Atlanta University Publications, No. 7
THE
s
A SOCIAL STUDY
MADE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY
BY THE SEVENTH ATLANTA CONFERENCE
Price, 3© Cexts
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY PRESS
ATLANTA, GA.
1902
HE whole country should be grateful to this institution
for the painstaking and systematic manner with which
it has developed from year to year a series of facts which are
proving most vital and helpful to the interests of our nation."
Booker T. Washington, speech at the Seventh Atlanta Conference.
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Report of a Social Study made under the direction of
Atlanta University; together with the Proceedings
of the Seventh Conference for the study of
the Negro Problems, held at Atlanta
University, on May 27th, 1902.
EDITED BY
W. E. BURGHARDT Du bois,
Corresponding Secretary of the Conference.
Atlanta University Press,
ATLANTA, GA,
1902.
unTHE work with the Negro must affect also our work with the
brown man and the yellow man. The object is not to train
him only to become useful or innocuous, to be a helot of toil, to be
a producer, — but under and over all is the fact that the Negro,
however unfit he may be now or for some time to come to exercise
the political franchise, must be educated so that in time he may
become worthy to be in full sense a citizen. We can not endure
as a republic if we have classes among us not educated to assume
the duties of citizenship. As moral human beings we cannot
afford to treat another human being as if he were less than
human." Dr. Felix Adler.
January 9, 1903.
44 Y\ 7HEN I speak of industrial education I do not mean to dis-
parage higher education, which will provide teachers. The
important thing is to give the best education which it is possible
for the recipient to use, which will bring out the best in the stu-
dent." W. H. Baldwin, Jr.,
President General Educational Board.
January 9, 1903.
CONTENTS
— lOM»- —
Bibliography
To the Reader
Introduction.
The Atlanta Conference
Sociological Work of Atlanta University .
Proceedings of the Seventh Atlanta Conference
The Negro Artisan. — By the Editor.
1. Scope and Method of the Inquiry ....
History of the Negro Artisan.
2. The Ante-bellum Artisan
3. Economics of Emancipation
The Training of Artisans.
4. Occupations and Home-training
5. The Rise of Industrial Training
6. The Industrial School ....
7. The Influence of the Slater Fund
8. Curricula of Industrial Schools
9. The Differentiation of Industrial Schools
10. Manual Training
11. The Post-Graduate Trade School
12. Cost of Industrial Training
13. Results of Industrial Training
14. Five Faults of Industrial Schools .
15. Five Accomplishments of Industrial Schools
16. The Higher Education and the Industries — By Dr. J. G. Mer-
rill, President of Fisk University
17. The Industrial Settlement at Kowaliga, Ala.
Local Conditions of Negro Artisans.
18. General Statistics of Negro Artisans
19. Local Conditions: A Study in Memphis, Tenn. — By Henry
N. Lee, of LeMoyne Institute . . . . * . ".
20. Local Conditions: Texas — By E. H. Holmes, of the Prairie
View Normal School
21. Local Conditions: A Negro Contractor of Atlanta, Ga. — By
Alexander Hamilton, Jr., of the firm of Hamilton & Son,
Building Contractors
22. Local Conditions: Indianapolis, Ind.— By W. T. B. Williams
Distribution of Negro Artisans.
23. Alabama
24. California
PAGE
v-vii
viii
1
2
4
8
13
21
23
28
33
39
42
58
59
62
65
68
79
83
83
84
94
98
102
104
106
108
IV
25. Colorado ....
26. District of Columbia .
27. Florida
28. Georgia
29. Atlanta, Ga
30. Other Towns in Georgia
31. Illinois
32. Indiana
33. Indian Territory and Oklahoma
34. Iowa and Kansas
35. Kentucky
36. Louisiana .....
37. Maine and Massachusetts
38. Maryland
39. Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin
40. Mississippi
41. Missouri
42. Other New England States (N. H., Vt., R. I., and Conn.)
43. New York and New Jersey
44. North Carolina
45. Ohio
46. Oregon and the Northwest (Ore., Mont.,. Ida., N. D., S. D
Neb., U., Wash., and Wy.) .
47. Pennsylvania and Delaware
48. South Carolina ....
49. Tennessee and Arkansas .
50. Texas and the Southwest (Tex., Ariz., Nev., and N. Mex,
51. Virginia and West Virginia
52. Summary of Local Conditions
Trade Unions and Negro Labor.
53. The Negro and Organized Labor
54. Unions with a Considerable Negro Membership
55. Unions with Few Negro Members
56. Unions with No Negro Members
57. Local Option in Choice of Members
58. Strikes Against Negro Workmen
59. Summary of the Attitude of Organized Labor
60. Views of Labor Leaders. — By C. C. Houston, Secretary of
the Georgia Federation of Labor, and others
The Employers of Negro Labor.
61. The Employer, the Artisan and the Right of Suffrage
62. The Employment of Skilled Negroes, 1901 .
63. The Negro Inventor
64. Summary
Index
108
109
111
112
115
120
124
125
125
126
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
133
135
138
139
140
141
142
146
147
150
153
158
164
166
171
173
176
176
179
180
187
188
189
A Bibliography of the Negro Artisan and the
Industrial Training of Negroes.
African Laborers, Importation of, DeBow's Review, 24:421.
American Missionary, 46 vol., 1856-1902.
America's Race Problems, N.Y., McClure, Phillips & Co., 1901, 8 o. pp. 187.
Awakening of the Negro, Atlantic, 78:322.
Benjamin C. Bacon, Statistics of the colored people of Philadelphia, taken
by and published by order of the board of education of the Pennsylvania
Society for the promotion of the abolition of slavery, 2d ed. Phila. 1859,
8 o. pamphlet, 24 pp.
SamuelJ. Barrows, What the Southern Negro is Doing for Himself, Atlantic.
67 :805.
John S. Bassett, Slavery and Servitude in the Colony of South Carolina,
Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1896.
John S. Bassett, Slavery in the State of North Carolina, Johns Hopkins
Press, Baltimore, 1899.
Bibliography of Negro Education in Report U. S. Bureau of Education,
1893-94, pp. 1038-61.
The Black North (Studies of Negroes in Northern Cities) ,N. Y. Times, 1901.
Jeffrey R. Brackett, Notes on the progress of the colored people of Mary-
land since the war; a supplement to the "Negro in Maryland: a study of
the institution of slavery." Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1890, 8 o.
pp. 96.
Jeffrey R. Brackett, The Negro in Maryland: a study of the institution of
slavery. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1889, 8 o. 268 pp.
A Brief Sketch of the schools for black people and their descendants, es-
tablished by the Society of Eriends, etc., Phila. 1857, 8 o. pamph. 32 pp.
P. A. Bruce, Economic Histoid of Virginia in the 17th century, 2 vol.,
New York.
U. S. Bureau of Education, Annual Reports, 1870-1901.
U. S. Census Bureau, Censuses of 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, and 1900.
Cincinnati Convention of Colored Freedmen of Ohio, Proceedings, Jan.
14-19, 1852; Cincinnati, 1852, 8 o.
Coleman Cotton Mill, Gunton's Magazine, Sept. 1902.
Colored Help for Textile Mills, Manufacturers' Record, (Baltimore, Md.)
Sept. 22, 1893.
Condition of the Negro. What he is doing for himself and what is being-
done for him. Testimony from both races, (a symposium), Independ.
43:477.
J. L. M. Curry, Difficulties, complications and limitations connected with
the education of the Negro. (Trustees of the John F. Slater Fund— oc-
casional papers, No. 5), Baltimore, 1895, pp. 23, 8 o.
VI
J. E. Rankin, Industrial Education for the African, Independ., April 2,
1891, vol. 43, p. 3., Educ. 5:636.
E. Deloney, The South Demands More Negro Labor, De Bow, 25:491.
W. E. B. DaBois, The Philadelphia Negro, 520 pp., Ginn & Co., 1896.
Education of Negroes, New World, 9:625.
R. T. Ely, The Labor Movement in America, Crowell, 1890.
T. Thomas Fortune, Black and White, New York, 1884, 6 o., pp. 311, Fords
& Co.
Freedmen and Free Labor at the South, Christian Examiner, 76:344.
Freedmen and Southern Labor Problems, N. Ecclesiastical Review, 3:257.
Fieedmen's Bureau, Annual Reports of the Bureau for Refugees, Freed-
men, and Abandoned Lands, 1866-1872.
Henry Gannett, Occupations of the Negroes, (Trustees of the John F.
Slater Fund — occasional papers, No. 6), Baltimore, 1895, 8 o. pp. 16.
Hampton Negro Conference, Reports, 1897-1901.
Attitus G. Haygood, Our Brother in Black: his Freedom and his Future;
New York, 1881, 12 o.
Richard Humphreys, Founder of institute for colored youth, Barnard's
Am. Jour. Ed., 19:379.
Index to acts and resolutions of Congress, and to proclamations and exec-
utive orders of the President, from 1861-1867, relating to the refugees,
freedmen, etc., Washington.
Industrial Capacity of Negroes, Edinburg Review, 45:383.
Industrial Education of Negroes, Andover Review, 14:254.
Industrial Question, Lippincott, 59:266.
Industrial Training of Negroes, Our Day, 16:79,343.
Edward Ingle, The Negro in the District of Columbia, Baltimore, Johns
Hopkins Press, 1893, 8 o. pp. 110.
Wm. H. Johnson, Institute for colored youth, Philadelphia, 1857, Pa. Sen.
Jour. 5:387.
Wm. Preston Johnson, Industrial Education of the Negroes, Educ. 5:636.
U. S. Department of Labor, Bulletins:
Negroes in Cities, No. 10.
Negroes of Farmville, Va., No. 14.
Negroes of the Black Belt, No. 22.
Negroes of Sandy Spring, Md., No. 32.
Negro Land-holder of Georgia, No. 35.
The Negroes of Litwalton,Va.,No. 37.
The Sugar Plantation Negro, No. 38.
Labor and Capital: Investigation of Senate Committee (Blair committee)
5 vol., Washington, 1885.
E. Levasseur, The American Workman, translated by T. S. Adams, edited
by T. Marburg, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1900, 517 pp.
T. B. Macaulay, Social and Industrial Capacities of Negroes, critical and
misc. essays, 6:361-404.
G. E. McNeill, The Labor Movement, the Problem of Today; Boston and
New York, 1887, 670 pp.
S. C. Mitchell, Higher Education and the Negro, (in Report of U. S. Bureau
of Education, 1895, pt. 2, p. 1360.)
Mohonk Conference on the Negro Question. First conference held at
Lake Mohonk, N. Y., June 4-6, 1890, Boston, 1890. 8 o. pp. 144. Second
conference held at Lake Mohonk, N. Y., June 3-5, 1891, Boston, 1891, 8 o.
pp. 125.
VI 1
Negro as an Industrial Factor, Outlook, 62:31.
Negro as an Industrial Factor, International Monthly, 2:672.
Negro as a Mechanic, North American Review, 156:472.
Negro as He Really Is, World's Work, 2:848.
Negro Exodus. Report and Testimony of the Select Committee of the U.
S. Senate, etc., 3 vol., Washington.
Negro Exodus (1879) Atlantic, 44:222; Amer. Journal of Social Sci., 11:1,22;
International Review, 7:373, N.'Y. Nation, 28:242,386; Methodist Quar-
terly, 39:722; Bankers1 Monthly, 33:933.
Negro and Knights of Labor, Public Opinion, 2:1.
Negroes of the South Under Free Labor, Scribners, 21:830.
Negro in Southern Manufactures, Nation, 53:208.
Negro Labor, Tradesman (Chattanooga, Tenn.) July 15, 1889.
Negro Labor, Tradesman (Chattanooga, Tenn.) July 20, 1891.
Negro Manual Training Experiment in Texas, Independ., 47:5552.
Negro School at New Haven, Niles Register, 41:74, 85.
The Negro Skilled Laborer in the South, Tradesman (Chattanooga, Tenn )
Oct. 15, 1902.
Frederick Law Olmstead, A Journey in the Back Country, N. Y., 1856.
Frederick Law Olmstead, A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, N
Y., 1856.
Frederick Law Olmstead, A Journey Through Texas, N. Y., 1857.
Edward L. Pierce, The Freedmen at Port Royal, Atlantic, 12:291.
T. V. Powderly, Thirty Years of Labor, 1889, 693 pp.
Publications of Atlanta University, 7 numbers, Atlanta, 1896-1902.
Report of the Industrial Commission on the Relations and Conditions of
Capital and Labor, etc., 19 volumes, Washington, 1901. (Consult especial-
ly Volumes VII, VIII, XII, XIV and XVII.)
Report of the Condition of the Colored People of Cincinnati, 1835.
Albert Shaw, Negro Progress on the Tuskegee Plan, Rev. of Revs., 9:436.
Social Condition of Negroes Before the War, Conservative Review, 3:2il.
Southern Workman, 31 volumes, 1871-1902.
Henry Talbot, Manual Training, Art and the Negro, An Experiment. (Re-
printed from the Pub. Sell. Journal, 1894,) 16 o. pp. 34.
Trade Schools for Negroes, American, 19:353.
Of the Training of Black Men, Atlantic, 90:289.
Trustees of the John F. Slater Fund, Occasional Papers, 10 numbers, Bal-
timore, 1891-1897. (Nos. 1-6, partly reprinted in Report U. S. Bureau of
Education, 1891-95, chapter 32.)
Twenty-two Years' Work of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural In-
stitute, etc., Hampton, 1891, 8 o. pp. 57.
Booker T. Washington, Address delivered at the opening of Atlanta Ex-
position, Sept. 18, 1895, "Atlanta Constitution," Sept. 19, 1895.
Booker T. Washington, Future of the American Negro, Boston, 1897.
Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, N. Y., 1901.
Carroll D. Wright, The Industrial Evolution of the United States, Cha-
tauqua, 1897, 862 pp.
R. R. Wright, The Negro as an Inventor, A. M. E. Ch. Review, 2:397.
G. W. Williams, History of the Negro Race in America, 2 vol in one,
481-611 pp. Putnam's, 1882.
Vlll
TO THE READER.
This study is intended for the general reader, the student of so-
cial questions and the special student of the Negro problems.
The general reader will find the most interesting material in sec-
tions 2, 3, 5, 11, 14, 15, 21, 29, 30, 52, 53, 59, 61, 63 and 64. The chief
conclusions of the study may be found by a hurried reader in sec-
tions 14, 15, 52, 53, 59, and 63.
The stiident of social questions will find food for thought in
nearly all but the purely statistical parts; he is recommended to
sections 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27,
28, 29, 30, 36, 38, 40, 44, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 51, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61,
62, 63, and 64.
The special student of the Negro problems will find that the whole
study has been arranged primarily for his needs, and by aid of the
table of contents, index, and bibliography his use of the results
has been made as easy as possible. Errors will undoubtedly be
found and in such case the editor would be very thankful for spe-
cific information.
flntrotmction*
THE ATLANTA CONFERENCE.
For the past six years Atlanta University has conducted through its
annual Negro Conferences a series of studies into certain aspects of the
Negro problems. The results of these conferences put into pamphlet
form and distributed at a nominal price have been widely quoted and used.
Certainly the wisdom of President Horace Bumstead and Mr. George G.
Bradford in establishing the conferences, and the co-operation of grad-
uates of Atlanta, Fisk, Howard, Lincoln, Hampton, Tuskegee, Meharry,
and other institutions, has been amply vindicated and rewarded by the
collection and publication of much valuable material relating to the health
of Negroes, their social condition, their efforts at social reform, their bus-
iness enterprises, their institutions for higher training, and their common
schools.
Notwithstanding this success the further prosecution of these important
studies is greatly hampered by the lack of funds. With meagre appro-
priations for expenses, lack of clerical help and necessary apparatus, the
Conference cannot cope properly with the vast field of work before it.
Studies of this kind do not naturally appeal to the general public, but
rather to the interested few and to students. Nevertheless there ought to
be growing in this land a general conviction that a careful study of the
condition and needs of the Negro population — a study conducted with
scientific calm and accuracy, and removed so far as possible from preju-
dice or partisan bias — that such a study is necessary and worthy of liberal
support. The twelfth census has, let us hope, set at rest silly predictions
of the dying out of the Negro in any reasonably near future. The nine
million Negroes here in the land, increasing steadily at the rate of over
150,000 a year, are destined to be part and parcel of the Nation for many a
day if not forever. We must no longer guess at their condition, we must
know it. We must not experiment blindly and wildly, trusting to our pro-
verbial good luck, but like rational, civilized, philanthropic men, spend
time and money in finding what can be done before we attempt to do it.
Americans must learn that in social reform as well as in other rational
endeavors, wish and prejudice must be sternly guided by knowledge, else
it is bound to blunder, if not to fail.
We appeal therefore to those who think it worth while to study this, the
greatest group of social problems that has ever faced the Nation, for sub-
stantial aid and encouragement in the further prosecution of the work of
the Atlanta Conference.
THE NEGRO ARTIS \\
SOCIOLOGICAL WOJIK AT ATLANTA UNIVERSITY.
The work of social study at Atlanta University falls under six In tads:
.1. Sociological Laboratory.
The work in the department of Economics and History aims not only at
mental discipline but also at familiarizing students with the great eco-
nomic and social problems of the day. It is hoped that thus they may be
able to apply broad and careful knowledge to the solution of the many
intricate social questions affecting the Negro in the South. The depart-
ment aims, therefore, at training in good, intelligent citizenship; at a
thorough comprehension of the chief problems of wealth, work and wag< s;
at a fair knowledge of the objects and methods of social reform; and with
the more advanced students . at special research work In the great Labora-
tory of social phenomena, which surrounds this institution.
The more advanced courses of study now offered Include:
Modern European History (1 year).
Economics (2 terms ,
Political Science 1 1 term >.
Sociology, with special reference t<> the Negro (1 \ ear .
instruction ie given bj means of a Bp'ecial class room Library with
reference books and the Leading text t>ooks, the arranging <>f charts
and tabular work, the presentation at regular Intervals of special reports
and theses, and field work in and about the city of Atlanta for the obser-
vation of economic and social conditions. The aim Is gradually to equip
a Library and Laboratory of sociology which will be of the highest value
for instruction and training. Contributions to the Laboratory for general
or specific objects are greatly needed.
II General Publication
Members of the Department of Sociology <>i this Institution have, from
time to time, published the following studies and essays <>n various pha
of the Negro problem:
Suppression of the Slave Trade, 836 pp., Longmans, L896.
The Philadelphia Negro, 520 pp., Ginn A Co., L899.
The Negroes of Farmville, Va., 38 pp., Bulletin U. S. Department of
Labor, January, I
Condition of the Negro in Various Cities, L12 pp., Bulletin l . s. Depart-
ment of Labor, May, L807.
The Negro in the Black Belt, IT pp.. Bulletin U. S. Department of Labor,
May. L8
The Study of the Negro Problems, 21 pp.. Publications of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, No. 219.
Strivings of the Negro People, Atlantic Monthly, August, L896.
A Negro Schoolmaster in the New South. Atlantic Monthly, January, L899.
Th«- Negro and Crime, Independent, May Is- l^(.»*>.
H \ I ATM \\\i \l. CONFERENCE 3
The Conservation of Races, L6pp., Publications of the American Negro
Academy, No. 2.
The American Negro al Paris, Review of Reviews, November, L900.
Careers Open to College-bred Negroes, II pp.. Nashville, ls99.
The Suffrage Fighl In Georgia, Independent, November 80, L899.
TheTwelftb Census and tbe Negro Problems, Southern Workman, May,
1900.
The Evolutiou of Negro Leadership, (a review of Washington's "Up
from Slavery,") Dial, July 16, L901.
The Storm and Stress in the Black World, (a review of Thomas1 "Amer-
ican Negro,") Dial, April 16, L901.
The Savings of Black Georgia, Outlook, September It. L901.
The Relation of the Negroes to the Whites in the South, Publications of
American Academy of Social and Political Science, No. 311. (.Reprinted
in America's Race Problems, McClure, Phillips A Co., 1901.)
The Negro Land-holder In Georgia, !.*{<• pp.. Bulletin of U. S. Depart-
ment of Labor, No. 36.
The Negro as ll< Really Is. WorloVs Work, June, 1901.
The Freed men's Bureau, Atlantic Monthly, March. L801.
The Spawn of Slavery, Missionary Review, October, L901.
The Religion of the American Negro, New World December, 1(.»<mi.
Results of Ten Tuskegee. Conferences, Harper's Weekly, June 22, L901.
The Burden of Negro Schooling, Independent, July is. L901.
The Housing of tlir Negro, Southern Workman, July, September, October,
November, December, L 901, and February, L902.
The Opening of the Library, Independent, Aprils, 1902.
Of the Training of Black Men, Atlantic Monthly, September, L902.
Hopeful Signs for the Negro, Advance, October I. 1902.
C. University Publications.
The regular University publications are as follows :
Annual Catalogue, L870-1902.
Bulletin of Atlanta University, 4 pp., monthly ; 25 cents per year.
No. 1. Mortality of Negroes, 5] pp., 1896, (oul of print.)
No. 2. Social and Physical Condition of Negroes, 86 pp., L897; 50cents.
No. 3. Some Efforts of American Negroes for Social Betterment, Q6 pp.,
1898; 50 cents.
No. 4. The Negro in Business, 7s pp., 1899; 50 cents.
No. 5. The College-Bred Negro,] L5 pp., 1900, (out of print ;) 2nd edition.
abridged, 1902, 32 pp., 25 cents.
No. 6. The Negro Common School, 120 pp., 11301 ; 25 cents.
No. 7. The Negro Artisan, 1902; 25 cents.
Select Bibliography of the American Negro, for general readers, second
revised edition, 1901; 10 cents.
Atlanta University Leaflets, 15 numbers; free.
D. Bureau of Information.
The Corresponding Secretary of the Atlanta Conference undertakes,
upon request, to furnish correspondents with information upon any phases
*
<
4 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
of the Negro problem, so far as he is able ; or he points out such sources as
exist from which accurate data may be obtained. No charge is made for
this work except for actual expenses incurred. During the past years the
United States Government, professors in several Northern and Southern
institutions, students of sociology, philanthropic societies and workers,
and many private persons, have taken advantage of this bureau. A
column of "Notes and Queries" is published monthly in the Bulletin.
E. The Lecture Bureau.
The department has for some time furnished lectures on various subjects
connected with the history and condition of the American Negro, and upon
other sociological and historical subjects. School duties do not admit of
the acceptance of all invitations, but so far as possible we are glad to ex-
tend this part of the work. Expenses must in all cases be paid and usually
a small honorarium in addition, although this latter is often contributed
to any worthy cause. During the past few years lectures have been given
before the -
Twentieth Century Club of Boston.
The Unitarian Club of New York.
The American Academy of Political and Social Science.
The American Society for the Extension of University Teaching.
The American Negro Academy.
Hampton Institute.
Fisk University.
Cooper Union, New York City, etc., etc.
F. The Annual Meeting of the Conference.
The results of each annual investigation are first reported in May of
each year to a meeting of the Negro conference which assembles at the
University. It is then discussed and afterward edited and printed the
following fall. The attendance at these conferences is largely made up of
local city Negroes, although Southern whites are always on the programme
and visitors from abroad are usually present. An attempt is made here
especially to encourage practical movements for social betterment, and
many such enterprises have had their inception here.
Proceedings of the Seventh Atlanta Conference.
Tuesday, May 27, at 10:00 a. m.
Symposium: "The Condition of Negro Artisans."
Texas — Mr. Elijah H. Holmes, of Prairie View State Normal School,
Texas.
Memphis, Tenn. — Mr. H. N. Lee, of LeMoyne Institute, Tennessee.
Atlanta, Ga. — Mr. Alexander Hamilton, Jr., of the firm of Hamilton &
Son, building contractors.
At 3 :30 p. m.
Miss Lucy C. Laney, of Haines Institute, Ga., presiding.
Subject: "Boy and Girl Artisans in the Home."
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Music by Orphans from the Carrie Steele Orphanage.
1. Music.
2. Opening- Remarks, by the Chairman.
3. Symposium of Five-minute Speeches.
Mrs. M. A. Ford, of Morris Brown College.
Miss E. O. Werden, of Spelman Seminary.
Miss R. L. Wolfe, of the Atlanta Kindergarten.
Mrs. J. R. Porter, President of the Woman's Club.
4. Music.
5. Symposium of Five-minute Speeches.
Mrs. Isabella W. Parks, of South Atlanta.
Mrs. S. S. Butler, of Atlanta.
Mrs. Geo. W. White, of Atlanta.
Miss Anna E. Hall, Deaconess, M. E. Church.
6. Artisans in the Homes: Answers from 600 school children,
By the Secretary.
7. Music.
At 8:00 p. m.
Subject: "The Negro Artisan."
Opening Remarks — President Horace Bumstead.
The Industrial Settlement — Mr. William E. Benson, of the Dixie In-
dustrial Company, Kowaliga, Ala.
The Trades School — Major R. R. Moton, of Hampton Institute, Va.
The Higher Education and the Industries — President J. G. Merrill, of
Fisk University, Tenn.
The Trades Union Movement — Hon. C. C. Houston, Secretary of the
State Federation of Labor and member of the Legislature of Geor-
gia.
Closing Remarks — Mr. Booker T. Washington, of Tuskegee Institute,
Ala.
Among other things Mr. Washington said:
uFor several years I have watched with keen interest and appreciation
the work of these annual conferences, and the whole country should be
grateful to this institution for the painstaking and systematic manner
with which it has developed from year to year a series of facts which are
proving most vital and helpful to the interests of our nation. The work
that Dr. DuBois is doing will stand for years as a monument to his ability,
wisdom and faithfulness.
"I hope you will excuse me if, for a few moments, I seek to discuss the
occupation of our people in a broader way than the narrower one suggested
by the subject under discussion at this conference. I want to say as a
foundation for my remarks that my belief is that the proper way to begin
in the development of a race would be the same as with an individual.
The proper place to begin to develop an individual is just where the indi-
vidual is. We can begin in no wiser way to develop any race than by
beginning just where that race finds itself at the moment of beginning.
6 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
*
"I think you will agree with me when I assert that by far the largest
proportion of our people are engaged in some form of agriculture, are en-
gaged in the cultivation of the soil. Since the hulk of our people are to
live out of the soil, are accustomed to agricultural life, it is my opinion
that agriculture should be made the chief industry for our people, at least
for a long period of years. The Negro should be encouraged to own and
cultivate the soil; in a word, as a rule, should be encouraged to remain in
the country districts. The Negro is at his best in most cases when in agri-
cultural life ; in too many cases he is at his worst in contact with city life.
Of course, out of agriculture, the fundamental industry, will grow most,
if not all, of the most skilled occupations with which, I understand, this
conference is now specifically dealing.
uIn order that the Negro may be induced to remain in the country dis-
tricts, we should see to it that life is made not only bearable and sate but
attractive and comfortable. We cannot expect our- people to remain In
the country when they can send their children to school but lour months
in a year, when by moving to a city they can keep their children in school
eight or nine months. Nor can we expect them to remain in t he country
districts unless they are are assured of the same protection of life and
property that is guaranteed to them in the cities. Nor can we expect t hem
to remain upon the soil it we are to let them understand that by agricul-
ture is meant simply drudgery, ignorance and unskilled met hods of labor.
From tin- beginning of time agriculture has constituted the main founda-
tion upon which all races have grown strong and useful.
u Our knowledge 4 must be harnessed to the things of real life. I want to
see more of our educated young men and women take hold in a downright,
earnest, practical manner of tic- fundamental, primary, wealth -producing
occupations that constitute the prosperity of every people. I would much
rather see a young colored man graduate from college and go out and start
a truck -aiden. a dairy farm, or conduct a cotton plantation, and thus
become a first-hand producer of wealth, rather than a parasite Living upon
the wealth originally produced by others, seeking uncertain and unsatis-
factory livelihood iii temporary and questionable positions. I repeat, do
not seek positions but create positions. All people who gained wealth and
recognition have come up through the soil and have given attention to
these fundamental wealth -producing industries. The young man who
goes out into the forest, fells a tree and produces a wagon is the one w ho
has added something to the wealth of the community in which he Lives.
"I emphasize the ownership and cultivation of the soil, because land is
cheaper in the South than it will ever be again, and if we do not get hold
of a portion of the soil and use it in Laying a foundation for our civilization
now, I fear we will not get hold of it in the future. In the country the
Negro and his children are free, as a rule, from the temptations which
drag so many down in the large cities. The Negro is t here always free,
too, from the severe competition which, in so many cases, discourages and
overmasters him.
"The fundamental industry of agriculture will enable us to lay the foun-
dation upon which will grow wealth, habits of thrift, economy, and will
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 7
enable us in the end to give our children the best education and develop-
ment.
**********
"In the case of the Negro artisan we should be careful to follow the same
course as in regard to agriculture. We should find out the kind of skilled
labor in which the Negro is most likely to find employment; the kind of
skilled labor in greatest demand. After we find out the kind for which the
Negro is best fitted, and the kind which offers the greatest encouragements.
I should say emphasize in that direction. If the greatest demand is in the
direction of wood work, emphasize wood work. If the greatest demand is
in the direction of iron work, emphasize Ironwork. If in some form of
leather, emphasize Leather work. If in brick masonry or plastering, em-
phasize these.
"Many of the trades which were formerly in our hands have in too large
a degree slipped from us. not that there was a special feeling against our
working at these trades on the part of the native Southern white. man, but
because, I fear, we failed to fit ourselves to perform the service in the
very best manner. We must not only have carpenters but architects; we
must not only have persons who can do the work with the hand, but per-
sons at the same time who can plan the work witli the brain.
UI have great faith in the value of all the industries to which I have
referred, not only because of their economic value, but because of their
mental and moral value.
uGo into the North or South and ask to have pointed out to you the most
prosperous and reliable colored man in that community, and in the
majority of cases, I believe, you will have pointed out to you a Negro who
has learned a trade; and, in many cases, you will find that this trade was
learned during the days of slavery.
ft********ft
uLater on, I hope that this conference will And it in its way to take up
the question of domestic service. This is one which we should no longer
blink at, but should face squarely. We should do the proper thing re-
gardless of criticism, which will enable our people to hold on to all forms
o* domestic service in the South.
**********
"If we are wise and patient, we can use all forms of service in a way, not
only to lift ourselves up, but to bind us eternally in fellowship and good
will to the Southern white man by whose side we must live for all time."
After adopting the following resolutions the Conference adjourned:
The Seventh Atlanta Conference, in considering the situation of Negro
artisans, has come to the following conclusions:
1. While the Negro artisans are still losing strength in many commu-
nities, they are beginning to gain in others, and it would seem as if the
tide against them was turning and that concerted action and intelligent
preparation would before long restore and increase the prestige of skilled
i^egro working men.
8 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
2. To realize this hope It is necessary, first, to preserve what skill we
have, and. secondly, to enter new fields. From keeping our present efficiency
we are hindered by the lack of a proper apprentice system, and from en-
tering new trades we are stopped by the opposition of organized labor in
trades unions. The South has never had a careful apprentice system, and
it must build it. Skilled Negro workmen must never rest satisfied until
they have imparted their skill to other and younger men. and parents
must remember that an excellent career for a child may he found by ap-
prenticing him to a good carpenter or a first-class unison.
In trades or places where Negro workmen are numerous and efficient,
trades unions admil and defend them. Where they are few in Dumber
they are proscribed and barred by these same unions, no matter what
their skill or individual desert. This is unjust and wrong. V should
sympathize with and aid tic Labor movement where it is fair and honest
with all men. and sin add publish t<» the world all ca-< >s of proscription and
injustic
l. We especially commend Trades Schools as a means of Imparting
skill to V and manual training as a means of general education.
We believe the movements in this line, especially in tic last ten years,
have been of Inestimable benefit to the freedmen » ^on*,.
:.. \v«- believe that, in the future, industrial settlements o oes
properly guided, financiered and « trolled, offer peculiarly promising
fields of enterprise for a philanthropy based on solid business principles.
6. Finally, we insist that no permanent advance in industrial or other
lin.--e.-in be made without three great indirect helps: Public Schools,
Agencies f< 3 tal Betterment, and Colleges for Higher Training: illit-
eracy must be w iped out. savings i>;ink<. Libraries and rescue agencies i s-
tablished, and, above all, black men <>i Ugh! and Leading, College-bred
men, must Detrained to guide and Lead the millions of this struggling
race along paths <»r intelligent and helpful co-op. -ration.
1.. M. II ER8B \\\ . J
\v. A.. Hunt, i ommittee on Resolutions.
W. E. B. Di Boia v
Thi' Neffro Artisan.
1. Scope and Method of tJu Inquiry. Th«- present study is at one- a con-
tinuation of the Investigations of Atlanta University, in both economic
and educational lines, and is a Btudy of skilled work and the training of
black boys for it. The peculiar difficulty of most social Btudies is the
fact that the available information must usually come from interested
persons. This has been felt in former Atlanta studies: Negroes had to
be asked about their own social condition, business men about their busi-
ness and college-bred men about their work. To Borne extent, to be sure,
this testimony has been corroborate d by observation and the testimony of
third parties, but the general fact remains that men and women with prej-
udices and mixed motives must give US the information used, Dot only in
81 \ I \ill \NM \l. CONFEREE I 9
these but in all social Inquiries. In this Investigation there are, however,
some peculiar advantages, owing chiefly to the faci thai it has hern pos-
sible to get concurrent testimony from three entirely distinct sources on
practically the Bame points. The condition ol a modern working-man is
beg I known by himself, liis fellow- workmen, and his employer. If to this
i- added the testimony of the community surrounding him. and a study of
his social history and education, we have-as complete a picture as one
could expect. Ill t l)i> >t ud\'. the following schedule of <|l|est inns Jias lire) I
answered by about 1,800 Negro skilled laborers, living for the most part in
the State of < teorgia :
1. Name
2. Address
8. A.ge: U. 20 20 to 80 80to40 40orover
4. Sex: M F
Conjugal condition: S M W Sep
6. Trad.'
( For himself Owns tools Sires others
Works
j l". >r w ... Invests other capital Foreman
years engaged
llnw learned
Attended trade school llnw long Where
7. Wages, per Time unoccupied per year
s. Relation to whites :
Wages of whites in same work
Works with whites
Works primarily for whites
works primarily for Negroes
9. Trades Union : Belongs to what Union?
Do whites belong?
Can you join with whites?
10. Education: Read Write Higher training
11. Own real estate : Yea No
12. Facts
Besides this, the following schedule was placed in the hands of corres-
pondents of this Conference — mostly College-bred Negroes and proi
sional men — and they were asked to study their particular communities.
Reports were thus received from 32 states, besides Ontario, Costa Rica
and Porto Rica :
THE ARTISAN.
An Artisan is a skilled laborer— a person who works with his hands but has attained a degree
of skill and efficiency above that of an ordinary manual laborer— as, for instance, carpenters,
masons, engineers, blacksmiths, etc. Omit barbers, ordinary laborers in factories, who do no skilled
work, etc.
1. Name of Place., State
2. Are there many Negro skilled laborers here!
10 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
3. What trades do they follow chiefly?
4. What trades did they follow chiefly 20 years ago?
5. Write here the names, addresses and trades of the leading Negro
Artisans.
6. Is the Negro gaining or losing in skilled work?
7. If he is losing, is this due to his inefficiency or to the great growth of
the South in industrial lines?
8. What results can you see of the industrial school training? Are
young men entering the trades?
9. What are the chief obstacles which the Negro meets in entering the
trades?
10. Is there any discrimination in wages?
11. Can Negroes join the trades unions? Do they join?
12. Writ*- here a short history of Negro artisans in your community — the
number and condition before the war, noted eases sineo the
war, etc.
Every trades union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
and all others that could he reached, were asked to answer the following
questions. Ninety -seven answered ; eleven made no replies after repeated
inquiries :
1. Name of Onion.
2. .May Negroes join t his Union?
3. If not. how is their membership prevented ?
4. If they may join, how many Negro members have you at present '.'
5. How many bad you in 1S(.K)?
<;. How many Negro applicants have been refused admission to your
knowledge ?
