
---------------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+---------
Totals | 177 | 100. | 188 | 100. | 365 | 100.
---------------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+---------
The results above correspond also with those of the United States
Census of 1900 for the entire City of New York. Making allowance for
some families of professional and business classes, probably not
excluded from the Census figures for 1900, and for changes which five
years interval may have caused, the agreement with the two preceding
tables above confirms the representative character of the data for
1905 and 1909. For the total per cent under fifteen years in 1900 was
19.8; in 1905, 19.0; from fifteen to twenty-four years, 24 per cent in
1900, 21.9 per cent in 1905; from twenty-five to thirty-four years,
25.9 per cent in 1900, 31.6 per cent in 1905; from thirty-five to
forty-four years, 16.2 per cent in 1900, 17.3 per cent in 1905; from
forty-five to fifty-four years, 8.3 per cent in 1900, 6.6 per cent in
1905, and fifty-five years and over, 5.6 per cent in 1900, 3.2 per
cent in 1905.[45]
Here, then, is a wage-earning group made up of persons in the younger
and more vigorous working period. The small number of children under
15 years of age calls attention to the fact that the growth of this
population takes place largely through recruits from other sections of
the Country. They must find industrial and social adjustment to a new
environment largely made up of the white population. They are either
killed off by the conditions under which they work and live, or drift
away from the city at a premature old age.
2. NATIVITY OF NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS
If New York has a Negro population largely composed of immigrants from
other regions, the question naturally arises, From what sections or
regions do they come? The State Census of 1905 gives nativity by
countries only. Consequently, those born within the United States are
not specified by State or territory of birth. That large numbers of
the Negro population of New York City come from other sections of the
United States, mainly from the South, is beyond doubt.
We get the first impression of this fact from the Federal Census of
1900. For the whole State of New York in 1900, out of a population of
100,000,[46] 44.6 per cent were natives, 24.1 per cent were from
Virginia, 19 per cent were from other Southern States, with a
remaining 12.3 per cent to be drawn from other parts of the United
States and from other countries.
These proportions are different from those for New York City, because
immigrants make up a larger part of the City's Negro population. The
figures of the State Census of 1905, as well as those from a personal
canvass, point in the same direction, and the evidence indicates
clearly the probable condition.
The West Indian element in the Negro population of the City was
noticed first. The British West Indies furnish 5.8 per cent of these
foreign Negro immigrants, while the Danish West Indies, Cuba, and
those islands not specified, together make up 3.6 per cent, a total of
9.4 per cent West Indian.[47] Table XIII (p. 59) gives a survey of
this part of the population and shows its relation to the native born.
We are unable to get from the figures of Table XIII the sections or
States of the United States from which the 89.5 per cent of
American-born Negroes came. The few straws of evidence afforded by the
personal canvass point to the main sources of the stream. The
percentages have significance although the figures are few. The
Southern States, from which there are easy means of transportation to
New York, naturally furnish the larger part. Virginia supplied 29.6
per cent of the 365 Manhattan residents; South Carolina, 11 per cent;
Georgia, 6 per cent, and Maryland, 4.4 per cent. Taking the Southern
States by themselves, 67.5 per cent of the 365 wage-earners were born
in that section. Besides 5.7 per cent of the 365 came from the
British West Indies. The West Indies and the Southern States probably
furnished 73.4 per cent or about three-fourths of these wage-earners
in the Negro population of New York City. Table XIV (p. 60) shows in
full the State and country of birth of the 365 wage-earners.
TABLE XIII. NATIVITY BY COUNTRY OF BIRTH OF 9,788 WAGE-EARNERS,
MANHATTAN, 1905.
----------------------------+-----+------+-------
Country of birth. | No. | No. |Per cent
----------------------------+-----+------+-------
| | |
The Bermudas | -- | 28 | 0.3
British West Indies | -- | 566 | 5.8
Antiqua | 1 | -- | --
Bahama Islands | 7 | -- | --
Barbadoes | 36 | -- | --
Jamaica | 19 | -- | --
St. Croix | 46 | -- | --
St. Christopher | 20 | -- | --
St. Thomas | 8 | -- | --
Trinidad | 1 | -- | --
Not specified | 428 | -- | --
Danish West Indies | -- | 62 | 0.6
Cuba | -- | 14 | 0.1
West Indies (not specified) | -- | 285 | 2.9
Canada | -- | 16 | 0.2
United States | -- | 8,757| 89.5
Miscellaneous[A] | -- | 36 | 0.4
Unknown | -- | 24 | 0.2
----------------------------+-----+------+-------
Total | -- | 9,788| 100.
----------------------------+-----+------+-------
[A] The miscellaneous includes the following: Australia 3,
England 7, East Indies 1, France 1, Germany 1, Hayti 1, India
2, Ireland 1, Mexico 2, Monrovia, Africa 1, Porto Rico 9,
Sandwich Islands 1, Santo Domingo 2, South America 4.
Foreign and native immigrants predominate in the Negro population of
the City. With such a stream of immigrants the question arises about
their marriage and family relationships. Are they largely single
people, or are there large numbers of married, widowed, or divorced
persons among them? The discussion next centers upon this point.
TABLE XIV. NATIVITY BY STATE OR COUNTRY OF BIRTH OF 365 WAGE EARNERS,
MANHATTAN, 1909.
------------------------+-----+------+-----+------
Country. | No. | Per | No. | Per
| | cent | | cent
------------------------+-----+------+-----+------
Bermuda | -- | -- | 4 | 1.1
| | | |
British West Indies | -- | -- | 21 | 5.7
Antigua | 3 | -- | -- | --
Barbadoes | 8 | -- | -- | --
Grenada | 1 | -- | -- | --
Jamaica | 1 | -- | -- | --
Nassau | 1 | -- | -- | --
St. Croix | 3 | -- | -- | --
St. Kitts | 1 | -- | -- | --
Trinidad | 1 | -- | -- | --
Island Unknown | 2 | -- | -- | --
------------------------+-----+------+-----+------
------------------------+-----+------+-----+------
Country. | No. | Per | No. | Per
| | cent | | cent
------------------------+-----+------+-----+------
United States | -- | -- | 307 | 84.2
Georgia | 22 | 6.0 | -- | --
Maryland | 16 | 4.4 | -- | --
New York | 40 | 11.0 | -- | --
North Carolina | 35 | 9.6 | -- | --
South Carolina | 40 | 11.0 | -- | --
Virginia | 108 | 29.6 | -- | --
Other States[A] | 46 | 12.6 | -- | --
Miscellaneous[B] | -- | -- | 4 | 1.1
Unknown | -- | -- | 29 | 7.9
------------------------+-----+------+-----+------
Total | -- | -- | 365 |100
------------------------+-----+------+-----+------
[A] The other states of the Union are: Alabama 2, Arkansas 2,
Delaware 2, District of Columbia 7, Florida 7, Illinois 1,
Kentucky 4, Massachusetts 4, Missouri 3, Ohio 2, Pennsylvania
3, Tennessee 2, Texas 2, Michigan 1, New Jersey 1, Rhode Island
1, Porto Rico 2.
[B] Miscellaneous: St. Martin 1, Ontario 1, British Guiana 2.
3. MARITAL CONDITION OF WAGE-EARNERS
The State Census of 1905 did not ask about the marital condition, but
only stated relationships to the head of the family, so that the
conjugal condition of women reported as heads of families, of lodgers,
and of adult sons and daughters or other relatives in the family could
not be ascertained. Therefore, no attempt was made to give statements
about conjugal condition based on these returns. However, in the
personal canvass of 326 individuals, fifteen years of age and over,
the marital condition was obtained. The small number of cases included
in Table XV makes the figures and percentages presented valuable for
pointing only to what a larger body of data would probably make
certain. It is important, therefore, to note that 113 out of 159
males, or 71.1 per cent, and 106 out of 167 females, or 63.5 per cent,
were single, excluding those unknown. This suggests what the age
grouping would lead us to expect, viz., that the Negro group in New
York City has a large proportion of unmarried persons. Table XV, which
follows, indicates this conclusion:
TABLE XV. MARITAL CONDITION OF 326 NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS, FIFTEEN YEARS
OF AGE AND OVER, MANHATTAN, 1909.
--------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
| Male. | Female. | Total.
+-----+-------+-----+-------+-----+-------
Marital condition. | | Per | | Per | | Per
| No. | cent | No. | cent | No. | cent
--------------------+-----+-------+-----+-------+-----+-------
Married | 26 | 16.3 | 30 | 17.9 | 56 | 17.2
Single | 113 | 71.1 | 106 | 63.5 | 219 | 67.2
Widowed | 9 | 5.7 | 27 | 16.2 | 36 | 11.0
Divorced | 3 | 1.9 | -- | -- | 3 | 0.9
Unknown | 8 | 5.0 | 4 | 2.4 | 12 | 3.7
--------------------+-----+-------+-----+-------+-----+-------
Total | 159 | 100. | 167 | 100. | 326 | 100.
--------------------+-----+-------+-----+-------+-----+-------
Now that the marital condition of the individuals has been indicated,
we may profitably inquire into the composition of the families.
4. FAMILIES AND LODGERS
An illuminating sidelight is thrown upon the general condition of
wage-earners by a study of the sizes of families and the relation of
lodgers to those families. The figures used are those of the State
Census of 1905 only, as the number of complete families secured in the
personal canvass was too small. The points of importance are the size
of the economic family, which includes lodgers and all others living
under one head, and size of the natural family when lodgers are
excluded. The census returns of 1905 showed relationship of each
dweller in the household to the head of the family. It was thus easy
to separate lodgers, except in some cases when relatives may have been
lodgers but were not so designated. Taking the 2,500 families as a
whole, with 9,788 individuals, the average size of the family was
three and nine-tenths persons. Of these, 2,631 individuals, 26.9 per
cent were lodgers, and 7,157, or 73.1 per cent, were natural members.
But these aggregates do not portray actual conditions. A true picture
may be obtained from a more detailed study of the figures which show
that 119, or 4.8 per cent, of the economic families (which includes
all persons living under one head) consisted of an individual living
alone; 576, 23 per cent, of two persons; 531, 21.2 per cent, of the
families had three members, while 478, 19.1 per cent, were composed of
four members. Above four, the percentages of families rapidly
declined; 13.4 per cent of economic families had five members; 8.3 per
cent, six members; 5 per cent, seven members, down to 2.2 per cent,
eight members; 1.4 per cent, nine members, and 1.6 per cent, ten or
more members. But the composition of these economic families is even
more striking. To illustrate, of a total of 576 economic families with
two members, 488 had no lodgers, and this was 36.1 per cent of all the
families without lodgers; out of 531 families of three members each,
173 had one lodger, or 37.7 per cent of all families having one
lodger, and 67 families had two lodgers each, or 20.6 per cent of all
the families having two lodgers. Further, 478 families of four members
each contained 133 families with two lodgers, 40.9 per cent of all
families having two lodgers, and 48 families had three lodgers, 27 per
cent of all families having three lodgers, while only 84 families had
one lodger, and 213 families, less than one-half, 44.6 per cent of all
families of four members each, had no lodgers. Taking the entire
2,500 families, only 1,353 families, or 54.1 per cent, had no
lodgers; 459, or 18.4 per cent of the total families, had one lodger
only; 325 families, or 13 per cent of the total, had two lodgers only,
while 320 families, or 12.8 per cent of the total, had from 3 to 5
lodgers. This left 45, or 1.7 per cent, with 6 to 9 lodgers. In a
phrase, the increase in the size of the family means, as a rule, an
increase in the number of lodgers, and the relative proportion of
natural members probably decreases as the size of the family
increases, the proportion of lodgers increasing with the size of the
economic family.
Now this showing is not the effect of lodging-houses run as business
enterprises, except probably in the families ten members or more,
which constitute only 1.6 per cent of the total 2,500 families. This
condition is most probably due in part to the fact--which both Census
returns and personal observation indicated but could not fully
determine--that many of the lodgers consisted of married couples,
sometimes with one or two children, and of parts of broken families.
Furthermore, the high rents[48] which Negroes have to pay, the limited
area in which the opposition of whites allows them to live, together
with the small income power due to the occupational field being
largely restricted to domestic and personal service, play a large part
in forcing families and parts of families to live thus crowded
together. This last point about income will be referred to again in
Chapter IV on Occupations and in Chapter V on Wages. It is a cause for
serious concern that only 54.1 per cent of the families had no
lodgers, and this percentage here will probably hold for the entire
Negro population of the City. If we exclude the 119 individuals living
alone, the families having no lodgers fall to 51.8 per cent.
This last phase of the lodger condition is emphasized if presented in
another way which shows the number of families having a specified
number of members, exclusive of lodgers. For the same 2,500 families,
it brings out from another point of view the relation of the family to
the lodgers. There is presented both the number and percent of
families that had a specified number of lodgers, and also, the number
and percent of families that had a specified number of members
exclusive of lodgers. For example, 178 families had three lodgers
each, which was 7.1 per cent of the total 2,500 families. And of these
48 families had only one other member; 57 had two other members; 36
had three other; 23 four other; 9 five other; 3 six other, and 1 seven
other. Out of 1,353 families that did not accommodate lodgers, 898
families, 67.8 per cent, had three members or less. Of 1,147 families
that did accommodate lodgers, 606, 52.8 per cent, had more lodgers
than natural members. And if we take the totals, 392, 15.7 per cent,
of the families had besides lodgers only one natural member; 909, 36.4
per cent, of the families had in addition to lodgers two members only,
and 508, 20.3 per cent, had besides lodgers three members only; 329
families, 13.2 per cent of the total, had four natural members; 325,
12.9 per cent, had five to seven natural members, and 38, 1.5 per
cent, had eight or more natural members. This makes it clear that
1,809 of the 2,500 families had three natural members or less, if
lodgers are not counted. To take a statement in a percentage that
probably will be applicable to the whole City, one may say that, even
including relatives who may have been lodgers, 72.6 per cent of Negro
families had three members or less, if the lodgers are excluded--a
fact of almost startling social significance. All this is a cause for
serious concern, and any constructive steps for social betterment
should give attention to the causes and remedies for this condition as
one of the first and most urgent problems.
To sum up the general condition of wage-earners: The Negro population
has increased decade by decade, except from 1840 to 1850 and from 1850
to 1860, preceding and during the Abolition and Civil War crisis. It
is made up of young persons and adults in the vigorous working period,
and has a small number of children under fifteen years of age. The
population is recruited largely by immigrants from the South and the
West Indies, who do not survive or remain in the City to a very old
age. Among the wage-earners probably single people predominate.
Largely because of high rents and low incomes, lodgers made up of
married couples, parts of broken families and of individuals seriously
interfere with normal family life. The families are usually very small
in size, from two to four persons, and an increase in the size of the
family generally means an increase in the number of lodgers.
FOOTNOTES:
[43] The term "wage-earner", for want of a better, is used to
designate the group of persons belonging to families whose heads are
actual wage-workers. This includes children and some other family
members not in gainful occupations.
[44] _Cf._ Bailey, _Modern Social Conditions_, (New York, 1906), pp.
67-89.
[45] _Cf._ Twelfth Census, _Bulletin 8, Negroes in the United States_,
Table 31.
[46] DuBois, _Notes_, _etc._, p. 2.
[47] In a study of _Negro Craftsmen in New York City_ made by Miss
Helen A. Tucker in 1907 (_Vide_, _Southern Workman_, 1907, 36: 9, p.
550), she reported the most reliable estimate of the proportion of
West Indians in New York City as about one-tenth of the total Negro
population. The figures above substantiate such an estimate. Of the
385 men in Miss Tucker's study, 29.09 per cent were born in the West
Indies. Among the 94 who claimed to know a trade, 57 or 60.64 per cent
were born in the West Indies. _Cf. ibid._, 37: I, p. 45. This wide
variation of percentage from that given for 9,788 individuals in 1905,
probably arises because (1) of the larger number of cases in the
latter instance, (2) the returns are from two other districts of
Manhattan besides "the Sixties" of Miss Tucker's canvass, (3) Miss
Tucker canvassed male craftsmen only; the figures of this text cover
the whole population.
[48] Real estate agents, who have handled properties during the change
from white to Negro tenants, testified that Negro families upon moving
in pay from $2.00 to $5.00 more per apartment. Others corroborated
their statements. _Vide_ also, Chapin, _Standard of Living in New York
City_, pp. 76-77.
CHAPTER IV
OCCUPATIONS OF WAGE-EARNERS
I. AN HISTORICAL VIEW OF OCCUPATIONS
In the New Amsterdam Colony as early as 1628, slaves were sought as a
source of labor. These slaves were employed mainly in farm labor. In
that year the Dutch West India Company agreed to furnish slaves to the
colonists and the Company's largest farm was "cultivated by the
blacks."[49] Individuals were at liberty to import slaves for the same
purpose.[50] Both slaves and freedmen were used as stevedores and
deckhands for the Company's vessels. The slaves were also used in
building and repairing the public highways and in the repairing of
Fort Amsterdam.[51] In 1680, mention is made of Negroes being used in
housebuilding.[52] About the same time Negro slaves were carrying hod
for wages, and in 1699 it was said that about the only servants
(probably meaning domestic servants) in the Province of New York were
Negroes. Freed Negroes were indentured or hired for similar
service.[53]
Negroes were mustered into the Colonial army as early as 1698, and in
the battle of Lake George in 1755, the "blacks behaved better than the
whites."[54]
Under the Dutch government enfranchised and slave Negroes were allowed
to acquire and hold land. Some took advantage of this privilege. But
with English possession of the colony it was expressly prohibited.[55]
Some few Negroes were seamen as shown by the records of the so-called
Negro plot of 1741, and one Negro doctor, Harry by name, was among
those executed during the time of that insane public excitement.[56]
From about 1835 until 1841 a weekly newspaper, _The Colored American_,
owned and published by Charles B. Ray, Philip A. Bell and others, was
published in New York. It had an extensive circulation from Boston to
Cincinnati. From this source a number of employments and business
enterprises of Negroes in the New York of that period were
ascertained. The occupations included three carpenters and joiners,
five boot and shoe-makers, five tailors, two music teachers, four
teachers of private and evening schools, one newspaper agent, one
engraver, one watch and clock-maker, one sign-painter, two dress and
cloak makers.[57]
In this period between 1830 and 1860, there were many engaged in
domestic and personal service. Most of the smaller hotels of the times
had colored waiters. The Metropolitan had about 60 or 70; other
hostelries like the Stuyvesant House, the Earls, the Clifford, and a
number of restaurants employed colored waiters. Some cooks and
barbers, who also applied leeches, treated corns, and did other minor
surgical services, were among this class of wage-earners.
Three dentists, P.H. White, John Burdell, and Joshua Bishop, two
physicians, James McCune Smith and W.M. Lively, and three ministers,
H.W. Garnet, Chas. B. Ray, and Peter Williams, were prominent persons
of the period.
But these facts should not give the impression of unalloyed
opportunity in the trades and professions, for the columns of this
same Negro newspaper were filled with articles, editorials and appeals
which indicate the difficulties in that direction. This is further
borne out by the testimony of Charles S. Andrews, the white principal
of the Manumission Society School for Negroes. He said his graduates
left with every avenue closed against them and spoke of difficulties
those who had trades encountered, many being forced to become waiters,
barbers, servants, and laborers.[58] That domestic and personal
service furnished employment for a large number of Negroes is further
shown by the organization of the United Public Waiters' Mutual
Beneficial Association. This effort was first started by twelve Negro
caterers as a corporation to control and keep up the quality of
service both by looking after the efficiency of the many waiters they
employed and by preventing "irresponsible men attempting to cater at
weddings, balls, parties, and some hotels on special occasions."
Originally their constitution, framed in 1869, stated the objects of
the organization to be "to consolidate the business interests of its
members; to encourage and promote industrial pursuits followed by
them; to give preference in patronage to its members."[59]
Five of the original corporators, among whom were George Morris,
George E. Green, and Charles W. Hopewell, owned imported silver,
china, and other caterers' "service" ranging in valuation from about
$1,000 to $4,000, and all of them had ability to manage large banquets
and other social functions, supplying waiters, cooks, _etc._ First
smaller caterers, then waiters, were taken into the organization
until the membership increased to more than a hundred. And in 1872
they added the mutual benefit features, "to insure both medical and
brotherly aid when sick and to assist respectably interring its
deceased members." One of the caterers of the early corporation, W.E.
Gross, is yet in the business at the Bowery Savings Bank and still
serves for special occasions, now mainly among Colored people. The
organization as a benefit association continued with varying fortunes
down to 1905, when it was dissolved by its remaining 33 members.
That there were many other waiters and servants of the time is
certain. A head-waiter of that day estimated the number of colored
hotel and restaurant waiters at between 400 and 500 in 1870.
2. OCCUPATIONS IN 1890 AND 1900
By the time of the Federal censuses of 1890 and 1900 the Negro
population in New York had grown to considerable proportions, and for
this increased population we are fortunate in having full occupational
returns. Although these figures included all persons ten years of age
and over, those under fourteen years probably formed a negligible part
of the totals because the Child Labor Laws of the State of New York
prohibited the employment of children under fourteen years of age.
It appears, as was expected, that the large majority of Negro
wage-earners were engaged in domestic and personal service. But it is
significant that in 1890 there were among the male population 236
bookkeepers, accountants, _etc._, 476 draymen, hackmen, and teamsters,
and 427 were engaged in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. Among
the females, there were 418 dressmakers, 103 seamstresses, and 67
nurses and midwives.
The figures for 1900 show a large percentage of increase in domestic
and personal service. In occupations classed under trade and
transportation, Negro wage-earners increased 450.3 per cent compared
with an increase of 177.2 per cent among native whites. Nor is this
increase due entirely to semi-personal service occupations for the
class of clerks, bookkeepers, _etc._, had increased from 236 in 1890
to 456 in 1900; draymen, hackmen, and teamsters numbered 1,439 in 1900
as compared with 476 in 1890, an increase of 202.3 per cent. In
manufacturing and mechanical pursuits the percentage of increase
during the ten years, 1890 to 1900, was 140.3 per cent, larger than
that of the native whites, 137.3 per cent. Only one occupation in this
class had a smaller increase of Negro workers than 75 per cent.
Machinists increased from 7 to 47; brick and stone masons from 20 to
94, or 370 per cent; stationary engineers and firemen from 61 to 227,
or 271.1 per cent. Other comparisons indicate clearly a similarly
favorable advance in many occupations other than domestic and personal
service. Large allowances, of course, must be made for the errors in
gathering the figures of the two censuses; yet this does not account
for all of the decided increases shown. It must be accounted for on
the ground that slowly the walls of inefficiency on one side and of
prejudice on the other which have confined Negroes to the more menial
and lower-paid employments are being broken down. This progress has
come in the face of the fact that the more ambitious and efficient
individual is "tied to his group."[60]
In 1890 and 1900 a large number of occupations could not be included
in the table because the figures for 1890 were not available. The
comparison of the two censuses shows clearly that there is for Negro
wage-earners a probable enlargement of the scope of occupations
outside of domestic and personal service.
Table XVI below gives in detail the number and percent of increase of
the native white and Negro wage-earners, ten years of age and over,
engaged in selected occupations in New York City in 1890 and 1900:
TABLE XVI. NATIVE WHITE AND NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS, TEN YEARS OF AGE AND
OVER, ENGAGED IN SELECTED OCCUPATIONS, NEW YORK CITY, 1890 AND
1900.[A]
-------------------------+------------------------------------------------
| Male.
+------------------------+-----------------------
Occupation. | Native white. | Negro.
-------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+--------
| | |Per cent| | |Per cent
| 1890. | 1900. |increase|1890. | 1900. |increase
-------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+--------
Domestic and personal | | | | | |
service | 16,887| 42,621| 152.4 | 4,975| 27,956| 461.9
Barbers and | | | | | |
hairdressers | 1,017| 1,936| 60.9 | 111| 215| --
Bartenders | 2,530| 5,776| 128.3 | 29| 84| --
Janitors and sextons | 712| 2,037| 186.2 | 336| 800| 118.6
Laborers (not | | | | | |
classified) | 8,807| 26,669| 203.1 | 882| 3,719| 352.4
Servants and waiters[B] | 3,821| 6,473| 69.4 | 3,647| 6,280| 72.2
Trade and transportation | 69,162|170,350| 146.3 | 1,520| 5,338| 450.3
Boatmen and sailors | 1,024| 3,675| 258.9 | 106| 145| 36.8
Bookkeepers and | | | | | |
accountants[F] | 34,960| 16,526| -- | 236| 33| --
Clerks and copyists | --| 62,921| -- | --| 423| --
Draymen, hackmen, | | | | | |
teamsters, etc. | 12,908| 31,695| 145.5 | 476| 1,439| 202.3
Hostlers[C] | 840| 1,659| -- | 100| 633| --
Messengers, errand and | | | | | |
office boys[D] |} |{10,578|} | |{ 355|}
Packers and shippers |} 7,711|{ 2,026|} 117.4 | 559|{ 23|} 347.4
Porters and helpers (in |} |{ |} | |{ |}
stores) |} |{ 4,157|} | |{ 2,143|}
Salesmen | 8,398| 29,889| 255.9 | 15| 94| 526.7
Steam railroad employees| 3,321| 7,224| 121.1 | 28| 70| 150.0
Manufacturing and | | | | | |
mechanical pursuits | 30,180| 71,613| 137.3 | 427| 1,026| 140.3
Blacksmiths | 1,169| 2,490| 113.0 | 9| 29| --
Masons (brick and stone)| 2,278| 5,032| 120.1 | 20| 94| 370.0
Painters, glaziers and | | | | | |
varnishers | 5,805| 12,947| 123.0 | 99| 177| 78.8
Plasterers | 701| 1,592| 127.1 | 10| 51| 410.0
Plumbers, gas and steam | | | | | |
fitters | 5,225| 12,355| 136.4 | 11| 31| --
Carpenters and joiners | 4,712| 11,471| 143.4 | 33| 94| 184.8
Tobacco and cigar | | | | | |
factory operatives | 1,940| 2,182| 12.0 | 146| 189| 29.4
Tailors | 2,200| 4,545| 106.6 | 20| 69| 245.0
Upholsterers | 860| 1,447| 68.2 | 11| 18| 63.3
Engineers and firemen | | | | | |
(not locomotive) | 2,622| 8,129| 210.0 | 61| 227| 272.1
Machinists | 2,368| 9,423| 297.9 | 7| 47| --
-------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------
Total |116,224|284,584| 144.8 | 6,922| 34,321| 395.8
-------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------
-------------------------+-----------------------------------------------
| Female.
+------------------------+----------------------
Occupation. | Native white. | Negro.
-------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------
| | |Per cent| | |Per cent
| 1890. | 1900. |increase|1890. | 1900. |increase
-------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------
Musicians and teachers | | | | | |
of music | 950| 2,581| 171.7 | 24| 73| 204.2
Housekeepers and | | | | | |
stewardesses | 797| 2,421| 203.8 | 83| 226| 172.3
Laundresses | 1,416| 4,329| 205.7 | 1,526| 3,224| 111.3
Nurses and midwives | 1,220| 4,416| 262.0 | 67| 290| 332.8
Servants and | | | | | |
waitresses[E] | 11,140| 22,616| 103.0 | 3,754| 10,297| 174.3
Clerks and copyists | 2,505| 7,811| 419.0 | 5| 22| --
Bookkeepers and | | | | | |
accountants | 1,492| 6,998| 360.0 | 2| 10| --
Stenographers and | | | | | |
typewriters | 1,356| 9,518| 601.9 | 3| 14| --
Saleswomen | 7,476| 18,315| 144.7 | 4| 13| --
Dressmakers | 13,106| 22,137| 68.9 | 418| 813| 94.5
Seamstresses | 4,206| 7,855| 86.7 | 103| 249| 141.7
-------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------
Total | 45,664|108,997| 138.5 | 5,989| 15,231| 154.3
-------------------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------
NOTES FOR TABLE XVI.
[A] Eleventh Census, _Part ii, Population_, p. 704. Occupations
for Negroes in 1890 are approximately accurate as Chinese,
_etc._, made up less than 10 per cent. of the total Colored
population. Twelfth Census, _Special Rep._, Table 43,
_Occupations_, pp. 634-640.
[B] In 1890 occupation marked only "servants."
[C] Includes livery-stable keepers in 1890.
[D] Messengers, packers, and porters, _etc._, classed together
in 1890.
[E] 1900, "servants and waitresses;" 1890, "servants."
[F] Includes clerks, _etc._, in 1890.
OCCUPATIONS IN 1905
In the 2,500 families, composed of 9,788 persons, 1,859 were excluded
because of their being under fifteen years of age and 82 were excluded
because, although members of wage-earning families, they themselves
were either in a professional occupation, or were engaged in a
business enterprise on their own account. This left 7,847 individual
wage-earners, 3,802 of whom were male and 4,045 were female. Both the
male and the female wage-earners show a very large percentage employed
in domestic and personal service, 40.2 per cent male and 89.3 per cent
female, a large percentage of whom doubtless were married women and
widows with children.[61] But it is to be noted as important that
among the males, 20.6 per cent were engaged in some occupation
classified under Trade and 9.4 per cent under Transportation. While
some of these occupations may differ little in character from domestic
and personal service, yet the occupations that are entirely removed
from that classification are sufficient in number to show, as did the
figures for 1890 and 1900, the possibility of Negroes in considerable
numbers securing a scope of employment which includes other
occupations than those of domestic and personal service.
The State Census figures are more detailed than those of the Federal
Census. For example, under domestic and personal service, the Federal
Census has grouped together male waiters and servants, while the State
Census figures have been tabulated separately. It is also probable
that the classification in 1890 and 1900 included wage-earners who
were classified differently in 1905 and _vice versa_. And in 1905
professional occupations as well as all persons doing business on
their own account were excluded. Differences in the figures may,
therefore, be allowed.
Table XVII, which follows, shows the latest figures available on the
scope of employment of Negro wage-earners:
TABLE XVII. OCCUPATIONS OF NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS, FIFTEEN YEARS OF AGE
AND OVER, MANHATTAN, 1905.[A]
MALE
-------------------------------------+--------+-----+---------
Occupation. | Totals.| No. |Per cent
-------------------------------------+--------+-----+---------
Public service | 55 | -- | 1.4
Sailors and mariners (U.S.) | -- | 3 | --
Federal employees (custom house, | | |
immigration, etc.) | -- | 6 | --
Post office (clerks) | -- | 13 | --
Post office (carriers) | -- | 9 | --
Street cleaning department | -- | 23 | --
Miscellaneous | -- | 1 | --
| | |
Domestic and personal service | 1,527 | -- | 0.2
Barbers | -- | 27 | --
Bartenders | -- | 24 | --
Bellmen and doormen | -- | 154 | 4.0
Bootblacks | -- | 2 | --
Butlers | -- | 41 | --
Chauffeurs | -- | 9 | --
Cleaners (house, etc.) | -- | 15 | --
Coachmen | -- | 68 | 1.8
Cooks | -- | 110 | 2.9
Cooks (dining car) | -- | 7 | --
Chimney sweeps | -- | 2 | --
Domestic servants (not specified) | -- | 12 | --
Elevatormen | -- | 365 | 9.6
Hallmen (hotel, etc.) | -- | 90 | 2.4
Hotel managers | -- | 3 | --
Housemen | -- | 29 | --
Janitors and caretakers | -- | 83 | 2.2
Stewards | -- | 38 | --
Valets | -- | 18 | --
Waiters | -- | 425 | 11.2
Miscellaneous | -- | 5 | --
| | |
Manufacturers and mechanical pursuits| 300 | -- | 7.9
Asphalt layers | -- | 6 | --
Blacksmiths | -- | 5 | --
Carpenters | -- | 18 | --
Confectioners | -- | 3 | --
Drill runners | -- | 5 | --
Electricians | -- | 3 | --
Engineers (not locomotive) | -- | 48 | --
Firemen (not locomotive) | -- | 19 | --
Factory employees (not specified) | -- | 6 | --
Hodcarriers | -- | 9 | --
Harness and saddlemakers | -- | 2 | --
Cigarmakers | -- | 32 | --
Kalsominers | -- | 8 | --
Machinists | -- | 12 | --
Mechanics (automobile, bicycle, | | |
etc.) | -- | 9 | --
Masons (stone) | -- | 2 | --
Masons (brick) | -- | 8 | --
Masons (not specified) | -- | 5 | --
Painters and decorators | -- | 26 | --
Plasterers | -- | 7 | --
Plumbers, steam and gas fitters | -- | 5 | --
Printers and compositors | -- | 14 | --
Shoemakers and repairers | -- | 6 | --
Tailors | -- | 20 | --
Miscellaneous | -- | 22 | --
| | |
Trade | 783 | -- | 20.6
Agents (real estate) | -- | 4 | --
Bookkeepers | -- | 3 | --
Clerks (office, banks, etc.) | -- | 11 | --
Shipping clerks | -- | 9 | --
Clerks and salesmen (in stores, | | |
etc.) | -- | 63 | 1.7
Laundry employees | -- | 13 | --
Messengers, errand boys and | | |
office boys | -- | 60 | 1.6
Watchmen | -- | 10 | --
Porters (stores, etc.) | -- | 587 | 15.4
Stenographers | -- | 5 | --
Miscellaneous | -- | 19 | --
| | |
Transportation | 359 | -- | 9.4
Boatmen and seamen | -- | 17 | --
Expressmen, truckmen and drivers | -- | 119 | 3.1
Hostlers and stablemen | -- | 47 | 1.2
Longshoremen | -- | 75 | 2.0
Porters (railway) | -- | 83 | 2.2
Porters (street railway) | -- | 7 | --
Steamship company (not specified) | -- | 4 | --
Street railway (not specified) | -- | 3 | --
Telephone operators | -- | 3 | --
Car cleaner | -- | 1 | --
| | |
Unclassified | 778 | -- | 20.5
Gardeners | -- | 3 | --
Laborers (not specified) | -- | 616 | 16.2
Musicians and musical performers | -- | 55 | 1.4
Foremen (not specified) | -- | 9 | --
Theatrical (not specified) | -- | 6 | --
Unknown | -- | 94 | --
Total for all occupations | 3,802 | |
-------------------------------------+--------+-----+---------
FEMALE
-------------------------------------+--------+-----+---------
Occupation. | Totals.| No. |Per cent
-------------------------------------+--------+-----+---------
Domestic and personal service | 3,456 | -- | 89.3
Chambermaids | -- | 22 | --
Cooks | -- | 149 |
Day workers out | -- | 19 |
Domestic servants (not specified) | -- | 88 | 2.3
Hairdressers | -- | 6 | --
Manicurists and masseurs | -- | 18 | --
Housekeepers | -- | 60 | --
Housewives | -- | 51 | --
General housework (wages) | -- | 72 | 18.6
General housework (not specified) | -- |1572 | --
Janitress and caretakers | -- | 28 | --
Laundresses | -- | 543 | 14.0
Ladies' maids | -- | 23 | --
Maids (not specified) | -- | 80 | 2.1
Nurses | -- | 21 | --
Waitresses | -- | 47 | --
Miscellaneous | -- | 4 | --
| | |
Trade | 25 | -- | 0.6
Bookkeepers | -- | 2 | --
Clerks and saleswomen | -- | 6 | --
Stenographers and typewriters | -- | 8 | --
Miscellaneous | -- | 9 | --
| | |
Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits| 564 | -- | 5.5
Dressmakers | -- | 164 | 4.2
Garment workers | -- | 18 | .5
Milliners | -- | 5 | --
Seamstresses | -- | 16 | --
Tailors' assistants | -- | 3 | --
Miscellaneous | -- | 6 | --
| | |
Unclassified | 176 | -- | 4.6
Telephone operators | -- | 1 | --
Unknown | -- | 175 | --
-------------------------------------+--------+-----+---------
Total for all occupations | 4,045 | -- | --
-------------------------------------+--------+-----+---------
[A] In classifying these occupations, some departure has been
made from the Federal Census arrangement. Those engaged in
Public Service have been separated from Domestic and Personal
Service, while Trade and Transportation are tabulated
separately; a few occupations have been put in an unclassified
list, while one or two occupations are included that might
possibly be regarded as professional. This rearrangement,
however, does not prevent comparison with previous Federal
Census classification, and it is hoped that it is in line with
subsequent classifications.
Before leaving the subject of the restricted scope of occupations
among Negroes, something should be said of the far-reaching effects
this restriction has upon the life of the wage-earners. Negroes are
crowded into these poorer-paid occupations because many of them are
inefficient and because of the color prejudice on the part of white
workmen and employers.[62] Both of these influences are severe
handicaps in the face of the competition in this advanced industrial
community.
Restricted thus to a few occupations, there is a larger number of
competitors within a limited field with a consequent tendency to lower
an already low wage scale. In this way the limitations of occupational
mobility react upon income, producing a low standard of living, the
lodger evil, and social consequences pointed out below (pp. 80, 89,
144 ff).