7. ( 'an local Unions refuse to admit a Negro If he Is otherwise qualified ?
8. Can local Unions refuse to recognize the travelling card of a Negro
1 'nion man ?
'.». Do Negroes make good workmen?
10. What are the chief objections to admitting them to membership in
your Union?
11. Are these objections likely to be overcome in time ?
12. General observations (add here any facts or opinions you may wish.
They will lie held as strict 1 y con fid en tab if you so desire).
The central labor bodies in every city and town of the Union were sent,
the following schedule of questions. Two hundred of these, representing
30 states, answered ■
1. Name of ( 'ouncil or Assembly.
2. Are there any Unions affiliated with you which are composed of
Negro members ?
3. If so, how many, and what is their membership ?
4. Are there any Negro members in any of the local Unions ?
5. If so, how many, and in which Unions ?
6. Do any of the local Unions bar Negroes from membership ?
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 11
7. Have Negro applicants ever been refused admission to any of the
Unions ?
8. Do local Unions ever refuse to recognize the travelling card of a Ne-
gro mechanic ?
9. Do Negroes make good workmen in any of the trades? In which
trades are they the best?
10. What are the chief objections usually raised against admitting them
to Trades Unions ?
11. Are these objections likely to disapper in time ?
12. General observations (add here any facts or opinions you may wish.
They will be held as strictly confldental, if you so desire.)
To the state federations a letter was sent asking for whatever' general
information was available on the subject. Most of them answered these
requests.
To the industrial schools the following schedule was sent. Many of the
schools were not able to answer definitely, and some returned no answer
at all. The principal schools reported :
1. Name of institution.
2. Address.
3. How many of your graduates or former students are earning a living
entirely as artisans ?
4. How many of the above mentioned are:
Carpenters, Dressmakers, Tailors,
Blacksmiths, Iron and steel workers,
Brickmakers, shoemakers,
Masons, Painters,
Engineers, Plasterers,
Firemen, Coopers,
5. Where are most of these artisans located at present ?
6. How many of the rest of your graduates or former students are earn-
ing a living partially as artisans ?
7. What trades and other work do they usually combine ?
8. What difficulties do your graduates meet in obtaining work as
artisans ?
9. Do they usually join Trades Unions ?
10. How many of them teach industries in schools ?
11. Can you furnish us with a list of your graduates from industrial
courses, with occupations and addresses ?
In 1889 and 1891, the Chattanooga Tradesman made interesting and ex-
haustive studies of skilled Negro labor in the South. The Corresponding
Secretary of the Conference invited the Editors of the Tradesman to co-
operate with Atlanta University in a third investigation, in 1902, each
bearing half the expense. The Department of Sociology of the University
prepared the following schedule, which was distributed by the Tradesman
and answered by business establishments all over the Southern States:
12 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
THE NEGRO SKILLED LABORER.
An Inquiry conducted by THE TRADESMAN (Chattanooga, Tenn.,) in con-
junction with the Sociological Department of Atlanta University.
1. Name of firm..
2. Address (street, city and state)
3. Kind of business
4. Total number of employees of all kinds
5. Total number of Negro employees
6. How many of the Negroes are skilled or semi-skilled workmen ?
7. What kinds of skilled work do the Negroes do ?
8. What wages do the Negroes receive ?
9. How do they compare in efficiency with white workmen ?
10. Are the Negro workmen improving in efficiency ?'
11. How much education have your Negro workmen received ?
12. What effect has this education had ?
13. Shall you continue to employ skilled Negro workmen ?
The Superintendents of Education in all the Southern States were con-
sulted as to manual training in the schools, and most of them answered
the inquiries.
Six hundred children in the public schools of Atlanta, Ga., were asked
to write out answers to the following questions :
1. What kinds of work do you do at home ?
Do you sew? Do you sweep?
Do you cook? Do you tend chickens?
Do you wash? Do you work in the garden?
Do you iron? Do you keep flowers?
2. Have you got a hammer and saw at home ?
Do you use them?
Have you any other tools at home?
3. Do you ever make little ornaments to hang on the walls, or to put
anywhere in the house ?
4. What do you like to do best ?
5. What are you going to do when you grow up ?
6.. How old are you ?
7. What is your name ?
8. Where do you live ?
Finally such available information was collected as could be found in
the United States' census, the reports of the Bureau of Education, and
other sources as indicated in the bibliography. On the whole the collected
information on which this study is based is probably more complete than
in the case of any of the previous studies.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 13
2. The Afite-bellum Artisan. Before the civil war both slaves and free
Negroes were artisans to some extent. It is difficult to-day, however, to
determine just what proportion could do skilled work and how their work
would compare with that of artisans of to-day. We are told that in Vir-
ginia*:
uThe county records of the seventeenth century reveal the presence of
many Negro mechanics in the colony during that period, this being espec-
ially the case with carpenters and coopers. This was what might be ex-
pected. The slave was inferior in skill, but the ordinary mechanical needs
of the plantation did not demand the highest aptitude. The fact that the
African was a servant for life was an advantage covering many deficien-
cies; nevertheless, it is significant that large slaveholders like Colonel
Byrd and Colonel Fitzhugh should have gone to the inconvenience and
expense of importing English handicraftsmen who were skilled in the
very trades in which it is certain that several of the Negroes belonging to
these planters had been specially trained. It shows the low estimate in
which the planters held the knowledge of their slaves regarding the higher
branches of mechanical work."
As examples of slave mechanics it is stated that among the slaves of the
first Robert Beverly was a carpenter valued at £30, and that Ralph Worm-
eley, of Middlesex county, owned a cooper and a carpenter each valued at
<£35. Colonel William Byrd mentions the use of Negroes in iron mining
in 1732. t In New Jersey slaves were employed as miners, iron-workers,
saw-mill hands, house and ship-carpenters, wheelwrights, coopers, tan-
ners, shoemakers, millers and bakers, among other employments,** before
the Revolutionary war. As early as 1708 there were enough slave me-
chanics in Pennsylvania to make the freemen feel their competition se-
verely.* In Massachusetts and other states we hear of an occasional ar-
tisan.
During the early part of the 19th century the Negro artisans increased.
In the District of Columbia many "were superior mechanics .... Ben-
jamin Banneker. the Negro Astronomer, assisting in surveying the Dis-
trict in 1791"++ Olmsted, in his journeys through the slave states, just be-
fore the civil war, found slave artisans in all the states :+++ In Virginia they
worked in tobacco factories, ran steamboats, made barrels, etc. On a
South Carolina plantation he was told by the master that the Negro me-
chanics "exercised as much skill and ingenuity as the ordinary mechanics
that he was used to employ in New England." In Charleston and some
other places they were employed in cotton factories. In Alabama he saw
a black carpenter— a careful and accurate calculator and excellent work-
*Bruce: Economic History of Virginia in the 17th century, ii. pp. 405-6.
fWritings, edited by Bassett, pp. 345, 349, 360.
**Cooley: Slavery in New Jersey.
^Philadelphia Negro, p. 141 ff.
tflngle: Negro in District of Columbia.
tt+Olmsted: Seaboard Slaves States, Journey Through Texas, and Journey in the Back Country.
14 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
man ; he was bought for $2,000. In Louisiana he was told that master
mechanics often bought up slave mechanics and acted as contractors. In
Kentucky the slaves worked in factories for hemp-bagging, and in iron
works on the Cumberland river, f and also in tobacco factories. In the
newspapers advertisements for runaway mechanics were often seen, as,
for instance a blacksmith in Texas, uvery smart," a mason in Virginia,
etc. In Mobile an advertisement read "good blacksmiths and horse-shoers
for sale on reasonable terms."
An ex-governor of Mississippi says :*
"Prior to the war there were a large number of Negro mechanics in the
Southern States; many of them were expert blacksmiths, wheelwrights,
wagon-makers, brick-masons, carpenters, plasterers, painters and shoe-
makers. They became masters of their respective trades by reason of
sulHciently long service under the control and direction of expert white
mechanics. During the existence of slavery the contract for qualifying
the Negro as a mechanic was made between his owner and the master
workman."
Such slaves were especially valuable and formed usually a privileged
class, with a large degree of freedom. They were very often hired out by
their masters and sometimes hired their own time although this latter
practice was frowned upon as giving slaves too much freedom and nearly
all states forbade it by law; although some, like Georgia, permitted the
custom in certain cities. In all cases the slave mechanic was encouraged
to do good work by extra wages which went into his own pocket. For in-
stance, in the semi-skilled work of the Tobacco-factories, the Virginia
master received from $150-$200 annually for his slave and the employer
fed him; but the slave, by extra work, could earn for himself $5 or
more a month. So carpenters somel imes received as much as $2 a day for
their masters, and then were given the chance to earn more for themselves.
In Texas nine slaves, some of them carpenters, were leased at an
average of $280.22 a year and probably earned something over this. If
the mechanic was a good workman and honest the master was tempted to
allow him to do as he pleased so Long as he paid the master a certain
yearly income. In this way there arose in nearly all Southern cities a
class of Negro clients free in everything but mime; they owned property,
reared families and often lived in comfort . In earlier times such mechan-
ics often bought themselves and families and became I'vcc. hut as the laws
began to bear hard on free Negroes they preferred to remain under the
patronage and nominal ownership of their white masters. In other cases
they migrated North and there worked out their freedom, sending back
stipulated sums. Many if not most of the noted leaders of the Negro in
earlier times belonged to this slave mechanic class, such as Vesey, Nat
Turner, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones. They were exposed neither
fNote the attempt to conduct the Baltimore Iron Works by slaves contributed by the shareholders,
Cf. X. Y. Nation Sept. 1, 1891, p. 171.
*Ex-Gov. Lowry in North American Review, 156 : 472.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 15
to the corrupting privileges of the house servants nor to the blighting
tyranny of field work and had large opportunity for self development .
Usually the laws did not hinder the slaves from learning trades. On
the other hand the laws against teaching slaves really hindered the
mechanics from attaining very great efficiency save in rare cases — they
must work by rule of thumb usually. North Carolina allowed slaves to
learn mathematical calculations, but not reading and writing; Georgia in
18H3 decreed that no one should permit a Negro uto transact business for
him in writing." Gradually such laws became more severe: Mississippi in
18H0 debarred slaves from printing offices and Georgia in 1845 declared that
slaves and free Negroes could not take contracts for building and repair-
ing houses, as mechanics or masons. t Restrictions, however, were not
always enforced, especially in the building trades, and the slave mechanic
flourished.
One obstacle he did encounter however from first to last and that was
the opposition of white mechanics. In 1708 the white mechanics of Penn-
sylvania protested against the hiring out of Negro mechanics and were
successful in getting acts passed to restrict the further importation of
slaves ft but they were disallowed in England. In 1722 they protested
again and the Legislative Assembly declared that the hiring of black me-
chanics was "dangerous and injurious to the republic and not to be sane
tioned."t Especially in border states was opposition fierce. In Maryland
the legislature was urged in 1837 to forbid free Negroes entirely from be-
ing artisans ; in 1840 a hill was reported to keep Negro labor out of tobacco
ware-houses; in 1844 petitions came to the legislature urging the prohibi-
tion of free black carpenters and taxing free black mechanics; and finally
in 1860 white mechanics urged a law barring free blacks "from pursuing
any mechanical branch of trade. "§ Mississippi mechanics told Olmsted
that they resented the competition of slaves and that one refused the free
services of three Negroes for six years as apprentices to his trade. In
Wilmington, N. C, 1857, a number of persons destroyed the frame work
of a new building erected by Negro carpenters and threatened to destroy all
edifices erected by Negro carpenters or mechanics. A public meeting was
called to denounce the act and offer a reward. The deed was charged upon
an organized association of 150 white workingmen. There were similar
disturbances in Virginia, and in South Carolina white mechanics about
this time were severely condemned by the newspapers as "enemies to our
peculiar institutions and formidable barriers to the success of our own
native mechanics. "||
In Ohio about 1820 to 1830 and thereafter, the white Mechanics' Societies
combined against Negroes. One master mechanic, President of the Me-
fStroud's Laws, p. 107.
tfCf. the Philadelphia Negro.
JCf. the Philadelphia Negro.
gBraekett: Negro in Maryland, pp. 106. 210.
||01mstcad: Seabord Slave States and Journey in the Back Country
16 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
chanical Association of Cincinnati, was publicly tried by the Society for
assisting a young Negro to learn a train. Such was the feeling that no
colored boy could find entrance as apprentice, and few workmen were al-
lowed to pursue their calling. One Negro cabinet-maker purchased his
freedom in Kentucky and came to Cincinnati ; for a long time he could
get no work; one Englishman employed him but the white workmen
struck. The black man was compelled to become a laborer until by saving-
he could take small contracts and hire black mechanics to help him.t In
Philadelphia the series of fearful riots against Negroes was due in large
part to the jealousy of white working men, and in Washington, D. C,
New York and other cities, riots and disorder on the part of white me-
chanics, aimed against Negroes, occurred several times.
There were, no doubt, many very efficient slave mechanics. One who
learned his trade from a slavett writes us an interesting and enthusiastic
account of the work of these men :
uDuring the days of slavery the Negro mechanic was a man of im-
portance. He was a most valuable slave to his master. He would always
sell for from two to three times as much in the market as the unskilled
slaveman. When a fine Negro mechanic was to be sold at public auction,
or private sale, the wealthy slave owners would vie with each other for
the prize and run tne bidding often up into high figures.
"The slave owners early saw the aptitude of the Negro to learn handi-
craft, and fully appreciating what vast importance and value this would
be to them (the masters) selected their brightest young slavemen and had
them taught in the different kinds of t fades. Hence on every Large plan-
tation you could find the Negro carpenter, blacksmith, brick and stone
mason. These trades comprehended and included much more in their
scope in those days than they do now. Carpentry was in its glory then.
What is done now by varied and complicated machinery was wrought
then by hand. The invention of the planing machine is an event within
the knowledge <>f many persons Living to-day. Most of our 'wood work-
ing'machinery has come into use long since the days of slavery. The
same work done now with the machine, was done then by hand. The
carpenter's chest of tools in slavery times was a very elaborate and ex-
pensive outfit. His lkit' not only include d all the tools that the average
carpenter carries now. hut also the tools for performing all the work done
by the various kinds of 'wood-working' machines. There is little oppor-
tunity for the carpenter of* to-day to acquire, or display, genius and skill
in his trade as could the artisan of old.
uOne only needs to go down South and examine hundreds of old Southern
mansions, and splendid old church edifices, still intact, to be convinced of
the fact of the cleverness of the Negro artisan, who constructed nine-
tenths of them, and many of them still provoke the admiration of all who
see them, and are not to be despised by the men of our day.
fCondition of People of Color. &c.
tfMr. J. D. Smith, Stationary Engineer, Chicago, 111.
•SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 17
"There are few, if any, of the carpenters of to-day who, if they had the
hand tools, could get out the 'stuff' and make one of those old style
massive panel doors, — who could work out by hand the mouldings, the
stiles, the mullions, etc., and build one of those windows, which are to be
found to-day in many of the churches and public buildings of the South;
all of which testify to the cleverness of the Negro's skill as artisan in the
broadest sense of the term. For the carpenter in those days was also the
'cabinet maker,' the wood turner, coffin maker, generally the pattern
maker, and the maker of most things made of wood. The Negro black-
smith held almost absolute sway in his line, which included the many
branches of forgery, and other trades which are now classified under dif-
ferent heads from that of the regular blacksmith. The blacksmith in the
days of slavery was expected to make any and everything wrought of iron.
He was to all intents and purposes the 'machine blacksmith,' 'horse-
shoer,' 'carriage and wagon ironer and trimmer,' 'gunsmith,' 'wheel-
wright' ; and often whittled out and ironed the hames, the plowstocks, and
the 'single trees' for the farmers, and did a hundred other things too nu-
merous to mention. They were experts at tempering edge tools, by what
is generally known as the water process. But many of them had secret pro-
cesses of their own for tempering tools which they guarded with zealous
care.
"It was the good fortune of your humble servant to have served his time
as an apprentice in a general blacksmithing shop, or shop of all work,
presided over by an ex-slave genius known throughout the state as a
'master mechanic' In slavery times this man hired his own time — pay-
ing his master a certain stipulated amount of money each year, and all he
made over and above that amount was his own.
"The Negro machinists were also becoming numerous before the down-
fall of slavery. The slave owners were generally the owners of all the
factories, machine shops, flour-mills, saw-mills, gin houses and threshing
machines. They owned all the railroads and the shops connected with
them. In all of these the white laborer and mechanic had been supplant-
ed almost entirely by the slave mechanics at the time of the breaking out
of the civil war. Many of the railroads in the South had their entire train
crews, except the conductors, made up of the slaves — including engineers
and firemen. The 'Georgia Central' had inaugrated just such a move-
ment, and had many Negro engineers on its locomotives and Negro ma-
chinists in its shops. So it will be seen at once that the liberation of the
slaves was also the salvation of the poor white man of the South. It
saved him from being completely ousted, as a laborer and a mechanic, by
the masters, to make place for the slaves whom they were having trained
for those positions. Yet, strange as it may seem to us now, the great mass
of poor white men in the South who were directly and indirectly affected
by the slave mechanic— being literally forced out of the business, took up
arms and fought against the abolition of slavery!
"While the poor whites and the masters were fighting, these same black
men were at home working to support those fighting for their slavery.
The Negro mechanic could be found, during the conflict, in the machine
18 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
shops, building engines and railroad cars; in the gun factories making
arms of all kinds for the soldiers ; in the various shops building wagons,
and making harness, bridles and saddles, for the armies of the South.
Negro engineers handled the throttle in many cases to haul the soldiers
to the front, whose success, in the struggle going on, meant continued
slavery to themselves and their people. All of the flour mills, and most
of every other kind of mill, of the South, was largely in charge of black
men.
"Much has been said of the new Negro for the new century, but with
all his training he will have to take a long stride in mechanical skill be-
fore he reaches the point of practical efficiency 'where the old Negro of
the old century left off. It was the good fortune of the writer once to fall
into the hands of an uncle who was master of what would now be
half a dozen distinct trades. He was generally known as a mill-wright,
or mill builder. A mill-wright now, is only a man who merely sets up
the machinery, and his work is now confined mostly to the hanging of
shafting, pulleys and belting. In the days of slavery the mill-wright had
to know how to construct everything about the mill, from foundation to
roofs. This uncle could take his men with their 'cross cut saws' and
'broad axes' and go into the forests, hew the timbers with which to
build the dams across the rivers and streams of water, to erect the 'mill
house' frames, get out all the necessary timber and lumber at the saw
mill. Then he would, without a sign of a drawing on paper, lay out and
cut every piece, every mortise and tenon, every brace and rafter with
their proper angles, &c, with perfect precision before they put the whole
together. I have seen my uncle go into the forest, fell a great tree, hew
out of it an immense stick or shaft from four feet to five feet in diameter,
and from twenty to thirty feet long, having as manji as sixteen to twenty
faces on its surface, or as they termed it, 'sixteen' and 'twenty square.'
He would then take it to the mill seat and mortise it, make the arms, and
all the intricate parts for a great "overshot" water wheel to drive the
huge mill machinery. This is a feat most difficult even for modern me-
chanics who have a thorough knowledge of mathematics and the laws of
mechanics.
"It is difficult for us to understand how those men with little or no knowl-
edgeof mathematics, or mechanical rules, could take a crude stick of
timber, shape it, and then go to work and cut out a huge screw and the
'Tap blocks' for those old style cotton presses."
To the above testimony we may append reports from various localities.
From Alabama we have a report from an artisan at Tuskegee who was 14
or 15 years old at the breaking out of the civil war. The Principal of the
Academic Department writes: "He is one of the most remarkable men
you ever saw. He is a fine tinner, shoemaker and harness maker, and un-
til the school grew so large held all these trades under his instruction.
He is an all-round tinker and can do anything from the repairing of a
watch to the mending of an umbrella." This man names 25 Negro
carpenters, 11 blacksmiths, 3 painters, 2 wheelwrights, 3 tin-
smiths, 2 tanners, 5 masons, and 14 shoemakers in Tuskegee and the
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 19
surrounding districts before the war. uTuskegee was a small place" he
writes "and you will wonder why such a number of mechanics were there.
The answer is this: there were a large number of wealthy white people
who lived in the county, owning large numbers of slaves, and there was
thus a lot of work all through the country districts; so they were sent out
to do the work." Of them in general he says: "The mechanics as a rule
lived more comfortably than any other class of the Negroes. A number
of them hired their time and made money; they wore good clothes and ate
better food than the other classes of colored people. In other words they
stood higher in the estimation of the white people than any of the others.
A very small number of them were allowed to live by themselves in out
of the way houses. All the master wanted of them was to stay on his
place and pay over their wages promptly. As a rule a white man contracted
for the jobs and overlooked the work. These white men often did not
know anything about the trade but had Negro foremen under them who
really carried on the work." From Georgia there are two reports: in Al-
bany, "Before the civil war all of the artisans in this section of the state
were colored men. Their masters compelled some of their slaves to learn
these trades so that they could do the necessary work around the planta-
tions." In Marshalville, on the other hand, "There were only two Negro
artisans here before the war." From West Virginia comes a report: there
were "but two skilled laborers" previous to the war in Bluefield. In
Chester, South Carolina, "Before the war there were practically no Negro
artisans." Charleston reports: "We have no accurate data to work on,
except experiences of ex-slaves, who seem to agree that though
the anti-bellum artisan was very proficient, yet he could not be compared
in point of intelligent service with the artisan of to-day." From Green-
ville we learn: "The Negro since the war has entered trades more largely
and in more varied lines. He is now in trades not open to him before
freedom." In Mississippi one town reports that "Before the war Negroes
were not artisans from choice, but many large planters would train some
of their slaves in carpentry or blacksmithing for plantation use. Then
the Negro did not have to ask, Does this trade pay? Now he does." An-
other locality says: "Before the war the principal trades were carpentry
and blacksmithing and were done by trained slaves." In Louisiana "Be-
fore and since the war Negroes have built some of the best structures" in
New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Olmsted noted many Negro mechanics
here. In Texas there were "few if any" Negro mechanics in Georgetown
before the war, while in Dallas they did "most of the skilled labor." In
Arkansas artisans were few. In Tennessee there were relatively more arti-
sans before the war than now in Nashville, fewer in Murfreesboro and
McMinnville and about the same number in Maryville. In the District of
Columbia there were many Negro artisans in ante-bellum times, as shown
by the directories :
20
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Negro Artisans in Washington, D. C.*
Carpenters
Blacksmiths
Brickmasons
Tailors
Shoemakers
Pasterers
Tanners
Pump-borers
Caulkers...
Masons
Coppersmiths ....
Bakers
Coopers
Cabinet-makers
Slaters
Machinists
Wheelwrights ...
Whitesmiths .....
Painters
Bookbinders
Tinners
1827
1830
1850
1855
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
1
3
3
7
1
1
1
3
1
1
• 1
1
1
1
1
2
1860
25
11
20
13
12
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
4
1
2
It is not altogether clear from such incomplete reports as to just what
the status or efficiency of the ante-bellum artisan was. It is clear that
there were some very efficient workmen and a large number who knew
something of the various trades. Still, we must remember that it would
be easy to exaggerate the ability and importance of the mass of these
workmen."
uThe South was lacking in manufactures, and used little machinery. Its
demand for skilled labor was npt large, but what demand existed was sup-
plied mainly by Negroes. Negro carpenters, plasterers, bricklayers, black-
smiths, wheelwrights, painters, harnessmakers, tanners, millers, weavers,
barrelmakers, basketmakers, shoemakers, chairmakers, coachmen, spin-
ners, seamstresses, housekeepers, gardeners, cooks, laundresses, embroid-
erers, maids of all work, were found in every community, and frequently
on a single"plantation. Skilled labor was more profitable than unskilled,
and' therefore every [slave was made as skillful as possible under a slave
system. 'Vp^
Here we have, perhaps, the best key to the situation in the South before
the war; there was little demand for skilled labor in the rather rude
economy of thevaverage slave plantation and the Negro did the most
of this. The slave artisan, however, was rather a jack-of-all-trades than
a mechanic in the modern sense of the term— he could build a barn, make
a barrel, mend an ^umbrella or shoe a horse. Exceptional slaves did the
work exceptionally well, but the average workman was poor, careless and
-Taken from the directories of these years and apt to he incomplete. Mr. L. M. Hershaw kindly
did this work.
fG. T. Winston in Annals of the American Academy, July, 1901, p. 111.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 21
ill-trained, and could not have earned living wages under modern com-
petitive conditions. While then it is perfectly true to say that the slave
was the artisan of the South before the war it is probably also true that
the average of workmanship was low and suited only to rough plantation
life. This does not, of course, gainsay for a moment the fact that on some
of the better plantations and in cities like Richmond, Savannah, Charles-
ton, and New Orleans, there were really first-class Negro workmen who
did good work.
3. Economics of Emancipation. Slaves and the lowest freemen were
the ordinary artisans of Greece and Rome, save only as the great artists
now and then descended from above as sculptors and architects. In me-
diaeval times mechanics were largely bondsmen and serfs and were pur-
chased and imported just as black carpenters formed a part of the ex-
penses of a Texas emigrant in 1850. While exceptional mechanics in the
middle ages acquired a degree of practical freedom just as the Negro me-
chanics of the South did, yet they were in earlier times serfs. Gradually
in free communities there arose a class of free mechanics, but in the rural
districts and in the households of the lords they still, for many genera-
tions, remained serfs. The rise and development of cities gave the freed
artisan his chance ; there, by defensive and offensive organization, he be-
came the leading factor in the economic and political development of the
new city-states. His development was rapid, and about the 14th century
a distinction between laborers and masters arose which has gradually
grown and changed into our modern problem of labor and capital.
A very interesting comparison between this development and the situa-
tion of the Southern freedmen might be drawn at some length. Even be-
fore the war a movement of slaves to the cities took place: first of house-
servants with the masters' families and then of slave artisans : if the slave
was a good artisan he was worth more hired out in the city than on the
country plantation. Moreover, the Negro greatly preferred to be in town
— he had more liberty, more associates, and more excitement. Probably
in time there would have been evolved in the South a class of city serf-
artisans and servants considerably removed from the mass of field-hands.
It is significant that the Georgia law prohibiting slaves from hiring their
time specifically excepted certain of the larger towns.
After emancipation came suddenly, in the midst of war and social up-
heaval, the first real economic question was the self-protection of freed
working men. There were three chief classes of them : the agricultural
laborers chiefly in the country districts, the house-servants in town and
country and the artisans who were rapidly migrating to town. The Freed-
man's Bureau undertook the temporary guardianship of the first class, the
second class easily passed from half -free service to half-servile freedom.
The third class, the artisans, however, met peculiar conditions. They had
always been used to working under the guardianship of a master and even
though that guardianship in some cases was but nominal yet it was of the
greatest value for protection. This soon became clear as the Negro freed
artisan set up business for himself: if there was a creditor to be sued he
could no longer bring suit in the name of an influential white master; if
22 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
there was a contract to be had, there was no responsible white patron to
answer for the good performance of the work. Nevertheless, these dif-
ferences were not strongly felt at first — the friendly patronage of the
former master was often voluntarily given the freedman and for some
years following the war the Negro mechanic still held undisputed sway.
Three occurrences, however, soon disturbed the situation:
(a). The competition of white mechanics.
(6). The efforts of the Negro for self-protection,
(c). The new industrial development of the South.
These changes were spread over a series of years and are not yet com-
plete, but they are the real explanation of certain facts which have hith-
erto been explained in false and inadequate ways. It has, for instance,
been said repeatedly that the Negro mechanic carelessly threw away his
monopoly of the Southern labor market and allowed the white mechanic
to supplant him. This is only partially true. To be sure, the ex-slave
was not alert, quick and ready to meet competition. His business hitherto
had been to do work but not to get work, save in exceptional cases. The
whole slave system of labor saved him from certain sorts of competition,
and when he was suddenly called to face the competition of white me-
chanics he was at a loss. His especial weakness was the lack of a hiring
contractor. His master or a white contractor had usually taken jobs and
hired him. The white contractor still hired him but there was no one now
to see that the contractor gave him fair wages. Indeed, as the white
mechanics pressed forward the only refuge of the Negro mechanic was
lower wages. There were a few Negro contractors here and there but they
again could only hope to maintain themselves by markedly underbidding
all competitors and attaining a certain standing in the community.
What the Negro mechanic needed then was social protection — the pro-
tection of law and order, perfectly fair judicial processes and that personal
power which is in the hands of all modern laboring classes in civilized
lands, viz., the right of suffrage. It has often been said that the freedman
throwing away his industrial opportunities after the war gave his ener-
gies to politics and succeeded in alienating his friends and exasperating
his enemies, and proving his inability to rule. It is doubtless true that
the freedman laid too much stress on the efficacy of political power in
making a straight road to real freedom. And undoubtedly, too, a bad
class of politicians, white and black, took advantage of this and made the
reconstruction Negro voter a hissing in the ears of the South. Notwith-
standing this the Negro was fundamentally right. If the whole class of
mechanics here, as in the Middle Age, had been without the suffrage and
half-free, the Negro would have had an equal chance with the white me-
chanic, and could have afforded to wait. But he saw himself coming
more and more into competition with men who had the right to vote, the
prestige of race and blood, the advantage of intimate relations with those
acquainted with the market and the demand. The Negro saw clearly
that his industrial rise depended, to an important degree, upon his political
power and he therefore sought that power. In this seeking he failed pri-
marily because of his own poor training, the uncompromising enmity and
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 23
apprehensions of his white neighbors and the selfishness and half-hearted
measures of his emancipators. The result was that the black artisan en-
tered the race heavily handicapped — the member of a proscribed class,
with restricted rights and privileges, without political and social power.
The result was of course that he was enabled to maintain himself only by
accepting low wages and keeping at all hazards the good-will of the com-
munity.
Even here however he could not wholly succeed. The industrial condi-
tions in the country were rapidly changing. Slowly but surely the new
industrial South began to arise and with it came new demands on the
mechanic. Now the Negro mechanic could not in the very nature of the
case meet these demands ; he knew how to do a few things by rule of
thumb — he could build one of the rambling old-fashioned southern man-
sions, he could build a slave shanty; he could construct a rough sugar
hogshead and resole a shoe ; in exceptional cases he could do even care-
ful and ingenious work in certain lines ; but as a rule he knew little of the
niceties of modern carpentry or iron-working, he knew practically noth-
ing of mills and machinery, very little about railroads — in fact he was es-
pecially ignorant in those very lines of mechanical and industrial develop-
ment in which the South has taken the longest strides in the last thirty
years. And if he was ignorant, who was to teach him ? Certainly not
his white fellow workmen, for they were his bitterest opponents because
of strong race-prejudice and because of the fact that the Negro works for
low wages. Apprenticeship to the older Negro mechanics was but partial-
ly successful for they could not teach what they had never learned. In
fact it was only through the lever of low wages that the Negro secured
any share in the new industries. By that means he was enabled to re-
place white laborers in many branches, but he thereby increased the en-
mity of trades-unions and labor-leaders. Such in brief was the compli-
cated effort of emancipation on the Negro artisan and one could not well
imagine a situation more difficult to remedy.
4. Occupations and Home-training. Manifestly it is necessary that any
constituent group of a great nation should first of all earn a living; that
is, they must have the ability and will to labor effectively and must re-
ceive enough for that labor to live decently and rear their children. Since
emancipation the Negro has had greater success in earning a living as a
free workingman than the nation had a right to expect. Nevertheless, the
situation to-day is not satisfactory. If we compare the occupations of
Negroes and native and foreign whites, we have :
24 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Occupations of American Negroes, 1890:
1. Agriculture, Fishing and Mining, 1,757,403, or 57%
2. Domestic and Personal Service, 963,080, or 31%
3. Manf . and Mechanical Industries, 172,970, or 6% m
4. Trade and Transportation, 145,717, or 5% m
5. Professional service, 33,994, or 1% i
Occupations of Native Whites * 1890:
1. Agriculture, Fishing and Mining, 5,122,613, or 47% ■
3. Manf. and Mechanical Industries, 2,067,135, or 19% ■
4. Trade and Transportation, 1,722,462, or 16% m
2. Domestic and Personal Service, 1,342,028, or 12% ■
5. Professional Service, 640,785, or 6% ■
Occupations of Foreign Whites, 1890:
3. Manf. and Mechanical Industries, 1,597,118, or 31%
2. Domestic and Personal Service, 1,375,067, or 27%
1. Agriculture, Fishing and Mining, 1,305,901, or 26%
4. Trade and Transportation, 712,558, or 14% an
5. Professional Service, 114,113, or 2% i
Dividing the Negro wage earners by sex we have :
Male Female Total
Professions 1.2% 0.9 1.1
Agriculture 63.4 44.0 57.2
Trade and Transportation 6.8 0.2 4.7
Manf. and Mechanical Industries 7.0 2.8 5.6
Domestic and Personal Service 21.6 52.1 31.4
100.0 100.0 100.0
There is manifestly here a strikingly small proportion of this race en-
gaged in trade, transportation, manufactures and the mechanical indus-
tries— about one-tenth, as compared with 45% of the foreign-born, and
40% of, all the native born. t If we take all the States of the Union we
have the following figures for 1890:
"Native whites, with native parents.
fWith native and foreign parents.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
25
NEGRO WAGE-EARNERS, 1890.
The United States.
1. Alabama
2. Alaska
3. Arizona
4. Arkansas
5. California
6. Colorado..
7. Connecticut
8. Delaware
9. Dis. of Columbia
10. Florida
lie Georgia
12. Idaho
13. Illinois
14. Indiana
15. Iowa
16. Kansas
17. Kentucky
18. Louisiana
19. Maine
20. Maryland
21. Massachusetts...
22. Michigan
23. Minnesota
24. Mississippi
25. Missouri
26. Montana
27. Nebraska
28. Nevada
29. New Hampshire
30. New Jersey
31. New Mexico
32. New York.
33. North Carolina..
34. North Dakota...
35. Ohio
36. Oklahoma
37. Oregon
38. Pennsylvania. ...
39. Rhode Island
40. South Carolina...
41. South Dakota....
42. Tennessee
43. Texas
44. Utah
45. Vermont
46. Virginia
47. Washington
48. West Virginia...
49. Wisconsin
50. Wyoming
All Occupations.
Males. Females.
2,101,233
192,322
1,091
86,861
4,301
2,765
4,064
9,334
21,238
46,302
246,913
83
19,270
14,648
3,615
13,889
76,411
159,180
409
63,166
7,593
5,065
1,719
198,531
43,940
971
3,741
130
242
16,143
971,890
23,272
148,370
146
28,085
958
536
37,534
2,337
186,714
284
121,016
123,395
298
322
169,343
902
11,478
855
563
101,085
"71
30,115
1,041
792
1,964
3,016
18,770
19,071
122,352
23
4,713
4,210
730
3,400
31,255
83,978
145
32,642
3,435
1,329
383
105,306
16,715
140
959
22
107
7,738
156
13,664
68,220
23
7,791
125
99
15,704
1,362
102,836
43
44,701
46,691
51
109
71,752
153
2,623
205
75
Trade and
Transportation.
Manufacturing
and Mechanical
Industries.
Males.
Females.
Males.
Females.
143,350
2,399
146,126
26,929
9,147
140
9,917
951
13
2,787
12
3,403
4
27
275
457
3
358
106
406
5
402
55
634
7
565
165
633
21
816
51
4.776
195
2,839
1,490
4,106
52
4,501
746
16,397
372
16,604
1,924
8
1,994
2
1,602
1
41
361
1,426
23
1,669
175
289
1
309
35
1,148
20
1,315
124
7,381
66
6,519
840
6,045
129
8,455
2,774
68
2
55
11
7,538
144
4,458
1,074
1,402
34
1,132
426
448
6
549
137
216
5
88
48
5,671
74
5,686
803
4,862
44
3,525
396
45
1
45
13
323
4
370
64
17
1
5
2
24
72
1,864
23
2,111
25
263
40
24
2,288
3
4,231
54
1,005
7,564
106
12,114
2,360
10
4
3,426
1
3,027
40
442
28
1
42
2
42
1
37
10
5,213
104
4,630
1,077
546
3
322
170
6,860
188
9,842
2,341
121
1
14
4
10,954
125
10,404
1,141
6,386
69
5,794
461
14
1
14
2
33
31
18,864
6
15,655
253
4,483
69
87
927
15
2,080
7
41
74
1
105
28
31
3
20
26
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
There is but one way of remedying such a distribution of occupations,
and that is by training children and youth into new callings. This is a diffi-
cult matter. The children get their ideals of life from home life primarily,
and among a people largely servants and farmers they would not naturally
turn to trades or merchandizing. Still, the city groups of Negroes are
changing rapidly and eagerly grasping after new ideals. To test the trend
of thinking among the growing children of a city group the Conference
questioned 600 of the Negro school children of Atlanta in such way as to
bring out the influence of home-training in preparing them for artisans.
There were 226 boys and 374 girls. Their ages were :
9 to 12 years 48
12 to 15 * " ...349
15 to 18 " 203
First they were asked what sort of work they were accustomed to do at
home. They answered:
1
BOYS.
| GIRLS.
Sewf
1
59
| 350
Cook
1
64
:m
Wash....
1
64
| 323
1
51
348
1
198
| 3(55
134
| 159
Work in
Garden |
129
| 142
118
| 282
fSome did two or more of these sorts of work.
On being asked as to the tools they had in the home they answered as
follows :
430 have hammer and saw at home.
121 have neither hammer nor saw.
11 have hammer.
1 has saw.
37 gave no answer.
322 use the hammer and saw.
108 do not use them.
420 have other tools besides the hammer and saw.
135 have no other kinds of tools.
45 gave no answer as to other kinds of tools.
294 of the girls and 114 of the boys were accustomed to making little or-
naments or articles for the home ; 82 of the girls and 110 of the boys never
did this. When questioned as to what they liked to do best, and what
they expected to be when grown up, they replied :
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
2T
What do you like to do best ?
BOYS.
To carpenter 37
To do garden-work 27
To "work" 25
To 'tend chickens 24
To sweep 16
To do housework 13
To play 11
To go to school 10
To drive 8
To draw 5
To make ornaments 5
To cook 5
To wash and iron 4
To play music 3
To sell goods 3
To deliver goods 3
To make money 1
"Don't know" 8
What are you going to do when grown
BOY
Artisans, 58.
Carpenters 15
Masons 9
Blacksmiths 5
Machinists 5
Railway Employees 5
Firemen 4
Tailors 3
Professional Men, 41.
Physicians 20
Teachers , 10
Musicians and Music Teachers... 6
Servants and Laborers, 18.
Porters 10
Butlers 2
Ice-cream-makers 2
Mercantile and Clerical Pursuits, 13.
Merchants 3
Canvassers 2
Commercial Men 2
Typewriters 2
Miscellaneous.
Farmer 1
"Help my race" . ... 1
"Work" 14
GIRLS.
To sew 193
To cook 76
To wash and iron 29
To keep house 22
To 'tend flowers 18
To sweep " 9
To play music ... 6
To 'tend chickens 5
To go to school 3
To read 3
To make lace 1
To nurse 1
To play 1
To sing 1
To "work" 5
Wheelwrights 3
Carriage-makers 2
Boiler-maker 1
Butcher 1
Shoemaker 1
Harnessmaker 1
A "trade" 3
Lawyers 3
Dentist 1
Pharmacist 1
Teamsters 2
Waiter 1
Cook 1
Book-keepers 2
Cotton-sampler 1
Draughtsman 1
"Gentleman" 1
"President" 1
"Don't know" 41
28 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
What are you going to do when grown ?
GIBLS.
Professional Pursuits, 158.
Teachers 85 Physician 1
Musicians and Music Teachers. ..65 Elocutionist 1
Missionary 2 Singer 1
Students 2 Writer 1
Dressmakers and Seamstresses 109.
Servants and Housework, 63.
Cooks 27 Housekeepers 5
Nurses 27 Laundresses 4
These answers reveal much of the home life and ideals of city Negroes:
first there is no doubt but what the boys and girls naturally like to "do"
something with the hands, the larger number of the boys wishing to be
artisans of some sort despite the fact that not one in fourteen of their
parents follow such callings. Outside of this they are of course attracted
by the successes they see — the neat carriage of the black physician, the
colored mail carrier, etc. At the same time it is clear they do not get at
home much chance to exercise their mechanical ingenuity — even the sim-
plest tools being unused in nearly half the homes. Here is the chance for
kindergarten work and manual training. These children have actual
contact with things less often than in the case of the average child. Much
of the world about them is unknown in the concrete and consequently
they have greater difficulty in grasping abstract ideas.
5. The Rise of Industrial Training. These facts have long been recognized
in the training of children. In the case of the Negroes there
were a number of mixed incentives to action which have not yet
clearly worked themselves out to-day. First there was the idea of work-
ing one's own way through school which many consider an excellent
moral tonic; secondly there was the idea of educating children in the
main according to the rank in life which they will in all probability oc-
cupy. This is a wide-spread theory of education and can be especially
traced in the European schools. Thirdly there was the scheme of using
student labor to reduce the expenses of maintaining the school; fourthly
there was the idea of training girls for house-work; fifthly there was the
idea of having the youth learn trades for future self-support, and sixthly
there was the idea of "learning by doing" — of using things to enforce ideas
and physical exercises to aid mental processes. All these distinct aspects
of education have been loosely lumped together in popular speech as "In-
dustrial Education" with considerable resulting confusion of thought.
Among the Northern free Negroes "Industrial" training found early
and earnest advocates. They meant by this some way of teaching black
boys trades in order that they might earn a decent livelihood amid the
economic proscription of the North.
As Mr. John W. Cromwell has lately said,t it is remarkable that in
nearly every one of the dozen or more Negro conventions from 1831 to
fSouthern Workman, July, 1902.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 29
1860 there was developed strong advocacy of trade schools for Negro
youths.
uIn the convention of 1831, assembled at Philadelphia, it was decided to
establish a college on the manual labor plan, as soon as twenty thousand
dollars should be raised. Rev. Samuel E. Cornish, an educated colored
Presbyterian clergyman, was appointed agent to secure funds. Within
one year three thousand dollars had been secured for the purpose. Arthur
Tappan, the philanthropist, bought several acres in the southern part of
New Haven, Conn., and had completed arrangements for erecting thereon
a building, fully equipped for the purpose, that would have done credit to
the city, the state and the country. But the people of New Haven and of
Connecticut were bitterly opposed to the location of such an institution in
their midst. In a mass meeting of the citizens, the mayor, aldermen and
councilmen leading, they declared this opposition in forcible and unmis-
takable language, even against the protest of so powerful a citizen as
Roger S. Baldwin, who subsequently defended the Amistad captives, and
became governor of the state and United States Senator. More than this,
the commonwealth subsequently passed a law prohibiting the establish-
ment of any institution of learning 'for the instruction of persons of color
of other states.'
uHalf a generation later, at the Colored National Convention of 1847, the
demand for a colored college, led by so talented and able a controversialist
as the late Alexander Crummell, noted even at that date for the same
polished, incisive style and elegant diction which marked his later years,
was offset by a firm and powerful constituency that successfully insisted
on industrial training having the prior claim.
"But it was at Rochester, N. Y., in 1853, at the most influential of all the
conventions in the history of the Negro race, that their approval of indus-
trial education what most emphatically given. At a time when 'Uncle
Tom's Cabin' and the name of its authoress, Harriet Beecher Stowe, were
on every tongue*, she, at the urgent request of friends in Great Britain,
was planning a trip to Europe. The convention, following the lead of
Frederick Douglass, commissioned her by an overwhelming voice to so-
licit funds in their name for the establishment of an industrial and agri-
cultural institution. In England her reception was most enthusiastic, and
her mission seems to have been favorably received. The enemies of the
Negro in this country severely criticised her course, but after a defence by
Frederick Douglas in his paper, 'The North Star,' copied in 'The Inde-
pendent,' then edited by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, the attacks ceased.
When Mrs. Stowe returned to America she had changed her mind respect-
ing the industrial education school, and the second attempt of the colored
people to found in the North what has since succeeded so well in the South,
came to naught.
"In the 'Autographs for Freedom,' published in 1854, Prof. Charles L.
Reason, who writes the introductory article, says:
"The free colored man at the North .... in one department of re-
formatory exertion .... feels that he has been neglected
He has failed to see a corresponding earnestness, according to the influence
30 T#E NEGRO ARTISAN
of abolitionists in the business world, in opening the avenues of industrial
labor to the proscribed youth of the land. This work, therefore, is evi-
dently left for himself to do. And he has laid his powers to the task. The
record of his conclusions was given at Rochester in July, and has become
already a part of history.
" 'Though shut out from the workshops of the country, he is determined
to make self-provision so as to triumph over the spirit of caste that would
keep him degraded. The utility of the industrial institution he would
erect must, he believes, commend itself to abolitionists.
" 'The usefulness, the self-respect and self-dependence — the combination
of intelligence and handicraft— the accumulation of the materials of
wealth, all referable to such an institution, present fair claims to the
assistance of the entire American people.'
"Mr. Reason proves himself a prophet in forecasting conditions familiar
to every observer. He adds:
" 'Whenever emancipation shall take place, immediate though it be, the
subjects of it, like many who now make up the so-called free population,
will be in what geologists call a transition state. The prejudice now felt
against them for bearing on their persons the brand of slaves, cannot die
out immediately. Severe trials will be their portion. The curse of a
'tainted race' must be expiated by almost miraculous proofs of ad-
vancement To fight the battle on the bare ground of abstract
principles will fail to give us complete victory The last weak
argument — that the Negro can never contribute anything to advance the
national character, must be 'nailed to the counter as base coin.' ....
Already he sees springing into growth from out his foster work-school, in-
telligent young laborers competent to enrich the world with necessary
products — industrious citizens, contributing their proportion to aid on the
advancing civilization of the country; self-providing artisans vindicating
their people from the never-ceasing charge of a fitness for servile posi-
tions.' "
The Negroes who emigrated to Canada were more successful. In 1842
they held a convention to decide on the expenditure of $1,500 collected for
them in England by a Quaker. They finally decided to start "a manual
labor school where children could be taught the elements of knowledge
which are usually the occupations of a grammar school; and where the
boys could be taught in addition the practise of some mechanic art, and
the girls could be instructed in those domestic arts which are the proper
occupation and ornament of their sex."t Father Henson, the Negro who
was chiefly instrumental in founding the school stated that the object was
"to make it self-supporting by the employment of the students for certain
portions of the time on the land." The school lasted some ten or fifteen
years, but gradually decayed as the public schools were opened to Negro
youth.
In many of the colored schools opened in the Northern state*; some in-
dustrial training was included. The Philadelphia "Institute for Colored
fSiebert: Underground Railroad, p. 2C6.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
31
Youth" was founded by Richard Humphreys in 1837 for the education of
Negroes uin school learning, in the various branches of the mechanic arts
and trade, and in agriculture.1' For a while a farm and trade school was
maintained from this fund in Bristol county, Penna., but the school is now
in Philadelphia and is being reorganized as a technical and trade school.
When the civil war opened and the fall of slavery seemed imminent,
some of the earliest suggestions for educating the blacks insisted on in-
dustrial training. The development, however, was slow and interesting.
We may indicate the evolution of the Southern industrial school some-
what as follows :
1. Janitor work and chores performed by students.
2. Repair work and equipment by student labor.
3. Teaching of ordinary housework to girls.
4. Teaching of house-service for the training of servants.
5. The school of work ; co-operative industry for gain, by use of student
labor.
6. Teaching of trades.
7. The industrial settlement.
8. The social settlement.
9. Manual training.
10. Technological education.
A diagram will best illustrate the logical development of these succes-
sive ideas :
1
6 9
8 10
This diagram may be explained thus : at first nearly all the schools from
necessity required their students to help in cleaning and arranging the
school buildings and yards. Afterward this feature was kept as a part of
the discipline and to this day in nearly all the boarding schools an hour
or more of labor a day is required of each student regardless of his ability
to pay for his schooling. From this situation (indicated by ul") two lines
of training easily arose : first the boys by simple direction and oversight
were enabled to make ordinary repairs about the school and even to make
benches, tables and the like. This became a feature of many schools, both
for its usefulness and discipline, (2) . On the other hand the New England
school teachers who came South found the Negro girls startlingly ignorant
•of matters of household economy, which are among the first things a
32 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
properly-bred girl knows. These girls could not sew, they could not
sweep, they could not make a bed properly or cook digestible food. Les-
sons in simple housework for the girls early became a part of the curricu-
lum, (3) . This was practically the extent of industrial training in nearly all
schools, except Hampton, until about 1880. The new industrial movement
then began to awaken the South and many began to see clearly that unless
the Negro made especial effort he could gain no important place. The idea
of a "School of Work" therefore arose. It was to furnish education
practically free to those willing to- work for it; it was to "do"
things — i. e., become a center of productive industry, it was to be nartially,
if not wholly, self-supporting, and it was to teach trades, (5). Admirable
as were some of the ideas underlying this scheme the whole thing simply
would not work in practice : it was found that if you were to use time and
material to teach trades thoroughly you could not at the same time keep
the industries on a commercial basis and make them pay. Many schools
started out to do this on a large scale and went into virtual bankruptcy.
Moreover it was found also that it was possible to teach a boy a trade me-
chanically without giving him the full educative benefit of the process,
and vice versa, that there was a distinct educative value in teaching a boy
to use bis hands and eyes in carrying out certain physical processes, even
though he did not actually learn a trade. It has happened, therefore, in
the last decade that a noticeable change has come over the industrial
schools. In the first place the idea of commercially remunerative indjiis-
try in a school is being pushed rapidly to the back-ground. There are still
schools with shops and farms that bring an income, and schools that use
student labor partially for the erection of buildings and the furnishing of
equipment. It is coming to be seen, however, in the education of the
Negro as clearly as it has been seen in the education of youths the world
over that it is the boy and not the material product that is the true object
of education, Consequently the object of the industrial school became to
be the thorough training of boys regardless of the income derived from
the process of training, and, indeed, regardless of the cost of the training
as long as it was thoroughly well done.
Even at this point, however, the difficulties were not surmounted. In
the first place modern industry has taken great strides since the war
and the teaching of trades is no longer a simple matter. Machinery and
long processes of work have greatly changed the work of the carpenter,
the iron-worker and the shoemaker. A really efficient workman must be
to-day an intelligent man who has had good technical training in addition
to thorough common school and perhaps even higher training. To meet
this situation the industrial schools began a further development ; they
established distinct Trade Schools for the thorough training of better class
artisans and at the same time they sought to preserve for the purposes of
general education such of the simpler processes of elementary trade learn-
ing as were best suited therefor. In this differentiation of the Trade
School and manual training the best of the industrial schools simply fol-
lowed the plain trend of the present educational epoch. A prominent
educator tells us that, in Sweden, "In the beginning the economic concep-
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 33
tion was generally adopted and everywhere manual training was looked
upon as a means of preparing the children of the common people to earn
their living. But gradually it came to be recognized that manual train-
ing has a more elevated purpose and one indeed more useful in the deeper
meaning of the term. It came to be considered as an educative process for
the complete moral, physical and intellectual development of the child."*
This conception of the plan of physical training in the educative pro-
cess is gradually making its way into all schools. It does not belong pe-
culiarly to "Industrial" schools, although it was, so to speak, discovered
there. It is rather a part of all true education. As Mr. A. G. Boyden has
so well pointed out,f the modern "laboratory" methods are but part of this
new educational movement: "The learner must handle the objects whose
qualities he perceives through the senses." He must handle the objects
whose colors he would know, place them together and form pleasing com-
binations and mix and apply colors with his own hands ; he must handle
bodies whose forms he would know, measure their dimensions, draw the
forms and make them of clay, paper or wood. So too he must examine and
analyze minerals, draw and examine plants, observe and dissect animals,
apply mathematics to counters and measures and surfaces, perform actual
experiments in physics and chemistry and take notes, mould land config-
urations and draw maps in geography ; prepare written exercises in gram-
mar, prepare outlines, charts and reports in history and civics. Finally
the student must express frequently in writing what he thinks and studies.
Manual training as an integral part of general culture has but just be-
gun to enter the Negro industrial schools. It was first established at At-
lanta University in 1883 by Mr. Clarence C. Tucker. Here General Arm-
strong saw the system and induced Mr. Tucker to enter into the service of
Hampton,where industrial training had been givenfrom the firsthand there
introduce the distinct system of manual training. Hampton has since de-
veloped and perfected it in connection with Kindergarten andSloyd work.
In time from such manual training will probably develop higher techno-
logical and engineering schools, but this is the work of the future. On the
other hand with the. distinct Trade-school evolved also the idea of the In-
dustrial settlement. The co-operative commercial organization, which
was found impracticable in a school, has been, in one community at least,
— Kowaliga — developed into a business organization. The school here has
been definitely differentiated from business as such and the community or-
ganized for work. A slightly different development occurred at Calhoun,
where a settlement of Northern people undertook not simply a school but
social and economic work to lift the community to a higher social plane.
6. The Industrial School. There were in the United States in the scholastic
year, 1899-1900, ninety-eight schools for Negroes which gave courses in in-
dustrial training. Their names and addresses are as follows :$
*M. Gluys, quoted in Harris' Psychology of Manual Training.
tin Report of Conference on Manual Training, Boston, Mass.
JWhere dates are given after the name of the school the statistics are for that year and not for
1899-1900.
34
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Name of School.
Kowaliga Academic and In-
dustrial School
Emerson Normal Institute.
State Normal Institute
Agricultural and Mechani-
cal College
Talladega College
Stillman Institute
Tuskegee Normal and In-
dustrial School, '98 and '99
Shorter University
Arkadelphia Acad. '98 & '99.
Arkansas Baptist Col. " .
Philander Smith College . . .
Branch Normal College
Southland College
State College for Colored
Students
Howard University
Normal School, (col.)
Cookman Institute
Edward Waters College ....
Fessenden Academy
Emerson Memorial Home
and School
Orange Park Normal and
Manual Training School. .
Florida State Normal and
Industrial School
Jeruel Academy
Knox Institute
Atlanta University
Morris Brown College
Spelman Seminary
Storrs School
Haines Normal and Indus-
trial Institute
Address.
Alabama.
Kowaliga
Mobile
Montgomery
Normal
Talladega
Tuscaloosa..
Tuskegee
Arkansas.
Argenta
Arkadelphia
Little Rock
Little Rock
Pine Bluff
Southland
Dover
District of Columbia
Washington
Washington
Florida.
Jacksonville
Jacksonville
Martin
Ocala
Orange Park
Tallahassee
Georgia.
Athens
Athens
Atlanta
Atlanta
Atlanta
Atlanta
Auerusta
b(
ft c
ifl
ft
U
+J
c
«|
u
f~<
13
+J
&
co
£
y
d
CI
— i
S3
1899-1900.
Students trained in industrial
branches.
x
X
Ph
0
£
ft
O
00
to
(V
X
br
fl
a
ri
si
h
+s
o
83
>—
0J
C
J33
□c
Oh
or:
C
• — i
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br
205
100
466
499
195
35
1,180
16
20
56
95
109
120
46
223
38
23
22
130
7
79
100
8o
114
233
83
450
93
208
3
40
33
17
943
14957
36
36
36
si
16
50 2C
17
10
13
15
10
2520
32
L5
20
10
o o
17
125
60
289
13
52
7634227
115
26
9061
9
2020
50 2
8282
45
60 2C
20
22
8027
80
94
167
44
3240250
93
8200
4848
15
2
28
40
21
34
63
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
35
Name of School.
Address.
Georgia State Industrial
College, '98 and '99. . . .
Fort Valley High and In
dustrial School
Dorchester Acad
Ballard Nor. School ....
Central City College —
Beach Institute
Clark University
Allen Nor. & Indus. Sch
State Normal School for
Colored Persons.
Chandler Nor. School . . .
Gilbert Academy and In-
dus. College
Leland University
Straight University
St. Frances Academy ....
Industrial Home for Col-
ored Girls, '98 & '99 ... .
Princess Anne Academy.
Mount Hermon Female
Seminary
Southern Christian Inst.
Miss. State Nor. School . .
Bust University
Jackson College
Tougaloo University ....
Alcorn Agricultural and
Mechanical College . . .
Lincoln Institute
Geo. B. Smith College. .
Manual Training and In-
dustrial School
New Jersey.
Bordentown .
Georgia (Con.)
College
Fort Valley... .
Mcintosh
Macon
Macon
Savannah
South Atlanta
Thomasville...
Kentucky.
Frankfort
Lexington ....
Louisiana.
Baldwin
New Orleans. .
New Orleans . .
Maryland.
Baltimore
Melvale
Princess Anne
Mississippi.
Clinton
Edwards
Holly Springs.
Holly Springs.
Jackson
Tougaloo
Westside
Missouri.
Jefferson City.
Sedalia
o
a>
fee
ft s-
31
H
1899-1900
Students trained in industrial
branches.
M
a
ft
s-
c3
O
o
pq
ft
M
u
CD
140
75
209
272
91
41
310
170
111
141
16
229
27
105
60
60
43
80
124
60
221
339
125
52
109
12
26
35
72
48
31
18
3
22
110
30
85
26
15
59
72
10
20
11
11
20
34
11
32
11
is
29
11
40
50
36
124
21
262
10
15
10
35
1
175
48
70
111
16
157
13
105
29
60
15
80
56
60
41
70
32
32
20
12
75
36
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
!>
1899-1900
CD
O
CD
Is
ft 3
2 "Ss
Students trained in industrial
branches.
M
t-i
M
o
r^
Name of School.
Address.
ft 2
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(XI
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North Carolina.
Washburn Seminary ....
Biddle University
Scotia Seminary
Beaufort
Charlotte
Concord
118
107
290
10
174
60
155
75
37
100
190
9
100
16
118
143
6
5
4£
23
88
12
5
5
6
70
4
22
9 5
8 3
2
10 5 2
8 8 3 1
3
70
4 46 20
290 2
10
!8 6 64
60
110 <
5 5 20 !
37
12 50 {
120
9 9
100
16
3 38 c
90
Franklinton Christian
College, '98 & '99
Agr. and Mechanical Col.
for the Colored Race . .
High Point Normal and
Industrial School.
Lincoln Academy
Barrette Collegiate and
Industrial School
Franklinton
Greensboro
High Point
Kings Mountain
Pee Dee
34
L5
55 13
20
Plymouth State Nor. Sch.
St. Augustine's School. . .
Shaw University
Livingstone College
Gregory Nor.Sch.,'97 & '98
Rankin-Richards Inst . . .
The Slater Indus, and
State Nor. School
Plymouth
Raleigh
Raleigh
Salisbury
Wilmington ....
Windsor
Winston
)0
,7
Pennsylvania.
Inst, for Colored Youth .
Philadelphia. . . .
272
24
12
15 11 8
7123
Schofield Normal and
Indus. School
South Carolina.
Aiken
Camden
231
136
75
205
84
213
179
147
487
18
57
10
27
20
24
8
98
L08.
2
9
L75 42 10 5C
1010173 7
100 3
75
2 3117 4
84 2
4 25109 2
12 91
147
»50 8195 41
2 10
Browning Home School,
'97 andv98
6
Avery Nor. Institute ....
Brainerd Institute
Allen University
Benedict College
Penn. Nor. and Indus.
School
Charleston
Chester
Columbia
Columbia
Frogmore
Greenwood
Orangeburg
0 40
0
0
Brewer Nor. Sch. '98 & '99
Claflin University
:*
Tennessee.
Knoxville College
Lemoyne Nor. Inst
Morristown Nor. Col ....
Cen. Tenn. College
Roger Williams Univ... -
Jonesboro
Knoxville
Morristown
N'ashville
Nashville
78
68
462
93
70
100
76
9
3
14
45
10
2 1
4
1
2 52 &
11 36 1(
19 378 3(
93 61
41 9
2 98
t 30
)
)
i
12
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
37
>
1899-1900
03
Students trained in industrial
03
branches.
ft P
X
0
M »M
t-i
Name of School.
Address.
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Texas.
Bishop College
Marshall
327
15
15
23
106
14
Wiley University
200
24
2
5
20
160
60
Paul Quinn College. , . .
Waco
Virginia.
149
•
32
15
27
92
Ingleside Seminary ,'98-99
Burke ville
109
109
109
109
109
Gloucester Agr. & Indus.
College, '98 and '99 ... .
Cappahosic
97
30
20
27
20
Hampton Nor. & Agri-
cultural Institute
Hampton
949
413
29
11
11
6
26
13
5
10
412
130
St. Paul Normal and In-
dustrial School, '98-'99.
Lawrenceville. . .
230
18
10
4
5
2
1
6
10
8
72
22
72
Manassas Indus. School,
'98 and '99
Manassas ' .
65
3
27
23
1
38
Norfolk Mission College.
Norfolk
406
29
280
92
Va. Nor. and Coll. Inst. .
Petersburg
183
183
20
Va. Union University . . .
Richmond
W. Virginia.
12
Storer College
Harper's Ferry..
105
35
40
40
i
The chief schools according to the number of students in industrial
courses are:
Tuskegee, Ala 1,180
Hampton. Va 949
A. & M. College, Normal, Ala.. 499
Claflin, S. C 487
State N'mal, Montgomery,Ala 466
Spelman, Ga 450
Norfolk, Va 406
LeMoyne, Tenn 402
Straight, Va 229
Howard, D. C 223
Tougaloo, Miss 221
Wiley, Texas
Alcorn, Miss 339
Bishop, Texas 327
Clark, Ga 310
Scotia, N. C 290
Institute, Penna.... 272
Ballard, Ga 272
Atlanta, Ga 233
St. Paul, Va 230
Dorchester, Va 209
Haines, Ga 208
Kowaliga, Ala 205
200
These gross numbers, however, are of little value on account of the
varying value and thoroughness of the courses given. The easiest course
is that of sewing for girls, and this one item swells the returns unduly for
38 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
it is often given in a desultory way. We can best compare the schools,
therefore, by asking how many students are enrolled in the classes in car-
pentry, bricklaying, plastering, painting, iron and sheet metal work, forg-
ing and machine shop work.* The following schools have 50 or more thus
enrolled :
Claflin, S. C 345 Dorchester, Ga 85
A. &M. College, Greensboro, N.C. 182 Lincoln, Mo 76
Tuskegee, Ala 161 Straight, Va , 72
Alcorn, Miss 137 Shaw, N. C 70
A. & M. College, Normal, Ala.. ..117 Branch, Ark 64
Ingleside, Va 109 State Normal, Ky 59
Hampton, Va 101 State Normal, Montgomery, Ala... 58
Penn, S. C 98 Atlanta, Ga 52
Howard, D. C 96 Institute for Colored Youth, Pa.... 51
Tougaloo, Miss 95 Manassas, Va . 51
Ga. State College 50
Here again difference in the time spent and the. thoroughness of the
work and its relation to the other work of the institution make compari-
son difficult. On the whole, however, we may designate the following as
the chief Negro industrial schools:
Alabama: State Normal, Montgomery.
A. and M. College, Normal.
Tuskegea.
Arkansas : Branch Normal.
Florida: State Normal, Tallahassee.
Georgia: Spelman.
State Industrial College.
Kentucky : State Normal.
Louisiana: Straight.
Mississippi: Alcorn.
Tougaloo.
Missouri: Lincoln Institute.
North Carolina: Biddle.
Scotia.
A. and M. College, Greensboro.
High Point.
Shaw.
Slater I. and State N.
Pennsylvania: Institute for Colored Youth.
South Carolina: Scofield.
Brainerd.
Penn N. and I.
Claflin.
Colored N. I. A. and M.t
Tennessee : LeMoyne.
Texas: Prairie View. t
Bishop.
Virginia: Hampton.
Va. N. and C. I., Petersburg.
St. Paul.
"Printing and farming are omitted because often a job office and a truck farm are connected with
a school for commercial purposes and are rated as casual •'industrial courses."
|Not reported by Bureau of Education, 1899-1900.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 39
Another criterion of the efficiency of Industrial Schools is the list of
beneficiaries of the Slater fund, this fund being distributed especially
among industrial schools after careful inspection of their work. In 1901-2
the following schools were aided, and may be regarded, therefore, as the
best Negro Industrial Schools from the point of view of the Slater trustees :
Hampton, Va. Shaw, N. C.
Spelman, Ga. Montgomery, Ala.
Tuskegee, Ala. Tougaloo, Miss.
Claflin, S. C. Straight, La.
Bishop, Texas.
7. The Influence of the Slater Fund. Perhaps the greatest single impulse
toward the economic emancipation of the Negro has been the singularly
wise administration of the gift of John F. Slater. Mr. Slater gave to a
board of trustees in 1882, one million dollars for "the uplifting of the late-
ly emancipated population of the Southern States and their posterity, by
conferring upon them the blessings of Christian education."* Mr. Slater
knew and sympathized with the efforts of the American Missionary Asso-
ciation and other agencies in the work of uplifting the Negroes. Hesaid : "It
is no small part of my satisfaction in taking this share in it, that I hereby
associate myself with some ot the noblest enterprises of charity and hu-
manity, and may hope to encourage the prayers and toils of faithful men
and women who have labored and are still laboring in this cause."* Mr.
Slater did not particularly mention industrial training, although he had
thought of it,**but heleftthelargestdiscretion to the trustees "onlyindicat-
ing, as lines of operation adapted to the present condition of things, the
training of teachers from among the people requiring to be taught, if, in
the opinion of the corporation, by such limited selection the purposes of
the trust can be best accomplished; and the encouragement of such insti-
tutions as are most effectually useful in promoting this training of teach-
ers."* The first plans adopted by the Slater fund Trustees looked toward
"the encouragement and assistance of promising youth — a certain number
of whom shall be annually chosen by the authorities of well-managed in-
stitutions approved by this Board of Trustees," but it was provided that
"so far as practicable the scholars receiving the benefit of this foundation
shall be trained in some manual occupation, simultaneously with their
mental and moral instruction." The plan thus begun took clearer shape
in 1883 when the board " Resolved that, for the present, this board confine
its aid to such schools as are best fitted to prepare young colored men and
women to become useful to their race ; and that institutions which give
instruction in trades and other manual occupations, that will enable col-
ored youths to make a living, and to become useful citizens, be carefully
sought out and preferred in appropriations from this Fund."
Dr. Haygood, the first general agent, in the fall of 1883 pointed out the
especial recommendation of Mr. Slater as to the training of Negro teach-
ers and recommended that "this Board should confine its operations to
those institutions that are found to be most capable of training suitable
teachers." He added, however, that "only a small number of the higher
* Letter of the Founder. --Proceedings, &c, 1891, p. 35.
40 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
grade schools for colored youth have made any experiments in connecting
handicraft training with instruction in books.1' He added: "It is proper
to say that some of the most experienced workers in this field are not con-
vinced of the wisdom of making industrial training an important feature
in their plans and efforts. Many equally experienced, entertain no doubts
on this subject. They believe that industrial training is not only desira-
ble as affording the means of making a more self-reliant and self-support-
ing population, but necessary as furnishing some of the conditions of the
best intellectual and moral discipline of the colored people — especially of
those who are to be the teachers and guides of their people."* The gen-
eral agent made these recommendations of policy: 1st. Aid to students
with exceptional gifts. 2nd. Aid for medical instruction, and 3rd, gen-
eral appropriations as before indicated.
The first institutions aided were :
Clark University, Atlanta, Ga „ $2,000
Lewis High Scnool, Macon, Ga 200
Tuskegee Normal School, Tuskegee, Ala ... 100
Tougaloo University, Tougaloo, Miss 1,000
LeMoyne Institute, Memphis, Tenn 500
Claflin University, Orangeburg, S. C 2,000
Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga 2,000
Talladega College, Talladega, Ala 2,000
Shaw University, Raleigh, N. C 2,000
Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va '. 2,000
Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Atlanta, Ga 2,000
Austin High School, Knoxville, Tenn 450
This list of schools increased rapidly in the next few years as the various
schools added or enlarged their industrial departments. In 1886-7, the list
of aided schools was as follows :
Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga. Moore St. Industrial School, Rich-
Beaufort Normal School, Beaufort, mond, Va.
S. C. Mt. Albion State Normal School,
Benedict Institute, Columbia, S. C. Franklinton, N. C.
Brainerd Institute, Chester, S. C. Mt. Herman Female Seminary, Clin-
Central Tenn. College, Nashville, ton, Miss.
Tenn. New Orleans Univ., New Orleans, La.
Claflin Univ., Orangeburg, S. C. Paul Quinn College, Waco, Texas.
Clark University, Atlanta, Ga. Paine Institute, Augusta, Ga.
Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn. Philander Smith College, Little Rock,
Gilbert Seminary, Baldwin, La. Ark.
Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va. Roger Williams Univ., Nashville,
Hartshorn Memorial Female Insti- Tenn.
tute, Richmond, Va. Rust Univ., Holly Springs, Miss.
Howard Univ., Washington, D. C. Scotia Seminary, Concord, N. C.
Ky. Normal Univ., Louisville, Ky. Shaw Univ., Raleigh, N. C.
Jackson College, Jackson, Miss. Slater Industrial School, Knoxville,
Leonard Medical School, Raleigh, Tenn.
N. C. Spelman Female Seminary, Atlanta,
Leland Univ., New Orleans, La. Ga.
'Proceedings, &c, 1883.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 41
LeMoyne Institute, Memphis, Term. State Normal School, Huntsville,Ala.
Lewis Normal Institute, Macon, Ga. State Normal School, Tuskegee, Ala.
Lincoln Normal Univ., Marion, Ala. Straight Univ., New Orleans, La.
Livingston College, Salisbury, N. C. Talladega College, Talladega, Ala.
Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tillotson Institute, Austin, Texas.
Tenn. Tougaloo University, Tougaloo, Miss.
General Agent Haygood reported in 1890 :
"As to industrial training, so far as schools for Negroes are concerned,
the discussion is now at an end. Men now consider only the question of
method. Eight years ago industrial training was well under way at
Hampton Institute ; it was feebly attempted at three or four schools ; not
considered as possible at most of them ; in not a few utterly condemned.
Industrial departments are now recognized necessities everywhere. It is
more than worth while to add that the results of industrial training in the
schools aided by the Slater Fund have had much to do with the awaken-
ing throughout the South to the need of tool-craft for the white youth of
these states.
"An important result of the Slater work in the South (and how impor-
tant and far-reaching it were hard to say) is this : The industrial training-
introduced and fostered by the Slater fund has made the cause of Negro
education more friends among Southern white men than all speeches and
writings put together."*
The final report of Dr. Haygood in 1891 is a fit summing up of the work
of the Slater fund for the first decade. He says in partit "In his educa-
tional development the Negro is just now at the danger line — of which he
most of all is unconscious. So far his education has developed wants
faster than his ability to earn means to satisfy them. In the most of them
the result is discontent; with many, unhappiness; in some, a sort of des-
peration ; in not a few, dishonesty. On these points I have not the shadow
of a doubt; this particular matter I have studied widely and minutely.
A plow-boy earning from $100 to $150 a year— board and lodging 'thrown
in' — has enough to satisfy his normal wants ; this boy after six years at
school, not only desires but needs from $300 to $500 a year to satisfy the
wants that have been bred in him, while his earning capacity has not
grown in proportion. This state of things grows out of a natural and
universal law of humanity, and is peculiar to the American Negro be-
cause he is now, and by no fault or choice of his, in this crisis of develop-
ment.
"The poorest people are not those who have little, but those who want
more than they can readily earn. That many half-taught and unwisely-
taught Negroes 'go to the bad' and seek money by 'short-cuts' is not sur-
prising. In these matters the Negro's weakness illustrates his brother-
hood to his white neighbors. The prisons show enough half-educated
white people to prove that merely learning the rudiments does not secure
virtue. In all races it is true that with new knowledge new temptations
-Proceedings, &c., 1890.
fProceedings, &c, 1891, pp. 28, ff.
42 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
come; strength to resist comes after if at all. In all this a man of sense
finds no argument against the education of the Negro, buta demonstration
of the need, for him, and for the white race, of more and better education.