To sum up the occupational condition of Negro wage-earners: The large
majority of Negroes are employed to-day in occupations of domestic and
personal service. This is partly the result of the historical
conditions of servitude, of a prejudice on the part of white workmen
and employers, which restricts them to this lower field, and of the
inefficiency of Negro wage-earners for competition in occupations
requiring a higher order of training and skill. The steady increase in
1890, 1900 and 1905 of numbers employed in occupations other than
personal and domestic service is prophetic of a probable widening
scope of the field of employment open to them.
FOOTNOTES:
[49] Williams, _History of the Negro Race in America_, vol. i, p. 135.
[50] _Colonial Doc._, i, 364.
[51] _Laws of New York_, 1691-1773, pp. 83, 156; _Doc. relating to
Colonial History of New York_, vol. i, 499; ii, 474.
[52] _Doc. relating to Colonial History of New York_, iii, 307.
[53] _Ibid._, ix, 875; iv, 511; Burghermen and Freemen, _collection of
New York Historical Society_, 1885, p. 569.
[54] _Ibid._, 377 (London Doc. xi); _ibid._, vi, 1005 (London Doc.
xxxii.) "Letter from a gunner to his cousin."
[55] Williams, _op. cit._, pp. 137, 142.
[56] Horsmanden, _History of the Negro Plot, passim._
[57] For business enterprises, see chap. v, pp. 96-7.
[58] Quoted in Ovington, _Half a Man_, pp. 27-28.
[59] _Constitution and By-Laws of the United Public Waiters' Mutual
Beneficial Association._
[60] Ovington, _op. cit._, pp. 93-95.
[61] _Cf._ Ovington, _op. cit._, pp. 56-57, 144-145.
[62] In a canvass of business establishments 12 manufacturers, 1
architect, 3 plumbers and steam-fitters, 2 printing firms, 10
contractors and builders and 3 miscellaneous--37 total--12 were
decidedly against employing Negroes, 9 giving as a reason the
objections of their white workmen; 13 were non-committal, and 12, 10
of whom were builders and contractors, offered or gave employment to
Negroes above the average competency; _cf._ Ovington, _op. cit._, pp.
91-98.
CHAPTER V
WAGES AND EFFICIENCY OF WAGE-EARNERS
The question of wages and working efficiency are so closely related
that they can be better treated together than separately. The material
for this part of the monograph has been gathered from three sources,
namely: a personal canvass, the records of employment agencies for
personal and domestic help, and the statement of union rates published
by the New York Bureau of Labor Statistics. It has not been possible
to calculate the time loss by the worker, and therefore any estimate
of annual income based upon the figures given must be made on the
assumption of a full year of work. This, of course, is not the actual
case, especially with many wage-earners in domestic and personal
service.
I. WAGES IN DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL SERVICE
The Employment Agencies' Law of New York City requires that each
agency keep a careful and accurate record of the wages of those for
whom they secure situations, as well as written references from former
employers of each applicant. Since inspectors from the Bureau of
Licenses have access to these records at any time, they are probably
carefully kept. The material on wages which has been taken largely
from these sources has been arranged to show the number of individuals
who receive a specified wage, beginning at less than $4.00 and running
by $1.00 groups up to $9.00 and over. There follows (p. 80) a table
covering 682 males in twenty-four occupations and 2,138 females in
twenty-five occupations from 1906 to 1909. It will be noted that in
some cases two occupations are given under one heading such as
elevator and switchboard, or cook and laundress. In these cases, the
individual is paid the same for the two branches of work; so far as
the wage is concerned it is one occupation. It is significant that out
of a total of 682 males, 513, or 75.2 per cent, received wages under
$6.00 per week and that 141, or 20.7 per cent, received between $6.00
and $8.99 per week, while only 4.1 per cent received $9.00 or more per
week. With the females, the showing is even more unfavorable. Out of a
total of 2,138 females, 1,971, or 92.2 per cent, received less than
$6.00 per week, and of these 1,137, or 53.2 per cent, received less
than $5.00 per week. Of those receiving $6.00 or more per week, only 8
out of 2,138, or .04 per cent, received as much as $9.00 or more per
week.
Of course, many of these wage-earners are furnished their meals in
addition to wages; some have meals and room. In some cases question
may arise about the effect of lodgings furnished by the employer upon
the wages paid his domestic help, but both from the testimony of the
employment agent and from statements made in the records, it does not
appear that wages are different whether the servants "sleep in" or
"sleep out." There are no data to show whether or not consideration of
car-fare had any effect on the wages.
An inspection of the list of occupations for which these wages are
given and the fact that they were employed in private families (see
Table XVIII below) show that comparatively few of these wage-earners
had opportunity to receive any considerable money from tips. This is
especially true of the females. We may take, therefore, the figures of
the table as probably giving an accurate statement of the wages
received in domestic service in New York City during the four years,
1906 to 1909.
When one considers the probable dependents on many of these
wage-earners, the high rents and high cost of food, he is not
surprised to find that about half of these families take lodgers (see
p. 64), and that a majority of the women are bread-winners (see p.
73). He sees the poorly-paid domestic service on the one side and on
the other the cost of living as high walls bounding a narrow,
restricted road that leads to a low standard of living and to social
and economic disease. Table XVIII shows the picture in full relief:
TABLE XVIII. WEEKLY WAGES BY GROUPS OF WAGE-EARNERS FOR SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS IN DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL SERVICE, NEW YORK CITY,
1906-1909.[A]
MALE
----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
|Less |$4.00|$5.00|$6.00|$7.00|$8.00|$9.00|
Occupations. |than | to | to | to | to | to | and |Total.
|$4.00|$4.99|$5.99|$6.99|$7.99|$8.99|over.|
----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
Bartenders | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1
Bellmen | 3 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 4
Blacksmiths | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 2
Butlers | -- | 4 | 18 | 4 | 11 | 4 | -- | 41
Butler and cook | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 3
Coachmen | -- | 1 | 2 | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 5
Cooks | -- | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 28
Elevator | -- | 20 | 141 | 20 | 3 | -- | -- | 184
Elevator and | | | | | | | |
switchboard | -- | 1 | 21 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 23
Elevator and hallboy | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2
Firemen | 1 | 1 | 10 | -- | 10 | 2 | 2 | 26
Furnacemen | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 2
Gardeners | -- | 2 | 2 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 5
Hallmen and doormen | 5 | 26 | 15 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | 49
Housemen | 2 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 29
Janitors | -- | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14
Kitchenmen | 6 | 21 | 11 | 3 | -- | -- | -- | 41
Errand and office | | | | | | | |
boys | 1 | 8 | 3 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 13
Pantrymen | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1
Porters | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 47
Stablemen | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 4
Switchboard | -- | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | 16
Usefulmen | 5 | 31 | 31 | 5 | 1 | -- | -- | 74
Waiters | -- | 22 | 31 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 68
----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
Total | 29 | 160 | 324 | 53 | 64 | 24 | 28 | 682
Percent | 4.2 |23.5 |47.5 | 7.8 | 9.4 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 100
----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------
FEMALE
----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
|Less |$4.00|$5.00|$6.00|$7.00|$8.00|$9.00|
Occupations. |than | to | to | to | to | to | and |Total.
|$4.00|$4.99|$5.99|$6.99|$7.99|$8.99|over.|
----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
Chambermaid | 13 | 56 | 18 | -- | 2 | 1 | -- | 90
Chamb. and cook | -- | 1 | 3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 4
Chamb. and laundress | 1 | 6 | 9 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 18
Chamb. and seamstress | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1
Chamb. and waitress | 32 | 197 | 80 | -- | 2 | 1 | -- | 310
Cleaner | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 2 | -- | 4
Cook | -- | 30 | 131 | 38 | 49 | 12 | 7 | 267
Cook and general | | | | | | | |
housework | -- | 2 | 3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5
Cook and laundress | 1 | 54 | 104 | 5 | 3 | -- | -- | 167
Cook and waitress | -- | 5 | 3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 8
Errand girl | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1
General housework | 82 | 472 | 399 | 22 | 4 | -- | -- | 979
Laundress | 3 | 28 | 23 | 4 | 2 | -- | -- | 60
Laund. and general | | | | | | | |
housework | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1
Laund. and waitress | -- | 4 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 6
Maid | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | -- | -- | 17
Maid (house and | | | | | | | |
parlor) | 1 | 4 | 2 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 8
Maid (kitchen) | 5 | 13 | 5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 23
Maid and seamstress | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1
Nurse | 13 | 9 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 24
Pantry girl | -- | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 3
Switchboard | -- | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2
Waitress | 10 | 78 | 46 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | 137
Dishwasher | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1
Sick nurse | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1
----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
Total | 165 | 972 | 834 | 78 | 64 | 17 | 8 | 2138
Percent | 7.7 |45.5 |39.0 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 100
----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
[A] Day's work, 1 at $1.00 a day, 7 at $1.25 a day, and 15 at
$1.50 a day.
The earnings in hotel service play such an important part in the
income of males of the Negro group, that some special note was taken
of wages for waiters and bellmen. Records of 249 waiters in Manhattan
and 46 waiters in Brooklyn showed that they received $25.00 per month,
not including tips. Forty-nine bellmen received $15.00 to $20.00 per
month, exclusive of tips. Out of these wages lodging and car-fares
must usually be paid, and besides uniforms and laundry are not small
items of expense.
2. WAGES IN OTHER OCCUPATIONS
The wages of skilled trades do not affect the larger part of the Negro
population, because so small a percentage are engaged in these
occupations, as reference to the occupational tables in Chapter IV
will show. But the numbers are increasing, for there is a constant
struggle of Negro wage-earners to rise to these better-paid
occupations. Colored carpenters have a local branch of the Amalgamated
Carpenters and Joiners Union; there is a street-pavers union, with
about a third of the membership Colored men, and the Mechanics
Association is composed of Negro artisans of all kinds who wish mutual
help in securing and holding work. Since Negroes who are union men are
reported to receive the same wages as white workmen, the approximate
union wages in 1909 for such skilled occupations as had a considerable
number of Negro males will be a good index. The approximate number of
Negro union members in 1910 and union wages in 1909 were about as
follows:[63] Asphalt pavers and helpers, Negro union members 350, rate
of wages, pavers $2.50 per day, helpers $1.75 per day; rock-drillers
and tool sharpeners, Negro members 240, employed by the hour, average
daily earnings $2.77; cigar-makers, Negro members 165, piece-workers,
average daily earnings $2.00; carpenters, Negro members 40, rate of
wages $4.50 per day; stationary engineers, Negro members 35, rate of
wages, $3.00-$3.50 per day, average weekly earnings, $21.00;
bricklayers, Negro members 21, rate of wages $0.70 per hour, average
daily earnings $5.60; plasterers, Negro members 19, rate of wages
$5.50 per day; printers (compositors), Negro members 8, average
weekly earnings, $24.00; coopers, Negro members 2, average daily
earnings $2.50; lathers, Negro members 7, average daily earnings
$4.50; sheet-metal workers, Negro members 1, rate of wages $4.50 per
day. It is evident that compared with the large number of Negro
workers few are engaged in the skilled trades, join the unions, and
thus enter into the more highly-paid occupations.
3. EFFICIENCY OF WAGE-EARNERS
The efficiency of wage-earners attaches itself to the question of
wages. For domestic and personal service, a rich deposit of first-hand
material was available in the written testimonials, secured by
employment agencies, from the former employers of each applicant
seeking work. This is a requirement of the Employment Agencies' Law.
The investigator found two employment agencies which had used a
printed blank for securing this testimony from former employers of
applicants. These blanks asked four questions which are pertinent to
the matter of efficiency, and an additional space was left for further
remarks. The questions called for answers on the following points: (1)
length of time employed, whether applicant was (2) capable, (3) sober
or temperate and (4) honest.
In all, 10,095 such blanks were sent out by the agencies during
1906-1909. About 3,000 were returned. Of these about 1,800 replies
were excluded from this tabulation because they were received from
employers outside of New York, because they were not completely filled
out, or were not signed by the parties replying. For this study, 1,182
cases were used. Of these 139 were returned by the Post Office
Department as unclaimed, 21 were returned unanswered, while 20 replied
that the parties were never in their employ. So there were left 902
complete cases.
These give a fair indication of the whole. The first point of
efficiency is the length of service to one's employer. The records of
100 males do not furnish a sufficient number of cases for any sweeping
generalization, yet considerable light is given by the percentages.
These show that 30 out of the 100 remained with one employer less than
five months; that 24 remained six to eleven months, and 17 from one
year to one year and eleven months, while 25 were in one place for
more than two years. Special mention may be made of the five following
cases: One of them remained five years, one seven years, one six
years, one eight years, and one ten or eleven years, with the same
employer.
For the females, the percentages will apply well to all who are
wage-earners in domestic and personal service. Here, also, the largest
percentage, 24.1 per cent, remained in one place from six to eleven
months; 21.3 per cent remained three to five months; 16.7 per cent
remained one year to one year and eleven months, and fair percentages
obtain for the longer terms of service: namely, 5.2 per cent two years
to two years and eleven months, and 9 per cent three years or more. Of
those in one place of service for three or more years, five remained
four years; two, four years and a half; nine, five years; three, six
years; four, seven years; two, eight years; one, twelve years; three,
fifteen years, and one, "eighteen years off and on;" in all, a total
of thirty in 802 cases that were in one place of employment more than
three years.
When the shifting life of such a great city and the mobile character
of modern wage-earners, especially in domestic and personal service,
are considered, and when it is remembered that the Negro population
because of unusual need of adjustment to city life feels particularly
this unstable current of influence, this showing of lengthy service
for occupations which have weak tenures of service in all countries
can be interpreted in no other way than favorable for the reputation
of Negro domestic help.
The table, next following, gives the detailed length of service for
the cases covered by the 902 testimonials:
TABLE XIX. SHOWING LENGTH OF SERVICE FOR 902 WAGE-EARNERS IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS OF PERSONAL AND DOMESTIC SERVICE, NEW YORK CITY,
1906-1909.
-------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------------
| Male. | Female. | Total.
+-----+-------+-----+-------+-----+---------
| No. |Percent| No. |Percent| No. |Percent
-------------------------+-----+-------+-----+-------+-----+---------
Under 3 months | 19 | 19 | 149 | 18.6 | 168 | 18.6
From 3 to 5 months | 11 | 12 | 171 | 21.3 | 182 | 20.2
From 6 to 11 months | 24 | 24 | 193 | 24.1 | 217 | 24.1
1 yr. to 1 yr. 11 mos | 17 | 17 | 134 | 16.7 | 151 | 16.7
2 yrs. to 2 yrs. 11 mos | 11 | 11 | 42 | 5.2 | 53 | 5.9
3 yrs. and over | 14 | 14 | 72 | 9.0 | 86 | 9.5
Not stated | 4 | 4 | 41 | 5.1 | 45 | 5.0
-------------------------+-----+-------+-----+-------+-----+---------
Total | 100 | 100.0 | 802 | 100.0 | 902 | 100.0
-------------------------+-----+-------+-----+-------+-----+---------
The above favorable conclusion, seemingly biased and against the
current opinion, is further borne out by the other replies as to
whether the employee had been capable, sober or temperate, and honest.
Some allowances should be made in weighing employers on these last
points. Many when asked to speak of former employees have either
probably forgotten points of inefficiency, or do not wish to stand in
the way of subsequent employment, or desire to aid the party in
securing such employment. Sometimes also answers are strong
commentaries on the hard character of the employers. But when these
things are given due weight there still remains a decided balance in
favor of the Negro employee. For, of the 100 males, 27 were certified
as very capable; 68 as capable, 4 as fairly so, and only one out of
100 received the condemnation, "decidedly no." As to their sober or
temperate character, 9 were regarded as excellent, 78 employers said
"yes," one replied "fairly so," 11 returned the cautious statement "so
far as I know" or "I think so," and one did not answer. As to honesty,
they received on the whole good certificates; 12 of the 100 were
considered very honest, 81 honest, 4 were placed in the cautionary
class, while 3 employers gave no statement on this point.
The testimony for female help shows a tendency as favorable. Taking
the percentages which are more significant than the crude numbers,
25.4 per cent were considered very capable, 8.9 per cent very
temperate, and 28.2 per cent very honest. 59 per cent of the replies
said "Yes" as to their capability, 81.9 per cent said "Yes" as to
temperateness and 62.8 per cent gave an affirmative answer on honesty.
This makes the decidedly affirmative replies 84.4 out of the hundred
capable, 90.8 of the hundred temperate, and 91 out of the hundred
honest. Of the employers' testimony, classified as "fairly so," there
were 10.5 per cent under capable, 0.1 per cent under "sober or
temperate," and 0.4 per cent under honest. Those replying "so far as I
know" or "I think so," 0.5 per cent were under capable, 6.5 per cent
under sober or temperate, and 7.1 per cent under honest. Those classed
under "No" and "Decidedly no" show 2.4 per cent not capable, 0.5 per
cent not sober or temperate, and 0.7 per cent not honest. Considering
this mass of testimony in whatever light one may, coming as it does
entirely from the employers, and applying to that part of the Negro
group which probably has the lowest standard of intelligence and
economic efficiency and independence, the conclusion is made decidedly
trustworthy that Negro wage-earners in domestic and personal service
in New York City are capable, sober and honest.
Table XX, following, gives in full the classified replies of
employers:
TABLE XX. OPINIONS OF FORMER EMPLOYERS OF 902 NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS IN
DOMESTIC AND PERSONAL SERVICE, NEW YORK CITY, 1906-1909.