" 'Better' is not the same as 'more' ; the imminent need for the Negro is to
find out what education is now fittest for him. Nothing in these state-
ments means the exclusion of the Negro from the highest and widest
studies of which some of them are capable ; it does mean, as I see it, that
the 'regulation college curriculum' is not what most Negro students need.'
No truer words have ever been spoken on the Negro problem and few
groups of men have seen their efforts to turn the current of public opinion
so successful as have the trustees of the Slater Fund. Dr. Haygood was able
to say as he laid down his trust: "Every school in connection with the Slater
Fund recognizes the utility and necessity of industrial training; so does
every important school for the Negro race whether aided by the fund or
not. In many of these institutions industrial training is well established
and successfully carried on; in all of them enough is accomplished to do
great good and encourage more effort. Everyone known to me earnestly
desires to extend its work in this direction. At the beginning many
doubted, some opposed, and not a few were indifferent. At this time no
experienced teacher in Negro schools entertains so much as a doubt as to
the desirableness and usefulness of this very important element of edu-
cation."
With the advent of Dr. .J. L. M. Curry as general agent, the Trustees of
the Slater Fund have gradually adopted a policy of concentration of
effort, giving something over one-half of their income of £(><U)(X) to Hamp-
ton and Tuskegee, $10,000 to Spelman and Claflin and the rest to six other
schools, including one medical school.
It is clear that the great movement for the industrial education of Ne-
groes and the encouragement of Negro artisans is due primarily to the
Trustees of the .John V. Slater fund, and for this they deserve the thanks
of the nation.
8. Curricula of Industrial Schools. We can best judge the work of Indus-
trial Schools by asking: I. What is the course of study? 2. How is it
carried out? And how much time is given to it? Let us briefly ask this
question of the chief schools, using the latest available catalogue for the
answers.
Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Va., (1901-2.)
The Hampton Institute consists of five departments:
1. Academic Department, (three year course.)
2. Normal Department with Model School, (two years, post-graduate.)
3. Agricultural Department.
4. Department of Productive Industries and Domestic Work.
5. Trades School.
In the Academic Department the following instruction in manual train-
ing and industries is given :
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
43
BOYS.
GIRLS.
OTHER ACADEMIC WORK.
1st year.
Bench work, 100
hours.
Sloyd, 2 hrs-3
hrs per week.
Sewing, 2 pe-
riods per week.
Cooking, 2 pe-
riods per week.
Sewing, 2 pe-
riods per week.
Cooking, 2 les-
sons a week, 4
months.
Dressmaking.
Agriculture, Physics,
(Chemistry), Hygiene, Ge-
ography, Arithmetic, Eng-
lish, Reading and Litera-
ture, Bible Study, Music,
Drawing, Penmanship and
Gymnastics.
2nd year.
Wood-turning,
120 hours.
Agriculture, Geography,
Arithmetic, English, Read-
ing and Literature, U. S.
History, Bible Study, Mu-
sic, Drawing and Gymnas-
tics.
3rd year.
For gin g, 120
hours, or work in
Trade School.
(Partially elective — 3 or
4 courses to be chosen),
Agriculture, P h y s i c s ,
Mathematics, E n gl i s b,
Reading and Literature,
Civics, History, Music.
Drawing, and Gymnastics.
In the Whittier Model School, cooking is given in the fourth and fifth
grades, and sewing in certain lower grades. There is also in the first five
grades a regular course of manual training including work with scissors
and knife, simple bench tools, sloyd, repairing, etc. There is also a kin-
dergarten.
The Department of Productive Industries consists of industries which
"are conducted as business enterprises and are open to the students who
have passed a year in the Trade School or Training Department." They
afford the opportunity of learning how productive industries are man-
aged, of making a practical application of the principles learned in the
Trade School, and incidentally of earning wages. They also furnish some
opportunity for skilled labor to young men working for credit to enter the
Day or Trade School." Finally there is a regular Trade School with courses
in Carpentry, Painting, Wheelwrighting, Blacksmithing, Machinework,
Tailoring, Bricklaying, Plastering, Shoemaking, Harnessmaking, Steam
Engineering, and Tinsmithing. Every student in the trade school works
9 hours a day and spends two hours in the night school. They must be at
least 16 years of age to enter, and each course requires three years for
completion.
Hampton is especially noteworthy in the elaborate and careful attempt
to correlate literary work and manual training: Agriculture is studied on
the farm, physics and chemistry in laboratories, geography by field ex-
cursions, arithmetic with especial reference to shop work, etc. So impor-
tant is this experiment in the history of education that it is worth while
quoting verbatim the principal's account of the work* :
-::33rd Annual Report, 1901.
44 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
"Our manual training department gives instruction to every student in the school.
No boy graduates from Hampton without having worked in wood, iron and sheet
metal, besides having taken a course in agriculture. No girl graduates from the school
without having received instruction in wood work, enabling her to mend and make
simple furniture, or without having been taught to cook and serve a meal, to make
her own dresses and underclothing. She is also given a fair knowledge of plant and
animal life. The course for boys consists of a year of joinery, then a half year each
of wood turning and sheet metal work and in the Senior year a choice of work in one
or more of the various trades departments.
In our Whittier school manual training begins with paper cutting and constructive
work in wood, with clay modeling in the kindergarten. This is followed by sewing in
Room 2 for both boys and girls, and the course ends in Room 6 with bench work for
the boys and sewing and cooking for the girls, Our Normal Department is given
practice in teaching manual training and already work similar to that in the Whit-
tier School has been introduced into some of the public schools of the South. I should
like to repeat what I have said before, and what is daily becoming more evident in the
school life here, that this thorough systematic work in the training of the hand and
the eye is doing much to develop truthfulness, patience, earnestness and a sense of re-
sponsibility in our young people.
"The academic work is broader and stronger and in closer touch with life and with
the other departments of the school. In our study of language we are teaching our
students to do something, then to talk and write about it, and finally to read about it.
In the regular course, no books are used for the first three months except for refer-
ence. In the laboratories the young people make experiments in order to learn about
water, air, the soil and plants. These are followed by conversations and written exer-
cises upon what they have seen and done. The study of mathematics is of the same
practical character. Each student keeps a cash book showing what the school owes
him for work, what he owes the school for board, etc. Each month the student has an
account rendered him by the treasurer's office. These two statements should agree ;
if they do not, means are taken to discover on which side the error lies. Articles are
manufactured by students, and the cost in material, time, etc., is computed. Survey-
ing operations are carried on. Bills and memoranda concerning transactions on the
farm, in the work shops, in the commissary and kitchens, are sent in for the classes to
put into proper shape. Figures are made to live.
"In our geography department we are emphasizing physiography and industries.
A study of current events is still the basis of a large part of our geography course.
Some of the most valuable and interesting work is done in connection with the daily
news items.
"The cooking and sewing, agricultural and shop work are thus made to contribute
to the understanding of geography and history. Our teaching of the natural sciences
begins with direct observation of nature, the study of trees and animals, and the gath-
ering and classifying of specimens. Much emphasis is placed upon the teaching of
practical physics and chemistry, without which our agriculture, mechanical work and
geography would be most superficial."
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Ala., (1901-2).
Tuskegee offers a common school course of three years, and a grammar
school course of four years. Each student in the day school attends school
four days a week and works at some industry one day each week and alter-
nate Saturdays. Night school students work at industries in the day and
study in the evening. There is a model school with a course in manual train-
ing, and a kindergarten. The industries offered the boys include Carpentry,
Blacksmithing, Printing, Wheelwrighting, Harnessmaking, Carriage-
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 45
trimming, Painting, Machinery, Engineering and Founding, Shoemaking,
Brickmasonry and Plastering, Brickmaking, Sawmilling, Tinsmithing,
Tailoring, Mechanical Drawing, Architectural Drawing, Electrical En-
gineering and Canning. The industries for girls are Sewing, Dressmaking,
Millinery, Cooking, Laundering, Mattress-making, Basketry, Nurse-train -
ing.
Spelman Seminary, Atlanta, Ga., (1901-2.)
This is a school for girls and is a good example of the older type of in-
dustrial school. The catalogue says :
"Our industrial department aims to fit the student for the practical duties of life by
training the hands for skill in labor. It develops character by forming habits of reg-
ularity, punctuality, neatness, thoroughness, accuracy, and application.
"DOMESTIC ARTS."
"Our boarding students, through their share in the daily routine of life, receive
practical instruction in the care of rooms, in washing dishes, table-work, cooking, and
laundry work. Each pupil is expected to give one hour daily to house-work, some
especial duty being assigned her.
"A new course in cooking has been introduced, which covers three years. The fol-
lowing is the outline : — First Year. The kitchen, — its furnishing, care of utensils, the
fire, dish-washing; study of food principles; processes of food cookery ; plain cooking.
Second Year. The dining room, — furnishing, care of china and silver, serving ; review
of food principles with more elaborate methods of cooking ; canning, preserving, and
pickling. Third Year. — Home sanitation and economic ventilation, furnishing, clean-
ing; arranging bills of fare; packing lunches; cookery for invalids and children.
"SEWING."
"All classes in the grammar and intermediate departments are taught sewing. The
course includes mending, darning, overhanding, stitching, hemming, basting, hem-
turning, hem-stitching, button-hole making, and the cutting and making of under-
garments.
"DRESS-MAKING."
"The full course in dress-making covers three years. The use of a chart for drafting
is taught, and cutting and fitting and finishing. Dress-making is elective.
"PRINTING."
"We teach compositor's work in our printing classes. Our printing office contains
a small printing press and all necessary equipments for printing. It issues monthly
an eight-page school paper, the Spelman Messenger ; it also prints our annual cata-
logue, besides the circulars, letter and bill heads, envelopes, programs and cards re-
quired for school use. This work insures instruction in a variety of typesetting-
Printing is an elective."
There is also a course in nurse-training.
Clajiin University, Orangeburg, S. C, (1901-02.)
Claflin offers the following courses :
In each of the eight primary and grammar grades :
Manual training, three weekly periods, 45 minutes each.
In each of the four years of the College Preparatory and Normal
Courses ; four times a week :
Boys: Wood-carving, forging, freehand and mechanical drawing.
46 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Girls: Dress-making and domestic service.
uIn the third year of either of these courses each student must select
a trade." This trade is pursued the third and fourth years.
In the first two years of the college course: Architectural drawing.
The course of Manual Training includes:
Preliminary Sloyd.
High Swedish Sloyd.
Wood-carving.
Forging.
Freehand and mechanical drawing.
Mechanical drawing. ■
Architecture.
The trades to be chosen from are :
Carpentry, cabinet making and stair building.
Iron-working.
Brickmasonry and Plastering.
Wheelwrighting.
Painting.
Printing.
Tailoring.
These trades are pursued two years in the regular course and an elective
third year is offered for those who wish to perfect themselves and "enter
the work as a life business."
Shaiv University, Raleigh, N. G, (1898-99.)
. There is in this school four years of common school work, two years of
preparatory work, a three years' Normal course and four years' College
course. Manual training is a required study in every year except the last
year of the Normal and the four years of the College course. The course
is as follows :
1st year — Wood carpentry; freehand drawing,
2nd year — Forge work; mechanical drawing.
3rd year — Vise-work ; mechanical drawing.
4th year — Designing; architectural work.
The catalogue says :
"We do not teach trades, and make no pretensions to doing it, for we have no desire
to inaugurate a trade school, but we do pretend to carry on industrial work along ed-
ucational lines, and this work will be extended more and more as fast as financial
means are obtained.
"We purpose to do all our work in these departments, not only along educational
lines, but up to the standard of the best educational thought on the subject.
"In the Manual Training Department we give a course in drawing and the use of
tools. We follow Cross's system of freehand and Prang's system of mechanical draw-
ing, and the plan of manual training as laid down by Professor Kilborn, of the Man-
ual Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. The course in drawing includes
both geometrical and constructive. As the course becomes more extended and com-
plete, greater attention will be given to mechanical drawing. Students in manua
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 47
training and carpentry are taught the use and care of a great variety of tools and the
principles that underlie their use.
"The Matron of Estey Seminary, who has had training in the best schools in the
North, is following out a general system of housework and sewing that is of great ed-
ucational value. Instead of work being done at haphazard, it is systematized in such
a way that it is carried on in accordance with certain principles."
Tougaloo University, near Jackson, Miss., (1901-2.)
"Industrial work in some form is combined with all these courses," viz;
Kindergarten, Grammar School, Preparatory School and Teachers' Training Course.
"While it is true and understood that this work is valuable as a preparation for
trades and an aid in obtaining a livelihood, the mental and physical development of
students holds first place in the plan of instruction. Finished products are sought for
as a mark of industry and skill, also for their commercial value. The regular course
consists of four years' work in the wood-working, blacksmithing and brick-laying de-
partments, in connection with which a thorough course in mechanical drawing is
taught each year. For those who wish to thoroughly master carpentry, cabinet mak-
ing, blacksmithing or bricklaying after completing the regular course, a special course
will be given. This end should be accomplished by the average student in about three
years, as he has already had one year's work in each of the above-named branches."
Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, O., (1901-2).
The industries offered are: Carpentry, 3 years' course; Sewing, 3 years'
course ; Printing, 3 years' course ; Shoe-making, 2 years' course ; Agricult-
ure is about to be introduced, and also blacksmithing, brickmaking, and
masonry. Usually about two hours a day is given to industries by stu-
dents in the Normal Course.
Howard University, Washington, D. C, (1898-99.)
"Students of the preparatory and normal departments practice in the methods of
certain trades at specified hours." The trades are : carpentry, printing, tin-smithing,
bookbinding ("to bind and rebind for the library") and sewing.
Clark University, Atlanta, Ga., (1901-02).
Pupils in the common-school grades must take three years of industrial
training. A regular trade course is also provided as follows :
1st year: Trade, 5 times a week, 14 hours a week in mathematics, biol-
ogy, history and English.
2nd year: Trade, 5 times a week, 12 hours a week in drawing, mathe-
matics, history, physics and English.
3rd year: Trade, 5 timesa week, 11 hours a week in mathematics, chem-
istry and English.
The trades offered are Agriculture, Iron-working, Printing, Shoemaking,
and Wood-working.
Berea College, Berea, Ky., (1899-1900).
This institution gives two-year courses in Farm economy and Home
economy:
FARM ECONOMY. 1ST YEAR. HOME ECONOMY.
Farming, 5 hours, 1 term. Sewing, 5 hours, 1 term.
Woodwork, 5 hours, 1 term. Cooking, 5 hours, 1 term.
Gardening, 5 hours, 1 term. Gardening, 5 hours, 1 term.
Other studies, 13 hours, 3 terms. Other studies, 13 hours, 3 terms.
48 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
FARM ECONOMY. 2ND YEAR. HOME ECONOMY.
Horticulture, 5 hours, 2 terms. Cooking, 5 hours, 1 term.
Farm Managements hours, 1 term. Household Economy ,5 hrs., 1 term.
Animal Husbandry, 5 hours, 1 term. Dairying, 5 hours, 1 term.
Forestry, 5 hours, 1 term. Other studies, 13 hours, 3 terms.
Farm Crops, 3 hours, 1 term.
Other studies, 28 hours, 1 term.
Short apprenticeships in farming, carpentry, printing, sewing and house-
hold economy are given to a limited number of students. They devote
one-half their time to school studies and one-half to the trade.
Biddle University, Charlotte, N. C, (1897-98).
"Every student in the Preparatory and Normal School is required to take a trade in
the School of Industries." Each student spends from one to two hours a day in the
industrial department for four days each week during the three years' course. Six
trades are taught : Carpentry, Printing, Bricklaying, Plastering, Tailoring and Shoe-
making. About 1-6 of the student's time is given to the trade. One hundred and
thirty-eight were enrolled in the five trades.
Walden University, (Central Tennessee College) Nashville, Tenn., (1899-1900).
Elective courses are offered in printing, carpentry, blacksmithing, tin-
work, and sewing. Students will be paid for their labor as soon as it is
valuable.
Alcorn A. and M. College, Westside, Miss., (1900-01).
An industrial course, beginning with the grammar grades, and cover-
ing five years is so arranged uthat each student can take a trade in some
one of the industries. All students in this course must enter upon the
learning of some trade under the same requirements as class-room work."
The trades offered are: Shoemaking, Agriculture, Carpentry, Blacksmith-
ing and Printing.
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama for Negroes, Normal, Ala.,
(1900-01).
The trade courses offered are: Carpentry. Iron-working, Shoemaking,
Broom-making, Chairbottoming, Nurse-training, Millinery, Cooking,
Laundering, Printing, Machine-shop, and Agriculture.
"All work, including building, repairing, blacksmithing, wheelwrighting, painting,
broommaking, printing, shoemaking, mattress making, farming, cooking, dining room
and general housework, is performed by the students. From four cents to fifteen
cents per hour is allowed, according to the skill and faithfulness of the student. It
can be easily seen that great advantages are offered by this institution to young men
and women seeking an industrial and literary education
"Further, the aim is to turn all labor, and all articles produced by labor, to advan-
tage and utility. Therefore, all of these industrial departments contribute in some
way to the equipment of the Institution, and are, in most cases, a source of income to
the student as well as a means of instruction."
The shop wages are :
"Work of the first-year class goes for lessons.
"Work of the second-year class goes for lessons.
"Work of the third-year class, one-half (%) net profit.
"Post-graduates and skilled labor, one-half (%) price of the work.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 49
"All students becoming skilled workmen will receive a per cent of the profits of all
articles manufactured or repaired by them while they are employed in the shops."
The Calhoun Colored School, Lowndes Co., Ala., (1901-02).
The report on manual training- says :
"Upwards of a dozen school buildings have been kept in repair. There have been
also the odd jobs of carpentry, painting, plumbing, etc., which might be classed un-
der new work or improvements. Much of this work has been done by our larger boys
of the day school, in classes, working one period of about an hour and three-quarters
each week.
"The smaller boys have received instruction again this year in sloyd whittling dur-
ing a corresponding period.
"The night-school boys have been six in number. These work all day. The variety
of jobs which they learn to do in the course of a term is even greater than that of the
day scholars. There has been' this year an added interest on the part of the boys ; and
this, I believe, has been due to increasing ability to take hold of and do intelligently
so many kinds of practical work, even if some sacrifice of the student to the work of
the place was involved.
"But while the present system has been in the past of benefit to our boys education-
ally and to the school economically, Calhoun has grown to that stage where it seems
advisable to separate the instruction and training for the day students from the repair
work. The yearly increasing demands for repairs to the school plant have grown to
such proportions that it is quite impracticable to carry the repairing with classes from
the Academic Department, in a way that will be profitable alike to the student and
the school.
"The bulk of the repair work, however, can still be carried with proper superintend-
ence by night-school boys, needing such a chance to earn their way into day school ;
and this can still be so conducted that it will be of educational value to the student
as well as a source of economy to the school."
Tillotson College, Austin, Texas, (1899-1900).
"Our course in Wood-working includes the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grades. It
gives the theory and use of all common wood-working tools and the elementary prin-
ciples of wood-construction in carpentry and joinery.
"It begins with the simplest tools and exercises, developing gradually to the most
complex and difficult.
"Working drawings are used constantly, so the student learns to understand and in-
terpret all kinds of scale drawings.
'•We give special attention to two things :
"First. The effect of this work in training the eye and mind to habits of accurate,
intelligent and truthful observation, and the hand to the skilful and precise manipu-
lation of tools.
"Second. To give, as far as possible, a knowledge of the principles involved in the
use of wood-construction.
"Sewing, dress and garment-cutting and making are also taught."
Schqfield Normal and Industrial School, Aiken, S. C, (1899-1900).
"It is growing more and more to be a necessity in the South, and all over the coun-
try, to teach youths how to use their hands as well as their heads. Hand training
helps students to do better work in the school room. We teach how to do the best in
all branches."
There are in operation a Printing department, Harness department,
Carpentry shop, a shop for Iron-working, Farming, Shoemaking, Sewing
50 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
and Dressmaking, House-keeping, Cooking and Laundry departments.
Good boys with recommendation, capable of doing general farm work,
are allowed seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50) a month with board, which
goes toward paying expenses in the school boarding department when the
engagement at the farm closes. No one is taken on the farm for less than
four months and the time made cannot be sold to another; it must be
taken out in board and schooling within one year or will be forfeited.
Willing boys get one and a half months board and tuition for each month's
work done on the farm.
Normal and Manual Training School, Orange Park, Fla., (1901-1902).
For Boys. — The course for boys, beginning with the most elementary
work, embraces nearly every process and joint brought into general use in
wood construction, and also the filing and polishing of finished articles,
after the most approved methods.
Mechanical Drawing is taught in connection with shop work, with thor-
ough drill in reading and making drawings for construction purposes, fol-
lowed later by more general, complicated and finished work.
The students also receive experience in useful employment, such as re-
pairing and caring for the school buildings, gardening, etc., and thus ac-
quire order and thoroughness in their labor.
For Girls. — The course in sewing and dressmaking will include talks
upon dress materials, suggestions in making over garments, and in choice
of colors. The sewing room is a large, well-lighted room, equipped with
sewing machine, drafting table, etc.
Prairie View State Normal School, Prairie View, Texas, (1898-1899).
"The great object of the mechanical department is to foster a high appreciation of
the value and dignity of intelligent labor. A boy who sees nothing in manual labor
but dull, brute force, looks with contempt upon the labor and the laborer ; but, as soon
as he acquires skill himself, the conditions are reversed, and hence-forth he appre-
ciates the work and honors the workman.
"The work of this department is divided into three divisions : wood work, iron
work, and drawing. Bench work in wood consists of exercises with the different
wood-working tools, so arranged in a graded series as to embrace the use of all the
tools in their various applications."
Virginia Union University, Richmond, Va., (1901-1902) .
The course of industrial training is not intended to cover the entire
work done in a regularly organized trade-school. Some, however, of the
same work is undertaken, but not for the purpose of giving the student a
definite trade. The aim is to give him such a mechanical training as will
be of service to him in his chosen life work, whatever that may be.
"This general training will be of much greater value to the student than a course
in which he would receive instruction and practice in a single trade. It will give him
a good general knowledge of wood and iron materials used in building, and of the
principles underlying the acquisition of all trades. It will give him right habits of
work, and such training of the hand and eye as will enable him, with but little effort,
and in a very short time, to master any trade to which he may choose to devote
himself."
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 51
The Industrial Training- Course includes mechanical and free-hand
drawing, designing, the use of tools in wood and iron work, and black-
smithing, and printing, including typesetting and correcting proof. All
students in the first year of the theological courses, and in the preparatory,
academic, and ministers' courses, are required to do this work. It is,
however, optional in the case of college' students and students in the sec-
ond and third year of the theological courses.
The industrial building is furnished with power from the electric and
heating plant. It is also provided with the latest improved machinery
for every line of wor-k in which instruction is given. Students are, there-
fore, given instruction and practice in the use of machinery, as well as in
the use of hand-tools.
Knox Institute and Industrial School, Athens, Ga., (1901-1902).
The following compulsory courses are given :
Primary Grades — 1st, 2nd and 3rd : Clay modeling, 3 terms ; drawing, 3
terms.
Intermediate Grades — 4th and 5th : Drawing, 3 terms ; clay modeling, 2
terms.
Sewing, carpentry and wood-carv-
ing, 3 terms.
Grammar Grades — 6th and 7th : Sewing and carpentry, 3 terms.
Wood-carving, 1 term.
Handicraft, 2 terms.
''Handicraft" includes hat-making, mat-making, basket-making, pict-
ure-frame making, box-making, etc. •
Benedict College, Columbia, S. C, (1902).
This institution offers to girls "thorough instruction in sewing, dressmaking and
domestic work; and to young men thorough instruction in printing, and, so far as
facilities allow, in carpentry, shoemaking, painting, horticulture and agriculture."
"All students are required to work one and one-half hours per day in some indus-
trial work. Those who accept the reduced rates for ministers are required to work an
additional half hour per day. T-he labor rendered is a part of the compensation and
the charges are adjusted on that basis. The allowance for student labor is credited
on the accounts. It is precisely the same, therefore, as if the college paid the student
that amount in cash for his labor.
"Moreover, all labor required is instructive. Work in the dormitories and corridors,
in dining room and kitchen, teaches the girls how^uch work should be done. Besides
the domestic work all the young women work daily in sewing or dressmaking under
the instruction of competent teachers.
'The work on the campus, the keeping of the premises clean, the pruning of trees,
the laying out of walks, the culture of flower plants, and the work in the field, not
only teach industry, and show how such work should be done, but cultivate the eye
and the hand, and lead to refinement and the appreciation of the clean, the true, and
the beautiful."
Rust University, Holly Springs, Miss., (1902).
"During the English Course one-fourth of the time is given to Industrial Training.
Every young man is required, unless specially excused by the President, to enter a
class in either Carpentry, Shoemaking, Agriculture, or some industrial work; and
every young woman of the English Course is required to enter a class either in Dress-
making, General Sewing, Domestic Science, Mexican Drawn Work or Basket Making."
52 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Ballard Normal School, Macon, Ga., (1896-1897).
The girls have, during- the course, nine years work in the Sewing School
under the constant supervision of their teachers.
In the Cooking Classes they are trained in the domestic arts of cooking
and housekeeping. The boys of the higher grades are required to work
five hours a week in the work shop, under the direction of a competent
teacher.
Paul Quinn College, Waco, Tex.. (1899-1900).
"Feeling that the need of the race is a large skilled labor class, Paul Quinn College
has made the Industrial department co-ordinate with the other departments. Special
effort is being made to broaden the scope of the wprk already represented and to add
other trades.
"The Industrial Department is well organized and the grounds are well cultivated.
"The fruitfulness of the garden greatly reduces the current expenses of the board-
ing department. We manage to have vegetables of our own raising the whole year.
"Our system requires each student to work one hour each day. This gives needed
exercise and training in useful employments."
Southern University, New Orleans, La., (1898-1899).
"A three years' Manual Training course, five hours per week, is required of all pu-
pils who may have been assigned to this department for instruction.
"This shorter course is provided for the benefit of those pupils who are sufficiently
advanced in their mathematical studies to take up the scientific or more advanced
mechanical course which follows. It consists chiefly of manual training in the wood
and metal working industries, and is designed to be thorough enough in its scope to
give such pupils who have completed it, an intelligent understanding of the principles
that underlie such trades as: Carpentry, Mill-Wrighting, Joining, Cabinet Making,
Turning, Scroll, Sawing, Tinsmithing, Blacksmithing, Etc. The mastering of any of
the above trades depends upon the individual skill acquired in their constant pursuit
in after life.
"The mechanical or advanced course begins on the termination of the shorter
course. It is most comprehensive in its scope, including such studies as Mechanical
Drawing, Physics and Mechanics. Pattern making is taken up, and bench-work con-
tinued. The student is required to work from the measurements or drawings furnished
or from his own designs. This course is pursued in conjunction with the Normal and
regular Collegiate courses and extends over two years of instruction of 10 hours per
week. The course at present confers no degree, but will be extended to the full length
of the Collegiate course, as the future requirements of the university might suggest.
The Mechanical course is elective, and is intended for students who wish to prepare
themselves for some particular trade or line of industry."
Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race, Greensboro, N. C.
(1902-3).
The department of mechanics offers a four years' course. The trustees
"have decided that the first two years' work in this department shall be
conducted as a trade school." The first and second vear students, there-
fore, choose a single trade and work at it. After that time those who wish
to graduate will receive instruction in other shops and in mathematics,
science and drawing; the course is as follows:
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
53
FIRST YEAR.
FALL
WINTER
SPRING
Mathematics 5
Carpentry 3
Blacksmithing 3
Drawing 5
Free Hand Drawing 4
Tin Shop 3
Shoe Making 3
Mathematics 5
Carpentry 3
Blacksmithing 3
Drawing 5
Free Hand Drawing 4
Tin Work 15
Shoe Making 4
Material of Constr'tion 2
Mathematics 5
Carpentry 15
Blacksmithing 15
Shoe & Harness Making
Technology 5
SECOND YEAR.
FALL
WINTER
SPRING
Technology 5
Machine Design 4
Architecture 4
Algebra 5
Drawing 4
Shop Work 15
Physics 4
Technology 5
Machine Design 3
Architecture 4
Algebra 5
Drawing 4
Shop Work 15
Physics 4
Technology 5
Machine Design 4
Architecture 4
Algebra 5
Technical Drawing 4
Shop Work 15
Physics 4
THIRD YEAR.
FALL
W INTER
SPRING
Plane Geometry 5
Physics 4
Technology 4
Reading and Essays 4
Laboratory Work 4
Shop Work 4
Solid Geometry 5
Physics 4
Technology 5
Technical Reading 4
Shop Work 15
Laboratory Work 4
Mathematics 5
Geology (General and
Economic)
Physics 5
Technology 5
Shop Work 15
Building Construction 4
FOURTH YEAR.
FALL
Trigonometry 5
Mechanism 5
Plumbing and Heating 2
Power Transmission 2
Machine Design 4
Architecture 4
WINTER
Trigonometry 5
Mechanism 4
Lighting & V'ntil'ting 2
Power Transmission 4
Technology 5
Shop Work
SPRING
Surveying & Leveling 3
Photography
( Drawing 4
Thesis -J Essay 2
I Model 6
There is a similar course in agriculture. Students receive from 5c to
12%c an hour for work, credited to their school expenses. All students
can thus "earn something each month, while the most industrious and
energetic student will regularly earn more than his expenses.11
Florida State Normal and Industrial School, Tallahassee, Fla., (1901-02).
The industrial department offers instruction in sixteen industries, and
all students are required to take one or more of them. The instruction
54 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
runs through the whole six years of the course. Manual training is the
predominant feature in the first four years' work, and trade training in the
last two years' work. The chief industries are: Mechanical and archi-
tectural drawing, printing, carpentry, painting, blacksmithing, wheel-
vrighting, tailoring, agriculture, sewing, cooking, millinery and dress-
making, laundering, etc.
Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Car-
olina, Orangeburg, (1896-97).
The industrial department aims "to give training in such industrial arts as may be
suitable to men and women and conducive to self-reliance and usefulness. This De-
partment teaches the following subjects : Sewing, Dress-making and Millinery, Cook-
ing and Domestic Economy, Carpentry and Wopdwork, Bricklaying and Plastering)
Architecture, Mechanical Drawing and Fainting, Ironworking and Machinery, House-
keeping, Farming, Upholstering and Cabinet-making, Saddlery, Harness-making and
Shoe-making, Saw Milling and manufacture of hard and soft lumber, Type-writing,
Printing and Tailoring.
"Students will devote two hours each day to the Industries. A record of their work
in this Department is kept along with that of daily recitations, and counted as other
studies for graduation."
Talladega College, Talladega, Ala., (1900-01).
"Training in the Industries has always received attention at Talladega College. It
is believed that such training strengthens the power of observation, cultivates accu-
racy and skill, secures the formation of habits of industry and usefulness, and exerts
an influence in the development of mind and heart. It is therefore made a part of
the regular instruction given by the College. Its advantages are not offered to per-
sons who do not wish to pursue the regular literary course, but desire simply 'to learn
a trade.' Young men are taught Wood-working, Drafting, Forging, Agriculture, and,
to some extent, Printing; while the young women receive training in Sewing, Dress-
making, Cooking, Nursing and general housework."
Scotia Seminary, Concord, N. C, (1900-01).
In the industrial department of this school for girls the primary object "is domestic
training. While the instruction given is such as to qualify the students to use their
skill as a means of making a living, the end we keep most distinctively in view is to
prepare them to be home makers."
"In the sewing room, systematic, practical instruction is given in plain sewing, es-
pecial attention being paid to patching, darning, hemming, button holes, cutting and
making various garments. Fancy work is excluded as being so fascinating as to inter-
fere with plain work, and requiring more time and money than our girls can afford.
"Fine dressmaking has also been introduced. Those who desire may give extra time
to this, and when proficient will receive a certificate from this department.
"A text book on domestic economy has been introduced, and instruction in all per-
taining to the care of a house and right ways of living is given. Practice is secured
in the care of the buildings and in the kitchen and laundry work of the seminary, all
done by the girls under careful supervision. Special lessons are given in cooking;
from this department also certificates will be given to those who have come up to our
standard of proficiency. These courses in plain cooking and domestic economy and
in plain sewing are required as parts of the Grammar School course, and failure on the
part of any one to complete them will be marked on the certificate.
"They are carefully graded on the neatness and thoroughness with which the domes-
tic work is done, that it may have equal honor with other studies, thus raising the
care of the home above mere drudgery."
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
55
LeMoyne Normal Institute, Memphis, Tenn., (1901-2).
In this school "manual training takes its place in the course of study on
the same footing and is treated in every respect as of the same importance
as any other branch of study." Through the ten years of the course the
girls receive training in sewing for seven years, cooking two years, and
nursing and hygiene, six months. The boys are trained in wood-working
for three years. Both boys and girls are trained in printing in the Junior
Normal year (the 11th year of the course).
Lincoln Institute, Jefferson City, Mo., (1902-1903).
"The object is to afford young men an opportunity to receive instruction in the
mechanic arts, and to become proficient in the useful trades.
"To accomplish this industrial training is given as required work to young men of
the Normal Course, while special courses are provided for those who desire to learn
trades.
"The course is arranged parallel with the Normal and College Preparatory Courses
and will be pursued as follows :
"Through the D Normal and Junior classes, woodwork ; through the C Normal and
Middle, blacksmithing; through the B Normal and Senior Preparatory Classes, ma-
chine work."
COURSE IN CARPENTRY. FIRST YEAR. FIRST TERM.
Joinery — Shopwork.
Turning — Shopwork.
Mathematics — Algebra.
Turning and Joinery.
Mathematics — Algebra.
Joinery.
Mathematics — Algebra.
English— Grammar and Rhetoric.
SECOND TERM.
Science — Physiology.
THIRD TERM.
Mechanical Drawing — Drawing.
English — Rhetoric.
Mechanical Drawing.
English — Rhetoric.
SECOND YEAR. FIRST TERM.
Mathematics — Algebra.
English — Grammar and Rhetoric.
Turning.
Mathematics-
Algebra.
SECOND TERM.
Science — Physiology.
THIRD TERM.
Turning and Joinery.
Mathematics — Algebra.
Mechanical Drawing.
English — Rhetoric.
Mechanical Drawing.
English — Rhetoric.
THIRD YEAR. FIRST TERM.
Mathematics — Geometry.
Strength of Materials and Drawing.
Turning and Joining.
SECOND TERM.
Turning and Joining.
Mathematics — Trigonometry.
Mechanical Drawing — Architecture.
THIRD TERM.
Turning and Joining.
Mechanical Drawins: — Architecture.
English — English Literature.
Science — Chemistry.
Science — Chemistry.
History — General History.
H [story — < reneral History.
Science — Chemistry.
56 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
"Each student has one hour and thirty minutes shop practice each school day, which
period may come early or late in the day, according to the class with which the stu-
dent may be connected in other departments. The shops are open and in operation
from 9 a. m. until 12 m. and from 1 p. m. until 4 p. m., thus giving accommodation to
four classes each day in each shop.
"By special arrangements more time may be given to shop practice, provided this
will not interfere with the program of the other departments.
"The young women are taught dressmaking, plain sewing and fancy needle work,
and receive special instruction in matters pertaining to health, dress and deportment.
Instructions will also be given in scientific cooking and in laundry work, for the en-
suing year under a trained teacher."
Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga., (1900-1901).
Atlanta University is a High School and College— the High School having two
courses, the College Preparatory and Normal.
"All the boys in the Preparatory course receive instruction at the Knowles Industrial
Building ; two triple periods each week.
One year is devoted to wood-working; one term to forging; one term to free hand
drawing; and one year and one term to mechanical drawing, including machine de-
sign and strength of materials.
First Year. In the Bench Room are thirty benches and vices : each bench being
fitted with a case of wood-working tools — squares, planes, chisels, gauges, saws, ham-
mer, mallet, bit and brace, draw-knife, dividers, screw-driver, oilstone, etc. All boys
in the Preparatory course begin their industrial work here, and are instructed in the
general principles of wood-working: marking, sawing, planing, boring, chamfering)
mortising, tenoning, grooving, mitering, beveling, dovetailing. All students are ad-
vanced through a series of carefully graded exercises, which are fully shown by work-
ing drawings and models of the same. The exercises for the earlier part of the year
are nearly all performed at the benches ; later, the students do cabinet work and pat-
tern making, and construct useful and fancy articles as may be best adapted for their
individual advancement.
"Wood-turning is also introduced in the latter part of the year. The Lathe Boom is
fitted with twelve wood-turning lathes : each has a set of chisels, gauges, face-plates
chucks and centers, suitable for a large variety of work. The course follows a series
of graded working drawings, and at its completion useful and ornamental articles can
be made.
Second Year. The Forge Room is fitted with twelve forges and anvils and is thor
oughly supplied with small tools suitable for doing ordinary blacksmith work and
small machine forging. Instruction is given in heating, drawing, bending, upsetting,
welding, annealing, tempering, etc. In iron-working, students are taught the correct
ways of boring, turning, drilling, tapping, and finishing iron and steel ; the use and
care of the machines, and machine tools : the care and management of engine and
boiler.
"The second term of this year is spent in free-hand drawing. The fundamental
principles are taught by drawing from models, also the principles of shading, thus
teaching the student to represent truly what he sees.
"The last term of this year is devoted to mechanical drawing. The students gain a
familiarity with the use of drawing instruments through a series of geometrical con-
structions, orthgraphic projections, sections, line shading, development of helical
curves, lettering, and blue printing.
Third Year. Mechanical drawing for the last year includes the working of problems
in kinematics — cams, gear teeth outlines, screws, shafts, cranks, pulleys, etc. General
and detailed drawings and tracings of the same are made. In all possible cases the
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 57
kind and strength of material and cost of manufacture are considered. The course
closes by each student making an assemblage drawing, upon some approved subject,
called a thesis drawing.
FOR GIRLS.
"Instruction is given to all girls in the Normal and Preparatory courses in sewing,
dressmaking, cooking, and household management.
First Year. Instruction is given in sewing, the stitches being learned on a sampler
made of unbleached cotton cloth, with red and blue thread: including basting, stitch-
ing, backstitching, running, overcasting; hemming, oversewing, French seam-, outline
stitch, felling, gusset, napery stitch, combination stitch, tucking, binding, button
hole, button, hemmed and whipped ruffle ; then holders, sheets, pillow cases and aprons
are made.
Second Year. Different kinds of darning and patching are taught, and various
articles made, which the girls can buy at cost. Drafting, also, is taught during the
year : also the cutting and making of undergarments.
Third Year. The work in cooking extends throughout the year. The care and man-
agement of a fire, the structure of a" stove, the washing of dishes and cleaning of
boards and closets are given careful consideration.
"The chemistry of cooking is illustrated by simple experiments and then given prac-
tical application in the cooking of eggs, meat, vegetables, cereals, batters, doughs,
soups, etc.
"Sewing is continued through the year and includes hemstitch and fancy stitch, and
the cutting and making of a shirt waist and simple skirt.
Fourth Year. An advanced course in practice cooking is given. The subjects con-
sidered theoretically are, the classification of food both chemically and physiologi-
cally, buying and care of food supplies, food economics, preparation of menus with
reference to nutritive value and cost. Simple tests are given to prove whether food
materials have been adulterated. Weekly papers bearing on the lessons are required.
. "Instruction in the care and management of the house is given in lectures on sanita-
tion, plumbing and ventilation, and practice in the different lines of household work.
"Dressmaking is taught during the year. Students are expected to buy a chart for
cutting, also to buy inexpensive woolen dress goods, linings and trimmings for practi-
cal work.
PRINTING OFFICE.
"There is a large and well appointed Printing Office in the principal University build-
ing, in which instruction is given to optional classes, both of boys and girls, without
extra charge. Type-setting, newspaper, book and job work are taught by an expe-
rienced superintendent. Two monthly papers are published: one by the Institution,
The Bulletin of Atlanta University ; one by the students, The Scroll. Job print-
ing is done for the Institution and others by student labor." This report was set up in
this office.
Georgia State Industrial College, College, Ga., (1899-1900).
"Attention is given to stock raising and creamery. This department has been able in
the past year to give employment to a number of young men for which they received
extra pay. In this way several industrious young men made during the year more
than all their expenses by extra work on the farm.
"The work in this department does not in any way interfere with the prosecution of
the regular literary studies.
"Manual training is taught to the boys in the three Normal grade classes.
"It is believed that the minds of the students are thus aroused and quickened for their
literary studies and that each student is also given a reasonable degree of skill in the
use of different kinds of tools.
58 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
''Until the present year there has been no effort to give the student a trade. But in
obedience to a growing demand for opportunities and facilities for trades, the Commis-
sion has organized trades in carpentry, blacksmithing, wheelwrighting, printing,shoe-
making, tailoring, painting and dressmaking. They have placed competent instructors
in charge of each shop.
"The entire department is under the management of an efficient director, and it is be-
lieved that the Georgia State Industrial College is prepared to give valuable aid to one
who wishes to follow any of the trades named herein. The public is respectfully invited
to examine our classes and work.
"Each student will be required to give eight hours a day to his trade. No one will re-
ceive any pay from any department, until he has reached the stage where he is of real
assistance in the work of his trade. Students completing a course in any one of these
trades will be given a certificate of proficiency.
"The courses of study in each department have been planned to cover three years."
9. The Differentiation of Industrial Schools. If now we refer back to page 31
and notice again the list and diagram we may attempt a rough classifica-
tion of these industrial schools. We must remember that this is but a
tentative classification based, for the most part, on the meagre data of
catalogues and liable to some mistakes. It would seem that the schools
represent the various phases of development about as follows:
1, 2.— Janitor and Repair Work with incidental industrial training.
Calhoun.
Benedict.
Paul Quinn.
3, 4.— House work.
Spelman.
Scotia.
(And courses for girls in nearly all the other schools).
5.— A. Industries given as courses of study more or less compulsory;
trades not usually finished — the Unorganized Industrial School:
Howard, Clark, Florida State,
Wilberforce, Scofield, Walden.
Biddle, Rust,
B. Co-operative Industry for gain and trade instruction — the School of
Work.
Tuskegee, A. & M. College, Normal, Ala.
Tougaloo,
Alcorn,
6.— Trade Schools.
A. & M. College, Greensboro, N. C.
Lincoln Institute, Mo.
9. — Manual Training Schools.
Shaw, Knox, Atlanta University.
Tillotson, Ballard.
Orange Park, Southern,
Prairie View, Talladega,
Va. Union, LeMoyne,
6, 9.— Manual Training and Trade Schools.
Hampton,
Claflin.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 59
The first group are manifestly in the transition stage, either on account
of primitive surroundings, as is the case of Calhoun, or because they are
just beginning to introduce industrial training. The work for girls in
Housework is important and permanent work which will improve in
method as time passes. There is, of course, lurking beneath this work
much drudgery and servant work of little or no educational value and at
the same time a severe drain on the strength and good temper of the girls*
Courses in housework ought to be really educational and not simply ex-
pedients for hiring less kitchen help.
The industrial schools under u5" are the ones which will, in the near
future, show the greatest development. The history of those under "5 A"
has been simple : they were ordinary schools of the older type. Under the
impetus of the Slater Fund crusade they hired a carpenter or a shoemaker
to instruct certain of their students and from this the work grew. The
trouble with this sort of industrial school is the inevitable lack of harmony
between the academic and industrial work. The studies of the two are
not integrated — they have no common centre or unified object and the
school must either seek a higher development of its work, as is the case
at Wilberforce and Biddle, or the academic work will entirely overshadow
the industrial, as at most of the schools, or the industrial work will over-
shadow the academic, as is the case with most of the schools under "5 B."
Dr. Haygood was soon able to point out that the "School of Work" idea
must be pursued with caution: "I am entirely convinced," said he in his
final report, "that we cannot make industrial training self-sustaining,
without sinking, to a hurtful degree, the educative part of the work in the
effort to secure 'profits.' With this view I believe all experienced teach-
ers will agree." To bring a vast number of raw country lads together,
give them a chance to work at a trade and learn it, study a little at the
same time and partially support themselves while in school has in it much
that is worthy and valuable. It is peculiarly the "Tuskegee Idea" and
the one for which Mr. Booker T. Washington has labored faithfully and
well. And yet the idea is a transitional one. The development of Tuskegee
itself shows that it is moving toward a more definite and thorough organ-
ization. Two distinct ideas must more and more become clearly differen-
tiated in such a school: (a) the education of youth and (b) the teaching
of trades. To some small extent, or for short periods of time, these objects
may be combined, but in the long run, and in any permanent educational
system, they must be clearly seen as differing, and to an extent, incapable
of complete combination. The so-called industrial schools will, there-
fore, in the next decade in all probability divide into two distinct parts:
a department of common and grammar school training with perhaps
higher courses, in which manual training, as an educative process, will
play a pronounced part; and a department of Trade instruction to which
only youth of a certain age and advancement will be admitted and which
will turn out thorough, practical artisans. Paying industries and the
student wage-system will play a very subordinate part in such schools.
10. Manual Trauiiiaj, Manual training, as it has come to be called, or
the fashioning, handling, and studying of actual objects as a help to think-
60 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
ing and learning to think is perhaps the longest forward step in human
education which this generation has taken. We have not, to be sure,
learned to our entire satisfaction just how to combine for the best results
the spoken word, the written letter and the carved wood or forged iron.
And yet, gradually we are working toward this ideal, as the introduction
of the kindergarten and of sloyd, nature study and laboratory methods
into the common school rooms, abundantly testify. In the case of the
Negro little has as yet been done in the public schools of the South.
Public officials in the various states testify as follows :
Alabama. Superintendent of Education J. W. Abercrombie says: "In-
dustrial training has not been introduced in the public schools of Ala-
bama.'"
Arkansas. State Superintendent Dayne says: "Industrial training has
been introduced into two or three of the city schools."
Delaware. The Secretary of the School Board writes that no industrial
training at all has been introduced into the public schools.
Florida. Superintendent W. N. Sheats says: "Industrial training has
not been introduced into the public schools."
Indian Territory. Superintendent John D. Benedict says: "Not much in-
dustrial training has been introduced, but we are gradually taking hold
of that work now."
Louisiana. Superintendent J. V. Calhoun writes: "No industrial train-
ing has been introduced in the public schools."
Maryland. Superintendent M. Bates Stephens writes that private man-
ual training schools are increasing but mentions no such work in the pub-
lic schools. There is probably some such work in the Colored High
School in Baltimore.
Mississippi. Superintendent H. L. Whitfield mentions no manual train-
ing work in the public schools.
Missouri. Superintendent Carrington says' that outside St. Louis and
Kansas City where such work is done, there is no manual training in the
public schools.
North Carolina. Superintendent J. Y. Joyner writes : "As yet industrial
training has not been introduced in the colored public schools to any ex-
tent I think one great need of the public schools for the col-
ored race is industrial and agricultural training. I shall be glad to have
from you any suggestions as to how such training may be made practical
for the lower public schools."
Oklahoma. Superintendent Baxter reports no industrial training save in
the Normal University.
South Carolina. Superintendent J. J. McMahan writes: "Only a few
town schools have introduced industrial features."
Tennessee. Mr. Rutledge Smith informs us that "no industrial training
hasbeen introduced in the public schools for the colored."
Texas. Superintendent A. Lefevre writes: "Industrial training in the
colored public schools has had some beginning in a few localities, and the
indications are that developments along this line may be expected in the
near future."
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 61
Virginia. Superintendent Southall writes: "No systematic industrial
training has been introduced into the colored public schools of the state.
The introduction of industrial training is now receiving much attention
at the hands of our school authorities, and we hope soon to make a start
in all our public schools."
West Virginia. Superintendent Miller reports no manual training save
in the higher state institutions.
No reports have been received from Kentucky and Georgia after repeated
inquiries. It is known, however, in Georgia that manual training to some
extent has been introduced in the colored public schools of Columbus and
Athens. In the latter case the work is supported entirely by the colored
teachers themselves.
In the private schools and state institutions manual training is made a
prominent feature at
Hampton, Knox,
Claflin, Ballard,
Shaw, Southern,
Tillotson, Talladega,
Orange Park, LeMoyne,
Prairie View, Va. N. & C. I.,
Va. Union, Atlanta University,
and at some other schools. As had been said, Atlanta University was the
pioneer in this work and from the beginning the work has had one distinct
idea: the using of a course of training in wood-working and iron-forging
solely for its educative effect on the pupil. There have been many diffi-
culties in carrying out this idea, chief among which is securing proper
teachers and co-ordinating the work in the shop with that in the class-
room. Probably Hampton has had larger success in this integra-
tion than any other of these schools. The Hampton manual training idea,
however, has in mind not simply the educative value of the work but its
value in furnishing skilled recruits for the trade school. It consequently
gives a preponderance to the manual training courses such as schools for
higher training could not afford to allow in justice to other work.
A much needed outcome from manual training is the preparation of
teachers to instruct in such courses. Such a course is given at Hampton
for simple work in the public schools. At Atlanta University, and prob-
ably at other schools, elective work outside the regular course accom-
plishes somewhat the same end less systematically.
So far as the public schools are concerned there is danger in the South
that there will be introduced into the public schools some attempt at
teaching paying "Industries" instead of manual training for its purely
educative value. It would be a calamity if this were attempted. The
public schools are designed primarily to awaken the child's mind and to
teach him to read and write and the simpler uses of numbers. To this
might cautiously be added a simple and carefully adapted course in sloyd,
some lessons in plain sewing, and "busy" work in weaving, plaiting and
modeling. This would cost little, is easily taught and above all easily
62 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
co-ordinated and combined with the work in the three R's. Simple "na-
ture studies" might also in these lower grades add diversion and instruc-
tion in the first elements of planting and plant life. Cooking as a study,
in the Negro schools, would be more difficult to introduce and more costly.
Probably a travelling cooking teacher in the homes of the parents them-
selves or at a mothers' meeting at the school house would accomplish the
most good in the country. In the city schools experiments at teaching cook-
ing might be tried. At any rate any attempt to introduce "Industries" in
the public schools in the sense of imparting marketable skill or teaching
handicraft would simply mean that reading, writing and arithmetic would
get even less attention than they do now, that mental development would
be lost sight of and the real mission of the public school system hope-
lessly blocked. It is sincerely to be desired that great care will be exer-
cised by the friends of the Negro in warding off experiments in the wrong
direction and promoting in the public schools real manual training for the
sake of its intellectual value.
11. The Post- Graduate Trade School, (by Major R. R. Moton, Commandant
of Cadets, Hampton Institute).
There is more or less confusion in the average mind as to the difference
between industrial, manual and trade school training, although there is
no question as to the importance of each. There is, however, a clear dis-
tinction to be made in their objects, if not in their underlying principles.
Manual training is, as I understand it, a sort of laboratory in which ab-
stract ideas are worked out by hand in a concrete, practical way. The
shop work is given, not for its economic value, but purely for educational
purposes. What is commonly called industrial training, on the other
hand, is usually given for its economic value. It generally consists in
teaching a man to work by rule. and rote rather than by principle and
method, its object being to make the work as profitable as possible and
incidentally to teach the trade. This is not very different from the train-
ing the Negro got in slavery, under the old apprentice system. This is
apt to mean a brainless training, producing, as a natural result, a generally
brainless and unprofitable industry. The laborer is a machine and works
as a machine.
The value of the work done in any branch of industry must and will de-
pend largely upon the quality of brain that is put into it. It is not so
much the number of men engaged in manual pursuits as the quality of
men, that will dignify and make profitable the labor of the hands. It is
not so much the number of men engaged in farming that will place agri-
culture among the most productive industries, as the quality of men en-
gaged in it. It is very difficult to make a first rate artisan or farmer
without a cultivated mind as a basis. In all the pursuits of life, — call
them common, if you wish, — there are underlying principles which must
be mastered, if one is to get the best results from his labor. The inventive
mind, the originative and planning mind, is the trained mind. The
proper industrial scheme for the Negro, or any other people, is one that
emphasizes the right sort of education of the head, as a necessary pre-
liminary, and uses his higher training as a subservient and tributary basis
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 63
for his subsequent practical usefulness. To leave a thorough mental
training out of any system of industrial training for the Negro of to-day
is to produce a dwarfed and unprofitable workman. Under such a system,
steam and electricity become useless, the shoemaker sinks into a cobbler
and every workman becomes a jack-of-all-trades. This may have ans-
wered the demands once, but it will not to-day. Train the workman and
you elevate his labor.
There are, scattered throughout the Southland, a number of industrial
schools, many of which have done, and are still doing a magnificent work,
and have sent out men who are accomplishing a great deal along indus-
trial lines as teachers and artisans. We do not depreciate what has been
accomplished, but there are three distinct differences between the trade
school and the industrial school: — first, the difference in requirements for
entrance, the trade school demanding a broader mental training, as a
basis upon which its education shall be' built; second, the difference in
method of instruction, the stress being placed on what the shop produces
in the boy, rather than upon what the boy produces in the shop; third,
the difference in object, the aim being not merely to make mechanics and
artisans who can build a house under supervision, but to turn out teachers
of trades and captains of industry who can make the plans and execute
them even in the most minute detail.
As the theological, medical and law schools fit men, who are usually
post-graduates, for their respective professions, so the trade school should
fit men (post-graduates) for their professions. A man's training may be
that of a carpenter, blacksmith, wheelwright, machinist, or even of a
polytechnic character, but if he comprehends the scientific principles
underlying the trade, it should be dignified as a profession. In other
words, the trade school should fit men for a higher grade of work than is
done by the ordinary industrial school. Its standard and work should be
so high as to attract the best and brightest youth of our land. Our best
high schools and even colleges should be, in a sense, preparatory schools
for professional trade school work. We can never reach the highest in-
dustrial ideal and elevate manual labor in the eyes of the Negro — and the
white man as well — until a high intellectual and moral standard is de-
manded as an essential base upon which to erect a thorough, dignified
and profitable industrialism. This will require no small amount of care-
ful, thoughtful and often tedious work on the part of educators, but the
end will without question justify the means.
It is not merely the comprehension of the three Rs which is necessary
in the Negro's development. The complexity of our modern industrial
system makes it essential that he shall comprehend more than the rudi-
ments of reading, writing and arithmetic. All branches of study which
will develop the intellect in the highest and most practical way should be
included in his curriculum. The value of industrial education to the
Negro and to the country in which he lives, will be largely in proportion
to the training of the head which precedes it, or is acquired along with it.
The skilfulness of his hand will depend largely upon the thoughtfulness
of his brain.
64 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
While I do not believe that industrial education, or any other kind of
education, is a panacea for all the ills of the Negro, I do believe that he
especially needs to be thoroughly rooted and grounded in the underlying
principles of concrete things. A man's education should be conditioned
upon his capacity, social environment and the life which he is most likely
to lead in the immediate future. The highest aim of education is the
building of character, and any education which does not include the four
cardinal factors in the building of character is false and misleading.
Knowledge, skill, culture and virtue are essential elements in educational
development. Knowledge suggests ideas and makes one original and in-
ventive. Skill executes these ideas. Culture enjoys the inventions and
executions of a superior skill. Virtue preserves knowledge, skill and
culture, and brings man to a closer understanding of his fellow-men and
bis Maker.
The problem which presented itself to the industrial school two decades
ago was simple in comparison with the problem of to-day. A farm and
a laundry, and perhaps a sewing room, were enough to give a school its
industrial character. Hampton, and Tuskegee as well, started very much
in this way. But as those institutions grew, more varied industries be-
came necessary and one industry followed another in rapid succession.
At Hampton many of the young men used the shops, not only as a means
of earning sufficient money to put them through the academic course,
but devoted themselves for three or four years to learning a trade, at the
forge or bench, much after the apprentice system. While this was good
as far as it went, and enabled many to go out and accomplish a great deal
of good by example and precept, often building with their own hands
their own houses and their schoolhouses, and teaching their people the
right ideas of life and duty, it was found inadequate to meet the increas-
ing demands for men to fill positions in a higher realm of industrial ac-
tivity and for teachers in the industrial schools that were and are still
springing up all over the South and West. It was this demand that
brought Dr. Frissell, the principal of the Hampton Institute, in the spirit
of its great founder, Gen. Armstrong, to the idea of a trade school and a
school of scientific agriculture, where the trades and agriculture should
be taught upon a thoroughly scientific and intellectual basis.
We have in our trade school to-day men who have graduated from our
own academic department or from other schools of equal or higher grade
than Hampton who are learning trades with a view to becoming teachers
of trades, or contractors and leaders of industry in a larger and broader
sense than the average Negro artisan comprehends. Only since the Arm-
strong and Slater Memorial Trade School was opened six years ago, can
Hampton lay claim to having been teaching trades. Before this, there
were a number of men, Hampton students, who did work at trades, and
some of them no doubt, as their subsequent work has clearly shown, did
learn them, but Hampton can hardly claim to have taught them.
The importance of this higher trade training cannot be gainsaid, nor is
it likely, at present at least, to be'over-estimated. Since Hampton began,
six years ago, to teach trades in a thorough, systematic way, ninety Negro
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 65
boys have completed the course and left Hampton. Of these sixty, or
eighty-one per cent., are either teaching or working at their trades. Four
have died, five are studying in other institutions, nine are engaged in
other occupations and twelve have not been heard from. Then, too, the
demand for persons with this sort of training is still increasing. Hampton,
alone, has had requests, within the last three months, for forty-eight of
its trade school graduates to fill positions as instructors in mechanic arts.
What Hampton, Tuskegee and other schools of the same character, are
trying to do for trade education is a simple but conclusive illustration of
what can and should be done along the line of what might be called
higher trade education. Hampton does not by any means approximate
its ideal in trade school work, for it is necessary now — and probably will
be for a long time to come — to teach trades to a large number of under-
graduates, pupils who learn their trades while they are taking the acad
emic course. But post-graduate work is without question the ideal to-
ward which trade school work should be tending.
It is only through a clear understanding of the situation and a hearty
co-operation on the part of the educators of the colored youth of our land,
that we can get the best results from our various systems of education.
12. Cost of Industrial Training. It is not easy to estimate the cost
of industrial training in all schools since the expenditures for indus-
trial and academic teaching are not usually separated. The following
table gives the total income (1899-1900) of all schools which give Negroes
industrial training:*
*Re-arranged from the Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1899-1900.
m
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
INCOME OF INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, 1899-1900.
SCHOOLS.
Alabama.
Kowaliga A. and I.
School
Emerson N. Institute
State Normal School.
A. and M. College
Talladega College
Stillman Institute
Tuskegee N. and I.
School
Arkansas.
Shorter University...
Arkadelphia Acad....
Philander Smith Col
Branch Nor. College
Southland College...,
Arkansas Bap. Col...
Delaware.
State College for Col-
ored Students
Dist. of Columbia.
4J
d
O i— i
o
205
201
928
499
618
45
1,180
86
92
388
214
127
218
Howard University..
Florida.
Eessenden Academy.
Emerson Memorial
Home and School.
Orange Park Normal
and M. T. School.
State N. and I. Col.
Georgia.
Jeruel Academy
Knox Institute f...
Atlanta University...
Morris Brown College
Spelman Seminary...
Haines N. and I. Inst.
The Paine Institute...
Ga. State I. College...
Ft. Valley H. and I.
School
Dorchester Academy
Beach Institute
Clark University
Allen N. and I. Sen...
51
205
100
466
499
195
35
1,180
16
20
95
109
120
56
46
$
Income, 1899-1900.
>0
CG
-1-3
o
eg
-1-3
CO
-t-3
r/j
Ol
—
([)
O)
<x>
O
f-<
j
?-<
QJ
-4-J
d
o
d
I— i
o
QQ
e3
-i-3
O
768 223
206
76
79
209
221
270
263
499
599
460
231
350
408
320
476
210
130
76
79
100
18,000
40,000
30,119
134,000
8,000
252,319
5,000
15,000
32,000
63,000
25,000
25,000
27,000
700,000
5,000
5,000
30,044
80
114J
233
83|
450
208
140
75
209
41
310
78
1,682
97,231
223
250
8,500
4,000
0
0
4,500
3,500
1,087
2,000
0
1,500
,100
0
175
1,873
460
1,600
500
0
7,500
784
1,921
1,000
1,994
2,500
8,000
255,000:
75,000
180,000
20,000
43,733
30,000
10,000
12,900
5,000
250,000
9,079
1,043
28,000
22,414
4,500
403
1,700
193
6,000
35,100
500
0
6,500
0
0
0
0
0
15,000
1,500
0
0
0
200
107
640
378
475
2,000
1,315
3,239
900
9W
709
1,200
2,600
677
800
2,452
4,500
10,776
5,000
3,116
98,390
1,472
519
2,450
6,860
250
4,500
8,000
3,000
100
1,575
0
300
150
200
975
0
6,000
800
573
12,500
2,136
100
8,685
6,608
4,450
10,111
13,000
2,947
4,200
9,400
1,000
3,534
15,000
14,776
15,682
4,000
202,042
1,472
694
4,323
10,820
2,650
5,000
6,000
49,100
2,500
2,674
3,640
19,478
3,654
31,675
10,000
32,561
10,000
10,111
15,200
16,375
4,059
5,400
13,700
1,870
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
67
income of industrial schools, 1899-1900. (Continued).
+3
5 02
OP
°T5 02
Income,
1899-1900.
p—
SCHOOLS.
r
88 s
o E
^ ?
fl
H
1-3 r-t
" in
fl W
Value
Groum
Building
02
-4-3
•i— 1
0
1
•iH
<
+3
S3
+3
m
fl
'-4-3
•iH
fl
■+3
02
<D
U
CD
+3
fl
H
Other
Sources.
65
-4-3
o
H
Kentucky.
*
$
$
$
$
$
$
State N. School for
Colored Persons
170
170
40,465
3,000
0
1,255
3,625
7,880
Chandler N. School...
220
111
17,904
155
0
1,222
240
2,155
3,772
Louisiana.
Gilbert Acad. & I. Col
248
141
60,000
500
2,400
500
3,400
Leland University..
115
16
150,000
25,600
0
0
6,000
600
32,200
Straight University...
539
229
100,000
300
0
1,600
300
2,000
4,200?
Maryland.
St. Frances Academy
59
27
I. Home for Col. Girls
105
105
Princess Anne Acad..
82
60
17,000
0
4,500
900
5,400
Mississippi.
Mt.Hermon F. Sem...
60
60
25,000
1,000
0
400
1,000
2,400
Sou. Christian Inst...
87
43
35,000
4,000
0
150
0
3,850
8,000
State Normal School.
257
80
12,000
0
2,250
467
0
2,717
Rust University
230
124
125,000
5,759
1,474
4,751
11,984
Jackson College
102
60
35,000
177
498
141
816?
Tougaloo University.
436
221
80,000
15,000
15,000
Alcorn A. and M. Col.
339
339
130,000
12,850
6,815
19,161
38,826
Missouri.
Lincoln Institute
278
125
70,800
15,295
1,339
16,634
Geo. R. Smith Col
200
52
50,000
200
1,800
125
2,000
5,925
New Jersey.
M. T. and I. School-
109
109
327
308
5,000
5,635
North Carolina.
Washburn Seminary.
158
118
6,000
Biddle University
236
107
150,000
;Scotia Seminary
290
290
65,000
11,000
0
618
100
5,000
16,718
Franklinton C. Col...
158
10
7,000
A. and M. Col. for Col
174
174
66,600
7,500
350
8,954
16,804
HighPointN.&I.Sch
276
66
130,000
1,200
2,000
3,200
Lincoln Academy
235
155
55,000
220
252
0
472
Barrette C. & I. Sch..
111
75
5,000
1,500
250
1,750
Plymouth Sta.N.Sch.
87
37
0
1,875
100
1,975
St. Augustine's Sch..
323
100
50,000
6,000
6,000
Shaw University
511
190
90,00C
12,873
0
8,158
154
21,185
Livingston College...
266
s
125,00C
4,000
50
500
200
5,500
10,250
Gregory Normal Sch.
22fc
10C
15,00C
300
0
1,100
2,900
4,300
Rankin-Rich ards Ins
8C
I 16
11,00C
525
250
525
1,300
Slater I. & S. N.Sch
262
llfi
1 25,00C
3,257
219
5,553
8,229
68
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
income of industrial sohools, 1899-1900. (Continued)
-I 2
s in
ies.
Income, 1899-1900.
r— '
S s
+3 f*
_ _
CD C C£
o
•1— 1
r*
4-3
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SCHOOLS.
tuder
ndus
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Pennsylvania.
$
$
%
$
$
$
$
Inst, for Col. Youth...
318
272
South Carolina.
1
Schofleld N. & I. Sch
303
231
50,000
1,000
150
100
1,200
6,550
9,000
Browning Home Sch.
180
136
Avery Normal Inst...
345
75
15,000
0
2,500
0
3,000
5,500
Brainerd Institute
205
205
10,000
0
0
Allen University
343
84
35,000
0
0
969
6,000
9,969
Benedict College
488
213
76,000
0
6,000
4,359
10,359
Penn N. and I. Sch...
265
179
3,000
200
0
270
1,200
1,670
Brewer Normal Sch...
245
147
12,000
0
1,000
1,000
Claflin University...
708
487
150,000
25,000
4,000
8,000
37,000
Tennessee.
Warner Institute
101
78
5,000
345
8
280
5,633
Knoxville College...
304
68
100,000
2,900
300
14,000
17,200
LeMoyne Nor. Inst...
718
462
45,000
4,500
0
4,780
4,500
13,780
Morris town Nor. Col.
277
93
75,000
31,000
761
31,761
Central Tenn. Col..
540
70
19,000
7,500
625
6,169
500
8,500
23,294
Boger Williams Univ
268
100
200,000
1,235
1,823
8,190
11,248
Texas.
i
Bishop College
337
327
100,000
Wiley University
411
200
30,000
1,200
5,600
1,680
8,480
Paul Quinn College...
276
149
77,000
2,008
4,410
3,821
10,239
Virginia.
Ingleside Academy...
109
109
25,000
600
3,000
3,600
Gloucester A. & I. Col
97
97
20,000
3,700
3,700
Hampton N. & A.Inst
939
949
757,000
254,333
0
0
35,336
136,668
426,337
St. Paul N. & I. Sch..
318
230
60,000
3,500
8,500
12,000
Manassas Indus. Sch.
65
65
16,000
5,240
5,500
10,740
Norfolk Mission Col.
690
406
60,000
0
1,700
7,410
9,110
Va. Nor. and Col. Inst
343
183
157,000
15,000
1,103
672
300
17,747
Va. Union University
157
12
300,000
52,278
1,200
4,000
57,478
West Virginia.
Storer College
142
105
50,000
1,000
387
3,123
0
4,510
13. Results of Industrial Training. It is always difficult to judge a sys-
tem of human training, since in the nature of the case its results are
spiritual rather than material and show themselves fully only after the
lapse of time. Industrial training has changed the ideals of the freedmen,
it has educated the hands and heads of his children and it has trained
artisans. Of these we can only measure the last and that but imperfectly^
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 69
by asking, How many of the graduates of industrial schools are actually
following their trades ?
Every school in the country which is especially designed to give
industrial training to Negroes was sent the schedule of questions printed
on page 11. Of the 98 thus questioned 44 answered, and partial data were
obtained from the catalogues of 16 others, making returns from sixty
schools in all. Of these sixty a number answered that they were unable
to furnish exact data or had no graduates working as artisans : '
G. L. Smith College, Mo : "We have not as yet made provision for Industrial work."
ML Hermon Female Seminary, Miss : "I am sorry I cannot answer your questions, but
I really have not kept track of my former pupils."
Starr's School,G& :"This is a grammar day school and has no industries except sewing."
Shorter College, Ark : "We have the Sewing and Printing Departments in connection
with our school, but they have been recently connected and consequently we have no
graduates, as yet."
St. Augustine's School, Raleigh, N. C : "We have classes in printing, in carpentry and
in bricklaying. The classes have not been going long enough for us to have sent out
more than a few boys, so that I am not able to give you any answer."
Normal School No. 2, Washington, D. C : "We have no trades [taught] in our school."
Roger Williams University, Nashville, Tenn : "This school has never been in any true
sense an industrial school I have no list of our graduates who are arti-
sans, though there are doubtless a good number who may be working in that way."
Emerson Normal Institute, Mobile, Ala : "Almost none [of our graduates are working
as artisans] so far as I know."
Warner Institute, Jonesboro, Tenn : "We are teaching sewing only as industrial work
at present."
Gloucester Institute, Cappahoosic, Va : "While we give elementary lessons in sewing,
cooking and agriculture, with application upon a school farm of 148 acres, we cannot
be correctly classed as an industrial school."
Straight University, New Orleans, La : "We have manual training in our school but
do not teach trades."
Benedict College, Columbia, S. C : "At present it is impossible to make a report that
will be accurate at all. Next year we hope to be able to give information in that line.\
Leland University, New Orleans, La : "This is not a trade school. I never want to
manage shops, machines, foundries, kilos, plants, industries ; I mean to use some of
these on their educational side for various reasons, but book learning is our main aim.
All of our graduates who are living as artisans learned that elsewhere."
Mississippi State Normal School, Holly Springs, Miss : "None [of our former students
or graduates are artisans.] Ours is a normal school for the education of teachers.
The only art we teach is dress-cutting and fitting."
Beach Institute, Savannah, Ga : "I have not found as yet records of addresses or occu-
pations of former graduates. * * * * We have no industrial course."
Virginia Union University, Richmond, Va : "Our Industrial Department has been in
existence only one year."
Florida State Normal and Industrial School, Tallahassee, Fla: Industrial lines of in-
struction "are just being organized."
Jackson College : This institution is being rebuilt and is "not at present an industrial
school," but will be later.
Spelman Seminary : "On looking up our statistics of graduates and what they are
doing, we find that we have so little knowledge of those engaged in industrial pursuits
that we do not fill out the report asked for by you."
Scotia Seminary: "Our work being for girls only our industrial work is confined
mainly to the domestic arts. Some who do not complete a literary course devote them-
70
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
selves to dress-making, but the literary graduates generally accept positions as teach-
ers. The demand for industrial teachers far exceeds our ability to supply. Scotia
girls, as a rule, do not get a chance for independent positions. They are in such de-
mand for the high office of home-maker that nearly all of them are at that not very
long after they graduate."
In addition to these 20 schools, probably all but a few of the 38 schools
not heard from belong to the same category, i. e., they either teach sew-
ing, cooking, farming, or simple manual training, or if they teach a few
trades partially they have no record of their graduates. In the case of
girls' schools like Spelman and Scotia it is not expected that they will
send out artisans except possibly dress-makers, and teachers of manual
training.
Turning now to trade schools and those that lay considerable stress on
Manual Training, we have the following reports :
Hampton Institute, Va.
112 graduates or former students are working at their trades and 27 are
teaching trades, making 139 in all. 227 have finished or practically finished
their trades in the years 1885-1902. Of these 10 are dead, and 42 not heard
from. Of the remaining 161 heard from, 139 are working at their trades or
teaching them :*
HAMPTON TRADE STUDENTS.
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Blacksmiths
Bricklayers
Carpenters
Engineers
Harnessmakers
Machinists
Painters
Printers
Shoemakers
Tailors
Tinsmiths
Wheelwrights
Wood-working machinists.
Manual training: teacher....
22
3
25
1
26
19
6
0
2
0
2
2
4
1
0
1
69
1
70
4
74
50
12
8
12
2
14
0
14
12
2
0
9
0
9
0
9
9
0
0
6
1
7
1
8
6
1
0
7
0
7
1
8
4
3
0
15
4
19
1
20
18
1
0
13
1
14
0
14
8
5
1
13
3
16
1
17
15
1
0
2
0
2
0
2
2
0
0
23
2
25
3
28
14
11
0
2
0
2
0
2
2
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
Total 196 17 213 14 227 16142 10
*We are indebted to the authorities of Hampton Institute, and especially to Miss M. J. Sherman, for
these tabular statements and other detailed information.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
71
LOCATION OF FORMER STUDENTS KNOWN TO BE FOLLOWING THEIR TRADES.