-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Capable. |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| Male. | Female. | Total. |
+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
Very | 27 | 27 | 204 | 25.4 | 231 | 25.6 |
Yes | 68 | 68 | 473 | 59 | 541 | 60 |
Fairly so | 4 | 4 | 84 | 10.5 | 88 | 9.8 |
"So far as I know," or | | | | | | |
"I think so." | -- | -- | 4 | 0.5 | 4 | 0.4 |
No | -- | -- | 17 | 2.1 | 17 | 1.9 |
Decidedly no | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.3 | 3 | 0.3 |
Not stated | -- | -- | 18 | 2.2 | 18 | 2.0 |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
Total | 100 | 100 | 802 | 100 | 902 | 100 |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
Total percent | 11.1 | 88.9 | 100 |
-------------------------+-------------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Sober or temperate. |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| Male. | Female. | Total. |
+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
Very | 9 | 9 | 71 | 8.8 | 80 | 8.9 |
Yes | 78 | 78 | 657 | 82 | 735 | 81.5 |
Fairly so | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.2 |
"So far as I know," or | | | | | | |
"I think so." | 11 | 11 | 52 | 6.5 | 63 | 7.0 |
No | -- | -- | 4 | 0.5 | 4 | 0.4 |
Decidedly no | -- |- -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Not stated | 1 | 1 | 17 | 2.1 | 18 | 2.0 |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
Total | 100 | 100 | 802 | 100 | 902 | 100 |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
Total percent | 11.1 | 88.9 | 100 |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Honest. |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| Male. | Female. | Total. |
+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
Very | 12 | 12 | 226 | 28.2 | 238 | 26.4 |
Yes | 81 | 81 | 504 | 62.9 | 585 | 64.9 |
Fairly so | -- | -- | 3 | 0.4 | 3 | 0.3 |
"So far as I know," or | | | | | | |
"I think so." | 4 | 4 | 57 | 7.1 | 61 | 6.8 |
No | -- | -- | 6 | 0.7 | 6 | 0.6 |
Decidedly no | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Not stated | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.7 | 9 | 1.0 |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
Total | 100 | 100 | 802 | 100 | 902 | 100 |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
Total percent | 11.1 | 88.9 | 100 |
-------------------------+------+------+-----+-------+-----+-------+
These testimonials furnish a body of evidence contrary to the current
opinion of criticism and blame, and direct attention to other causes
for whatever unsatisfactory part that Negroes are playing in this line
of service in the City. These causes may be looked for in the
increasing number of European immigrants; in the growing ambition and
effort of Negro wage-earners, sharing the feeling of all native-born
Americans, to get away from personal and domestic service and to enter
fields of work with better wages, shorter hours, and more
independence.[64] To this may be added the increasing custom,
indicating prejudice of well-to-do Americans, of giving preference to
European servants.[65]
The efficiency of Negro skilled workmen is indicated in the replies of
37 employers, summarized in Chapter IV. (See p. 77, _supra_.) If they
had ever employed Negroes, they were asked whether in comparison with
white workmen Negro workmen were:
1. Faster, equal or slower in speed.
2. Better, equal or poorer in quality of work done.
3. More, equally or less reliable.
The consensus of opinion expressed was that the Negro workmen whom
they had employed measured up to the white, and there was a general
belief that Negroes usually had to be well above the average to secure
and hold a place in the skilled trades.
To make a summary of the wages and efficiency: In comparison with the
cost of living, Negro men receive very inadequate wages in domestic
and personal service except three or four occupations that afford
"tips." The small number of skilled artisans who are equal to or above
the average white workman and can get into the unions, receive the
union wages.
Women for the most part are in the poorly paid employments of domestic
and personal service. The small wages of the men and the number of
women engaged in gainful occupations (See Chapter IV) show that the
women must help earn the daily bread for the family. Their low income
power forces these families to the necessity of completing the rent by
means of lodgers, deprives children of mothers' care, keeps the
standard of living at a minimum, and thus makes the family unable to
protect itself from both physical and moral disease.
Although popular opinion may be to the contrary, testimonials signed
by former employers show that the large majority of Negroes in
domestic and personal service are capable, temperate, and honest, and
remain with one employer a reasonable time, considering the shifting
condition of city life, the mobility of such wage-earners and the weak
tenure of domestic and personal service in a modern city.
FOOTNOTES:
[63] Bureau of Labor Statistics of New York, _Annual Report_, 1909,
pp. 444-595. Figures for Negro members of unions are from Ovington,
_op. cit._, pp. 97-99. Miss Ovington's table seems to show that in 16
occupations the number of Negro members of unions increased from about
1,271 in 1906 to about 1,358 in 1910.
[64] On this point the writer has talked with a number of Negroes who
were serving or had served in domestic and personal service. Some of
them have gone so far as to enter small business enterprises for
themselves. They often remarked: "I want to be my own boss."
[65] From several reliable sources has come testimony concerning
employers who formerly had Negro servants, and gave them up for
reasons similar to that of one lady who said: "It is going out of
fashion to have Colored help any longer." _Cf._ also, Ovington, _op.
cit._, pp. 75-86.
PART II
THE NEGRO IN BUSINESS IN NEW YORK CITY
CHAPTER I
THE CHARACTER OF NEGRO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
1. THE BUSINESS PROMISE
It is a far cry from satisfying an employer to pleasing the public.
The one requires the obeying of the orders of a boss, the other calls
for initiative and self-direction. Business enterprise involves
judgments of the whims, wishes and wants of prospective customers and
skill in buying goods or supplying services to satisfy their demands.
The wage-earner needs his labor only. The business promoter must
secure capital and establish credit. The employee has only the stake
of a present place, and has little hindrance from going to another job
in case of disappointment. The business man risks name, time, labor
and money in the commercial current and has only his experience left,
if he loses his venture.
Therefore, the Negro two and a half centuries under the complete
control of a master could hardly be expected in one generation to
acquire the experience, develop the initiative, accumulate the
capital, establish the credit and secure the good-will demanded to-day
in carrying on great and extensive business enterprises, such as find
their headquarters in New York City, the commercial heart of the
continent. Besides, the handicaps of the social environment, due to
the prejudices and differences of the white group by which he is
surrounded, and to previous condition of servitude, have had their
commercial and industrial consequences. Again, speaking for New York
City, many of the Negroes who were leaders in whatever business was
carried on up to about 1884 were the prominent workers in activities
for race liberation and manhood privileges, thus subtracting energy
and time from business pursuit. The movement may be likened in a rough
way to that of English workingmen before and after about 1848; the
first period being a struggle for the liberty of labor and the second
period aiming to fill that liberty with manhood and economic content.
This study, then, of what the Negro is doing along business lines in
New York City does not show a number of large operations when compared
with what goes on in America's greatest commercial Metropolis. But the
findings are highly significant for what they disclose of business
capacity and possibility. There has been a business development among
Negroes in such a competitive community that is both substantial and
prophetic.
2. A HISTORY OF THE NEGRO IN BUSINESS
The economic propensity to higgle and barter appeared early among the
Negroes of the New Amsterdam Colony. As early as 1684 the Colonial
General Assembly passed a law that "no servant or slave, either male
or female, shall either give, sell or truck any commodity whatsoever
during the term of their service." Any servant or slave who violated
the law was to be given corporal punishment at the discretion of two
justices and any person trading with such servant or slave should
return the commodity and forfeit five pounds for each offense.[66] And
further action was taken in 1702 which rendered all bargains or
contracts with slaves void and prevented any person from trading in
any way with a slave, without the consent of the owner of such
slave.[67] The penalty for violation was to forfeit treble the value
of the commodity and payment of five pounds to the owner of the slave.
In 1712, probably after the terror of the Negro riot of that year, it
was decreed that no Negro, Indian or mulatto _who should be set free,
should hold any land or real estate, but it should be escheated_.[68]
The provisions of the two acts of 1684 and 1702 about trading with
slaves were revised and re-enacted in 1726.[69]
The character of much of this trade is shown by city regulations which
forbade the sale of great quantities of "boiled corn, peaches, pears,
apples, and other kinds of fruit." These wares were bought and sold
not only in houses and outhouses but in the public streets. The Common
Council in 1740 declared the same to be a nuisance and prohibited it
with a penalty of public whipping. The Council gave as one of its
reasons that it was productive of "many dangerous fevers and other
distempers and diseases in the inhabitants in the same city," but
those coming to market by order of their masters were excepted from
the prohibition. The effect of the latter traffic upon the health of
the city was purposely not discerned.[70] The act of 1726 was again
re-enacted in 1788.[71] From time to time faithful slaves of the West
India Company were set free. These usually began tilling the soil for
themselves and probably marketed their products in the town.
Slaves, therefore, had little or no opportunity to share in the
trading operations of the Colony. State emancipation by the acts of
1799, 1817, and 1827, however, was finally secured, and with the
coming of this boon there was liberty to engage in the traffic of the
growing metropolis. There is conclusive evidence that considerable
numbers of Negroes did embrace the opportunity.
The volumes of the Colored American from 1838 to 1841 contain a number
of advertisements and references to business enterprises run by
Negroes. The newspaper itself was a considerable undertaking and job
printing was also "executed with dispatch." In 1837, George Pell and
John Alexander opened a restaurant in the one-hundred block in Church
Street.
In 1838, there were two boarding houses in this same block, and two
boarding houses in Leonard Street and one each in Spruce and Franklin
and Lispenard Streets. The next year two other boarding houses were
started, one on South Pearl Street and the other near the beginning of
Cross Street, and in 1840 two more entered the list, on Sullivan and
Church Streets. The drug store of Dr. Samuel McCune Smith and the
cleaning and dyeing establishment of Bennet Johnson, both in the
one-hundred block on Broadway, were well known and successful
enterprises of the day.
B. Bowen and James Green both had small stores for dry goods and
notions in 1838, the former on Walker Street and the latter on
Anthony. While the same year a hair-dressing establishment on Leonard
Street, a coal-yard on Duane Street, a pleasure garden on Thomas
Street and three tailors, whose location could not be ascertained,
were enterprises of promise.
In 1839 and 1840, there were a pleasure garden and saloon in Anthony
Street and a similar establishment on King Street, with an "Amusement
House" on Spring Street, and near it Brown and Wood ran a
confectionary and fruit store. Richard Carroll ran a bathing
establishment in Church Street. A coal-yard in Pearl Street, a watch
and clock maker, three private schools, and a "dry-goods store of the
female Trading Association," complete the list of firms that was
contained in the record of the period.
A number of these enterprises are known to have continued for a number
of years after 1840. Testimony of witnesses[72] as late as the time of
the Civil War shows that a number of the above-named enterprises were
in existence as late as 1860.
Also that second-hand clothing shops were frequently run by Negroes,
and barber-shops and restaurants of excellent equipment were evidences
of activity comparable with the earlier period. Thomas Downing kept a
restaurant at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets and from it amassed
considerable wealth bequeathed to his children.
In 1869, the Negro caterers had such a large share of this business
that the dozen leading ones came together and formed the Corporation
of Caterers which was a sort of pool to control the conduct of the
business and which was so enlarged after three years under the name of
the United Public Waiters Mutual Beneficial Association, that the
original purpose was largely sidetracked.[73]
There is little direct evidence available for the period from about
1875 to 1909. The census of 1900 gave a return of Negroes in
occupations which may indicate proprietors of establishments, but
there is no way of ascertaining whether they owned, operated or were
employed in such lines of business. There were in all 488 distributed
as follows: Among the males, boarding and lodging-house keepers 10,
hotel-keepers 23, restaurant keepers 116, saloon keepers 27, bankers
and brokers 5, livery-stable keepers 9, merchants and dealers 162
(retail 155, wholesale 7), undertakers 15, clock and watchmakers and
repairers 2, manufacturers and officials 36, and photographers 22. The
females included boarding and lodging-house keepers 50, milliners 9,
and photographers 2. A goodly number of Negro enterprises are very
probably represented in this list. That this is true is evident from
the large number of enterprises in the various lines of business that
were found by the canvass of 1909. We may safely infer that the period
was one of considerable growth in both the number and variety of
business establishments. We shall, therefore, turn our attention to
the result of the canvass of the last-named year.
3. THE NATURE OF THE ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1909
The first question which naturally arises is how many Negro business
enterprises were in Manhattan in 1909. At the meeting of the National
Negro Business League in New York City in 1908, a paper was read on
"The Negro Business Interests of Greater New York and Vicinity." This
paper gave a total of 565 enterprises. But as this included 100
dressmaking and 14 stenography and typewriting, this estimate
doubtless included some cases that upon closer analysis could not have
been designated as business establishments.
A Negro business directory of New York City in 1909 gave names and
addresses of 567 establishments. Upon investigation some of these
could not be found at addresses given. From his own canvass, the
writer estimates the number of bona-fide business enterprises in
Manhattan to have been about 475. Of this number, records of 332 were
secured and the remainder were either visited or certified by reliable
testimony. Of the 332 records, 15 have been excluded either because
the firm has ceased to do business or the records were too incomplete
for use in this monograph; eight of the remainder were corporations
and will be treated below separately. This left 309 establishments
upon which to base conclusions. These establishments were so
distributed as to be fully representative of the whole. According to
the kind of service or goods offered to the public, these 309
establishments were as follows:
Barber shops 50
Groceries 36
Restaurants and lunch rooms 26
Tailoring, pressing, etc. 24
Coal, wood and ice 19
Hotel and lodging houses 17
Employment agencies 14
Express and moving vans 12
Undertakers and embalmers 11
Pool and billiard Rooms 10
Dressmaking and millinery 8
Hairdressers 8
Printers 5
Saloons and cafés 5
Miscellaneous 48[74]
----
Total 309
Two facts are evident. The largest number of the enterprises are the
outgrowth of the domestic and personal service occupations and they
are mainly enterprises that call for small amounts of capital.
4. OWNERSHIP OF ESTABLISHMENTS
The Negro goes into business mainly as an independent dealer. In the
large majority of cases he does not enter into a partnership and even
when he does, there are rarely more than two partners. Out of the 309
enterprises in 1909, there were only 49 partnerships and 44 of these
were firms of two partners only. There were only three firms with
three partners each, one firm with four members and one with five
members. To these may be added the eight corporations mentioned above.
Some light is thrown upon the Negro's business enterprises by knowing
the birth-place of proprietors, the length of time they had resided in
New York City and the occupations in which the proprietors were
engaged previously to going into business.
The birth-place of proprietors should be considered in connection with
the length of their residence in New York City, because the two facts
point to the same conclusion concerning the economic and other stimuli
of the environment. So far as birth-place is concerned, the most
striking fact is that out of 330 proprietors whose birth-places were
ascertained, 220, or 66.66 per cent, were born in Southern states and
the District of Columbia, and 65, or 19.7 per cent, in the West
Indies. The following Southern states furnished the specified 220
proprietors: Virginia 96, South Carolina 31, Georgia 27, North
Carolina 25, Maryland 15, Florida 12, the District of Columbia 5,
Delaware 3, Kentucky 2, and Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas
1 each. Besides the Southern and West Indian-born Negro business men,
other sections were represented as follows: South America 7, New
Jersey 7, New York State 7, Pennsylvania 5, New York City 8, Illinois
2, Bermuda 2, Canada 2, Africa, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, and
Massachusetts 1 each.
This proportion of Southern-born proprietors is 0.84 of one per cent
less than the proportion of Southern-born in the total Negro
population.[75] The 19.7 per cent West Indian is about 10.3 per cent
larger than the West Indian proportion in the total Negro population.
If the 7 natives of South America be added, the proportion would be
12.4 per cent larger. This condition can hardly be explained on the
ground that West Indian Negroes reach New York with more capital, nor
is it because West Indians secure employment that is better paid, for
they, like the native-born Negroes, are confined to domestic and
personal service. It is due both to the better general education of
the average West Indian and to the fact that he has been reared in an
environment of larger liberty which has developed in him an
independence and initiative that respond more readily to the new
surroundings. Conversation with numbers of them elicited the
information that they had come to this country with the idea of saving
money and entering business for themselves.
Facts about the length of residence before January 1st, 1910, of 363
proprietors are no less illuminating than their birth-places. Both
show the influence of environment, for we do not find that the
majority entered business immediately after taking up their residence
in the Metropolis. Exclusive of 50 doubtful and unknown and 11 who
were born in New York City, only 11 of the 363 had been in the city
less than 2 years, 18 had resided in the city between 2 years and 3
years 11 months, and 33 between 4 years and 5 years eleven months--in
all, only 62 had entered business after a residence of less than six
years. Of course this is partly due to the time it took to save or
secure the necessary capital but that this is not the only reason for
long residence previous to entering business is shown by the fact that
of the 62 who began after less than six years residence, 14 ran
barber-shops and 11 had grocery stores, enterprises which require at
least a small outlay of capital.
In harmony with this view of the matter the inquiry showed further
that 161 proprietors had lived in New York City between 6 years and 9
years 11 months; 108 had been in the city between 10 years and 19
years 11 months; 43 had resided there between 20 years and 29 years 11
months; while 28 had lived in the city 30 years or more.
Considerable weight must then be given to the opinion that is in line
with the showing of the West Indian--that Negroes entering business in
New York City need to live some time in the atmosphere of such a
progressive, liberal community to catch the spirit of its initiative
and enterprise.
In support of the conclusion the full table showing length of
residence of proprietors of the several classes of enterprises is
given (p. 103).
Besides the birth-place of proprietors and the length of their
residence in New York City, their occupations previously to their
entering upon their present lines of business throw considerable light
upon the character of ownership. The natural expectation would be to
find connection between the previous occupation of the proprietor and
the present business in which he is engaged. In a number of cases this
cannot be clearly made out as is the case of 16 brokers and 11
undertakers. Very probably this expectation would not be fulfilled in
the cases of many Negroes, because domestic and personal service has
been largely the opportunity of employment and the source of savings
through which the prospective business venture could be launched. For
example, 11 proprietors have been waiters or waitresses; of these
one hotel and lodging-house proprietor, and one restaurant keeper were
in enterprises closely connected with their previous occupations;
there were three grocers and one coal, wood and ice dealer:
enterprises less closely connected. Two pool and billiard-room
proprietors, one conductor of a tailoring establishment, one
employment agent and one establishment in the miscellaneous class
completed the list of those formerly employed as waiters and
waitresses. This makes a striking comparison with three hotel and
lodging-house keepers and with five restaurant and lunch-room
proprietors who formerly were cooks. That many did follow such a
natural line of advance from employee to employer is shown in that 80
out of the 309 were previously connected with the same line of
business in which they were engaged in 1909 either on a smaller scale
or as an employed promoter. A few had tried one line of business
before and had changed to that in which they were found. Such was the
case with nine who had previously been restaurant keepers, and six who
had been in the grocery business. In no case did a proprietor report
that he had been an inheritor of independent means or a gentleman of
leisure, and had thus found the road which had led him into business.
TABLE XXI. LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN NEW YORK CITY, BEFORE JANUARY, 1910,
OF PROPRIETORS OF 309 NEGRO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.
----------------------------+----------------------------------------
|Length of residence in New York City of
| proprietors.
+------+-------+-------+-------+--------+
Class of establishment. | Less |2 yrs.-|4 yrs.-|6 yrs.-|10 yrs.-|
| than |3 yrs. |5 yrs. |9 yrs. |19 yrs. |
|2 yrs.|11 mos.|11 mos.|11 mos.|11 mos. |
----------------------------+------+-------+-------+-------+--------+
Barber shops | 1 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 21 |
Brokers | -- | -- | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Coal, wood and ice | 1 | 1 | -- | 3 | 6 |
Dressmaking and millinery | 4 | 1 | -- | 1 | 4 |
Employment agencies | -- | -- | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Express and moving vans | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 4 |
Groceries | -- | 1 | 10 | 12 | 15 |
Hairdressers, etc. | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | 2 |
Hotels and lodging houses | -- | -- | 1 | 2 | 8 |
Pool and billiard rooms | 1 | -- | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Printers | -- | -- | 1 | -- | 2 |
Restaurant and lunch rooms | -- | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
Saloons and cafés | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 2 |
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 8 |
Undertakers | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 4 |
Miscellaneous | -- | 1 | 3 | 16 | 12 |
----------------------------+------+-------+-------+-------+--------+
Total | 11 | 18 | 33 | 61 | 108 |
----------------------------+------+-------+-------+-------+--------+
----------------------------+-----------------------------------------
|Length of residence in New York City of
|proprietors.