X
4-J
7.
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a
03
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Virginia Working
Teaching
Alabama W
T
Washington, D. C W
T
Georgia W
T
Kentucky W
T
Louisiana W
T
Maryland W
T
North Carolina W
T
South Carolina and Tennessee W
T
Texas W
T
In the North W
T
In the West .......W
T
In the U. S. Naw WT
T
Total working at trades W
Total teaching trades T
Total heard from
11
*2
20
4
1
2
4
6
5
13
1
2
3
1
1
5
3
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
2
1
1
1
1
2
3
1
16
3
26
9
3
6
4
11
8
is
1
4
3
0
1
1
13
0
3
1
0
2
2
0
0
3
0
1
17
4
39
9
6
7
4
13
10
18
I 1
7
3
1
74
12-86
2
6- 8
6
0- 6
2
0- 2
2
1- 3
1
0- 1
3
2- 5
4
3- 7
0
2- 2
3
0- 3
13
0-13
1
1- 2
1
0- 1
112
27
139
""This list includes those Negro students with trades wholly or partially completed about whom we
have had definite information within a year and a half. The present addresses and occupations
of a still larger number, especially of those who did not finish their trades, cannot be found."
No report is available as to dress-makers, nor as to graduates and stu-
dents who are earning a living partially as artisans. In tailoring and
blacksmithing the graduates have experienced no difficulty in obtaining
work, and in other trades "no serious difficulty." They do not as a gen-
eral thing join trades unions.
Tuskegee Institute, Ala.
"We have been keeping a record only of our academic graduates and those who have
certificates from the industrial department. I send you under separate cover to-day
72 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
our catalog which contains our alumni record. The institution cannot be fairly judged
only by those who are referred to in the catalog as there are many others who have
been working regularly at their trades of whom no record is made."
In the catalogue the occupations of graduates of the school are given
as follows :
Total graduates 423
Painters 1 Harnessmakers 1
Tinners 5 Plasterers 1
Dairymen 2 Shoemakers 2
Butchers 1 Wheelwrights... 1
bailors 11 Machinists 1
Brickmasons 8 Blacksmiths 3
Carpenters 4 Milliners 4
Dressmakers 2 Firemen -. 1
Artisans 48
Teachers of Trades in Industrial Schools 28
Students in Industrial Schools 2
Persons who work at their trades when not employed at some other
principal occupation :
Carpenters 8 Wheelwright 1
Dressmakers and Seamstresses... 16 Plasterers 1
Blacksmiths 1 Painters 1
Shoemakers 2 Printers .. 1
Mattressmakers 1 Tailors 1
Total 33
Other occupations of graduates* : .
Cashier 1 Farmers 9
Book-keeper 1 Trained Nurses** 7
Teachersf 157 Railway laborers 1
Students 31 Steward 1
Pharmacists 4 Laundress 1
Physicians 8 Miners 3
Preachers 11 Drayman 1
School officials other than teach- Merchantsft 6
ers 9 Clerks 8
Other professions 6 U. S. Army 4
Newspaper work 2 Housekeepers^.... 29
Civil Service 6
^Including the 33 who work at their trades only a part of their time. They are here counted un-
der their principal occupations.
'--Including 3 who also keep house.
tlncluding 27 who practice trades in vacation, 16 who teach and keep house. 4 who teach and keep
store, 9 who teach and farm, and 2 who teach and preach.
tfNot counting 4 who teach and keep store.
\\. e., Housewives?
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 73
Summarized we have :
Artisans 48
Teachers of trades 28
Students of trades 2 — 78
Casual artisans, (33, recounted below) .
Teachers, students and school officials 197
Professional men [ 44
Merchants, Clerks, &c 16
Farmers 9
Miscellaneous 40
Dead, unknown and at home 39 — 345
Total graduates 423
Claflin University, S. C.
The following graduates and former students have been sent out with
trades :
Carpenters 16 Iron and steel workers 6
Blacksmiths 6 Shoemakers 3
Masons 22 Painters 6
Engineers 2 Plasterers 20
Dressmakers .....11 Tailors 2
Harnessmakers 1 Machinists 2
Teacher domestic science 1
Total 98; 60 of these are following their trades. 12 or more graduates
besides these earn a living partially as artisans, usually combining teach-
ing and farming with the trade. Fourteen of the graduates* are instruct-
ors in industries.
These artisans are working principally in South Carolina. They are
usually preferred by contractors and have had no difficulty in obtaining
work. They do not usually join trades unions, as there are not many unions
in the state.
A. d- M. College, Normal, Ala.
This institution has no record of its undergraduates. The following
have graduated as artisans:
•Carpenters 15 Shoemakers 6
Blacksmiths 10 Painters 2
Engineers 3 Tailors 3
Dressmakers 25 Printers 10
Iron and steel workers 10 Total 84
The number of these who are following their trades at present is not
known; some of these combine teaching with their trades, but the exact
number is not stated. The chief difficulty encountered by these artisans is
the ''Trades Unions,which,in some localities, control labor and will not ad-
mit them to membership." In any case they seldom join the unions. Ten
teach industries in schools.
-Probably included in the above til). The report is not explicit on this point.
74 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Bishop College, Texas.
This institution sends a partial report. "The incompleteness of the re-
port is not due to lack of students at work as artisans, but to the lack of
method in keeping track of them."
Carpenters 3 Printers 10
Blacksmiths ; 1 Total, 15
Brickrnakers 1
A. & M. College, Greensboro, N. C.
This institution which graduated its first ciass in 1899 reports as follows :
Carpenters 4 ' Earning a living partially as
Machinists and architects 3 artisans ft
Teaching trades in schools 2
"One of our graduates — a machinist with less than two years' experience — is em-
ployed in a Northern factory at $5 a day."
Most of the other graduates are located in North Carolina. The six men-
tioned above usually combine teaching with their trade. They do not
usually join trades unions and have no difficulty in getting work save
"their own imperfections or lack of energy."
Tougaloo University, Miss.
"While we have done much industrial work we have not had special graduation from
industrial courses, but have co-ordinated the hand work with the other as part of an
all-round education. Until comparatively recently the call for artisans has not been
so strong in this state as in some others. It is predominantly an agricultural state."
The artisans reported are :
Carpenters 18 Dressmakers 4
Blacksmiths 7 Iron and steel workers 2
Masons 1 Painters 3
Engineers 3 Total 38
Three in addition teach industries in schools. They do not join trades
unions and find work with but little difficulty.
Schofield N. & I. School, S. C.
This school returns ua partial list, but there are many more who have
entered and are following trades." The following are known to be pur-
suing these trades :
Lo
Blacksmiths 5 Painters 20
Brickrnakers .....10 Harnessmakers 20
Masons 15 Plumbers 5
Tailors.. 3 Printers 15
Carpenters 30
Total 123
"Very many" others are following their trades, but there are no exact
records ; 6 are teaching industries in schools.
These persons are located in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Some
are in the North.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 75
Barrett C. & I Institute, N. C.
This institution has trained 157 artisans, chiefly blacksmiths, masons,
dressmakers, plasterers and carpenters. Of these "about 10 or more" are
earning their living entirely as artisans. Others are combining their trades
with teaching. They do not join trades unions and meet little difficulty
in getting work.
Haines Institute, Ga.
"Ours is simply a manual training school and makes no pretense at teaching trades.
The following are earning a living at their trades, not having studied them elsewhere
than here."
Printers 2 Dressmakers and Seamstresses... 6
Tailors 2
They are in Georgia, New Jersey and District of Columbia.
Knoxville College, Tenn.
This institution reports among its graduates :
Blacksmiths 1 Dressmakers 2
Masons 1 Iron and steel workers 4
Civil Engineers 1 Total 9
Eight are teaching industries in schools. Others, formerly students, are
working as artisans, and ua large number" are gaining a living by com-
bining a trade with teaching or other pursuits.
Institute for Colored Youth, Penna.
This institution reports:
Carpenters 8 Tailors 6
Brickmasons 16 Printers 8
Shoemakers 8
Plasterers 4 Total 50
Two teach industries in schools.
Most of these artisans are at work in Philadelphia and vicinity. They
do not join the trades unions.
Fort Valley H. & I. School, Ga.
This institution reports:
Carpenters 5 Shoemakers 2
Masons 1 Painters 1
Dressmakers 4 Coopers 1
Tailors 1 Total 15
One is teaching industries.
17 are earning a living partially as artisans. They are located in Geor-
gia, have no trouble in getting work, and do not join Trades Unions. "Our
industrial departments have not been established long enough for us to
make a very good showing in the industries yet."
State Normal School, Montgomery, Ala.
"This institution has graduated 320 in the past twenty-cwo years. Of this number
twelve had died, sixty-four women are married and house keeping,185 are teachers, four
76 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
merchants, one millwright, eight medical doctors, twenty-one farmers, one house plas-
terer, two carpenters, one each, dentist, blacksmith, house painter, two in Government
service, three bookkeepers, eight dressmakers, two teachers of music, seven students
in higher schools."
This makes 14 artisans in all. Three others teach trades. About 25% of
the graduates and former students practice their trades casually. They
often combine teaching or farming with the trade. They have no difficulty
in finding work and are located mostly in Birmingham and Montgomery,
Ala. They usually join trades unions.
Ballard Normal School, Ala.
One graduate of this school is an architect and builder at Norfolk, Va. ;
another learned his trade after leaving and was instructor in tailoring at
Tuskegee. Most of the graduates teach.
Alcorn A. & M. College, Miss.
The industrial departments here are of recent establishment and only
two or three classes have been sent out. There are among these :
Carpenters 3 Shoemakers 8
Blacksmiths 9 Painters 2
Total ...22
Washburn Seminary, N. C.
This school reports :
Carpenters (combined with general labor) 4
Teacher of industries 1
Clark University, Ga.
This school gives among its graduates, as published in its catalogue:
Dressmakers 6 Teachers of industries 5
Avery Institute, S. C.
The catalogue of this school gives the following artisans :
Shoemakers 1 Blacksmiths 2
Carpenters 6 Plumbers 2
Bricklayers 2 Tailors 2
Barbers 6 Butcher 1
Pattern-makers 1 Machinist 1
Total 24
Apparently none of these were trained at this school, but took up the
trades after leaving. The principal was unable to give any accurate
information.
Rust University, Miss.
This institution reports :
Carpenters 7 Dressmakers 10
Brickmakers 1 Shoemakers 5
Masons 3 Painters 5
Engineers 6 Plasterers 5
Firemen 7 Coopers 2
Tailors 2 Tocal 53
Two teach industries in schools. They do not join trades unions.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 77
Arkansas Baptist College, Ark.
This institution has trained in all 79 artisans, but does not report the
number of these following their trades. They meet color prejudice in get-
ting work and their own ulack of superior preparation" is a disadvantage.
The following institutions sent no reports, but on consulting their cata-
logues a list of artisans has been made out as there given : Benedict Col-
lege, S. C. ; Lincoln Institute, Mo.; Wilberforce University, O. ; B.iddle
University, N. C; Walden University, (Central Tenn. College), Tenn.;
Tillotson College, Tex. ; Orange Park N. & I. School, Fla. ; State Normal
School, Miss. ; Knox Institute, Ga. ; LeMoyne Institute, Tenn.
Among the graduates of these schools are:
Printers 2 Students of industries 2
Carpenters 5 Mason 1
Civil Engineer 1 Barbers 2
Machinist 1 Blacksmith 1
Dressmakers, &c 3 Milliners 1
Photographer ] Tailor 1
Teachers of industries 5 Total 19
Two urgent requests for reports were sent to all other industrial schools
but no replies were received. It may be taken for granted that most of
them have very little real trade teaching and no records of the few grad-
uates who have acquired trades after leaving them. A few others have
only manual training and the record of their graduates is interesting in
this connection only as showing how far such training turns students'
ideals toward trade-learning. The most conspicuous of the larger institu-
tions with manual training and without trade departments are Shaw Uni-
versity,* N. C, and Atlanta University. The latter has among its grad-
uates and former students:
1. Superintendent of Industries, Biddle University, N. C.
2. Superintendent of Mechanical Department, Prairie View State Normal
School, Texas.
3. Instructor in Manual Training, Knox Institute, Ga.
4. Instructor in Carpentry, Brick N. & A. School, N. C.
5. Superintendent of Manual Training, Talladega College, Ala.
6. Instructor in Manual Training, V. N. & C. I., Va.
7. Instructor in Bench Work, LeMoyne Institute, Tenn.
8. Instructor in Printing, " " "
9. Instructor in Carpentry, Kowaliga I. Acad., Ala.
10. Instructor in Manual Training, Haines Inst., Ga.
11. Teacher of Sewing, Fort Valley H. & I. School, Ga.
12. Teacher of Cooking, '« " "
Three others are heads of industrial schools but ought rather to be
counted as teachers than as artisans. Several former students are artisans
but the exact number is unknown.
*The report from Shaw University unfortunately arrived too late for insertion.
78
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Combining these reports we have:
ACTUAL ARTISANS GRADUATED FROM INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS.
Schools
Hamp-
ton.
Tuske-
gee
ft
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es
r*i
-a
•l— t
u
O
•i— i
5-i
o
r>
o
03
r*
o
03
•i— 1
*
0)
Eh
• i—l
h-3
&
0>
Total liv'g
graduates.
Total graduates work-
ing at trades.
Blacksmiths
Masons
Carpenters
Engineers
Harness-makers
Machinists
Painters
Printers
Shoemakers
Tailors
Tinsmiths
Wheelwrights
Iron & steel workers
Brickmakers
Dressmakers and
Milliners
Otherartisans
Total graduates
Total work'g at trades
Total teaching trades
Total work'g & teach'g
26
3
68
14
9
8
8
20
13
17
2
28
1
217
16
3
29
9
3
6
4
11
8
18
1
4
112
139
27
7
13
15
3
3
3
19
6
9
4
6
30
11
134
6
4
48
84
■I 6
22
16
2
1
2
6
28
10
20
30
15
15
10
2
15
25
25
157
10
10
12
10
5
15
30
20
20
15
10
123
6
129
16
There are reported 623 artisans at work, and 120 teaching them trades or
teaching manual training. The proportion which those at work and teach-
ing bear to the total trade graduates is not easily ascertained. Some are
working at trades who did not graduate: Hampton, for instance, reports
-Of the Trade school only, not of other departments.
|Not including those graduates before 1890.
-•-Including all graduated.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 79
4 bricklayers and wood-working* machinists graduated and 7 working at
these two trades. No report at all is made of other than trade school
graduates. Tuskegee gives no record of her trade graduates before 1890,
and Claflin's report of 60 at work is an estimate and not a detailed report.
However, we may make the following table :
Tuskegee :
Total graduates, 423, or 100%.
Of these 11% work at trades,
and 6.5% teach trades.
Total trade graduates, about 150*, or 100%.
Of these 32% work at trades,
and 19% teach trades.
Hampton :
Claflin
Total trade graduates, 217, or 100%.
Of these 51.5% work at trades,
and 12% teach trades.
Total trade graduates, 98, or 100%.
Of these about 47% work at trades,
and about 14% teach trades.
Possibly it would be fair to say that in the best industrial schools some-
thing less than a quarter of all the graduates, and about three-fifths of all
the trade graduates, actually practice their trades or teach them.
If to the 743 artisans working and teaching we add for the school at Nor-
mal, Ala., and the Arkansas Baptist College an estimated number of 60
additional artisans, we have 803 artisans. The unreported artisans would
bring this number up to at least 1,000, so that it would be a conservative
statement to say that the Hundred schools giving industrial training have
in the last twenty years sent one thousand actual artisans into the world,
beside a large number who combine their mechanical skill with other
callings.
14. Five Faults of Industrial Schools. We may now summarize this study
of the Industrial School by pointing out briefly certain faults and accom-
plishments. Twenty years or more ago it was evident that the great
problem before the Negro was that of earning an income commensurate
with his expanding wants. The Industrial School attempted to answer
this problem by training farmers and artisans. How far has it accom-
plished this work ?
The various adverse criticisms against the work of Industrial Schools
may be catalogued as follows:
(1.) Their work has cost too much,
The total incomes of the industrial schools so far as reported on pages 66-
68 was $1,514,793. This includes all schools giving industrial training on
any scale. Of this sum $628,379, or 41%, went to Hampton and Tuskegee.
Perhaps in all about one million dollars went actually to industrial train-
i.e.. 184 since 1890 and an estimated number of Ifi before that time who finished their trades.
80 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
ing and the rest to academic and normal work. One might estimate that
in the last twenty years the industrial training of Negroes has cost some-
thing between five and ten millions of dollars.
The total income including gifts and benefactions of the schools* aided
by the Slater fund was in 1899-1900:
Hampton $426,337 939 students.
Spelman 32,561 599
Tuskegee 202,042 1,180
Claflin 37,000 708
Shaw 21,185 511
Montgomery 15,000 928 "
Tougaloo 15,000 436
It is clear that while manual training is not very costly, and instruction
in sewing and cooking need not be expensive, that on the other hand the
teaching of trades and the conduct of "schools of work" are very expen-
sive. It costs as much to run Tuskegee a year as it does to conduct the
whole Southern work of the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education
Societyt, with their 43 schools, 413 instructors and 10,146 pupils.
So, too, Hampton received in 1900 more than was spent on the whole
Negro public school system of the state of Virginia. Such facts are no
argument against industrial training, but they do raise the question if its
cost today is not unnecessarily excessive. The largest items of expendi-
ture are for tools and machinery, materials, and furnishing work for stu-
dents. In the first item it is doubtful if there could be any saving : modern
industrial appliances are growing more and more elaborate and costly,
and if the student is to be properly trained according to the best methods,
he must handle and learn the use of such machinery. There must be too
in all trade teaching a large consumption of material from which no return
can be expected. The old idea was that the industrial school could sell
its products and partially, if not wholly, support itself, but this has proven
fallacious. In the third item alone, the furnishing of work for students,
there is the largest field for retrenchment. The theory in several schools
is to charge no tuition and allow the student to work out his education by
crediting him with wages for work in the shops. As a matter of fact every
$100 thus earned by the student was proven in one school to have cost over
$300. Consequently, as has been noted before, there is less emphasis put
on this phase of industrial school life to-day than formerly. It is to be
hoped that in the future the system will wholly disappear. It was un-
doubtedly some moral value to the student, but this is more than offset by
the waste of time and energy in requiring a student to learn a difficult
trade and earn a living at the same time. If he laarns the trade well the
living "earned" will be simply disguised charity; and if he really earns a
living he will scarcely master his trade in any reasonable time. An in-
dustrial school should be like other schools: the student or his parents
should be required to pay his tuition, board and clothes, and scholarships
-Except Straight and Bishop; no available data for these.
fChristian Educator, May 1902.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 81
should be granted the brightest and most deserving pupils who cannot do
this. Others should work and earn the necessary sum before they come to
school. In the school all time and energy should be given to learning the
trade and mastering the accompanying studies. Any attempt to go further
than this is a dangerous experiment which must be costly either in time,
energy or money.
(2.) The lines of study havenot hern differentiated.
Most graduates of industrial schools teach; this means that teacher-
training should be an important part of the curriculum. In many schools,
however, the attempt is made to train a teacher and an artisan at the same
time. This would seem to be a mistake: teachers should be trained as
teachers and given normal courses in manual training, while separate
trade courses should train artisans.
uIf carpenters are needed it is well and good to train men as carpenters;
if teachers are needed it is well and good to train men as teachers. But
to train men as carpenters and then set them to teaching is wasteful and
criminal; and to train men as teachers and then refuse them living wages
unless they become carpenters is rank nonsense."*
(3.) There is midue insistence on the ''practical."
Industrial schools must beware placing undue emphasis on the
1 'practical1 ' character of their work. All true learning of the head or
hands is practical in the sense of being applicable to life. But the best
learning is more than merely practical since it seeks to apply itself, not
simply to present modes of living, but to a larger, broader life which lives
to-day, perhaps, in theory only, but may come to realization to-morrow by
the help of educated and good men. There still lurks in much that passes
for industrial training to-day something that reminds us .forcibly of
Dotheboys Hall and Mr. Squeers :
aAVe go upon the practical mode of teaching, Nickleby; the regular ed-
ucation system. C-L-E-A-N, clean, verb active, to make bright, to scour.
W-I-N, win, D-E-R, winder, a casement. When the boy knows this out
of book, he goes and does it."
The ideals of education, whether men are taught to teach or to plow, to
weave or to write must not be allowed to sink to sordid utilitarianism.
Education must keep broad ideals before it, and never forget that it is
dealing with Souls and not with Dollars.
Alon°- with this goes a certain indifference to the artistic side of indus-
try. Industrial art is a most important line of study and one peculiarly
suited to the aesthetic Negro temperament. Yet Beauty as ltits own ex-
cuse for being" has had little emphasis in most industrial schools.
Of the same character is the unfortunate opposition of advocates of in-
dustrial education toward colleges. The colleges at first looked askance
at the industrial schools until they began to prove their usefulness; and
this was a natural attitude. On the other hand no one in the light of
history can doubt the necessity of colleges in any system of education.
^Atlanta University Publications No. 6: "The Negro Common School," p. 117.
82 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
No adequate system of industrial schools and common schools can he
maintained without a proper number of Negro colleges of high grade and
efficiency, and this fact all men ought frankly and openly to acknowledge.
(4.) The changing industrial conditions are often ignored.
The journeyman artisan, the small shop and the house industry are be-
ing replaced by the large contractor, the factory system and power ma-
chines; the central fact in the world of labor is the rise and development
of the Trade Union. The courses of study in many schools do not suffi-
ciently recognize these changes but prepare workmen for conditions of
work that are passing. Especially are these artisans ignorant of the ex-
tent and meaning of the great labor movement.
(5.) Few actual artisans are sent out.
This criticism is less valid to-day than when it was first made,* and in
another decade may disappear as industrial schools improve. Still it has
some weight to-day.
Roughly speaking it has cost above five million dollars to establish the
industrial schools and send out a thousand workmen. What has hindered
the one or two thousand other recipients of some considerable degree of
industrial training from following their trades ? It may be answered,
three considerations:
1. Poor trade instruction. 2. The demand for teachers. 3. The factory
system and trade unions. Many schools undoubtedly give a training in
"trades" which is not really worthy of the name. When, as is true in one
case, only 6 in every 100 artisans trained are following their trades the in-
evitable conclusion is that the training is very poor. Even the better
grade of industrial schools have come to teaching the main trades thor-
oughly only in the last few years and many other trades are still inade-
quately taught.
When the graduate of an industrial institute leaves school he is tempted
to go to school teaching. As long as the school does not distinctly separate
teacher-training and trade-training, and as long as the average teacher is
of low efficiency, this temptation will remain and take many artisans from
their callings.
There are many callings, however, which Trade Schools, be they ever
so efficient and careful, cannot fill with their graduates. This is due to
two causes: first, the factory system with its minutely developed division
of labor which renders it absolutely essential that the apprentice should
learn his trade in the factory; secondly, the strong opposition of trade
unions to Negro labor in all lines save those where the Negro already has
a foot-hold.
Of these five faults careful consideration would seem to indicate that while
all have some weight the first three are 'most serious ; and that careful or-
ganization and experiment will likely remove most of these faults in time.
•cf. Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1894-5, p. 1S60.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 83
15. Five Accomplishments oj Industrial Schools. Turning now to favorable
criticism we may note that Industrial training- has :
(1.) Rationalized Negro Ideals.
The first result of these schools, as of all schooling, has been spiritual
rather than economic. It has made Negroes think ; turned their attention
from mere aspiration to the concrete problem of earning a living and
emphasized the truth that labor is honorable; and while this thinking has
not yet shown itself to any great extent in increased avenues of employ-
ment and greater skill there is no doubt that future decades will show vast
improvement.
(2.) Begun the co-ordination of hand and head work in education.
We have not yet reached altogether satisfactory results in this new edu-
cation but the Negro industrial school has given great and needed empha-
sis to the movement and has to some extent taught the whole nation.
(3.) Readied out into the Country Districts.
The mission schools and the schools of the Freedmen's bureau were pri-
marily city and town schools and reached the select classes largely. The
industrial schools have appealed especially to the neglected county dis-
tricts and to the "field-hand" class.
(4.) Improved Domestic Work in the Home.
The first industrial work was with girls in sewing and cooking, and al-
ready the results of this training are seen in the first-class town homes.
(5.) United Races and Sections on one Point.
Progress is largely compromise. The attitude of the South toward the
Negro is not what the best thought of the North or of the Negroes could
wish. The attitude of the Negro toward the South and of the North to-
ward the Negro is not what the dominant thought of the South wishes. It is,
however, an omen of unusual importance that amid this difference of
opinion and bitterness of spirit there is some common ground on which
North and South, black and white, can meet, viz : common school, manual
and trade training for blacl^ children. This does not mean that the race
problem can be settled on this basis, but it does mean that its settle-
ment can be auspiciously begun. Negroes can and will demand some
college and professional training in addition ; fairminded men can and will
demand equal rights for all Americans despite color, and the Southern
people can and will demand safeguards against ignorance and crime; but
all happily will agree on the importance of industrial training. And this
is no little step from January 1, 1863.
16. The Higher Education and the Industries, (by Dr. J. G. Merrill, Pi esi-
dent of Fisk University). The higher education is essential to the very
existence of any education and it is only in lands where education is
found that the industries thrive. The higher education may be likened
to the head as part of the body; the life of the body terminates when it is
removed from it; it may be likened to the key stone of the arch, a very
small matter as far as material goes, but it makes efficient the aggregate
mass in the structure that can bear untold weight.
S4
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
The mental quickening which the college graduate gives a rural village,
the breadth of view which he helps a municipality to take, the larger con-
ceptions of business life due to the men of letters are every day verifica-
tions of the value to all of the training received by the few. It is such
an atmosphere as this that quickens the mind of the inventor so that
he may produce new instruments for human progress, the intellect of the
architect on whose success depends the daily bread of the carpenter, and
mason, and even the teamster and the hod-carrier; the ambition of the
farmer who learns how to make two blades of grass where one has grown
before, and is kept from being merely "the man with the hoe."
Or look at the matter in another way. , The large proportion of the child-
ren of the artisan and the laborer are to obtain their training in the com-
mon school; this training will be of value to them in proportion to the*
worth of the teaching force in the school. A stream cannot rise higher
than its fountain ; a teacher with only a common school education is not
equipped for such work ; a high school graduate or normal teacher is sought
for. But who is to teach the industrial, the high, or the normal school?
There must be a source higher than they to nut in requisition, and so on
until we reach the superlative— the highest educators, those whom God
has endowed with the loftiest of gifts, who have had the privileges of post
graduate training such as have made Germany and England and, of late,
the United States, famous in the realms of knowledge.
It remains to note the counter movement, the help received by the higher
education from the industries. This has been well-nigh phenomenal. As
the years have gone by wealth has increased ; the number of millionaires
has multiplied; very many of them having amassed their fortunes by
means of the industries. But better than this has been the earning power
of the average man which has risen in the United States from ten cents
per day in 1800 for each man, woman, and child, to 30 cents in 1850, over
50 cents in 1890, and much higher than that in 1900, we are sure compila-
tions when made from the last census will show. Now, because of this
state of affairs higher education prospers, the normal schools and uni-
versities supported by the state and the prhtcely benefactions given to
endow colleges, universities and post graduate schools are a sign of the
times, pointing to a future that is very bright when, in all our land, the
opportunity to obtain a common school education will be afforded to all,
an industrial training to the many, who by native gifts or inclination can
earn a livelihood and bless the state by use of their physical powers, the
higher education to those whose mental equipment is matched by tenacity
of purpose and the high moral aims which alone can make of value any
education.
17. The Industrial Settlement at Kowaliga, Ala. The thesis of Dr.Merrill as de-
veloped in the preceding section is illustrated clearly in the case of Negro
education. Industrial training in the South is peculiarly the child of the
College and the University. Samuel Armstrong and Dr Frissell were
College-bred men, and the majority of their teachers also; Tuskegee
"is rilled with College graduates, from the energetic wife of the principal
down to the teacher of agriculture, including nearly half of the executive
SEVENTH ANNUAE CONFERENCE 85
council and a majority of the heads of departments"* and so, too, in every
one of the hundred industrial schools the College graduates are the lead-
ing spirits. Further than this one College graduate, William Benson, of"
Fisk and Howard, has, at Kowaliga, developed an industrial settlement of
Negroes on a business basis which is the longest step toward the economic
emancipation of the Negro yet taken. The ul}ixie Industrial Company"
is the name of the enterprise and this is a description of its work :
"Weare sitting in the spacious chapel of a new school building. The
walls and columns are decorated in bunting and flags, in three colors. In
every direction which the eye may gaze is to be seen an air of cheerful-
ness, except the long line of dark, care-worn faces before us. It is the
occasion of the county fair which is held annually on the premises of the
new community school. On the grounds outside we have seen exhibits of
live-stock and poultry; the recitation rooms are filled with specimens of
corn, cotton, potatoes, fruit and other products grown in the region. On
the floor above the women have arranged their handiwork of sewing,
cooking, preserving, canning and quilting; and now we are to witness the
awarding of prizes to successful competitors.
"The farm group seems divided into four classes; those who rent land,
live stock and implements, furnishing only their labor and dividing their
products half and half; a smaller class who have been frugal enough to
pay for live stock and implements and give a stipulated amount for the
rent of a given number of acres; a still smaller class who own land of
their own, and lastly, those who are buying land under a form of lease and
option contract. An enterprising man, a College-bred Negro, secured a
tract of one thousand acres of land, which he sub-divided into twenty-five
farm lots of forty acres each. Neat and inexpensive cottages were built,
being grouped as closely as possible, with the view of overcoming the dis-
advantages of sparsely settled rural life. These farms, including im-
provements, are sold at four hundred dollars each. The payments are
arranged in annual installments covering a period of eight years — not
much exceeding what they have heretofore paid as rent. This group we
notice from the reports just read, is more prosperous because they work
under intelligent supervision. It is a part of their contract. They cannot
take more land than they can handle thoroughly, and they make more
with the same labor than under the old system with a big crop, half fer-
tilized, and half-cultivated. They must raise an abundance of food sup-
plies, take care of their live-stock and improve their farms. They work
better and live better, because they have a personal interest in all they
do. One man works at the saw mill, another at the oil mill and another
at the brick yard. Every buyer, be he farmer or mill-hand, will be given
a clear title to his home when he has completed his payments as specified.
uOur community began with a single group, and now we develop an-
other. The establishment of minor industries supplements the farm life
and add to the material prosperity of the community. Much of the
viciousness of an isolated rural population is due to idleness. A lew pay-
*Atlantic Monthly, Sept., 1902, p. 295.
86 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
ing industries utilize waste material and keep in the community thousands
of dollars which must go out. But you say that we are too far from a rail-
road, and the expense of finding- a market for our products would be too
great. Whatever opportunities might ultimately open to us in this direc-
tion, it is certain that our present welfare depends upon making the com-
munity self-sustaining and self-relying. We shall make our own market
and supply our own demand. We cannot export; we will not import.
"We are spending annually an aggregate of five thousand dollars for
wagons, furniture and implements. A saw mill and general wood-work-
ing plant would utilize our timber, first in building homes and making as
near as possible all the cheap furniture required in furnishing these
homes. A small oil mill plant can be equipped at an outlay of ten thous-
and dollars. This does not represent the cost of last year's fertilizer, to
say nothing of the thousands of bushels of cotton seed carted away to a
foreign market. The oil mill man takes the lintings, the hulls and the oil,
and sells back again the meal alone to the farmer at an advance of $6.50 to
$12.00 per ton more than he has given for the whole product. Our mill
will save the community the cost of its fertilizer, and the hulls as a valua-
ble feed. These industries can be operated entirely independent of trusts,
because we saw our own trees, and use the houses, make our own seed and
use the fertilizer.
"Now follows the development of other groups in fast succession. One
finds it profitable to make a specialty of gardening, another dairying and
another 'poultry raising. The aesthetic taste of the female population de-
mands better made dresses, and they like to have ribbons tied to their
bats by a milliner. Our community life becomes a centre of industry,
and then a centre of commerce to its own immediate region, selling its
products and buying its necessities. This brings us to the point where we
touch the life of our white neighbor. The moment we rise to the plane
where our business interests are mutual, we strike a common meeting-
ground. The Negro teacher, ministerand professional business man finds
his patronage almost exclusively among the people of his own race. The
Negro business man is the only one who crosses the line, and it is here that
his contact with the white man is closest and most congenial.
"The first direct effort toward this new agricultural, industrial and do-
mestic activity was through the enlargement of the community school,
and the perfection of a plan by which the community that enjoys its
benefits, might more largely participate in its burdens. The people had
little money, so one gives land, another material, and others labor. Thus
the cabin school-house was torn down and in its place erected a fine
structure, with the appointments of a modern institution. We are intro-
duced to several new teachers — a nice set of young men and women, wTell
trained for the work of leading those who live around them to a more in-
telligent life of Christian manhood and womanhood.
"We have presented this sketch of settlement life, with the simple hope
that it may suggest to your minds a practical scheme for preventing the
Negro from drifting from the country to foreign fields, and a fair way to
start him on the road to independence where he is. If you are skeptical
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 87
as to its feasibility, let us remember that the father of the young Collegian
who directs this community, has demonstrated every feature of life and
industry which we have advanced. He began a pioneer in the woods, and
now we find him the owner of three thousand acres, with two hundred and
fifty people cultivating his land. He operates a saw mill, a grist mill and
cotton gins. He has a plantation store, horses and cattle. He has given
his children a good education at the best schools afforded them in the
South, and they in turn are helping others. We are surprised to find that
he not only has the patronage, but indeed the friendship, of the best white
men of the region. His problem is solved, and he has given us the hope
of the ideal community, and his son is widening and developing it."
18. General Statistics of Negro Artisans. The occupations of American
Negroes in 1890 have been discussed in a general way on pages 23 to 26.*
Let us now consider more specifically the distribution of Negro artisans
in 1890, taking certain typical employments and giving the figures first
for the United States and then for the Southern States in detail.**
NEGRO ARTISANS IN THE UNITED STATES. — CenSUS Of 1890.
Carpenters 22,318 Shoemakers 5,065
Barbers 17,480 Mill and Factory operatives.. ..5,050
Saw-mill operatives 17,230 Painters 4,396
Miners 15,809 Plasterers 4,006
Tobacco factory employees. ...15,004 Quarrymen 3,198
Blacksmiths 10,762 Coopers 2,648
Brick-makers 10,521 Butchers 2,510
Masons 9,647 Wood-workers 1,375
Engineers and Firemen 7,662 Tailors 1,280
Dressmakers 7,479 Stone cutters 1,279
Iron and Steel workers 5,790 Leather-curriers 1,099
There were in the United States in 1890 about 175,000 Negro skilled ar-
tisans in the main classes enumerated above. If we take the chief skilled
workmen in the Southern States we have:
*Cf. Gannett: Occupations of Negroes— Publications of the Slater Fund Trusters.
**The figures for 1900 are not yet available. The figures in the tables contain a negligible
number of ''Chinese, Japanese, and civilized Indians.''
88
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
SKILLED NEGRO LABORERS (BY STATES)— 1890.
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Alabama.
Arkansas.
Delaware.
District of Columbia.
Florida.
Georgia.
Kentucky.
Louisiana.
Maryland.
Mississippi.
Missouri.
North Carolina,
South Carolina.
Tennessee.
Texas.
Virginia.
West Virginia.
Totals.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 89
The steam railway employees include many section hands and semi-
skilled workmen, and also the colored firemen. The carpenters are the
largest body of skilled workingmen and it "will be seen that 20,800 of the
22,300 are in the South. Next come the blacksmiths and wheelwrights
with 10,000, the masons and stone cutters with 9,000, the barbers with 9,000
and the brickmakers, stationery engineers and firemen. The states differ
considerably in the proportion of different kinds of workingmen:. Steam
railway employees and carpenters lead in Virginia, the Carolinas and the
Gulf States; iron and steel workers outnumber all but the railway men in
the mining state, Alabama, and the masons and stone cutters are numer-
ous in Tennessee. The city population of the District of Columbia has
barbers and brickmakers as its chief Negro artisans. Among the women
the skilled work is almost wholly confined to sewing and working in
tobacco factories.
We may further study the black artisan by noting his distribution in
the large cities where most of the white artisans are located. For this
purpose let us take 16 large cities with an aggregate Negro population of
nearly half a million. There are many curious differences to be noted
here. The great Northern cities, like New York, Chicago and Cincinnati,
are conspicuous for scarcity of black artisans, having only barbers.
The border State cities show the Negroes in some of the important skilled
occupations, as in brickmaking in Baltimore, Wilmington and Philadel-
phia; and iron and steel-working in Louisville, Wilmington, Pittsburg and
Richmond. Stationary engineers are prominent in St. Louis. In the
more typical Southern cities, like Atlanta, Charleston, Memphis and
Nashville, the carpenters, railway men and masons are most conspicuous,
while New Orleans shows its peculiarities in a considerable number of
carpenters, masons, railway men, shoemakers and painters:
90
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
SKILLED NEGRO LABORERS (BY CITIES) — 1890.
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Atlanta,
Ga.
Baltimore,
Md.
Charleston.
S. C.
Chicago,
111.
Cincinnati,
O.
Kansas City,
Mo.
Louisville,
Ky.
Memphis,
Tenn.
Nashville,
Tenn.
New Orleans,
La.
Philadelphia,
Pa.
Pittsburg-,
Pa.
Richmond,
Va.
St. Louis,
Mo.
Wilmington,
Del.
New York,
N. Y.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
91
We may turn now to the few available figures which show the general
condition of these artisans, as illiteracy, steadiness of employment, age
and conjugal condition.
In the Manufacturing and Mechanical industries throughout the United
States there are 146,153 colored persons of whom 43.8% were illiterate in
1890. Of the 143,371 in Trade and Transportation 43.4% were illiterate.
The illiteracy of the artisans by selected trades for 1890 was as follows:*
MALE. TOTAL.
Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights 11,156
Boot- and Shoe Makers 4,982
Butchers ■. 2,508
Carpenters 22,310
Cotton Miir Operatives 820
Machinists 838
Masons 9,645
Miners and Quarrymen •. 18,986
Printers 829
Steam Railway Employees 47,316
Tailors 913
Textile Mill Operatives 3,260
Tobacco and Cigar Factory Opera's. ..10,480
FEMALE.
Dressmakers, M'ners, Seamstresses. .19,753
Tobacco and Cigar Factory Opera's... 4,524
Tailoresses. 367
These figures throw interesting sidelights on the character of the work-
ingmen. Blacksmith miners, steam railway section hands, those em-
ployed in rougher kinds of textile work and those in the tobacco factories
are largely ignorant. On the .other the machinists, printers, tailors and
dressmakers are a younger and more intelligent set.
Not all of these artisans are employed steadily. In two great divisions
of industry we find the Negroes employed as follows :
^ITERATE
. % ILLITERACY
5,916
53.
1,868
37.5
1,023
40.7
9,789
43.8
369
45.
213
25.4
3,732
38.6
9,466
49.8
89
10.7
26,321
55.6
139
15.2
1,673
51.3.
4,190
40.
4.228
21.4
2,596
57.3
83
22.6
UNEMPLOYED DURING THE YEAR.
Manufacturing and Mechanical
Industries
Trade and Transportation
1-3 MONTHS.
18,955
12.9%
4-6 mos.
16,184
11.7%
7-12 mos.
2,831
1.8%
11,321
7.8%
6,414
4.4%
1,437
1. %
Taking the number and percentages by separate callings we have:
*Only those ot Negro descent arc here given, making some slight discrepancies between these and
Other tables.
92
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
ARTISANS— EMPLOYMENT— 1890.
UNEMPLOYED.
Male.
Blacksmiths & Wheelwrights..
Boot and Shoe Makers
Butchers
Carpenters and Joiners
Cotton Mill Operatives
Machinists ,
Masons
Miners and Quarrymen
Printers
Steam Railroad Employees
Tailors
Textile Mill Operatives
Tobacco & Cigar Fac. Operates.
EEMALE.
Dressmakers, Milliners and S...
Tobacco & Cigar Fac. Operat's.
Tailoresses '..
L to 8 mos.
644
245
118
2,820
80
63
1,381
4,149
60
5,247
70
420
1,718
1,101
759
28
12 mos.
PER CENT. UNEMPLOYED DURING THE YEAR.
Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights.
1 to 3 mos. i4 to 6 mos. 17 to 12 mos.
Boot and Shoe Makers.
Butchers
Carpenters and Joiners
Cotton Mill Operatives
Machinists
Masons
Miners and Quarrymen
Printers
Steam Railroad Employees
Tailors
Textile Mill Operatives
Tobacco and Cigar Factory Operatives..
FEMALE.
Dressmakers, Milliners, Seamstresses
Tobacco and Cigar Factory Operatives..
Tailoresses
Per Cent.
5.7
4.9
4.7
12.6
9.7
7.5
14.3
21.8
7.2
11.
7.6
12.8
16.3
5.
16.7
7.6
Per Cent.
3.9
4.4
3.6
10.4
11.1
3.5
15.4
13.4
3.6
5.
5.5
7.3
24.2
4.4
31.6
6.8
Per
Cent.
1.3
1.9
1.
2.4
1.4
.71
2.9
2.4
1.3
.9
1.8
1.
2.4
1.1
2.7
2.4
Carpenters, masons, miners and tobacco hands show the largest irregu-
larities in employment.
We may next consider the question of the ages of Negro employees:
Manufacturing and Mechanical Trade and Trans-
Industries, portation.
3,438 3,858
36,762 46,490
35,165 41,908
28,449 26,787
22,319 14,817
11,852 . 5,375
6,499 2,436
1,669 1,700
Ages.
10-14
15-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65 and over.
Age unknown.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
98
Considering the chief sorts of artisans we have:
ARTISANS BY AGE — PERIODS. — 1890.
AGE — PERIODS.
MALE.
10-14 15-24 25-34 | 35-44 [ 45-54
years [years years years .years
55-64 fi5yrsT , _
years & o'er1
Blacksmiths, W'wrights.
Boot and Shoe makers....
Butchers
Carpenters and Joiners...
Cotton Mill Operatives...
Machinists
Masons
Miners and Quarry men...
Printers
Steam R'road Employees
Tailors
Textile Mill Operatives...
Tobacco and Cigar Fac-
tory Operatives
FEMALE.
Dressmakers, Milliners
and Seamstresses
Tobacco and Cigar Fac-
tory Operatives
Tailoresses
Total
54 1,360
22 606
39 783
31 2,354
47 243
3 163
43 1,847
360 6,757
15 367
337 18,693
9
144
1,231
243
1,305
4,140
Percentage.
189 7,275
4781 2,007
4 149
3,006 48,292
1.9 30.7
1,799
730
596
4,147
220
253
2,299
6,121
233
16,164
'225
941
2,314
5,794
990
86
42,917
27.3
2,156
1,141
474
5,103
163
212
2,076
3,114
107
7,399
157
486
1,448
3,486
581
68
28,171
17.9
2,569
1,299
329
5,364
94
118
1,811
1,595
63
3,184
148
242
813
1,808
1,940
715!
174
3,2811
35
53
999
540
27
778
77
69
331
1,173
421;
87
1,816
9
20
468
187
15
182
49
45
11,051
4,934
2,482
22,096
811
827
9,543
18,674
827
46,737
908
3,232
138 10,415
751 364 19,667
3.04 96 43 4,-199
34 17 7 365
19,775 9,883| 5,024,157,068
12.5 6.2 3.1 100.
The average age of Negro artisans is not as high as one would expect;
this is probably owing to the large number of young people in semi-skilled
occupations, such as section hands, miners and tobacco operatives. The
carpenters and blacksmiths, on the other hand, are mostly between 35 and
55. Younger men are becoming masons, printers and tailors.
Of the general conditions of family life among Negro artisans we can
only judge by the statistics of conjugal condition; the conjugal condition
of all Negroes engaged in manufacturing and mechanical industries was
as follows in 1890 :
Single and unknown. Married. Widowed and Divorced.
15-24 years 80.4 per cent. 19.1 per. ct. .4 per cent.
25-34 years 27.1 " " 69.8 " " 2.9 " «
35-44 years 12.2 " " 81.7 " " 6. " "
45-54 years 7. u •» 83.5 u " 9.2 " "
We add to these the figures for the selected classes of artisans before
studied :
MALE.
Single and unknown. Married. Widowed and divorced.
15-24 years 80.4 per cent. 19.1 per ct. .4 per cent.
25-34 years 28.9 " " 68.3 " lt 2.6 " "
35-44 years 15.9 " lt 77.8 " " 6.1 " "
45-54 years 7.1 " " 83.9 " " 8.8 " "
-Omitting those of unknown age.
94 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
FEMALE.
Single and unknown. Married. Widowed and divorced.
15-24 years 78.5 per cent. 17.2 per ct. 4.1 percent.
25-34 years 36.5 " " 44.1 " " 19.2 " u
35-44 years 19.6 " u 45.9 u " 34.3 " "
45-54 years 12.7 " " 33.5 " " 53.6 " "
The artisans naturally marry earlier than the College-bred Negroes and
exhibit no marked peculiarities save in the large number of widows forced
to earn a living* for themselves.'
19. Social Conditions: A study in Memphis, Tenn., (by Henry N. Lee, of Le-
Moyne Institute.) In Memphis the chief Negro artisans are carpenters,
blacksmiths, brickmasons, plasterers, painters, dressmakers, plumbers,
tailors and shoemakers. There are also a few glaziers, paper hangers,
electricians, stone cutters, engineers, milliners, sculptors and printers.
This is a study of 123 Negro artisans made by a personal canvass in the
spring of 1902. The carpenters are the most numerous group of artisans.
Of the twenty studied ten are over forty years of age; of the fifteen paint-
ers, nine are over forty. This fact is true of the sixteen trades studied ex-
cept among the printers. Six of the sixteen trades have no workmen un-
der thirty years of age. As there are few apprentices it is to be feared
that the number of black artisans in Memphis is decreasing.
Twelve of the 20 carpenters studied, own their homes; 6 of the 15 brick-
masons, 4 of the 9 plumbers, 6 of the 15 painters, 4 of the 11 plasterers, 1
of the 8 glaziers and 4 of the 7 dressmakers. These owners are all middle-
aged people whose chance for future accumulation is small. There are
three prosperous contractors among the carpenters, and 6 men who work
for themselves. There are five men who contract for painting and do some
of the best work in the city ; 7 of 10 blacksmiths have their own shops and
employ at least one man.
There are 4 brickmasons who work for themselves, but Mr. Hodges,
who is one of the officers of the union, says that there is a great need for
a reliable Negro contractor, who would be a leader for the Negro brick-
masons ; while now the colored and white masons belong to the same union,
yet there are many changes going on in the Memphis unions as we shall
see later.
6 of 11 plasterers contract for plastering. . There are only three colored
apprentices in this trade. This number is fixed by the union, which
passed a law that each contractor could employ one apprentice. White
contractors do not take colored apprentices any more. I learned that one
apprentice is employed by a white contractor, and he is retained because
his apprenticeship is nearly completed.
There is a great difference in the wages for colored and whites in all the
trades except that of the plasterers and brickmasons. These belong to
the same unions with the whites and have the same privileges, both in
wages and work.
The examination is so difficult that only two colored plumbers have
passed. Therefore most of the Negro plumbers are not recognized as com-
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 95
petent because they have not passed the examination ; yet, I am told, that
many of these men can do excellent work.
The colored carpenters, except those who work for colored contractors,
are forced to do the rough and drudgery work, while the finishing is left
to the whites. This robs them of every chance to be or become first-class
workmen. Yet, if one is first-class he receives only a little more than half
wages as compared with the whites.
The engineers and electricians are a little more than a name. They are
not given the opportunity to show their ability nor to do that class of work
which would be of very much use to them as skilled workmen. The
wages are such that a young man would not be induced to brave the dis-
advantages to fit himself for the trades.
There seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether the Negro is
gaining or losing in skilled work. But we think that from the fact that
there is such a great discrimination in wages which would possibly force
the best mechanics to seek other employment more remunerative, and be-
cause of the low class of work which the Negro is forced to do in many of
the trades, which robs him of any chance to do fine work and to become
an all-round workman in his trade, and from the many limitations and
unjust laws passed by the labor unions, the Negro in our section is losing.
This may not be seen very much now but will be one of our sad awaken-
ings.
Those who think the Negro of Memphis is losing, credit it not so much
to inefficiency, as to organized labor unions which direct, in many in-
stances, all their energy against the Negro. It is safe to say, said a lead-
ing Negro artisan, that 20 years ago the Negro followed largely all the
trades and about five-eighths of all the laborers were Negroes. If the
Negro had been inefficient in his labor then other labor would have been
imported ; but this was not done.
Yet it seems very clear that with the introduction of electricity and
modern machinery and with these restrictions of labor unions, the Negro
has had no chance to advance with the times along many industrial lines
and increase his skill as was demanded by this new order of things. And
sad to say it is growing worse instead of better. Until one who is the
least pessimistic is almost ready to say the Negro will indeed before very
long be "hewers of wood and drawers of water," or in other words be re-
duced to the lowest place among skilled workmen. The unions do not as
a rule protect the Negro, not only in Memphis but elsewhere. At present
there are only two trades in which both white and colored belong to the
same union, the brick masons and plasterers. And the privileges of
these are curtailed by what is known in Memphis as the Builders' Ex-
change, to which Negroes do not belong. Recently this exchange passed
a law that no contractor could sublet his work to a contractor who did not
belong to the exchange. This law completely shuts out the Negro. A
colored plasterer was refused a contract, although his bid was least, and
the parties cited this law of the exchange as their reason for not letting
the work to him.
96 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Not very long ago the union for horse shoers dissolved itself into two
branches — one for whites and one for colored. Shortly after this had been
done the white union passed a law that no colored shoers should be em-
ployed in white shops.
I bring a very strong plea from Memphis for one or more competent
Negro architects. The contractors desire a leader. They are not permit-
ted to go to a white architect's office, look over his plans and make their
bids. So they think they are at a very great disadvantage.
I also bring a very urgent plea for the combination and profitable in-
vestment of Negro capital that the Negro artisans may have permanent
means of support.
When we note that of 123 artisans reported from Memphis only six re-
ceived their training in Industrial schools. When we see from the cata-
logues the comparatively small number of those graduating from Indus-
trial Schools actually following their trades, we wonder what the cause is.
The thinkers of Memphis believe that the causes for this state of affairs
a.re these. (1). Young men do not receive sufficient encouragement and
are not made to feel the importance of their sticking to their trades while
at school. (2.) In most of the trade schools the training is antiquated and
impracticable, thus the young men are handicapped and forced to the
back ground in many of the trades when they meet the competition of
those laborers who have reeeived a more adequate and modern training.
(3.) Many of the young men can not find employment at all, either be-
cause their training will not permit them to compete with other skilled
laborers, or because they are prohibited from working in manufactories
and machine shops which give employment to men of their trades. Or if
they are employed it is at starvation wages and for drudgery work with
no chance of advancement.
We want many skilled laborers in every line of work, for no race can be
prosperous and progressive without a large number of men who are pro-
ducing the necessities of life. But if we do not want this class either to
leave their trades for other work, as many are doing, or lead lives of idle-
ness and, in many cases, lives of absolute worthlessness, as a race we
must do something for the employment of our boys and girls. This fact is
more and more clear each year. And every business enterprise established
by a Negro giving employment to the Negro youth is a sacrifice for the
salvation of our boys and girls and a step in the solution of these impor-
tant questions which confront us.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
97
SELECTED NEURO ARTISANS OF MEMPHIS, TENX.
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98 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
20. Local Conditions : Texas (by E. H. Holmes of the Prairie View Nor-
mal school) .
We have always had among us some men who have been more or less
skilful in the use of tools. During the days of slavery these men built
the houses, made the plows, carriages, wagons, etc., and performed nearly
all that class of labor. The constant doing brought to them experience
and experience ripened into a degree of skill. Slavery was their trade
school and experience their instructor. After the Civil war these work-
men followed the trades — they had the field to themselves at first.
In the course of time labor saving machines were introduced and new
methods of doing things were adopted — the old workman enters a new
era — he finds himself face to face with new conditions — his school did not
give instruction in the use of machines and he is unable to keep step with
the onward march. Some of them who did keep u.p have finished their
work and gone to their reward. No one has taken the vacant places and
to-day the ranks of Negro Artisans need — sadly need — recruiting.
Texas offers great opportunities to skilled workmen in various trades.
Her natural resources surpass those of any state in the Union. It is her
proud boast that within her broad domain is to be found everything from
a salt mine to an oil geyser. These resources are but partially developed
— some not at all. The Negro Artisan has had a share in this develop-
ment and will have a larger share in the future, provided he will fit him-
self for this larger share. I have had opportunity to observe conditions
among artisans only in the cities, towns and country districts of southern
Texas.
Ours being an agricultural state, blacksmiths are in greater demand than
perhaps any other tradesman. You will find a Negro blacksmith in nearly
every town and at every country cross-road. They are found managing
shops on many of the large cotton and sugar plantations. One of the
largest sugar farms in the Southwest, located at Sugarland, Texas, employs
a Negro foreman of their blacksmith shop at a salary of $1,080 per year.
In the towns the majority of them are doing business for themselves, a
few own their own shops, are making a living and accumulating property.
There are still others who work by the day in shops owned by whites.
These receive wages according to their skill. White men having the same
degree of skill would receive no more. There is such a shop at Brenham,
Texas. Some weeks ago the owner of this shop stated that he worked a
few colored men, that he would employ more if they could do superior work
— that there was no discrimination practiced in his shop and he also ex-
pressed the hope that our school would send out more students who could
make drawings and work from drawings. It is difficult to tell the percent
of Negro artisans in the towns for this reason: they do not register their
occupations. Whatever is known must be learned by inquiry or from per-
sonal contact. Let us consider conditions at Houston, Texas. This is a
city having a population of 60 thousand. One-third are Negroes. It is in
every respect a liberal and representative city. There are seven black-
smiths there who own and run their shops. Two of these shops employ
from three to five regular workmen. The proprietors make a good living
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 99
and nearly all of them own their homes. The largest carriage and iron
repair shop owned by a white man employs 5 Negro blacksmiths on his
working force. Two of these manage their own fires. They are paid ac-
cording to skill — sometimes discrimination is made on account of color.
Two boiler and foundry shops employ Negro workmen. They receive the
regular moulders' wages, $4.00 per day, and a few of them have been in the
service of the firms for years. The Southern Pacific Railway System em-
ploys them in two of their shops. In these shops are some who manage
their fires, one who operates a steam hammer, some who build and repair
cars and a large number of helpers who rank several grades above com-
mon laborers. A few of these men have been steadily employed for
twenty-five years, some longer. The wages range from 15 to 25 cents per
hour, according to skill. It might be of interest to remark just here that
one of the helpers long years ago was foreman of the shop. Time and
improved machinery forced him down. So far as employment goes there
is practically no discrimination against blacksmiths and I do not know of
any blacksmith's union in the whole state.
Carpenters are fewer in number than blacksmiths. In the small towns
they are journeyman workers. As a class they do inferior work. Their wages
range from $1.25 to $2.00 per day. White journeymen do the same poor
quality of work but receive higher wages. Their pay ranges from $1.50 to
$2.50 per day. The best carpenters drift to the cities because the people
there appreciate and demand good work and live in better houses. Com-
petition is sharp and the labor unions are strong. In the city of Houston
we have four men who contract for themselves. They do good work and
find ready employment. They get contracts not exceeding $2,500. In the
same city are several old contractors who have been forced to retire on
account of close competition. Two white contractors work a force of
Negro and a force of white carpenters — separate of course. They pay
according to skill, white and black alike. More discrimination is shown
against carpenters than is shown against any other class of tradesmen.
Negro carpenters have been urged to form unions which would affiliate
with white unions, but have not thought best to do so. They know that
they would be called upon to strike in concert with the other unions and
they feel that in the end they would get the worst of it. As long as they
find employment they prefer to work independent of the unions.
Brickmasons are fewer than carpenters. This class of workers are in
demand, wages are high and discrimination is reduced to a minimum.
There are no brick contractors in Houston, and only one or two in the
state. Bricklayers in the towns are journeymen and most of them do a
good grade of work— wages are from $3.00 to $4.00 per day. In the cities
wages are a little better. I know of no plasterers. Sometimes they are
called from New Orleans to do that sort of work. The finest plastering in
our state Capitol was done by Negroes brought from Chicago. Nearly all
the employees in the cotton seed oil mills and cotton compresses are Ne-
groes. They are not all common laborers. It requires skill to operate
some of the machines and to get these mill products ready for market.
Wages are $1.50 to $3. a) per day. In some of the trades we do not find the
100 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Negro at all, or if found they are so few that they do not count in trade
competition. Houston has no shoemakers, no plumbers and harness-
makers, and I know of but one tinner in the state. These are the condi-
tions as they now exist among Texas artisans. I have observed that any
man who knows how to do something and knows how to do that something
well and is willing to do something, will find ready employment. Oppor-
tunities are not wanting, but many times when these opportunities present
themselves we are not able to grasp them because of lack of training. The
world wants trained workmen, men whose trained minds will direct
skilled hands — masters of their craft. Not more than 3 per cent of our
young men in Texas are entering the trades, and at the present death rate
among the old workmen, it will not be long before we shall be conspicuous
for our absence from all the trades. On the other hand a very large per
cent of young white men enter the trades. We~havea great influx of
emigrants from Europe. They come and work the farms. They are bet-
ter farmers than any one else — they make a crop rain or no rain. The
American needs rain to make his crop, and in a few years he finds that he
cannot compete with the foreigner, his land is too poor. He abandons the
farm and seeks refuge in the trades, or he moves to another county to be-
gin farming anew. There are some reasons why our young men avoid the
trades. Let me mention a few of them. There is a class of young men
who, after finishing some school course, do not believe in manual labor,
skilled or unskilled. When the slaves were emancipated their first thought
was to send their children to school like the white folk, to dress them like
white children and to keep them from work like the white children. To
do any sort of manual labor was to their minds a badge of humility and
a relic of slavery. The old master was a gentleman and he did not work,
their sons must be like him and like his sons. This idea was taught the
children, it has grown up in them and still remains in them. If a record
could be made of all that these dear old parents suffered and endured, of
how they toiled and what sacrifices they made, that their children should
be ladies and gentlemen, who did not have to work, it would make a tale
far more pitiable than "Uncle Tom's Cabin." They passed from the
slavery of the white man to the slavery of their own children.
Another hindrance is that society looks down upon a man who works
with his hands, no matter how much skill he may possess or how much
that skill commands. This class distinction does not exist among us
alone. It is hard to see how a man can be intelligent and at the same time be
a mechanic. We cannot associate the two ideas. Fear of non-employment
keeps another class from entering the trades. Those who oppose indus-
trial education never fail to present this argument and they have made an
impression on some, which nothing but time and changed conditions will
ever efface. Another class would enter the world of working men but for
this fact: They are ambitious to excel in whatever line of work they may
choose, but to become an intelligent artisan requires years — long years of
hard work and patient study on short pay. They cannot wait, results are
too long coming. They forget that men begin at the bottom and that the
man who succeeds must toil early and late with all his powers of body
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 101
and mind, he must realize that if he masters his chosen work he must
perform the necessary amount of drudgery required in all cases to prepare
a suitable foundation upon which to build a successful career. Many of
our young men who do follow the trades are not living- up to the full meas-
ure of their opportunities. In the first place the employer can not always
depend upon them. They are just as likely not to come to work at the
appointed time as they are to come. It matters not how busy the em-
ployer may be or how anxious he is to finish the job, our young workman
feels that ha is under no obligation to see him through. He feels free to
take a day off and go a-fishing or to enjoy himself in some other way.
That's his idea of liberty. When the next Negro workman comes along
and asks for a job, the contractor says, No, we don't want any more Ne-
groes. Then we say that that man is prejudiced. I used to think so, too,
but I do not think so any more. I have hired some of them myself and I
know that unreliability has kept more Negroes out of good jobs than in-
competency ever did. Unsteadiness is another barrier to success. In the
lumber district of Eastern Texas, there are numerous saw mills which
run the year round. The owners employ Negro workmen for places re-
quiring skill, whenever they can be found. I have in mind one man who
has been with a certain firm for 18 years. In fact, he has been with the
company so long and has given such faithful service, the managers have
forgotten that he is a Negro. He is now a competent sawyer and receives
$6.00 per day. The sawyer's place at these mills is perhaps the best pay-
ing place of all, outside the management. The wages run from $4.50 to
$6.00, according to skill. The places are open to Negroes and occasionally
they take them, but after working for 10 or 12 months they conclude that
they have made enough and retire. The job is too steady. I do not mean
these general statements to apply to all our workmen, but I do say that
they will apply to the majority. Our artisan must be more competent
faithful and reliable. It's the only way to hold on to that which we have.
We must be progressive. We have clung to the old ways too long — methods
of half a century ago. If we do not make the best use of these trade ad-
vantages which are now ours, we not only shut ourselves out but we close
the door of opportunity in the faces of our boys who expect to enter. I
grant that there are obstacles. One finds them in every trade and every
profession. They seem to be necessary evils. None are too great for our
strength. Capacity will be allotted an appropriate place and that speedily.
If all the paths are closed to us, we will find away or make one. Faith-
fulness to duty, however small that duty may be, is simply irresistable.
It is so in every walk of life. Greatness in every direction is an accumu-
lation of little faithfulnesses towering into sight of the world. All we
need are those qualities which have made and are still making men of
other races successful along these lines. We need men who have been
I trained — men who are able to do things and know why they are done In
every line of work it is the man who knows most about the thing he is
doing, other things being considered, who conns out ahead.
President Roosevelt, speaking to the graduates of the New York trade
school, said: "Success will come to the man who is just a Little bit better
102 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
than the others. There are plenty of workmen who can do pretty well,
hut the man who can do his work right up to the handle is the man who is
in demand." Mental and manual training combined will in the long run
open wide to us the avenues leading to usefulness and power in the mate-
rial world.
21. Local Conditions: A Negro Contractor of Atlanta, Ga., (by Alexander
Hamilton, Jr., of the firm of Hamilton & Son, building contractors). It
is a- matter of great pride to me, and I think sometimes I am a little over
boastful of the fact, that I learned the use of tools at Atlanta University ;
and to this intelligent beginning I attribute my success as a carpenter and
contractor.
I was enabled when I left school to begin my trade as an advanced work-
man, and when I was a journeyman, and now when I have the occasion
to use my tools, I ask no artisan in my line any odds. As I say I credit
this to my early training here. I am now associated with my father in
business as contractor and builder. We enjoy a good business ; our
patrons are among the best people in this city. I am proud to say that
we have been able to maintain a reputation which gives us a preference
often in the awarding of contracts.
The opportunity for wage earning for the Negro artisan is good; he is
always in demand. I can bear witness to this fact for I have been fre-
quently hampered in carrying out my work on account of being unable to
secure extra hands, as all were busy. This demand does not exist for the
reason that their services are obtained for a smaller wage for, as a rule,
they get the prevailing scale of wages. They are in demand for the reason
that in their class they are generally swifter workmen than those of the
Qther race. Some contractors, white contractors I refer to, won't employ
other than Negro workmen as they realize that they will earn them more
money. Some of them employ Negroes from the foreman down, and but
very few, to my knowledge, have their force entirely white. One firm em-
ploys both white and colored.
Though wages here are small as compared with some other cities, the Ne-
gro artisans as a rule are making good use of their money. They have
comfortable homes and are educating their children. I know of several
who own their own homes, and of some who not only own£their homes but
have other property, and still others who are buying homes. Some I know
who have saved enough tp lay down their tools and enter mercantile life.
I know several who have tried mercantile life but found there was more
money for them as artisans, so they are back at their trades. One who
has been with us 15 or 16 years, who is a preacher, occasionally lays down
his tools and takes a charge somewhere, but he doesn't stay long before he
is back looking for his old place.
With all this, there is nevertheless, in many cases, a lack of an intelli-
gent conception of the work which the Negro artisan is to perform; he is
ready, willing and able to execute that laid out for him as long as he has
constant supervision, but sometimes when left to himself he is lacking in
pride as to the execution of his work. Ofttimes this may be due to an over-
zealousness to get so much accomplished. I have heard artisans, whose
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 103
intelligence and honesty ought not to allow such a view of things, say,
uOn, that will do," when nothing should answer short of as near perfec-
tion as is possible, for I believe that a man can do a thing properly as
easily and quickly as he can do it poorly, and I am sure the results are
far more satisfactory. I have always found that if one has that view of
it and performs a piece of work and satisfies himself as to the execution,
he will find that his employer, however critical, will be satisfied.
As to the capability of the Negro as an artisan one only needs to visit
the many buildings in course of erection in our city and see Negroes em-
ployed at all trades.
Of course I do not have much chance for personal observation, but I am
informed of these few instances of which I cite. There is a usky scraper"
in course of erection in this city on which the Negro workmen have been
in the majority since its beginning, from the putting up of the iron frame
until now. There are at present on that particular building more than a
score of plasterers at work, all of whom are Negroes. Now, this only ap-
plies to one building, the same conditions exist on many others. On an-
other job of considerable proportions, the contractor (who is white) dis-
charged all his white employees and substituted Negro artisans, and lam
informed that the plastering, which will amount to some 30,000 yards, has
been awarded to a Negro contractor. I am not in any sense crowing over
the displacement of anybody, but simply cite these cases to show that
there is a demand for the Negro artisan. Some argue that this demand
prevails because the Negro is cheaper, but in the last case I cited, the men
who were put in the place of those deposed were paid the same wages.
I must confess that I haven't had a great deal of experience as an artisan,
pure and simple, though I worked at my trade as a carpenter several
years when I was practically my own boss, and my greatest experience
has been as a contractor. I have had some degree of success in that voca-
tion. I had the advantage, on entering that business, of a standing estab-
lished by my father through 20' years or more of endeavor. We enjoy the
confidence and respect of all the people with whom we deal. We always
try to merit this confidence and respect. We are invariably told when a
prospective customer thinks our figures are a little high: ''Hamilton,
your figures are high, but I am told you do good work and will do what
you say." On that reputation, as I said before, we have preference shown
us very often in the awarding of work. A great many say that we are
awarded a greater number of contracts than most contractors get. Of
course we do not take any very large contracts, as we haven't the capital
to handle them. We rarely take other than residence contracts, though
we can show quite a number of stores, warehouses, mills, etc., built by us.
The largest contract we had last year was a house which cost about
110,000. Our contract amounted to about $7,500, as the steam fitting, plumb-
ing and electrical work were under separate contracts. We are general
contractors and usually contract for the house entire, but some architects
let contracts under different heads, separately.
Last year, which was a good year for work, we were awarded a little
over 100 contracts. Of course we did not have competition on half of that
104 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
number. Much of it was what we call job work. Of that number about
55% of them were for amounts less than $100, 20% ranged from $100 to $500,
15% from $500 to $1,000, 10% from $1,000 to $7,500. In all we did nearly
$35,000 worth of work.
A large majority of the houses we build are from our own plans and
specifications, as very often, unless a person wants an original or an
elaborate design in a house, he doesn't care to employ an architect. And
there is where my ambition lies, that is if a customer should want an
original design I could be able to meet his requirements. I only attempt
pencil floor plans and once in awhile a crude elevation plan; but my de-
sire is to take a course in architectural drawing, which desire there seems
small hope of gratifying.
I am a staunch friend of higher education and at the same time I am
glad that so much stress is being laid upon manual training. There is a
broad field for intelligent artisans. I only wish that more young men
would apply themselves to a trade on leaving school. If so much can be
accomplished by artisans who have not had the advantages of school
training, how much more success could be achieved by those intelligently
prepared for their vocations.
22. Local Conditions: Indianapolis, Ind., (by W. T. B. Williams*.) All
the figures I give below were obtained in June, 1900, from foremen and
mechanics and from the offices of large manufacturing plants. Though
they are meagre, yet I think they are thoroughly reliable. They come,
too, from representative establishments and laborers.
Indianapolis had, in 1900, a Negro population of 15,931 in a total popu-
lation of 169,164.
The mass of Negro population has come to Indianapolis from the South
during the last thirty years. The greater part are fairly recent comers.
Many of the whites are also from the South. In fact, Indianopolis is in
some respects very much of a Southern city. Being in the North, how-
ever, the relations existing between the whites and blacks relating to
labor savor of both sections.
By far the great majority of Negro laborers are unskilled. But repre-
sentatives of the ordinary trades are found in appreciable numbers.
The following are the results of my investigations. They refer to the
city only:
BLACKSMITHS.
Four shops run by Negroes.
Boss Mechanics 6
Journeymen 2
General work 1
Carriage work 1
Special Horseshoer 1
Total 11
Submitted through the courtesy of Mr. A . F. Hilyer, of Washington, D. C, at whose suggestion the
study was made.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 105
The Blacksmiths1 Union is open to Negroes. J. K. Donnell, a Negro, is
corresponding secretary of the union. He is also a member of Master
Horseshoers1 Protective Association.
FOUNDRIES.
Moulders 3
Moulders1 helpers 2
Cupola tenders 5
Furnace men melting iron 12
Total 22
I found also
Firemen 2
Common laborers 125
My conclusion after visiting a number of foundries is that there is no
uniformity in their attitude toward Negro laborers. Most foundries em-
ploy no Negroes. Some employ a few. Most claim that no Negroes apply
as skilled laborers. One admitted having received one application which
was rejected only because there was no vacancy. Wherever Negroes were
employed they were spoken of as efficient and satisfactory.
Negro foundrymen do not belong to the unions. Employers, however,
say no trouble comes from that. Whites and blacks in all cases are given
work together.
CARPENTERS.
Boss Carpenters and Contractors 5
Journeymen 20
Total 25
Besides the above there are men who make
a living at carpentry, but who are not thor-
ough mechanics 80
Carpenters' Union admits Negroes, but the Negroes do not join. They
say that while they may join the unions yet the boss carpenters will not
look out for work for them and that white carpenters will not work with
them, though they are union men. Negroes gain in times of strikes by
not belonging.
BRICKLAYERS.
Boss Mechanics and Journeymen 14
Bricklayers1 Union admits colored men but none join for the same
reason given by the carpenters.
PLASTERERS.
Boss PJasterers K)
Journeymen 20
Total 30
Galvanized iron and cornice workers 1
106 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
WOOD WORKERS.
Running planing machine 1
Turners 2
Total 3
Very good feeling seemed to exist at the factory where the two turners
worked. The foreman declared that the factory could not tolerate inter-
ference from unions and that men were advanced according to merit.
CEMENT WORKERS.
Making walks, cellars, sewers, etc 34
No organization in city.
HOD CARRIERS.
Number in city 350
" " union 200
Union mainly composed of Negroes, but a few whites belong.
This union is not affiliated with the National Association.
PAPER HANGERS.
Can not give exact figures, but not more than 6
Indianapolis has a fine industrial training school with good courses in
wood-work, i. e., making of joints, etc., and turning, and in iron forging
and machine fitting, etc. An appreciable number of colored boys attend
this school, but I was unable to learn of any one's having applied to any
of the factories or foundries for work. Some mechanics felt that the
school has not been in existence long enough to have exerted any marked
influence upon the quantity or quality of skilled laborers in the market.
From all I could learn Negro carpenters are decreasing in number. But
in every other trade there is an increase. This is very marked though
the gain in actual numbers is small in the factories and foundries.
A probable cause of the increase of skilled laborers in this locality is
the steady emigration northward of the Negro from the South. It is not
due to any considerable number of younger men of the city entering the
trades. This will probably be changed in a few years for the industrial
training offered by the city in one of its high schools seems to appeal
strongly to the colored youth who enter the high school. And though there
is much prejudice against the Negro as a skilled laborer yet I think he
has a fighting chance in Indianapolis.