+--------+-------+--------+--------+------
Class of establishment. |20 yrs.-|30 yrs.|Born in |Doubtful|
|29 yrs. | and |New York| and |Total.
|11 mos. | over. | City. |Unknown.|
----------------------------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------
Barber shops | 10 | 4 | -- | 1 | 58
Brokers | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 18
Coal, wood and ice | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 21
Dressmaking and millinery | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 11
Employment agencies | 4 | -- | -- | 5 | 17
Express and moving vans | 3 | 3 | -- | 4 | 15
Groceries | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 46
Hairdressers, etc. | 1 | -- | -- | 4 | 9
Hotels and lodging houses | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 19
Pool and billiard rooms | 2 | -- | -- | 1 | 11
Printers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8
Restaurant and lunch rooms | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 33
Saloons and cafés | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | 6
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 24
Undertakers | 3 | -- | 1 | 5 | 14
Miscellaneous | 4 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 53
----------------------------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------
Total | 43 | 28 | 11 | 50 | 363
----------------------------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------
5. SIZE OF BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
The size of business enterprises was measured in three ways: (1) the
number of employees besides proprietors; (2) the floor space occupied
and (3) the rental paid for the place in which the business was
carried on. Obviously all the enterprises could not be measured by all
three tests. For example, the amount of floor space occupied and
monthly rental paid by a brokerage firm might not bear so close a
relation to size as the number of employees, nor would rental alone be
an index of size of a coal, wood and ice business, since cellars,
which call for smaller rental than other space, are used. But each
enterprise was covered by more than one of the measurements, so that a
fair estimate is given of its size.
In ascertaining the number of employees, the attempt was made to
include only those who had no part in the ownership, but who gave a
large part or all of their time to some work connected with the
enterprise. As far as possible this was confined to paid employees,
but in a few cases the question of wages of those employed could not
be successfully ascertained on account of reticence of the employer.
No record was made of whether or not the time of the proprietor was
also put into the business since in this respect there was great
variation among establishments.
Only a small proportion, 77 out of 309 establishments, were without
employees. Yet very few, 21 in all, employed five or more persons. The
largest number, 87, had only one regular employee, 65 establishments
had two employees, 29 had three and 16 had four persons regularly
employed. The number of employees of 14 firms was not ascertained.
Floor space occupied by many establishments is a good index of size,
especially in New York City. Of course, in the case of such
establishments as brokers, employment agencies and express and
moving-van firms that require an office only, this is not a criterion.
But for many other establishments in a city where square feet of floor
space is carefully figured upon in the cost of the product, such a
measure has considerable value in estimating business enterprises. In
securing the measurement of floor space in the different
establishments it was not possible to make an actual measurement in
many instances. In some cases the proprietors knew accurately the
length and breadth of the place they occupied; in other cases where
measurements could not be taken estimates of length and breadth were
made, taking a rough view of the frontage and depth of the building or
apartment occupied.
A goodly number of enterprises, such as dressmakers, milliners,
shoemakers and tailoring "bushelers" carried on their business in the
front room of a ground-floor flat and lived, often with families, in
the rear rooms. In those cases, only the floor space of the room used
for business purposes was included in the estimate.
Establishments to the number of 17 were estimated as having less than
150 square feet of floor space; six of these were offices of brokers
and express and moving-van firms. The greatest number of
establishments, 186 in all, were estimated to occupy between 150 and
499 square feet of floor space. Thirty-one establishments occupied
between 500 and 999 square feet of floor space; 17 between 1,000 and
1,999 square feet; 4 between 2,000 and 2,999 square feet; 10 between
3,000 and 4,999 square feet; 8 occupied 5,000 or more square feet; 36
were not known--a total of 309 establishments.
Thus, it is seen that the typical Negro business enterprise occupies
small floor space, since 234, or 75.7 per cent, of the 309
establishments occupied 999 square feet or less. Table XXII (p. 107)
is included to show the details as to floor space in square feet
occupied by each class of establishment.
Monthly rental is also a fair indication of the size of a business
establishment. In a few cases in which the proprietor said he was
owner of the building, a rental was estimated for the portion of the
building used for the particular enterprise; in the cases, mentioned
above, where the proprietor lived in the rear rooms only a part of the
whole rental was estimated as a charge upon the business
establishment. So that the figures here given are good measurements of
their kind. The facts about 86 establishments could not be secured.
With the remaining 223, we meet again the evidence of small size of
typical establishments, for 180 establishments, or 80.7 per cent, had
a monthly rental of $39 or less, and 30 others had a monthly rental
between $40 and $79; 16 out of the 223 establishments had a rental of
$80 or more per month, and of these 7 paid $150 or more per month.
TABLE XXII. ESTIMATED SQUARE FEET OF FLOOR SPACE OF 309 NEGRO BUSINESS
ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.
-----------------------------+--------------------------------
| Estimated square feet of floor
| space.
-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | 1000 |
| Less | 150 | 500 |sq. ft.|
Class of establishment. | than |sq. ft.|sq. ft.| to |
| 150 | to 499| to 999| 1999 |
|sq. ft.|sq. ft.|sq. ft.|sq. ft.|
-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
Barber shops | -- | 44 | 3 | 2 |
Brokers | 3 | 11 | 2 | -- |
Coal, wood and ice | 2 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
Dressmaking and millinery | -- | 4 | 2 | -- |
Employment agencies | 1 | 10 | 1 | -- |
Express and moving vans | 3 | 4 | 1 | -- |
Groceries | 1 | 29 | 4 | 1 |
Hairdressing, etc. | 1 | 3 | -- | 1 |
Hotels and lodging houses | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
Pool and billiard rooms | -- | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Printers | -- | 3 | 2 | -- |
Restaurants and lunch rooms | 1 | 19 | 3 | 1 |
Saloons and cafés | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | -- | 20 | 1 | -- |
Undertakers | -- | 3 | 4 | 2 |
Miscellaneous | 5 | 27 | 3 | 2 |
-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
Total | 17 | 186 | 31 | 17 |
-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
-----------------------------+---------------------------------------
| Estimated square feet of floor
| space.
-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+------
| 2000 | 3000 | 5000 | |
|sq. ft.|sq. ft.|sq. ft.| |
Class of establishment. | to | to | and |Unknown.|Total.
| 2999 | 4999 | over. | |
|sq. ft.|sq. ft.| | |
-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+------
Barber shops | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 50
Brokers | -- | -- | -- | -- | 16
Coal, wood and ice | -- | -- | -- | 5 | 19
Dressmaking and millinery | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 8
Employment agencies | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 14
Express and moving vans | -- | -- | -- | 4 | 12
Groceries | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 36
Hairdressing, etc. | -- | -- | -- | 3 | 8
Hotels and lodging houses | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 17
Pool and billiard rooms | -- | 2 | -- | 1 | 10
Printers | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5
Restaurants and lunch rooms | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 26
Saloons and cafés | -- | -- | 2 | 1 | 5
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | -- | -- | -- | 3 | 24
Undertakers | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 11
Miscellaneous | 1 | -- | 1 | 9 | 48
-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+------
Total | 4 | 10 | 8 | 36 | 309
-----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+------
Judging, then, by the number of employees, by the square feet of floor
space occupied and by the monthly rental paid, the typical Negro
enterprise is a small retail establishment.
To summarize this chapter: Negroes have had to begin business on a
small scale because large capital was lacking and extended experience
is yet to be gained. They have, however, even from the days of the
Colony, when they were held as slaves, shown a decided propensity for
trade, and since state emancipation this has been increased by a
desire for economic independence and has expressed itself in
enterprises in several lines of business. The variety and number of
enterprises have increased with the years. In 1909, Southern born and
West Indian Negroes comprised nearly all who had entered business, the
latter far in excess of their proportion in the Negro population. This
is probably due to initiative developed in an atmosphere freer than
that from which the Southern Negro comes. Although confined largely to
domestic and personal service occupations, Negroes have had the thrift
and initiative to enter many lines of business into which neither the
experience nor the capital derived from such employment would be
expected to lead. In size, the typical Negro business enterprise has
from one to two paid employees, has a floor space of less than one
thousand square feet, and pays a rental of between fifteen and forty
dollars per month.
FOOTNOTES:
[66] _New York Colonial Laws_, p. 157.
[67] _Ibid._, pp. 519-21.
[68] Williams, _op. cit._, vol. i, p. 142.
[69] _New York Colonial Laws_, vol. ii, p. 310.
[70] _Minutes of the Common Council of New York_, vol. iv, pp. 497-98.
[71] _New York State Laws, Eleventh Session_, p. 675.
[72] S.R. Scottron in _Colored American Magazine_, Oct., 1907, and
several others interviewed by the writer.
[73] _Vide_, pp. 68-69.
[74] The 48 miscellaneous establishments were distributed as follows:
boot and shoe repairing 6, hand laundries 6, cigar, tobacco and
confectionery retailers 5, boot-blacking and hat-cleaning firms 5,
fruit and vegetable dealers 4, cigar manufacturers 3, house-cleaning
firms 3, garages 2, upholstering and mattress-making establishments 2,
watch and jewelry dealers 2, bakeries 2, and bicycle repairer,
photographer, hat-cleaner and repairer, hardware and notions, painter
and plasterer, tea, coffee and spices retailer, fish retailer and
storage firm, one each.
[75] _Cf._ Part 1, Chapter III, pp. 58-59.
CHAPTER II
THE VOLUME OF BUSINESS
Indications of the volume of business are in accord with the
conclusions from the size of Negro business enterprises. Volume of
business was measured (1) by the valuation of tools, fixtures, _etc._,
used in the conduct of the business, (2) by the amount of merchandise
kept on hand, if the business was such as required a stock of goods,
and (3) by the total gross receipts of the business during the two
years, 1907 and 1908.
I. VALUATION OF TOOLS AND FIXTURES
Wood and ice dealers need to invest very little in tools and fixtures.
Fourteen out of 19 coal, wood and ice dealers had less than ten
dollars so invested. They needed only shovels, baskets and push-carts.
The estimated valuation of tools and fixtures of the largest number of
establishments fell between $50 and $399; 90 were estimated to be
between $50 and $199, and 63 were estimated to be between $200 and
$399. Besides these, 37 establishments--1 broker, 5 employment
agencies, 1 grocery, 5 hairdressers, 9 restaurants and lunch rooms, 2
"busheling" tailors and 14 miscellaneous had tools and fixtures
estimated, with allowance for depreciation, to be worth more than $10
and less than $50. It is important to note, however, that while the
numbers with estimated valuation of tools and fixtures between $400
and $1,499 is only 50, those estimated at $1,500 and over number 33.
TABLE XXIII. ESTIMATED VALUATION OF PLANT, TOOLS AND FIXTURES OF 309
NEGRO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.
------------------------+------------------------------------------
|Estimated valuation of plant, tools and
| fixtures.
------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
Class of | Less | $50 | $200 | $400 | $600 | $800 |
establishment. | than | to | to | to | to | to |
| $50. | $199.| $399.| $599.| $799.| $999.|
------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
Barber shops | -- | 3 | 27 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
Brokers | 1 | 5 | 4 | -- | -- | -- |
Coal, wood and ice | 14 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Dressmaking and | | | | | | |
millinery | -- | 6 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- |
Employment agencies | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- |
Express and moving | | | | | | |
vans | -- | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Groceries | 1 | 22 | 11 | 2 | -- | -- |
Hairdressers, etc. | 5 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
Hotels and lodging | | | | | | |
houses | -- | -- | 1 | 2 | 1 | -- |
Pool and billiard | | | | | | |
rooms | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Printers | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
Restaurant and lunch | | | | | | |
rooms | 9 | 10 | 3 | 1 | -- | -- |
Saloons and cafés | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Tailoring, | | | | | | |
pressing, etc. | 2 | 18 | 2 | -- | 1 | -- |
Undertakers | -- | -- | 2 | 1 | 1 | -- |
Miscellaneous | 14 | 17 | 8 | 3 | -- | -- |
------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
Total | 51 | 90 | 63 | 23 | 10 | 6 |
------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
------------------------+-------------------------------------------
|Estimated valuation of plant, tools and
| fixtures.
------------------------+------+------+------+------+--------+------
Class of |$1000 |$1200 |$1500 |$2000 |Doubtful|
establishment. | to | to | to | and | and |
|$1199.|$1499.|$1999.| over.|unknown.|Total.
------------------------+------+------+------+------+--------+------
Barber shops | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | 2 | 50
Brokers | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 4 | 16
Coal, wood and ice | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5 | 19
Dressmaking and | | | | | |
millinery | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 8
Employment agencies | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 14
Express and moving | | | | | |
vans | 1 | -- | -- | 4 | -- | 12
Groceries | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 36
Hairdressers, etc. | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 8
Hotels and lodging | | | | | |
houses | 2 | -- | 2 | 7 | 2 | 17
Pool and billiard | | | | | |
rooms | -- | -- | 4 | 3 | -- | 10
Printers | 1 | -- | -- | 2 | -- | 5
Restaurant and lunch | | | | | |
rooms | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 26
Saloons and cafés | -- | 1 | -- | 3 | 1 | 5
Tailoring, | | | | | |
pressing, etc. | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 24
Undertakers | 2 | -- | 1 | 4 | -- | 11
Miscellaneous | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 5 | 48
------------------------+------+------+------+------+--------+------
Total | 10 | 1 | 8 | 25 | 22 | 309
------------------------+------+------+------+------+--------+------
Judged, then, from the valuation of tools and fixtures, the
magnitude of Negro business enterprises is considerable and falls into
three classes: one of comparatively small valuation, 184 estimated
below $400; one class of medium valuation, 50 estimated between $400
and $1,499; and one of comparatively large valuation, 33 at $1,500 and
over.
The details of these valuations of tools and fixtures are given in
full in Table XXIII (p. 110).
2. THE AMOUNT OF MERCHANDISE ON HAND
Next to valuation of tools and fixtures, the amount of merchandise
kept in stock is a good index of the magnitude of the business done by
many enterprises. Of course, the business of brokers, express and
moving-van firms, employment agencies, and some miscellaneous
enterprises could not be measured by the amount of stock kept on hand.
Also barber shops and pool and billiard rooms sometimes keep a small
stock of cigars, tobacco, _etc._ So these firms can not be so
measured. The statements about merchandise on hand were accurately
estimated either from figures on the books of the firm or from rough
inventories of the stock on hand made with the assistance of the
proprietor.
Negro business enterprises for the most part are small retail
enterprises and do business on the scale of establishments of this
type. They have not yet accumulated the capital nor gained the credit
to engage in wholesale trade or to carry a stock of merchandise large
in quantity or variety such as an extensive patronage demands. But
they do handle a considerable amount of business with the small
capital they have to invest. When this is compared with the gross
receipts for 1907 and 1908 the showing is very creditable.
TABLE XXIV. ESTIMATED VALUATION OF MERCHANDISE ON HAND IN 241 NEGRO
BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.
----------------------------+------------------------------------------
|Estimated valuation of stock on hand.
+------+------+------+------+------+------+
Class of | Less | $50 | $100 | $200 | $400 | $600 |
establishment. | than | to | to | to | to | to |
| $50. | $99. | $199.| $399.| $599.| $799.|
----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
Barber shops | 14 | 2 | 3 | 1 | -- | -- |
Brokers | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Coal, wood and ice | 13 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- |
Dressmaking and millinery | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |
Employment agencies | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Express and moving vans | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Groceries | -- | 1 | 4 | 14 | 8 | 7 |
Hairdressers, etc. | 3 | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- |
Hotels and lodging houses | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- |
Pool and billiard rooms[A] | 3 | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- |
Printers | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Restaurants and lunch rooms | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Saloons and cafés | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- |
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 5 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Undertakers | -- | -- | -- | 3 | 1 | -- |
Miscellaneous | 12 | 4 | 4 | 8 | -- | 1 |
----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
Total | 52 | 13 | 14 | 33 | 15 | 9 |
----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
----------------------------+----------------------------------------------
|Estimated valuation of stock on hand.
+------+------+------+--------+-------+--------
Class of | $800 |$1000 |$2000 |Doubtful|Refused.|Totals.
establishment. | to | to | and | and | |
| $999.|$1999.| over.|unknown.| |
----------------------------+------+------+------+--------+--------+-------
Barber shops | -- | -- | -- | 30 | -- | 50
Brokers | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Coal, wood and ice | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 19
Dressmaking and millinery | 1 | -- | -- | 5 | -- | 8
Employment agencies | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Express and moving vans | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Groceries | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 36
Hairdressers, etc. | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 1 | 8
Hotels and lodging houses | -- | -- | -- | 14 | 1 | 17
Pool and billiard rooms[A] | -- | -- | -- | 5 | 1 | 10
Printers | -- | -- | -- | -- | 4 | 5
Restaurants and lunch rooms | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Saloons and cafés | -- | 3 | -- | -- | -- | 5
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | -- | -- | 1 | 14 | -- | 24
Undertakers | -- | -- | 2 | 1 | 4 | 11
Miscellaneous | 1 | -- | -- | 18 | -- | 48
----------------------------+------+------+------+--------+--------+-------
Total | 3 | 4 | 3 | 62 | 16 | 241
----------------------------+------+------+------+--------+--------+-------
[A] Cigars and tobacco.
For, of the 302 enterprises for which estimates of stock on hand were
obtained 159 firms, including 46 barber-shops and 9 pool and billiard
rooms that kept small stocks of cigars and tobacco, had a stock of
merchandise on hand estimated at less than $50; 20 others ranged
between $50 and $99; 38 others had stock on hand in amounts between
$100 and $299, while 23 fell between $300 and $599. Thirteen
enterprises kept a stock estimated between $600 and $1,000; six ran
from $1,000 up, while seven were unknown. In a word, classified by
amount of merchandise kept on hand, the firms fell into three classes,
the largest class was composed of those having a stock valued at less
than $50, the next class grouped those between $50 and $600, and the
third and smallest class contained those with stock on hand valued at
$600 and above. It will be of help to see in detail how enterprises in
each class were grouped according to estimated valuation of
merchandise on hand, so Table XXIV showing this is given (p. 112).
3. GROSS RECEIPTS IN 1907 AND 1908
The final and concluding item in measuring the magnitude of Negro
business enterprises is the amount of gross receipts of the firms
covering a given period of time. For this purpose the years 1907 and
1908 were selected, the first because the greater part of it was
before the panic of 1907, the second instead of 1909 because a
completed year at the time this canvass was made. A close study of the
accompanying table shows that the panic had considerable effect upon
the gross receipts of these firms. For example, in 1907, 32 firms had
gross receipts less than $1,000; in 1908, 38 firms were in the same
group; in 1907, 37 firms did a business of between $1,000 and $1,999;
in 1908, 38 firms had the same fortune. And even this does not always
show the falling off in gross receipts of the individual firm unless
the decrease was sufficient to carry it into a lower group.
Of the total 309 Negro enterprises, 118 were established too recently
to have gross receipts in 1907 and 1908, and 63 did not furnish
sufficient evidence, so they are classed as doubtful and unknown. This
leaves, therefore, 128 enterprises about which sufficient statements
of gross receipts were secured to justify discussion. The figures for
these, however, were carefully ascertained. For 115 establishments the
exact figures were taken from records kept by the firms for the years
1907 and 1908, or the larger part of those years, while the other 13
are estimates based upon careful statements from proprietors and
employees of their receipts for months or weeks at different seasons
of the two years.
Compared with the general retail lines in New York City the magnitude
of Negro business is creditable when judged by gross receipts. Of the
128 establishments, 87 in 1907 and 85 in 1908 handled a gross business
of $2,999 or less; 32 firms in 1907 and 38 firms in 1908 had gross
receipts between $3,000 and $10,000; and 9 firms in 1907 and 5 firms
in 1908 carried on business operations which ranged in gross receipts
above $10,000, four of these in 1907 and two in 1908 being $15,000 or
more. Considering the amount of merchandise kept on hand and the
valuation of tools and fixtures, this business showing indicates that
the small amount of capital invested is handled with considerable
energy and ability to carry on such an amount of gross business.
It should be noted also that out of 69 establishments in 1907, which
had gross receipts less than $2,000, 14 were barber shops, 8 were
coal, wood and ice dealers, 4 were employment agencies, 3 were express
and moving-vans, 9 were tailors, pressers, _etc._, and 8 were
miscellaneous--a total of 46. And in 1908, out of 76 establishments
with gross receipts under $2,000, 18 were barber-shops, 8 were ice,
coal and wood dealers, 4 were employment agencies, 3 were express
and moving-vans, 10 were tailors and pressers, and 9 were
miscellaneous--making a total of 52. The majority of the more
important classes of business firms such as brokers, barber shops,
grocers, printers, hotel and lodging-house keepers, restaurant and
lunch-room proprietors, saloon and café firms and undertakers have
gross receipts from $2,000 a year and over.
TABLE XXV. GROSS RECEIPTS FOR 1907 AND 1908 OF 309 NEGRO BUSINESS
ENTERPRISES IN MANHATTAN.
KEY:
A: Doubtful and unknown.
B: Established since 1907.
-----------------------+--------------------------------------------------
|Gross receipts of Negro business enterprises.
-----------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Less | $1000 | $2000 | $3000 | $4000 |
Class of | than | to | to | to | to |
establishment. | $1,000. | $1,999. | $2,999. | $3,999. | $4,999. |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
|1907|1908|1907|1908|1907|1908|1907|1908|1907|1908|
-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Barber shops | 3 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 2 | -- | -- |
Brokers | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | -- | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Coal, wood and ice | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Dressmaking and | | | | | | | | | | |
millinery | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- |
Employment agencies | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Express and moving vans| 2 | 3 | 1 | -- | 1 | -- | 1 | 2 | 1 | -- |
Printers | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
Groceries | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 2 |
Hotels and lodging | | | | | | | | | | |
houses | -- | -- | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Pool and billiard rooms| -- | -- | 2 | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -- |
Restaurants and | | | | | | | | | | |
lunch rooms | -- | -- | 2 | 3 | -- | -- | 3 | 2 | -- | -- |
Tailoring, | | | | | | | | | | |
pressing, etc. | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- |
Saloons and cafés | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Undertakers | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | -- |
Hairdressers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Miscellaneous | 7 | 9 | 1 | -- | 3 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 2 |
-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Totals | 32 | 38 | 37 | 38 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 6 |
-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
-----------------------+-------------------------------------------------
|Gross receipts of Negro business enterprises.
-----------------------+---------+---------+---------+-----+-----+-------
| $5,000 | $10,000 | | | |
Class of | to | to | $15,000 | | |
establishment. | $9,999 | $14,999.| above. | | |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | |
|1907|1908|1907|1908|1907|1908| A | B |Totals.
-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+-----+-------
Barber shops | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 10 | 13 | 50
Brokers | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | 5 | 16
Coal, wood and ice | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 7 | 4 | 19
Dressmaking and | | | | | | | | |
millinery | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 2 | 8
Employment agencies | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 8 | 1 | 14
Express and moving vans| -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 4 | 2 | 12
Printers | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 2 | 5
Groceries | 5 | 6 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 10 | 10 | 36
Hotels and lodging | | | | | | | | |
houses | 2 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 3 | 8 | 17
Pool and billiard rooms| -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 5 | 10
Restaurants and | | | | | | | | |
lunch rooms | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 20 | 26
Tailoring, | | | | | | | | |
pressing, etc. | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 13 | 24
Saloons and cafés | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5
Undertakers | 1 | 5 | 3 | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 3 | 11
Hairdressers | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 3 | 8
Miscellaneous | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 10 | 24 | 48
-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+-----+-------
Totals | 12 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 63 | 118 | 309
-----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+-----+-------
The full showing of classified gross receipts of the 309
establishments is given in Table XXV (p. 115).
Measured, then, by valuation of tools, fixtures, _etc._, by
merchandise on hand, and by gross receipts in 1907 and 1908, Negro
enterprises with a small command of capital and credit do a
comparatively large gross amount of retail business.
CHAPTER III
DEALING WITH THE COMMUNITY
The severest test of a business enterprise is its relation to the
community, both the commercial houses with which it deals and the
consuming public to whom it sells. With the former a firm must
establish credit, with the latter it must build up confidence. Credit
is established by the prompt payment of bills, the length of time a
firm has been in operation allowing time to make a good reputation and
its business methods in dealing with its suppliers. The confidence of
customers is secured by the care and accuracy with which orders are
filled, the length of time the firm has been in a certain locality and
patrons have dealt with it and by the whims and prejudices of the
community or locality.
It was out of the question to get data which would cover all of these
points, but sufficient material was gathered to throw considerable
light on (1) the length of time the firms had been established, (2)
the length of time they had been situated at the particular address
where they were found, (3) the means used in keeping the accounts of
sales, expenditures, _etc._, (4) whether they gave credit to customers
and whether they received credit from suppliers, and (5) what
proportion of their customers were white and what proportion were
colored.
I. AGE OF ESTABLISHMENTS
Negroes are often said to be able to start but unable to continue in
undertakings which require determination, persistence, tact, and
which involve strenuous competition. This opinion is certainly not
borne out by the age of their business enterprises in New York. For,
in the face of conditions they had met in beginning business in New
York City, only 51 out of the known 309 enterprises had been
established less than one year; 67 between one and two years; 114
between two years and six years, and 33 between six years and ten
years. Twenty-two had been established between ten and fifteen years,
and twenty were fifteen or more years old, nine of them having been
established twenty years or more; the age of two was unknown. When it
is remembered that during the first decades after emancipation the
larger number of the most energetic Negroes was absorbed in
professional occupations, principally teaching, because of the great
need in race uplift, and that business pursuits have had until within
the last few years minor consideration, to say nothing of trials and
failures in the effort to gain business experience, the age of these
enterprises must be counted a creditable showing. And it is a good
recommendation to the commercial world that the Negro has not made a
reputation for bankruptcy assignments. When one reflects that nearly
all of these proprietors and promoters have migrated to New York City
from less progressive communities and that the chances to get
experience in a well-established business before they attempt to start
an enterprise for themselves is, except in very rare cases, denied
Negroes, the permanency of the ventures in the commercial current
deserve commendation.
2. PERMANENCE OF LOCATION
No less interesting than the length of time a firm had been
established was the length of time it had been located at the address
where it was found by the canvasser in 1909. The exact causes which
induce the Negro firms to change addresses could not be ascertained,
but 81 out of 275 had been at the address where they were found less
than one year, although, as shown above, only 51 were less than one
year old; 72 had been at their present address between one year and
two years, which leaves a smaller margin between that number and the
67 shown to have been established that length of time. There was a
similar small margin of comparison in the groupings of two to four and
four to six years between the time the firms were established and the
length of time they had remained at the one address. This shifting is
due probably to the movements of the Negro population upon which the
firms depend for patronage, but partly to inexperience.
TABLE XXVI. SHOWING LENGTH OF TIME 309 BUSINESS ENTERPRISES HAD BEEN
AT ADDRESSES WHERE FOUND, MANHATTAN, 1909.
--------------------------+----------------------------------------
|Length of time at present address.
--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| Less | 6 mos.| 1 yr. | 2 yrs.| 4 yrs.|
Class of | than | to 11 | to 1 | to 3 | to 5 |
establishment. | 6 mos.| mos. | yr. 11| yr. 11| yr. 11|
| | | mos. | mos. | mos. |
--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
Barber shops | 5 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 5 |
Brokers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
Coal, wood and ice | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Dressmaking and millinery | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -- |
Employment agencies | -- | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Express and moving vans | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Groceries | 4 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 4 |
Hairdressers, etc. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -- |
Hotels and lodging houses | -- | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
Pool and billiard rooms | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Printers | -- | -- | 3 | 1 | -- |
Restaurant and lunch rooms| 5 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
Saloons and cafés | -- | 2 | -- | 2 | -- |
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 2 | 5 | 10 | 7 | -- |
Undertakers | 1 | 1 | -- | 3 | 1 |
Miscellaneous | 6 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 3 |
--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
Total | 30 | 51 | 70 | 66 | 22 |
--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
--------------------------+-----------------------------------------
|Length of time at present address.
--------------------------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------
| 6 yrs. | 8 yrs. | 10 | |
Class of | to 7 | to 9 | yr. | |Total.
establishment. | yr. 11 | yr. 11 | and |Unknown.|
| mos. | mos. | over | |
--------------------------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------
Barber shops | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 50
Brokers | 2 | 1 | -- | 3 | 16
Coal, wood and ice | -- | 2 | 1 | 7 | 19
Dressmaking and millinery | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 8
Employment agencies | -- | 1 | -- | 2 | 14
Express and moving vans | -- | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12
Groceries | -- | -- | 1 | 2 | 36
Hairdressers, etc. | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 8
Hotels and lodging houses | 3 | -- | 2 | 1 | 17
Pool and billiard rooms | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 10
Printers | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 5
Restaurant and lunch rooms| -- | -- | -- | 1 | 26
Saloons and cafés | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 5
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | -- | -- | -- | -- | 24
Undertakers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11
Miscellaneous | 2 | -- | 1 | 5 | 48
--------------------------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------
Total | 14 | 9 | 13 | 34 | 309
--------------------------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------
The first of these facts would have effect on the question of a firm's
getting credit on purchases of supplies and both facts mean a great
deal in securing and holding a retail trade.
That a detailed comparison may be made, Table XXVI, showing length of
time firms had been at addresses where they were found, is added (p.
119).
3. BUSINESS METHODS
The age and permanence of a firm does not influence its success so
much as its business methods. And an index of its efficiency in this
respect is its methods of accounting. These are shown in the means
used for keeping accounts Negro business men were asked whether or not
they used ledger, journal, cash-book, day-book, or other records. Some
enterprises such as grocery stores, would have need of a mechanical
register. If a firm had one, it was inspected. Facts about 49
establishments were not available. Of these, 35 firms had no means of
keeping accounts, other than the memories of those running the place.
These were, however, very small enterprises. Of the 260 remaining,
60, or 23 per cent, kept a ledger, 122, or 46.9 per cent, kept a
cash-book, and 33.5 per cent had day-books. Thus showing that 37 more
firms kept day-books than kept ledgers, and 62 more firms kept
cash-books than ledgers. Of the 260, 28 had mechanical cash registers
and 64 had some form of record in addition to or other than those
named. In a phrase, the Negro business man is learning the methods of
the business world in keeping track of his business affairs, though in
most cases they are small. Table XXVII gives the details on this
point. (See p. 121.)
TABLE XXVII. MEANS FOR KEEPING ACCOUNTS USED BY 309 NEGRO BUSINESS
ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.
--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------
|Means used in accounting by Negro business
| enterprises.
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
Class of | Ledger. | Journal. | Cash-book.| Day-book.
establishment. | | | |
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
| Yes.| No. | Yes.| No. | Yes.| No. | Yes.| No.
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Barber shops | 2 | 43 | -- | 45 | 23 | 22 | 7 | 38
Brokers | 13 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 16 | -- | 8 | 8
Coal, wood and ice | -- | 13 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 6
Dressmaking and millinery | 1 | 7 | -- | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 7
Employment agencies | 3 | 11 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 10
Express and moving vans | -- | 10 | -- | 10 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5
Groceries | 10 | 25 | 3 | 32 | 12 | 23 | 21 | 14
Hairdressing, etc. | 1 | 4 | -- | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2
Hotels and lodging houses | 4 | 6 | -- | 10 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 6
Pool and billiard rooms | 1 | 9 | -- | 10 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 8
Printers | 2 | 3 | -- | 5 | 3 | 2 | -- | 5
Restaurants and | | | | | | | |
lunch rooms | 2 | 10 | -- | 12 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 11
Saloons and cafés | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 2 | 19 | 2 | 19 | 7 | 14 | 8 | 13
Undertakers | 8 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6
Miscellaneous | 8 | 32 | 2 | 38 | 16 | 24 | 9 | 31
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Total | 60 | 200 | 15 | 245 | 122 | 138 | 87 | 173
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
--------------------------+------------------------------------------
|Means used in accounting by Negro
| business enterprises.
--------------------------+--------------+-----------+-------+-------
| Mechanical | Other | |
|cash-register.| records. | |
Class of +------+-------+-----+-----+ |
establishment. | Yes. | No. | Yes.| No. |Unknown|Totals
--------------------------+------+-------+-----+-----+-------+-------
Barber shops | 10 | 35 | 2 | 43 | 5 | 50
Brokers | -- | 16 | 5 | 11 | -- | 16
Coal, wood and ice | -- | 13 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 19
Dressmaking and millinery | -- | 8 | 1 | 7 | -- | 8
Employment agencies | -- | 14 | 14 | -- | -- | 14
Express and moving vans | -- | 10 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 12
Groceries | 7 | 28 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 36
Hairdressing, etc. | -- | 5 | 5 | -- | 3 | 8
Hotels and lodging houses | -- | 10 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 17
Pool and billiard rooms | 5 | 5 | -- | 10 | -- | 10
Printers | -- | 5 | 2 | 3 | -- | 5
Restaurants and | | | | | |
lunch rooms | -- | 12 | -- | 12 | 14 | 26
Saloons and cafés | 4 | 1 | -- | 5 | -- | 5
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | -- | 21 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 24
Undertakers | -- | 11 | 11 | -- | -- | 11
Miscellaneous | 2 | 38 | 11 | 29 | 8 | 48
--------------------------+------+-------+-----+-----+-------+-------
Total | 28 | 232 | 64 | 196 | 49 | 309
--------------------------+------+-------+-----+-----+-------+-------
4. CREDIT RELATIONSHIPS
The manner and care with which a firm keeps record of the business it
transacts is closely connected with its credit relations with the
buying and selling community. And both these determine to a large
extent its business operations. Considerable light was thrown upon the
credit relations of Negro enterprises by finding out, wherever
possible, whether a firm gave credit occasionally or habitually to
customers and whether it received credit from suppliers. Naturally,
many proprietors would not give any reply to such an inquiry, and
especially about their credit standing with wholesale firms. On such a
delicate point, however, information about the giving of credit was
secured from 205 firms, and about the receiving of credit from 94
firms. Of the 205 that furnished statements on the matter of giving
credit, 87, or 42.4 per cent, occasionally, and 69, or 33.6 per cent,
habitually had given credit to customers, while 49, or 23.9 per cent,
did not allow credit. When asked about their credit relations with
suppliers, 47 replied that they did receive credit, and 47 that they
did not receive any; and 215 gave no reply on this point.
5. THE PURCHASING PUBLIC
Length of time established, length of location at an address, methods
of accounting and the credit relations play no more important a part
in the efforts of Negroes to build up their business enterprises than
do the subtle whims and prejudices of the community. This is shown
first by the location of nearly all the enterprises in Negro
neighborhoods. Of all the 309 enterprises, 288 were located either
within or upon the border of the Negro districts. It may be expected,
of course, that Negroes will look to their own people first for their
patronage, but they should be allowed to cater to the public at large,
especially in a cosmopolitan commercial center like New York. In the
case of real estate brokers, this is partly true and has grown partly
out of the Negro broker's ability to handle more successfully than
others properties tenanted by Negroes. It is not generally the case in
other lines of business, however, as the testimony of many Negro
business men shows.
It was difficult to get statements that would be a basis for a
percentage estimate of how liberally white people traded with these
Negro firms. Brokers gave no statements that could be so used because
nearly all of the 16 brokers had many transactions which involved
white owners and colored tenants, white or colored sellers and white
or colored buyers. Employment agencies faced a similar situation. Of
the other 279 firms, 81, or 29.7 per cent, reported no white
customers; 92, or 33.3 per cent, reported that less than 10 per cent
of their customers were white. Thus 63 per cent of the Negro business
firms have to depend upon the small purchasing power of their own
people for the trade with which to build up their enterprises. This is
partly due to the feeling of the Negroes in business that they are to
cater mainly to Negroes and partly to their inexperienced way of
handling customers. But the main reasons are the difficulties they
have in renting places in desirable localities and in the refusal of
white people to patronize Negroes in many lines of trade.[76] Of the
remaining firms 42, or 15 per cent, reported between 10 and 49 per
cent white customers. The numbers above were small and only one firm,
in the class of dressmaking and millinery, and three in the
miscellaneous class, reported an exclusive white trade.
What a battle the Negro business man has to fight can be surmised when
to the fact of a narrow patronage from his own people, who have the
small purchasing power of their low-paid occupations, is added the
severe competition of white firms with larger capital, with more
extended credit and larger business experience, that vie with him for
even this limited field. Table XXVIII (p. 125), which follows, was
compiled on the basis of proprietors' statements of the probable
number of white and colored customers over a given number of months.
It is about as accurate as such an estimate can be and is far more
reliable and definite than general impressions. The percentages of
white customers are given, it being understood that the remainder were
Negroes. This small amount of information is very significant in
showing how the attitude of the white public affects the economic
advancement of the Negroes.
In the foregoing chapter we have reviewed some very definite facts
concerning the Negro business man's dealing with the community. We
have seen that his enterprises are permanently established although
against great odds, but that permanence of address is not so well
secured. Nearly all, 260 out of 309, were known to have some of the
usual methods of keeping accounts, and of the 205 from whom
information on the matter was obtained about three-fourths gave credit
either occasionally or habitually; while of the 94 who answered as to
their receiving credit, about half did and the other half did not
receive credit.
TABLE XXVIII. ESTIMATED PROPORTIONS OF WHITE CUSTOMERS OF 279 NEGRO
BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.
---------------------------+----------------------------------------
|Estimated Proportion of Whites of Total
|Customers of Negro Business Enterprises.
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
Class of establishment. | None. | Less | 10%- | 25%- | 50%- |
| | than | 24%. | 49%. | 74%. |
| | 10%. | | | |
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
Barber shops | 16 | 23 | 7 | 2 | -- |
Brokers | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Coal, wood and ice | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Dressmaking and millinery | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |
Employment agencies | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Express and moving vans | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Groceries | 10 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
Hairdressers, etc. | 1 | 5 | -- | -- | -- |
Hotels and lodging houses | 15 | 1 | -- | 1 | -- |
Pool and billiard rooms | 3 | 3 | 2 | -- | 2 |
Printers | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 2 |
Restaurant and lunch rooms | 16 | 7 | 1 | 2 | -- |
Saloons and cafés | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | 2 |
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 4 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
Undertakers | 5 | 6 | -- | -- | -- |
Miscellaneous | 4 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
Totals | 81 | 92 | 22 | 20 | 28 |
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
---------------------------+----------------------------------------
|Estimated Proportion of Whites of Total
|Customers of Negro Business Enterprises.
+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------
Class of establishment. | 75%- | 90%- | 100%. |Doubtful|Total.
| 89%. | 100%. | |and |
| | | |Unknown.|
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------
Barber shops | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 50
Brokers | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Coal, wood and ice | 1 | -- | -- | 3 | 19
Dressmaking and millinery | 2 | 2 | 1 | -- | 8
Employment agencies | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Express and moving vans | 2 | 1 | -- | 1 | 12
Groceries | -- | -- | -- | -- | 36
Hairdressers, etc. | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 8
Hotels and lodging houses | -- | -- | -- | -- | 17
Pool and billiard rooms | -- | -- | -- | -- | 10
Printers | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 5
Restaurant and lunch rooms | -- | -- | -- | -- | 26
Saloons and cafés | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5
Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | 24
Undertakers | -- | -- | -- | -- | 11
Miscellaneous | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 48
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------
Totals | 10 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 279
---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------
The attitude of the white purchasing public has had a tremendous
effect on Negro business, because it has failed to forget color in its
business dealings. In many lines of business white people will not
patronize Negroes at all and about two-thirds of all enterprises
depend upon the low purchasing power of the Negro group. The idea that
white people will not trade with them to any considerable extent and
that they must depend upon their own people is so steeped into the
mind of the Negro that he often does not perceive that he is catering
to the whole public, white and black.
FOOTNOTES:
[76] This conclusion is based upon the statements of Negroes that
white people have entered their stores apparently to buy, but beat a
retreat upon finding a Negro in charge. Two Negro proprietors employed
white workmen to call at residences, _etc._, in the operation of their
businesses while they kept in the background. The writer traced out
cases of refusals to rent places to Negro firms. Some of the incidents
would be amusing if they were not tragic.
CHAPTER IV
SOME SAMPLE ENTERPRISES
In the first chapters on Negro business enterprises, the several
classes of establishments were described in order to present a picture
of business among Negroes as a whole. A more concrete idea of the
organization and operation of these enterprises, as well as of the
proprietors who own and operate them, may be gained from detailed
descriptions of selected establishments of each kind. These have been
chosen as representing a fair type of the classes to which they
belong. On some points there may be wide variations, but each class as
a whole is fairly represented by those detailed.
1. INDIVIDUALS AND PARTNERSHIPS
Establishment No. 1 was a barber shop started in 1898, and moved once
to the present address eleven years before. The proprietor was born in
Savannah, Georgia, had resided in New York City for about twenty
years, and was a journeyman barber before starting his own shop. He
employed four barbers besides himself, paying each barber between
forty and fifty per cent of his receipts. This shop was about 12 feet
by 40 feet, and the rental was $30.00 per month. The estimated value
of his tools and fixtures was about $700.00, and the estimated gross
receipts of his business were $3,500.00 in 1907 and $4,000.00 in 1908.
The proprietor kept a cash-book which he balanced once a week. He
started his enterprise with one chair, bought with savings from his
earnings as a barber. He did a strictly cash business. His customers
were Negroes only, although he kept a first-class, cleanly place, was
in a district where there were a large number of small white business
establishments and some white tenants, and bought his supplies from a
white firm.
No. 2. This was a barber shop established in 1890, had moved twice,
and had been located at the last address four years. The proprietor
called himself "the pioneer" as he visited New York City in 1856-7 and
had been living here 32 years in 1909, coming from Calvert County,
Maryland. He had worked as a barber in a shop run for white customers,
and by this means saved money to set up for himself in Mott Haven some
years before opening in New York. He employed one additional barber,
had a shop about 12 feet by 28 feet, for which he was paying $35.00
rent. His tools and fixtures were worth about $200.00, and his gross
receipts amounted to about $900.00 in 1907 and about $850.00 in 1908.
He used a cash-book and occasionally credited customers, although he
paid cash for supplies from a white firm. His shop was located in a
distinctly Negro neighborhood and all his customers were Negroes.
No. 3. This establishment was a grocery store started by a West Indian
at the address where it was found, who took a partner at the beginning
of the second year. The junior partner, a Virginian by birth, was
brought to New York by his mother 12 years previously, while the other
had resided here ten years. The senior partner had a very small
grocery business during one year in the West Indies and worked as an
elevator boy and saved capital after coming to New York, as his change
of residence had absorbed his limited resources. The Virginian was
peddling tea and coffee before entering the firm. He had been a porter
in a department store, but preferred "to be independent, as it seemed
too hard to work for another man." They employed one helper and both
put in their time; they occupied a floor space 20 feet by 40 feet, at
a rental of $35.00 per month. The tools and fixtures were estimated at
$350.00; these included a safe and a large national cash register. The
careful inventory of stock showed $450.00 worth on hand, and the gross
receipts from May, 1908, to May, 1909, was estimated at $6,000.00. The
large national cash register and bank book were sufficient means of
keeping accounts for the strictly cash conduct of the business. Only a
few whites, about all of whom were Jews, live in the blocks adjoining
the Negro neighborhood. They found this store most convenient and
traded with the firm, but more than five-sixths of its customers were
Negroes. The firm sent out hand-bills weekly, and used other forms of
advertisement.
No. 4 was a grocery, started in September, 1906, at the same address
where it was found by the investigator. The proprietor came from the
West Indies to New York City about 12 years previously and engaged in
hotel work by means of which he saved his capital. He was still so
employed, while his brother conducted the store. The store room was
about 14 feet by 40 feet, at a rental of $35.00 per month. The tools
and fixtures were valued at $100.00, and the merchandise on hand at
about $300.00. The estimated gross receipts were between $2,500 and
$3,000 in 1907, and about $2,700 in 1908. Only a cash-book was used in
keeping accounts. This was balanced once a week, and an inventory of
the stock was taken once a quarter. Credit was habitually allowed to
customers, all of whom were Negroes. No whites lived in the
neighborhood.
No. 5. This was a real-estate and insurance agent, who began business
in July, 1907, and had moved once since. He was born in Virginia and
had been in New York City twelve years. This man's business career
started as soon as he left college, as his father had given him an
education and arranged affairs to that end. He entered his father's
barber shop in Virginia and remained three years, then came to New
York and started a club and saloon business with capital brought from
his native home. This was carried on four years and sold out. After
several intervening years, the present enterprise was started on some
of the capital derived from the sale of the previous establishment. He
employed two collectors, had an office space of about 12 by 40 feet in
one of the tenements of which he had charge. His gross receipts from
commissions, _etc._, were about $2,300.00 in 1908. Ledger, cash-book
and day-book were used in accounting. The landlords of the properties
he handled were all white, but all tenants were Negroes. The real
estate sales and exchanges he has handled have been of a similar kind.
No. 6. This was a real estate broker who began business in November,
1903, in Nassau street and moved to his present address two years
later. He was born in New York and has always made his home there.
Before he finished his high school course, he worked during spare
hours and vacations for a real estate firm. After graduation from high
school, he started to work with the same firm on a commission basis
until he began business for himself as a regular broker. He employed
two assistants in his business and had an office in one of the large
buildings in the Wall Street district. His office was modestly but
adequately furnished, the fixtures, typewriter, _etc._, estimated at
$200.00. In 1907 his gross receipts from commissions, fees, _etc._,
were over $2,500, and in 1908 over $3,000. His capital was accumulated
from the business; he used ledger and cash-book in his accounting and
both gave and received credit in his transactions. He was a member of
the New York Fire Insurance Exchange, and has done considerable study
in evening courses on insurance, banking, _etc._ About 95 per cent of
his business dealings were with white people.
No. 7. This enterprise in dressmaking and ladies tailoring was started
in August, 1906, at the address where found. The proprietress came
from her native city, Pittsburgh, Pa., to New York three years
previously, and set up her establishment with money she had saved from
sewing in Pittsburgh. She employed three helpers and used for business
purposes the front room of her apartment, which rented for $25.00 per
month. Her tools and fixtures were valued at about $175.00, and she
kept less than $100.00 worth of stock on hand, as all work was to
order. Gross receipts were about $2,300 in 1907, and about $3,000 in
1908. A cash-book only was used in keeping accounts. About
three-fourths of the customers were white.
No. 8. This is an employment agency started about 1889 by the
proprietor who came from Delaware the year preceding. In the
flourishing days when Negro help was in large demand he made money and
formerly employed two or three helpers. When seen, he alone did not
find full employment. His fixtures were worth less than $50. He used
two front rooms of his living apartment for business purposes. His
gross receipts in 1907 were $1,316, and in 1908, $1,076. He used a
cash-book and the two record books required by the employment license
law. He supplied colored help for white families almost entirely;
business was running low because white help was "displacing the
colored help of years past."
No. 9. This was a restaurant, established in September, 1904, and
moved to the present address two years later. The proprietor was born
in Jacksonville, Florida, and had resided in New York six years when
interviewed. He was a cook and head-waiter before beginning business
for himself. He had two employees, his place occupied a 14 feet by 40
feet basement, for which he paid about $18.00 rental. His fixtures,
_etc._, were valued at about $150, and his gross receipts were about
$3,500 in 1907, and $3,000 in 1908. He had saved money for the
enterprise while engaged in hotel service in Jacksonville. All his
customers were Negroes, except one white regular customer. He admitted
occasionally giving credit to customers, although a sign on the wall
said, "Positively, no trust."
No. 10. This firm sold coal, wood and ice. It was established in
September, 1907, at the address where found, by a native Virginian who
had lived in New York seventeen years, and had previously worked as a
porter in a jewelry house. No help was employed and the small amount
of stock on hand, between $40 and $50, was kept in a cellar about 12
feet by 18 feet. For this a rental of about $8.00 per month was paid.
The gross receipts amounted to about $800 in 1908. The proprietor had
saved some money from his previous occupation on which to begin; he
was located in a Negro neighborhood, so depended entirely on their
patronage. He habitually gave credit to customers but received none
from his white suppliers.
No. 11. This tailoring establishment was started in September, 1907,
by a West Indian, who had lived in New York eighteen years and had
worked as journeyman tailor in St. Christopher, W.I. He had moved five
times since the business was begun. He did mostly cutting and fitting,
but some "busheling." He did not employ any help, and lived in two
rooms in the rear of his business place, paying $25 per month for all.
The tools and fixtures were worth about $150, and the stock on hand
about $50, while gross receipts had amounted to $1,200 in 1907 and
about $1,100 in 1908. He kept a cash-book; gave credit occasionally,
but received none.
This proprietor said he came to New York leaving paying work behind,
because of tales of high wages in his trade; that at first he answered
advertisements for journeymen but was turned away when they saw he was
a Negro. Finally, he worked as waiter to get money to start for
himself. His first "stand" was in a white neighborhood with white
trade, but when a considerable number of Negro customers began to
frequent his place the neighbors made objections to the landlord, who
would no longer rent him the place. At the time of the interview he
was in a Negro neighborhood and had only four or five white customers.
No. 12. This also was a tailoring firm, started in 1907, which did
mainly cleaning, pressing and repairing ("busheling"). The proprietor
was a Georgian by birth, came to New York six years previously, and
worked as a valet, and as elevator man in an apartment. He employed
one part-time assistant, used for his business the front room, about
12 feet by 14 feet, of an apartment which rented for $25 per month.
His tools and fixtures were valued at $140, and he carried about $75
worth of second-hand clothing in stock. His gross receipts in 1908
were about $800. He kept lists of work done for customers. He had been
in the same line of business for seven years in his native state, and
both times had saved wages to carry out his "desire from a lad up to
do business." About two-thirds of his customers were white, and he
gave credit habitually.
No. 13. This firm for express and moving service was established in
September, 1902, in the same block where found, by a Virginian, who
had lived in New York City fifteen years and who worked as a Pullman
porter before beginning in this line of business. He usually employed
from five to seven men, according to the seasonal trade. He had an
express wagon and two vans, which with the horses were valued at
$1,200. His gross receipts amounted to about $3,100 in 1907, and about
$3,600 in 1908. In keeping accounts both ledger and day-book were
used. The proprietor had run a small grocery in Virginia before coming
to New York, and some of the capital from its sale had been saved and
put into this enterprise. He depended upon white customers for about
two-thirds of his patronage.
No. 14 was a manicurist and hair-dressing firm started by the
proprietress in May, 1903, who had been in New York eleven years in
1909 and who worked at a pocket-book factory before starting into this
venture. She was a native of Virginia. The enterprise was not large
enough for any employees; tools and fixtures were worth about $60, and
hair goods, _etc._, on hand were valued at $75; the front room, about
12 by 14 feet, of the living apartment was used for business purposes.
In 1907 and 1908 the gross receipts averaged about $1,000, which was
mainly fees for manicure and hair-dressing services. This enterprise
was started that the proprietress might "be at home," and a cash trade
almost solely among white people was being developed.
No. 15. This was an undertakers establishment started in 1897 by a
minister, who came to New York from Virginia about twenty-five years
ago. The firm had been located at the address where found about nine
years, and had a branch in another part of Manhattan. Two helpers were
employed, the floor space was about 20 by 40 feet, for which a rental
of $35 per month was paid. Tools and fixtures, including dead-wagon,
were valued at $1,200, and about $300 of stock was kept on hand. The
gross receipts of the business were about $9,000 in 1907, and about
$8,000 in 1908. Ledger, cash-book, day-book, and funeral register were
used in keeping accounts. The proprietor started on a small saving
from his salary as a minister, having to run the business a year
before he had the additional $200 in cash for deposit for registration
in the Casket Makers Association, thus securing credit on supplies. He
habitually allows credit to customers, all of whom, with very rare
exceptions, are Negroes.
No. 16 was a hotel on the European plan, established in 1899 by a
Georgian who had been in New York five years previously and had saved
his wages in several kinds of hotel work to get his start. He usually
employed six helpers; the place occupied a four-floor building about
25 by 60 feet, for which a rental of $1,800 per year is paid.
Fixtures, furniture, _etc._, were valued at $2,000. The gross receipts
of the hotel were a little over $10,000 in 1907, and between $9,000
and $10,000 in 1908. Both ledger and cash-book were used in keeping
accounts. Nearly all customers were Negroes, and whites were not
especially sought because those who did come were usually looking for
a colored dive and did not act in an orderly way. Credit was
occasionally allowed customers and the firm had such standing that it
could get such amounts from suppliers as it wished.
No. 17 was a pool-room with a club arrangement in connection. It was
started in 1901 by a native of Virginia, who had been living in New
York eleven years. The firm had moved once since its establishment.
The proprietor was a waiter before beginning this enterprise; he
employed two helpers, his place occupied three floors about 25 by 40
feet, and he paid a rental of $75 per month. His fixtures, tables,
_etc._, were valued at between $1,800 and $2,000, and he said they
were all paid for. In 1907 the gross receipts were about $3,400, and
in 1908 about $3,700, the "best year." A cash-book was kept and
balanced twice a year. Negroes "almost altogether" were customers.
This proprietor had an ambition from boyhood to run a business and at
one time had a second-hand furniture store in Long Branch, N.J.
No. 18 was a job-printing house, started in June, 1908, run since that
time at the same place by two partners, one of whom was born in
Washington, D.C., the other in the West Indies. The West Indian had
been in New York fifteen years in 1909, and had been in the same
business once before; the other had been in New York twenty-five
years; both had saved money as they worked as journeymen printers
before entering business for themselves. At the time of the interview
they did not employ any helpers, but their tools, fixtures, _etc._,
were valued at about $900, and the floor space occupied was about 14
by 25 feet. The gross receipts during the six months of 1908 were
about $900, and the monthly average for the first month of 1909 was
somewhat higher. A cash-book was used in keeping accounts, and about
one-third of their customers were white people. They did a strictly
cash business.
No. 19 was a saloon and café which was opened in November, 1908, at
the place where found. The proprietor came from Kentucky to New York
about ten years previously and worked in a cigar store. He employed
from seven to nine helpers, and his place occupied about 20 by 60 feet
floor space, with a rathskeller in the basement; he paid $100 per
month rental. Fixtures, _etc._, were valued at about $2,200, and stock
was kept on hand to the amount of between $700 and $800. Sufficient
data for an estimate of gross receipts were not forthcoming. Ledger
and cash-book, with cash-register, kept record of business transacted.
Customers were "Negroes, almost exclusively" with a "white person now
and then." At one time the proprietor ran a cigar store, growing out
of his work in such an establishment.
2. THE NEGRO CORPORATION
As was pointed out in a previous chapter, the Negro enters business
either alone or with one or two partners. Small enterprises can be so
financed. But for undertakings that require considerable capital those
who enter them must either have large means or a number must combine
their small funds.
The Negro is alert to business lines which offer chances of profit. He
is slowly learning the method of "big business." The corporation, with
its advantages of impersonal responsibility, facility for taking in or
releasing members, and particularly its combined capital, has been
adopted in a few cases. These can be treated briefly for what
variations they show from the general type.
One of these was a corporation that ran a garage, furnished storage
and other care for machines and operated a line of taxicabs, employing
from nine to eleven men. Three of the firm members had been employed
chauffeurs and thus got the idea and the money to start the firm.
There was storage space for about 50 cars. One of the proprietors came
from Georgia, another from North Carolina. They had a book-keeper and
the usual books for a business house. Five Negro owners and about
forty white owners were storing cars with them.
Another enterprise was a corporation of undertakers with a board of
eight directors, who held nearly all of the stock. In size they had
four employees, occupied a floor space of about 1,200 square feet at a
monthly rental of $150. The investments represented about $1,500 in
dead-wagon and fixtures and a stock on hand of about $1,000. The gross
business was between $9,000 and $10,000 in 1907, the first year of the
business; and over $20,000 in 1908. At its organization there were ten
corporators who subscribed about $300 each to float the enterprise. It
is interesting to note that a hotel-keeper, a minister, three men in
other lines of business and the manager of the concern were among
these ten.
Two other corporations were printing establishments, each with six
original incorporators. One firm did job printing. The other was a
publisher of popular songs and has produced several of New York's most
popular airs. They had two and ten employees, occupied about 158 and
3,000 square feet of floor space, respectively. The larger firm had a
plant valued at between $4,000 and $5,000, kept several hundred
dollars worth of stock on hand and did a gross business of about
$15,000 in 1907, and about $17,000 in 1908. The smaller firm had been
organized in 1909. The larger had run more than four years. The
corporators of the smaller concern included an editor, a messenger,
silk-factory employee, and laundry employee; those of the larger, a
liquor dealer, two actors and three composers of popular songs.
The four other corporations were real estate firms, a line of business
requiring considerable capital and attracting the higher grade of
business ability. In these instances, all except one firm was composed
of the few original incorporators, making the arrangement only a
little removed from a partnership. The one exception was a large
concern with a capital stock of over $500,000. The previous
occupations of the principal promoters of this company included a
lawyer, a pharmacist and two real estate brokers.
The stock of this concern was held by small investors in many parts of
the United States. The firm at one time employed over 200 people in
and out of New York, and claimed to have done an annual business of
over $200,000. At some period in its history it may have done so large
a business, but this was probably only for an exceptionally prosperous
year. This may have led to too sanguine attempts on the part of the
promoters. Because of other poor business methods and bad attempts at
investment the enterprise failed in the winter of 1910-11.
Three obvious points are shown by the facts concerning these
corporations: First, they were composed of only a few members and
therefore were not far removed from large partnerships. This set a
large limit to command of capital for there were no large capitalists
in New York among Negroes. Second, this form of combining capital and
business ability has been tried in a few lines of business only--three
in all, if we exclude the garage. Third, as seen in their previous
occupations, the promoters were men above the average in ability and
of some experience.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
The significance of the foregoing facts is clearly indicated by the
summaries following each set of figures. The road to the conclusions
is straight. Turning to the preceding chapters, let us see what
conclusions are warranted.
The urban concentration of the Negro is taking place in about the same
way as that of the white population. In proportions, it varies only to
a small extent from the movement of the whites, save where the
conditions and influences are exceptional. The constant general causes
influencing the Negro population have been similar to those moving
other parts of the population to cities. The divorce from the soil in
the sudden breaking down of the plantation régime just after the Civil
War and the growth of industrial centers in the South, and the call of
higher wages in the North, have been unusually strong influences to
concentrate the Negro in the cities. It is with him largely as with
other wage-earners: the desire for higher wages and the thought of
larger liberty, especially in the North, together with a restlessness
under hum-drum, hard rural conditions and a response to the
attractions of the city, have had considerable force in bringing him
to urban centers. Labor legislation in the South has played its part
in the movement.
The growth of the industrial and commercial centers of the South, the
larger wages in domestic and personal service in the North, and social
and individual causes of concentration bid fair to continue for an
indefinite period. The Negro responding to their influence will
continue to come in comparatively large numbers to town to stay.
But the Negro's residence in the city offers problems of
maladjustment. Although these problems are similar to those of other
rural populations that become urban dwellers, it is made more acute
because he has greater handicaps due to his previous condition of
servitude and to the prejudiced opposition of the white world that
surrounds him. His health, intelligence and morals respond to
treatment similar to that of other denizens of the city, if only
impartial treatment can be secured. Doubtless death-rate and
crime-rate have been and are greater than the corresponding rates for
the white populations of the same localities, but both crime and
disease are a reflection of the urban environment and are solvable by
methods similar to those used to remedy such conditions among white
people, if prejudiced presuppositions, which conclude without
experiment or inquiry that Negroes have innately bad tendencies, give
place to open-minded trial and unbiased reason. Snap-shot opinions
should be avoided in such serious questions and statesmen,
philanthropists and race leaders should study the facts carefully and
act accordingly.
The study of the wage-earners among the Negroes of New York City has
disclosed conditions and led to conclusions in line with the foregoing
inferences. The Negro population was solidly segregated into a few
assembly districts, thereby confining the respectable to the same
neighborhoods with the disreputable. This population is made up mainly
of young persons and adults of the working period of life, attracted
to the city largely from the South and the West Indies, principally by
the thought of better industrial and commercial advantages. Single
persons predominate and the percentage of the aged is low. High rents
and low incomes force lodgers into the families to disturb normal home
life.
From the early days of the Dutch Colony the Negro has had a part in
the laboring life of this community. While most of the wage-earners
have been engaged in domestic and personal service occupations,
figures that are available warrant the inference that the Negro is
slowly but surely overcoming the handicaps of inefficiency and race
prejudice, and is widening the scope of employment year by year. What
the individual asks and should have from the white community is a fair
chance to work, and wages based upon his efficiency and not upon the
social whims and prejudices of fellow-workmen, of employers, or of the
community.
In domestic and personal service the Negro is poorly paid compared
with the cost of living. And even in skilled occupations, where unions
admit him and wages are offered equal to those of white workmen, the
Negro must be above the average in speed, in quality of work done, and
in reliability to secure and hold places.
In domestic and personal service, the verdict from a large body of
evidence is that, judged by the testimony of employers as to the
length of time employed, the capability, sobriety and honesty of the
workers, Negroes furnish a reliable supply of employees that need only
to be properly appraised to be appreciated. What is needed for the
workers in this class of occupations and for those in the skilled
trades, is that more attention be given to adequate training, that
more facilities be offered and that a more sympathetic attitude be
shown them in their efforts for better pay and better positions.
In reviewing the Negro's business operations judgment should be
tempered by consideration of his past and of the tremendous odds of
the present. There are handicaps due to the denial of the chances of
getting experience, to inefficiency born of resulting inexperience,
to the difficulty of securing capital and building credit and to the
low purchasing power of the patronage to which a prejudiced public
limits him. He is not only denied experience, sorely limited in
capital and curtailed in credit, but his opportunities for securing
either are very meagre. In spite of all this, there has been progress
which is prophetic of the future.
From the days of slavery Negroes have tried the fortunes of the market
place and under freedom their enterprises have increased in number and
variety. At the present time Southern-born and West Indian Negroes
form the bulk of the business men, the latter far in excess of their
proportion in the Negro population. This success of West Indians is
partly a result of training and initiative developed in a more
favorable environment, as they had the benefit of whatever
opportunities their West Indian surroundings offered.
Although they gained the meagre capital chiefly from domestic and
personal service occupations, Negroes have entered and maintained a
foothold in a number of lines of business unrelated to these previous
occupations. One of the most important findings is that Negroes form
few partnerships and that those formed are rarely of more than two
persons. Co-operative or corporate business enterprises are the
exceptions. This fact has its most telling effect in preventing
accumulations of capital for large undertakings. But co-operation in
business is largely a matter of ability born of experience and where
can Negroes get this experience in well-organized firms, under
experienced supervision? For it is more than a matter of school
instruction in book-keeping and the like. In practically the entire
metropolis, they rarely get beyond the position of porter, or some
similar job. Some fair-minded white people who wish to help the Negro
help himself could do great service for the economic advancement of
the Negro by throwing open the doors of business positions to a number
of ambitious, capable Negro youths, who would thus enter the avenues
of economic independence. The writer knows of three Negroes in New
York City who proved themselves so efficient in their respective lines
that they were taken in as members of large firms.
Another serious matter is connected with this point. All 309 firms
were retail establishments, all of them bought from wholesale
suppliers who so far as could be ascertained were white firms. In some
lines, there were sufficient retailers to support a wholesale house if
their purchases were combined. For example, the group of 50 barber
shops or of 36 grocers would each support a jobber if they pooled
their patronage. But this would demand an organizing power, a business
initiative, a fund of capital and a stretch of credit, which only some
men experienced in the method of the modern business world could
possess.
The small size and scope of Negro enterprises cannot be attributed to
lack of business capacity alone. For the gross receipts of the
selected years taken in connection with the valuation of tools and
fixtures, and with the stock of merchandise on hand showed
considerable diligence and thrift in turning these small resources to
active use.
The variety of the many small establishments indicates also the
initiative of the Negro in using every available opportunity for
economic independence. As we have seen, some of the proprietors had
early ambitions for business careers, and others had worked hard and
saved carefully from small wages that they might rise from the class
of the employed to that of employers. The public to which the Negro
business man caters should accept his wares and his services for their
face value and not discount them because of the complexion of his
face. Then, too, Negroes must learn that the purchasing public desires
to be pleased and is larger than the limits of their own people.
Negro wage-earners and business men have great difficulty in scaling
the walls of inefficiency and of race prejudice in order to escape the
discomforts and dangers of a low standard of living.
APPENDIX A
FAMILY SCHEDULE
------------+--------------+----------------------+----------------------------------
Serial | | FAMILY SCHEDULE |Surname:
No. |Investigator. |No. in family: |Address:
Date: |Source of |No. earning wages: |Floor: No. of rooms: Bath? Rent:
| information.|No. depending on |Location on floor:
| | family income: | front, rear, right, left.
======================================================================================
| | | | | MARITAL | | |EDUCATION AND INDUSTRIAL
| | | | |CONDITION| | | TRAINING.[*]
| | | | +---------+ | +----------------------------
Family |Age|Place of|Time |Reason|M|S|W|D|S|Chr|Pol|R|W|M S|M C|M I S|M T|T |W F
Members. | | Birth. |in | for |a|i|i|i|e| + | X |e|r|o c|o o|o n c|o r|r |h o
| | |N.Y. |coming|r|n|d|v|p| | |a|i|s h|s l|s d h|s a|a |e l
| | | |to |.|g|.|.|.| | |d|t| o|. l|. u o|. d|d |r l
| | | |N.Y. | |.| | | | | |.|e|i o| e| s o| e|e |e o
| | | | | | | | | | | | |.|n l|i g|i t l|a .| | w
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | .|n e|n r .|t | | e
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | .| i | | | d
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | a | | | .
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | l | | |
------------+---+--------+-----+------+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+-+-+---+---+-----+---+--+---
1. Man | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
2. Woman | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
(Sex.) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
3. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
4. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
5. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
6. (Lodgers)| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
7. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
8. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
======================================================================================
| [*] OCCUPATION. (State exact kind of work done and weekly pay.)
|-------+------+-----+------+------+-------+-------+----------------------
Family | At | |Hours|During| |D l p y|During |+ Church
Members. |present|Weekly| per | past |Weekly|a o a e|entire | affiliations.
| time. | Pay. | day.| year.| Pay. |y s s a|time |B = Baptist.
| | | | | |s t t r|in N.Y.|M = Methodist.
| | | | | | .|City. |E = Episcopal
------------+-------+------+-----+------+------+-------+-------+P = Presbyterian.
1. Man | | | | | | | |C = Catholic.
2. Woman | | | | | | | |MN = Moravian.
(Sex) | | | | | | | +----------------------
3. | | | | | | | |X Political
4. | | | | | | | | affiliations.
5. | | | | | | | |R = Republican.
6.(Lodgers) | | | | | | | |D = Democrat.
7. | | | | | | | |S = Socialist.
8. | | | | | | | |PB = Prohibition.
9. | | | | | | | +----------------------
10. | | | | | | | | *See space for
11. | | | | | | | |remarks on other
| | | | | | | |side (3) (4).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAMILY SCHEDULE (REVERSE SIDE)
UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS | |TRADE UNION, SECRET
FOR WORK.* (1) | REASON FOR REFUSAL.* (1) | SOCIETIES.* (2)
------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------
Family |Date|Place: Name |Kind of|Place |Lack of| | |Name of |Why not
Members | | and Address| Work |Filled| Skill |Color|Other|Organiz-| member?
| | | | | | | | ation |Did you
| | | | | | | | | apply?
------------+----+------------+-------+------+-------+-----+-----+--------+----------
1. Man | | | | | | | | |
2. Woman | | | | | | | | |
(Sex.) | | | | | | | | |
3. | | | | | | | | |
4. | | | | | | | | |
5. | | | | | | | | |
6. (Lodgers)| | | | | | | | |
7. | | | | | | | | |
8. | | | | | | | | |
------------+----+------------+-------+------+-------+-----+-----+--------+----------
* (1) Remarks on Unsuccessful Applications:
* (2) Remarks on Trade Unions and Secret Societies:
* (3) Remarks on Occupation:
* (4) Remarks on Education, Trade Training, _etc._: (Where and how was trade learned?)
APPENDIX B
FIRM EMPLOYEES SCHEDULE
(The information given will be regarded as confidential.)
Nature of business of firm-------------------------------
1. Total number of employees: 2. Total number Negro employees:
3. In spaces below state exact nature of work done by your Negro
employees:
------------+-----+--------+------+------------+-----+--------+------
|Male | No. |Weekly| |Male | No. |Weekly
WORK DONE. |or F.|Employed|Wages.| WORK DONE. |or F.|Employed|Wages.
------------+-----+--------+------+------------+-----+--------+------
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
------------+-----+--------+------+------------+-----+--------+------
4. Are white workmen paid same wages for same kind of work?
5. Are your Negro workmen
(a) Faster, equal, or slower in speed than white workmen?
(_underline proper word_).
(b) Better, equal, or poorer in quality of work done than white workmen?
(_underline proper word_).
(c) More, equally, or less reliable than white workmen?
(_underline proper word_).
6. If not now, have you ever employed Negroes?
(See the other side.)
FIRM EMPLOYEES SCHEDULE (REVERSE SIDE)
7. If competent Negro workmen could be furnished, would you employ them?
8. If you would not employ them, please give reasons.
9. Remarks on attitude of your white workmen toward Negro workmen, _etc._
APPENDIX C
BUSINESS SCHEDULE.
BUSINESS SCHEDULE--CONFIDENTIAL
DATE: FIRM NAME:
ADDRESS:
INFORMANT: WHEN ESTABLISHED: HOW LONG AT THIS ADDRESS?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Organization (underline): individual, partnership,
number of partners______, agent.
2. (underline): Manufacture, jobbing, wholesale, retail,______________
3. Kind of service or goods offered (e.g., hotel, barber,
groceries, real estate, etc.)______________________________________
4. Number of employees: ______ Estimated total business
done past 1907: $____________
1908: $____________
5. Previous occupations of owners or promoters: ______________________
6. Birthplace of owners or promoters: ________________________________
Years in N.Y. City: ______
7. Valuation of plant, tools, Fixtures, etc.: $_________
Of merchandise on hand: $_________
8. Other assets: $__________ Liabilities: $__________
9. Insurance: $__________ Rent per month: $_________ Floor space:_____
10. Nationality of customers: ________________________________________
11. Account books used (underline): Ledger, journal, cash-book,
day-book
12. How often are books balanced? ____________________________________
13. Inventory taken?__________________________________________________
14. For what special reasons did you enter business: _________________
(How was capital secured?):_______________________________________
15. Remarks on history, etc., of firm: (Credit given occasionally?
Habitually? Received?): __________________________________________
(For further remarks use back).
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INDEX
Assembly districts, Negroes in, 52-53
Back-to-the-land movement, 33
Business establishments, nature of, 98
Classified, 99
Floor space occupied by, 106
Gross receipts of, 113-114
Length of residence in New York of proprietors of, 101
Number of employees in, 105
Ownership of, 100
Permanence of location of, 118-119
Table of floor space of, 107
Table of gross receipts of, 115
City growth, causes of, 13
Foot-note on, 43-44
Colonial General Assembly, laws passed by, 94-95
Colored American (newspaper), 67, 96
Crime in cities, 39-41
Death-rates of whites and Negroes, 34-37
Changes in Richmond, Va., 37-38
Diagrams:
I. Increase of whites and Negroes in cities, 16
II. Death-rates in cities, 36
III. Distribution of Negro population in Harlem, 50
IV. Distribution of Negro population in "San Juan Hill" district, 51
Freedmen, as shiphands, 66
Property escheated, 95
Health of Negroes in cities, 34-38
Industrial centers, migration of Negroes to, 19-25
Lake George, Negroes in battle of, 66
Lodgers, natural members and, 62
Consist of, 63
Natural members in families, 62-63
Number of lodgers in families, 64
Migration to cities, 15-17
Secondary causes of, 29
Nativity of Negroes, of New York State, 57
Of New York City, 58-59
Of West Indians, 58
Of business proprietors, 100
Negro population of New York, table showing growth of, 47
Distribution of 2,500 families in, 52-53
Segregation of Negro, 48-51
Negro, riot of 1712, 95
So-called plot of 1741, 67
New Amsterdam Colony, slaves as laborers in, 66
Slaves owned land in, 67
Occupations, history of, 66-69
In 1890 and 1900, 69-71
In 1905, 72
Proportion of males and females in, 73
Tables of, 71-72, 74
Reasons for Negroes coming to New York, 27-28
Tables of, 27, 31-32
Slaves, as farm laborers and stevedores, 66
Able to hold land, 67
Forbidden to trade, 94
Soil, divorce of Negro from, 18-19
United Public Waiters, 68
Becomes Beneficial Association, 69
United States, city growth in, 13
Wages, in domestic and personal service, 78-79
In hotel service, 81
Table of, 80-81
Union rates, 82
Wage-earners, sex and age, 54-55
Efficiency of male, 83
Efficiency of female, 84
Efficiency of skilled, 88
Marital condition of, 60-61
Tables of efficiency of, 85, 87
Wilcox, Professor, quoted, 14
Work, M.N., quoted, 40-41
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