23. Alabama. The state of Alabama had 678,489 Negroes in 1890 and
827,307 in 1900. In 1890 there were reported the following skilled and semi-
skilled laborers: *
"These figures include a negligible number of "Chinese, Japanese and civilized Indians."
The figures given here and in succeeding sections are from the census of 1890, volume on popu-
lation, part 2. Just how far these are accurate there is no means of knowing. In some cases I have
had grave suspicions of their validity, in others they seem reasonable. At any rate they are only
available figures and are given for what they are worth. The plan followed in these state reports
was to select those occupations most largely" represented in the state; in this way it often happens
that those occupations given are not necessarily those in which Negroes are most largely engaged.
This should be borne in mind.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 107
MALES.
. Lumbermen 415
Miners ; 3,687
Quarrymen 369
Engineers (civil, mechanical, etc.) 16
Barbers 520
Engineers and Firemen (stationary) 452
Boatmen, pilots, etc , 223
Steam railroad employees 4,591
Telegraph and Telephone operators 3
Apprentices 73
Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights 891
Shoemakers , 272
Brick-makers 514
Butchers 136
Carpenters 1,703
Charcoal and lime burners 499
Textile mill operatives 281
Iron and steel workers ...„ 1,749
Machinists 54
Marble and stone-cutters and masons 618
Mechanics 64
Millers 166
Painters, etc 280
Printers 40
Saw and planing mill employees 1,163
FEMALES.
Telegraph and telephone operatives , 1
Textile mill operatives 22
Dressmakers, milliners, etc 859
Printers, etc 3
Tailoresses 16
A special report from Tuskegee says that a ''consensus of best opinions"
agree that in that region the Negro artisan "is gaining for the past six or
eight years." Up to that time and since the War he had been losing. His
losses were due to neglect and reaction. To-day inefficiency and in-
creased competition still hamper him. ''Competent colored laborers are
too few for the demand." The sentiment among the colored people in re-
gard to entering the trades has "greatly changed in this and surrounding
states" during recent years. Prejudice still is an obstacle before the young
mechanic and yet the difference in wages is due largely to the fact that
competent colored laborers are too few to supply the demand, hence can-
not command highest wages; and also to the further fact that colored
laborers' standard of living is lower and they are consequently willing to
work for less. These Negro mechanics can and do join the labor unions,
some 5,000 being members throughout the state, chiefly in the United
Mine Workers. They have separate local organizations however. There
are at Tuskegee, including the teachers at the Institute, the following
artisans :
Shoemakers 4 Blacksmiths 3
Harnessmakers 2 Wheelwrights 2
Brickmasons 11 Pattern-maker 1
Tinsmiths 2 Seamstresses & Dressmakers 5
Tailors 3 Architects 3
108 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Printers 1 Electrical Engineers 1
Carpenters 14 Mechanical Engineers 3
Woodturners 1 Bakers 1
Painters 3 Milliners 1
Unfortunately no detailed report is available from the great industrial
centers like Birmingham, Anniston, etc.
24. California. There were in California 11,322 Negroes in 1890, and
11,045 in 1900. The colored artisans reported in 1890 include both Negroes
and Chinese :
MALk
Lumbermen and Raftsmen 94
Miners 4,871
Engineers (civil, mechanical, etc.) , " 1
Barbers and Hairdressers 817
Engineers and Firemen (stationary) 32
Boatmen, Canalmen, Pilots and Sailors 73
Steam Railroad Employees 2,044
Apprentices 14
Bakers 72
Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights 65
Boot and Shoemakers 1,269
• Butchers 220
Carpenters and Joiners 141
Iron and Steel Workers 24
Machinists 39
Marble and Stone Cutters and Masons 43
Painters 60
Plumbers 4
Printers 43
Saw and Planing Mill Employees 191
Tailors 2,139
Tobacco and Cigar Factory Operatives 2,380
FEMALE.
Cotton and Other Textile Mill Operatives 2
Dressmakers, Milliners, Seamstresses, etc 239
There are four colored carpenters in San Francisco in a Union of 2,500,
and about 100 colored members among the teamsters', stablemens', long-
shoremens', seamens' and laborers' unions. In Pueblo there are a few
lathers, building laborers, plasterers and stationary engineers, and also
barbers. In Stockton there are a few longshoremen and hod carriers ; in
Los Angeles there are a few cement workers, plasterers, lathers and paint-
ers. Fresno has a butcher and several mortar mixers. On the whole a
Negro mechanic is a rare thing in California.
25. Colorado. There were 6,215 Negroes in Colorado in 1890 and 8,570 in
1900. There were reported in 1890 the following artisans, including a few-
Chinese, etc. :
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 109
MALE.
Lumbermen and Raftsmen n
Miners 142
Engineers (civil, mechanical, etc.) 2
Barbers and Hairdressers 193
Engineers and Firemen (stationary) 12
Steam Railroad Employees ]qq
Telegraph and Telephone Operators 2
Bakers 1
Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights 19
Boot and Shoemakers 7
Brickmakers, etc 37
Butchers 2
Carpenters and Joiners 27
Iron and Steel Workers 4
Machinists * 4
Marble and Stone Cutters and Masons 33
Painters 17
Plasterers 49
Plumbers 1
Printers 2
Saw and Planing Mill Employees. 2
Tailors 5
Tinners and Tinware Makers 3
FEMALE.
Confectioners 1
Dressmakers, Milliners, Seamstresses, etc 51
Printers 1
Nearly half the Negro population of the state is in Denver. Here a
special report says that the artisans are chiefly in the building- trades, al-
though there are not many. The leading- artisans include 3 bricklayers,
one of whom is a contractor, 7 plasterers, 4 carpenters, 1 ink-maker, 1
machinist and 4 printers. "Master mechanics can enter the trades but
there is no opening for apprentices."*
26. District of Columbia. There were in 1890, 75,572 Negroes in the Dis-
trict of Columbia, and 86,702 in 1900. This is in many ways a remarkable
population, nearly three -fourths being in domestic and personal service
and the other fourth containing a considerable number of clerks and pro-
fessional people. The census of 1890 reported :
M V LE.
Engineers, (civil, mechanical, etc) 10
Barbers and Hairdressers -150
Engineers and Firemen (stationary) 122
Boatmen, Canalmen, Pilots, and Sailors 82
Steam Railroad Employees 89
Street Railway Employees 23
Apprentices 5 1
Bakers 17
Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights 121
•Report of Dr. 1'. E. Spratlin.
110
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
male (continued).
Boot and Shoemakers ' 234
Brickmakers, etc 442
Butchers 62
Cabinet makers and Upholsterers 55
Carpenters and Joiners 316
Iron and Steel Workers 16
Machinists 15
Marble and Stone Cutters and Masons 188
Painters 141
Plasterers 152
Plumbers and steam-fitters H 76
Printers 64
Tailors 16
Tinners and Tinware makers ., 86
FEMALE.
Barbers and Hairdressers 15
Stenographers and Typewriters 4
Telegraph and Telephone Operators 6
Apprentices 13
Confectioners 18
Dressmakers, Milliners, Seamstresses, etc 1,411
Printers 17
The Union League Directory, compiled by Mr. Andrew F. Hilyer, re-
ported the leading Negro artisans as follows. This is not an exhaustive
list, but gives the more prominent men in 1902:
Bakers 4
Barber shops 142
Barbers 411
Bicycle shops 9
Blacksmith shops 13
Blacksmiths 27
Shoemakers 74
Bricklayers, contractors 4
Bricklayers 91
Cabinet maker 1
Carpenters, contractors 4
Carpenters 29
Cement workers 1
Cigar manufacturers 1
Building contractors 17
Dressmaking shops 89
Dressmakers 140
Dyers and cleaners 11
Electricians 1
Locksmiths 1
Painters, contractors 5
Painters 56
Paper hangers 1
Photographers 3
Plumbers 1
Printers, shops 9
Printers 34
Stove repairers 3
Tailor shops 9
Tailors 57
Poof ers 1
Tinners 4
Trussmakers 1
Typewriters, etc 5
Upholsterers 9
Kalsominers, etc 40
It is probable that a list like this is more reliable as a guide to actual
effective artisans than the census of 1890, where helpers and casual artisans
and those claiming to be artisans are set down under the various trades.
The directory referred to has a further study of these artisans by Mr.
George W. Ellis, as follows:
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFEKENCE
111
YEAKS AT WORK.
Trades.
Under 1
year.
1-3 yrs.l 3-5
5-10
10-20 i Over 20.
Total.
Barbers
Blacksmiths and Wheel-
wrights
Shoemakers
Bricklayers. .
Carpenters
Dressmakers
Dyers and Cleaners
Painters
Plasterers, Kalsominers,&c
Printers
Tailors
3
31
25
27
28
17
1
1
3
3
3
6
3
11
15
19
3
5
24
11
1
2
.7
9
10
4
11
23
14
7
1
2
]
2
3
1
1
1
10
15
4
3
9
7
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
3
2
1
131
11
54
43
19
69
10
27
23
9
9
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES, CAPITAL AND RECEIPTS.
Trades.
Barbers
Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights.
Shoemakers
Bricklayers
Carpenters
Dressmakers
Painters , ...
Printers
Tailors .
White-washers, etc
Employees. | Capital. | Annual Receipts.
407
27
74
91
29
140
56
34
57
46
$56,490
4,575
9,950
2,850
8,445
2,015
10,700
9,325
752
$200,800
11,800
28,570
15.750
23,170
22,800
18,050
25,900
15,730
In his report to the Hampton Conference in 1899 Mr. A. F. Hilyer said :
"In Washington there are over 500 skilled colored workmen not including
barbers. There are about 100 bricklayers, 75 carpenters, 80 painters, 75
plasterers, 100 stationary engineers, 100 of various other skilled occupa-
tions. There are also many skilled brickrnakers. Only the engineers and
barbers are organized.. * * * * During the last ten years over 500
houses have been built in Washington almost entirely by colored labor,
some of them costing as high as fifteen thousand dollars. Many of them
are fine specimens of the mechanic's art."*
27. Florida. There were 166,180 Negroes in Florida in 1890, and 230,730
in 1900. The census of 1890 reported the following Negro artisans :
MALE.
Miners, 323
Engineers, (civil, mechanical) 9
Barbers and hairdressers, 263
Engineers and Firemen, (Sta.) 169
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots,
and sailors,
Steam railroad employees,
Telegraph and telephone
operatives,
Apprentices,
Bakers,
Blacksmiths & wheelwrights,
Boot and shoemakers,
Butchers,
570
1,536
2
67
51
150
95
91
Carpenters and joiners, 988
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives, 183
Machinists, 31
Marble and stone cutters and
masons, 211
Millers, 62
Painters, 165
Printers, 2<>
Saw and planing mill em-
ployees, 858
Tobacco and cigar factory
operatives, 98*3
-Report of the 3rd Hampton Negro Conference, L899, p. 20.
112 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
FEMALE.
Dressmakers, milliners, Starch makers, 22
seamstresses, etc., 598 Tailoresses, 12
Printers, 2 Tobacco and cigar factory em-
Saw and planing mill employees, 7 ployees, 97
There were in the Florida labor unions in 1902 about 2,000 Negro cigar
makers, 1,000 carpenters, 1,200 building laborers, 200 painters, 800 long-
shoremen, 200 bricklayers and 300 plasterers. In Jacksonville a promi-
nent Negro contractor and builder* reports that there are a "great many"
Negro skilled laborers, and that the Negroes are represented in more trades
than formerly. The 83 leading Negro artisans include 7 carpenters, 9
masons,2 blacksmiths,2 engineers,4 tailors and 8 tinners. The Negro is gain-
ino- in skilled trades, and in the trades mentioned meets little opposition.
Usually, too, there is no discrimination in wages, but this is not always
true. These are the following Negro union men in Jacksonville :
Bricklayers 75 Painters 50
Carpenters 250?
In some of the unions there are a number of colored women.
In Pensacola the skilled work is about evenly divided between black
and white. Of the 169 leading Negro mechanics there are 95 carpenters,
19 painters, 7 blacksmiths, 23 plasterers and bricklayers, 5 tailors, 8 cigar
makers, 7 shoemakers, 2 tinners and 3 cabinet makers. There is "no per-
ceptible loss or gain here," the Negro mechanic "is measurably holding
his own." Almost all the artisans "have come up as apprentices" and
there are few from the industrial schools. As to general conditions Mr.
M. M. Lewy reports: "Carpenters and bricklayers work side by side and
receive the same union wages ; some times, and quite usually, Negroes are
the contractors on private and business buildings. Blacksmiths, stone-
cutters, tailors and shoemakers do a good business here without the sem-
blance of friction between the races. There are several noted cases of
Negroes doing contract for large firms." In St. Augustine there is a
colored painters' union of 30 members and Negro members of the masons',
plasterers' and carpenters' unions. In Tampa there are 20 colored carpen-
ters in the union, and a number of cigar makers.
28. Georgia. There were 858,815 Negroes in Georgia in 1890 and 1,034,813
in 1900. The census of 1890 reported the following Negro artisans:
Lumbermen and raftsmen,
Miners,
Barbers and hairdressers,
Engineers and firemen, (Sta.)
Steam railroad employees,
Telegraph and telephone
operators,
Apprentices,
Blacksmiths & wheelwrights,
Boot and shoemakers,
Brickmakers,
Butchers,
Carpenters and joiners,
Coopers,
MAL
412
E.
Cotton and other textile mill
402
operatives,
771
899
Iron and steel workers,
270
520
Machinists,
71
7,440
Marble and stone cutters
101
Masons,
1,243
5
Mechanics,
154
247
Millers,
160
1,328
Painters,
676
632
Plasterers,
398
977
Printers,
78
299
Saw and planing mill em-
3,761
ployees,
2,471
363
Wood workers,
198
*Mr. S. II. Hart.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 113
FEMALE.
Stenographers and typewriters, 2 Dressmakers, milliners, seam-
Telegraph and telephone stresses, etc., 1,632
operators, 7 Printers, 1
Cotton and other textile mill Tailoresses, 22
operatives, 139
There are about 1,500 Negroes in the unions of Georgia, chiefly carpen-
ters, masons, stone-quarrymen, lathers and plasterers. At Greensboro
the leading 13 colored artisans include 4 blacksmiths, 6 carpenters, 1 mason
and 2 shoemakers. There is neither gain nor loss in number, and the
artisan "might do better if his opportunities in early life had been more
favorable.'" Industrial schools "are cultivating a higher respect for man-
ual labor." The chief obstacle of the Negro is his own inefficiency. At
Milledgeville the 10 leading artisans include 1 contractor, 2 masons, 2 sta-
tionary engineers, 2 tinsmiths, 1 blacksmith and 2 painters. The Negro
artisan in this town "is gaining. All the painters and blacksmiths are
colored and they are in the majority in all the trades." So far as indus-
trial schools are concerned the report says*: "I cannot yet see the result
of industrial training which I would like to see. Many of our artisans are
young men and some of them have attended industrial schools but pre-
ferred to complete their trades at home." As to obstacles the report con-
tinues: "In my opinion he Las no obstacles in the South and especially in
small towns and villages. The whole field is his. What he needs to do is
to equip himself and occupy it." At Washington, there are about 35 Ne-
gro artisans, the 8 leading ones being 3 masons, 1 carpenter, 3 painters and
1 kalsominer. As to numbers "there may be some falling off due to lack
of work." There is little interest manifested in industrial training. "The
Negroes at Washington do excellent work but there is not sufficient work
to keep them all employed. Some are in Augusta, quite a number in
Crawfordville, and some in South Carolina at work." At Marshallville
there are a few artisans, chiefly carpenters, masons and blacksmiths, and
they are gaining. l -There were only two Negro artisans here before the
civil war, now there are fourteen." At Albany, Ga., there are many
skilled laborers; the 17 leading artisans include 6 carpenters, 3 black-
smiths, 1 carriage maker, 6 masons and 1 painter. ''In this community
the Negro seems to be losing in skilled work," chiefly because of "the
great growth of the South in industrial lines; the poor white man is
taking to the trades in large numbers." Moreover, "there are very few
young men here who have had the advantage of industrial school train-
ing. Some are now in these schools. Most of the younger men in the
trades, however, entered under the apprenticeship system." Competition
and color-discrimination are considerable obstacles for the Negro. "The
discrimination is very marked in wages: white artisans receive from one-
fourth to one-third more for the same kind of work."
All of the above towns are small semi-rural communities. In the larger
cities of Georgia— Atlanta, Savannah, Macon and Augusta— the Negro
artisan is conspicuous. In Savannah there are 7 trades unions composed
*From Mr. A. B. Cooper.
114
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
entirely of Negroes: — the bricklayers, carpenters, coopers, building
laborers, lathers, painters and tinners. There are also colored members
in some of the other unions. Both Macon and Augusta have large num-
bers of artisans. The condition of all of these may be judged from the
special study of the Negro artisan in Atlanta given below.
Some general information as to the three chief sections of Georgia has
come to us by correspondence. Miss E. E. White says:
"From a gentleman who has spent much time in South-western Georgia I learn
that this section of the state being devoted to fruit, turpentine, and cotton does not
require many artisans, and those who follow the carpenter and brick mason trades are
unemployed for perhaps six months. In several places there is very little discrimi-
nation shown toward good workmen, although sometimes the wages of colored are
less than those of the whites; in other places there is much prejudice toward colored
workmen and most of their dealings must of necessity bcwith their own race."
In Northeastern Georgia the following wage scale for 42 artisans was re-
ported by the artisans themselves; they could all read and write and were
from 30 to 40 years of age :
OCCUPATION. NUMBER. WAGES.
Engineers
Tinners
Contractors
Brick and Stone Masons.
Blacksmiths
Florists
Machinists
Harness-maker
Bridge builders
Barbers
Tailors
Paper-hangers
Painters
Firemen ,
Shoemakers
Carpenters
Total
$ 8.00 a week
1.50 a day
1.25 a day
2.00 a clay
450.00 a year
300.00 a year
2.00 a day
2.50 and 2.75 a day
1.00 a dav
30.00 a month.
2.50 a day.
From eastern Georgia, Miss L. D. Davis reports:
"The relations with the whites in most communities are friendly. Few communities
have trades unions. In Athens Negroes can join some of the unions with whites:
none are organized among themselves. Augusta has several Negro trades unions. The
painters, brickmasons and carpenters are well organized, Negroes cannot join white
unions in Augusta.
"At first I had a little trouble to get the question of wages received answered. Ne-
groes do not receive the same wages as whites, there were some exceptions, but gen-
erally whites receive from 25c to 50c more than Negroes. (1.) Carpenters get from $1
to $2.50 a day. (2). Brick masons and stone cutters get the same wages of whites in
the same trade, from $2.00 to $4.00 per day. (3). Plasterers get 333^c per hour. Barbers,
tailors and blacksmiths conduct their own business, and did not as a general rule tell
their profits.
"Those reporting who own real estate, by trades, were : Barbers, 0; Blacksmiths, 6;
Printers, 1; Shoemakers, 0; Tailors, 1; Plumbers, 1; Plasterers, 3 ; Tinners, 4; Painters,
4; Mechanics, 4; Telegraph linemen, 0; Brick masons, 15; Carpenters, 16."
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 115
29. Atlanta, Ga. In the spring of 1902 a number of seniors from Atlanta
University were given sections of the city to investigate as to the number
and condition of Negro artisans. Extracts from these reports are append-
ed and form the best general picture obtainable of industrial conditions
as seen by young observers.
Mr. H. H. Pace says:
"The first person from whom I obtained any real information was a brickmason who
received me cordially and who was inclined to talk. He was at home then (the mid-
dle of the afternoon) and said that it was the season when he never did much. He
was a Union man and said that colored brickmasons were well received by the white
unions 'if they knew their business,' although the initiation fee was larger for colored
men and the sick and death benefits much smaller for them than for whites. I next
saw a machinist who lived in a tumble down house in a rather poor locality. But he
said he owned the house. I found a carpenter who was almost totally despondent.
He couldn't get work, he said, and was sorry he ever came to Atlanta. '1 own a farm
in Jackson county,' he said, 'but quit farming and came here thinking to do better at
my trade. But if things don't change soon I think I'll go back to it.'
"The next thing of particular interest to me was a gang of men, white and black, at
work upon ten or twelve three-room houses. The person in charge of the work was
a colored man who gave his name and address as Tom Carlton, Edgewood, Ga. He
talked to me himself but refused to let me talk to his employees. He was willing to
give me plenty of information about himself, still I was unable to persuade him to
let me interview those at work. He said he could join the white union now, they
were after him every day to do so. But he wouldn't, because once awhile back when
he was working for wages he was refused admission. As soon, however, as he became
his own boss they wanted him.
"A tailor, who conducted a small shop at * * * * told me that he cleared one
hundred and twenty dollars a month from his business. But from his confession that
he owned no real estate, the appearance of his shop and its location I concluded that
he did well to collect one hundred and twenty dollars altogether in six months. In
comparison with this shop was another small tailoring establishment farther up the
street which was neat and progressive. The proprietor told me he had been there
only six months and averaged now, from his business, an income of about fifty dollars
a month. He had another man at work and seemed to have enough work on hand to
keep him employed for some time.
"Of the whole number questioned except, of course, shoemakers and tailors who
ran their own shops, all had worked at some time or did work sometimes with whites
in the same work. The painters said that the white painters were not very friendly
disposed toward them, and did not allow them to join their union under any circum-
stances. The plumbers were under somewhat the same ban.
"Not one of the artisans in my territory had been to a trade school. Nearly every one
had simply 'worked awhile under a first-class brickmason' or 'carpenter,' etc.
Several had learned their trades during slavery and followed them ever since. One
had learned his trade of blacksmith in the U. S. Army. None answered 'Yes' to the
question of any 'higher training.'
"The most interesting bit of information in regard to color discrimination was ob-
tained from a colored fireman on the Southern Railway. He said the Company re-
fused to sign a contract and wage scale with his union but did sign one with the
white union. Moreover, he said, 'If I take a train from here to Greenville, 8. C, I get
for that trip $2.60, the white engineer gets $6.00. But if that same train had the same
engineer and a white fireman, the engineer would get his $6.00 just the same but the
fireman would get #3.25. He gets 65 cts. more for doing the same work 1 do. At the
116 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
end of the run we have to make out our time on a card, which, with the other neces-
sary wording has two spaces marked 'white' and 'colored' respectively. I cross out
the 'colored' and get $2.60; he crosses out the 'white' and gets $3.25. That's all the
difference there is between our work:"
Mr. Pace interviewed 67 artisans in all. Mr. J. F. Lemon studied 89
artisans. Twelve per cent, of them owned property, 5% owned several
pieces of property ; 21% were married, 4% were illiterate, 25% had respect-
able homes and 10% were first-class workmen. He saj7s :
"During my tour of research, I did not find many high-class artisans ; most of the
shoemakers, carpenters, and barbers, being hardly more than 'botchers.' There were,
however, among the brickmasons, carriage-workers, painters, etc.. some good work-
men. Most of them are married and have families to support.
"About one-fifth of the artisans lived in nice homes of their own, well furnished,
and comfortable ; another third lived in fair homes of three or four rooms fairly well
furnished, but the remaining half of the total number of artisans lived in homes too
poor and ill-kept to warrant their being called artisans who might earn enough to de-
cently support a small family.
"Most have children in the public schools. Many of the wives of male artisans are
laundresses, helping to earn the needed running expenses, while a few wives are in
good paying work, as school teachers, etc.
"Many of the men belong to secret orders, but I found only two who belonged to any
labor union, although they knew of the International to which Negroes are admitted.
"Only three of my artisans attended trade schools, most of them having learned as
helpers, apprentices or 'picked it up.'
"Almost all could read and write, but only about half a dozen had any higher train-
ing. I found several who had attended Atlanta University, Spelman, and other
schools, none, however, being graduates. I found two enterprising and successful
contractors, who do the best work, have plenty to do and own property themselves as
a result of their success.
"Many of the poorer artisans are old ex-slaves and some cannot read or write and
they are no credit to their trades. The better class of artisans are the young who
were born since slavery.
"The different trades pay, per day, from an average of 75c for the seamstress to about
$3.00 for brickmasons and carriage-workers, the others varying between these figures.
The wages of whites in like trades are slightly better in most cases."
Mr. A. C. Tolliver was "very much surprised at the poor condition of
some of the artisans' homes, particularly of men whom I know to be good
workmen and engaged nearly the year round."
"Very few, if any, of the artisans, as you will see from the statistics, learned their
trade at a Trade School. I found one, a glazier, at Woodward Lumber Co., West End,
who had attended Tuskegee Everything seemed to be learned by apprenticeship.
"The plasterers all seemed to have served under the same man, who was a noted
workman in his day. The molders whom I found worked at the Southern Terra Cotta
Works. Of the 53 artisans I studied, 35 were illiterate.
"The following table shows a comparison of the average wages of the white and
colored artisans engaged in the same trade, per day.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
117
Per day
Per day
Average wages of colored.
Average wages of white
$1.80
$2.30
1.95
2.05
2.40
2.70
1.82
2.07
1.83^
2.25
1 .-if)
2.50 •
3.50
5.00
Trade.
Painter,
Molder,
Rock-mason,
Carpenter,
Blacksmith,
Tile-layer,
Electrician,
"The wages of the whites are computed as given by the colored men themselves; in
a few instances I think the amount given is a little too large. It seems to be the
opinion of every colored artisan that he gets from 25 to 75 per cent less than his white
brother for his work.
"Very few artisans seem to own any real estate, and if they do, they will not always
tell you of it for fear of the tax collector; of the 53 artisans of my district only 8
owned any property. Those houses from outside and inside appearance were in very
good condition.
"The fellow who gave his trade as an electrician learned what he knew by corres-
pondence. I questioned him very closely. He can only put in electric bells, which he
worked at all of last summer, but for a living and regular work, he cleaned cars in the
Southern Railroad shops. Yet he makes extra money by putting in electric bells
when the days are long."
The number of Negro artisans by age, conjugal condition and trades
was reported by the canvassers as follows:
ATLANTA ARTISANS.
CONJUGAL CONDITION AND A(JE. — MALES.
Conjugal Condition | Under 20 | 20-30 | 30-40 | 40 & over | Unknown | Total
Single
Married
Widowed...
Separated .,
Unknown..
Total
17
3
20
83
32
118
223
8
10
3
4
5
216
270
19
263
24
5
7
318
10
11)
151
613
42
8
. 29
843
r KM ALES.
Conjugal Condition
Under 20 |
20-30 | 30-40 | 40 & over
I'llklHIWll |
Total
Single
4
1
5
7
3
2
1
1
24
3
6
1
1
11
6
6
1
13
1
1
2
14
Married
27
Widowed
Separated
9
2
Unknown
3
Total
55
' Those designated as "separated" are not divorced and not in all cases
permanently separated, although usually so. About thirty per cent, of
these artisans are under thirty, and about sixty per cent, are under forty
years of age.
118
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
We may now separate these 900 artisans according to the trades they
follow.
OCCUPATIONS OF ATLANTA ARTISANS. — MALES.
| U. 20 | 20-30 | 30-40 | 40 & O. | Unknown | Total
Painters
Plumbers
Barbers
Blacksmiths
Shoemakers
Carpenters
Masons
Tailors
Plasterers..
Bakers
Moulders
Lathers
Machinists
Candy-makers
Broom-makers
Mattress-maker
Dyers
Firemen
Printers
Telegraph linemen
Paint-makers
Tinners.....
Electricians
Glaziers
Contractors & builders.
Iron workers
Gun-makers
Wheelwrights
Harness-makers
Miscellaneous
Total
1
10
7
3
6
1
30
33
1
7
16
14
17
3
25
55
1
17
27
3
20
12
2
9
16
1
9
2
1
1
3
1
4
2
1
4
5
1
6
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
11
15
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
5
1
1
1
1
36
32
20
[ 216
270
13
8
17
31
52
92
24
3
24
1
2
6
12
2
1
26
318
1
19
35
18
82
57
86
178
73
39
52
13
5
9
16
11
2
3
3
38
3
2
1
3
1
4
7
1
1
3
2
95
843
FEMALES.
| U. 20 | 20-30 | 30-40 | 40 & O. | Unknown | Total
Dressmaking
3
1
1
5
11
12
1
24
7
3
1
11
7
1
2
1
2
13
1
1
2
29
Tailoring
3
Seamstresses
18
Pastry-cooks
1
Milliners ■..
1
Miscellaneous
3
Total
55
The chief artisans are carpenters, shoemakers and barbers ; after these
come masons, blacksmiths and plasterers, tailors and painters. The fire-
men are both stationary and locomotive; the plumbers are usually help-
ers and not many are masters of the trade.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
119
The wages of artisans in the city are reported as follows :
ATLANTA ARTISANS: WAGES PER MONTH.
| U. $15 | $15-24 | $25-29 | $30-39 | $40-49 | $50 & O.
Painters
Plumbers
Barbers
Blacksmiths
Shoemakers
Masons
Carpenters :..
Tailors
Plasterers
Bakers
Molders
Lathers
Machinists
Candy-makers
Broom-makers
Mattress-makers
Firemen
Dressmakers and Seam-
stresses
Miscellaneous
Total
Percentage
6
9
8
2
1
7
3
1
17
4
7
27
7
1
16
13
1
18
7
16
19
2
5
7
4
46
76
3
3
7
1
1
5
7
1
5
1 '
1
1
3
2
6
2
2
3
6
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
15
8
7
1
5
5
10
6
21
21
3
90
36
153
221
5%
13%
5%
22%
81.6*
7
2
12
II
5
50
42
12
32
1
11
197
28%
Probably in the wages of $50 and more there was exaggeration due to
the desire to appear prosperous. On the whole, however, the returns
seem reliable and the earnings of the Negro artisan are seen to be small.
There is no very satisfactory way of ascertaining the growth or decline
in number of the Negro artisans in Atlanta. One method tried by the
class in economics in Atlanta University was to count the number given
in the directories for a series of years. The directories, however, are in-
accurate and especially careless in regard to Negroes. The following table,
however, is of some interest:
REPORTED NUMBER OF NEGRO ARTISANS IN ATLANTA.
1
1885 |
1890
1895
1902
208
84
80
77
()5
30
9
17
15
4
4
1
1
4
39
638
245
93
103
98
95
9
29
54
21
25
10
7
4
7
60
860
199
139
127
96
59 .
26
20
38
50
9
4
9
10
10
93
889
181
Shoemakers
158
113
91
50
13
Tailors
80
28
58
Bakers
10
Printers
3
6
7
Contractors and builders
3
67
Total.
848
120
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
The apparent slight decrease in number of Negro artisans is offset by
two considerations: 1st. The increased competition of later years has
had the effect of sifting out the poorer Negro artisans so that the survivors
in 1902 are probably better artisans on the average than those of 15 or 20
years earlier. 2nd. There is in South Atlanta a settlement of Negro
artisans and home-owners centering about Clark University who are
really a part of the city life. The number and wages of some of these
artisans is reported as follows in 1902:
ARTISANS AND MONTHLY WAGES — SOUTH ATLANTA.
$20-29 |
$30-39 |
$40-49 |
$50 &O
Bakers
Barbers
1
1
2
5
3
1
1
1
2
3
16
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
9
1
Black smiths
Cand y makers
Carpenters
9
Engineers
Firemen
Harness makers
1
Masons
5
Plasterers
7
Plumbers
1
Shoemakers
Dressmakers
Total 51
24
The artisans of Atlanta proper reported that 301 of them are accustomed
at times to work with whites at "these trades ; 594 were not. 238 artisans
work usually for white patrons ; 101 for Negroes, and 266 for both ; 210 of
the artisans were illiterate, 631 could read and write; 53 had some higher
training; 290 own real estate, 494 own none, and 111 gave no answer; 26
had attended trade schools at Spelman Seminary, Tuskegee Institute,
Clark University and Atlanta University. Only 85 artisans reported
themselves as belonging to trade unions; however, there are some others
who also belong. They reported as follows as to their work:
Trades
Works for
himself
Hires
others
Works for
wages
Works f'r him-
self &f'r wages
Painters
3
6
7
36
33
8
6
6
18
123
3
11
9
9
17
6
8
8
15
86
18
47
23
20
88
40
6
25
155
422
1
Barbers ;
1
Blacksmiths
1
Shoemakers. ;
Carpenters
2
Masons
Tailors
4
Plasterers
2
All others
Total
11
30. Other Towns in Georgia. Detailed reports covering over four hun-
dred artisans were received from other towns in Georgia. The ages of
these artisans were as follows:
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
121
Years of Age
Under 20
Male
5
Female
1
Total
6
20-30
30-40
89
111
1
3
90
114
40 and over
Unknown
159
37
2
13
161
50
Total
Their trades were as follows
401
20
421
Brickmasons 71
Carpenters 86
Painters 18
Printers 5
Tailors 11
Barbers 31
Blacksmiths 32
Shoemakers 31
Engineers 3
Plumbers 7
Mechanics 14
Wheelwrights 3
Machinists 7
Plasterers 13
Bill posters 1
Tinners 9
Contractors 5
Basket makers 1
Bridge builders 1
Harness makers 2
MALE
Firemen 5
Telegraph linemen 3
Electric linemen 2
Horse shoers 2
Mortar mixers 1
Florists 1
Tie cutter 1
Glazier 1
Dyer 1
Stationary firemen 2
Cabinetmaker 1
Baker 1
Wood worker 1
Paper hanger 1
Jeweler 1
Musician 1
Trained nurse 1
Crockery worker 1
Undesignated 25
Total 401
FEMALE
Tailoress 3 Printer 1
Seamstress 11 Undesignated 3
Dressmaker 2 Total 20
Of these 426 artisans. 6 had attended trade school. The wages received by
122 men were as follows, per m.onth, not counting unoccupied time:
Under $20 $20-30 $30-40 $40-50 $50-60 i
M>o &o
Masons and plasterers
2
1
1
1
5
3
5
3
3
2
2
2
6
26
1
2
5
2
3
2
2
7
7
31
6
5
1
7
1
2
7
29
1
1
1
1
4
8
10
Shoemakers
Blacksmiths & wheelwrights.
Engineers and firemen
4
1
1
Barbers
2
Tinners
Tailors
Mechanics
Miscellaneous
Total (males)
4
1
23
251 of the men were accustomed once in a while to work along side of
whites in pursuing their trade; 59 never worked thus. 148 work primarily
for whites, 35 for Negroes, 157 for both; 69 belong to trade unions, 240 do
not; 98 said they could join the same trade unions as the whites, 128 said
they could not, 180 did not know ; 274 could read and write ; 44 had had
some higher training; 240 owned real estate, 125 did not, 49 gave no
answer.
122 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
The following extracts from letters and reports give an idea of the con-
dition of these artisans:
LaGrange — Bridge Builder. "For 20 years I have worked for the La-
Grange Bridge Co. Have done very well. Save but little. Live very
well. Have 6 girls, all in school."
Darien — Tailor. "There is but one other tailor in this locality. Our
town is not very large, hence we two workmen do the work of our town.
Neither of us hire others."
Augusta — Tinsmith. "I started at the trade in 1853 as an apprentice,
and served same five years. From that time I worked by the day until
1867 at $2 per day. Since that time I have been engaged in business of my
own up until the present. I also have a son who learned the trade under
my instruction, and is now in business with me. He is 33 years old. I
have been successful in my business up to the present time. Since I have
been in business I have turned out 72 good workmen that served under
me at the trade."
Bricklayer. "We, as Negroes, have to work mostly for what we can
get, and the whites always gets the best of all."
Augusta — Brickmason. UI have saved with my labor in cash $800 and
that with what I have in real estate all makes a total of $1,200."
Gainesville — Brickmason. "I have helped to build l Vesta' and
'Pacelot' mills here, and also was a foreman over both colored and white
in Spartanburg, S. C, on Enaree mill.*'
St. Mary's — Brickmason and Plasterer. uMr. was among the
mechanics that laid the foundations of Atlanta University, and worked
there until the building was ready for use, working for $3.00 per day, and
also for $3.50 on the Kimball House."
Athens — Carpenter. "No contracts from whites are given to colored
carpenters in Athens, but colored and white carpenters work together."
Augusta — Carpenter. "I am not contracting this year. I am foreman
for one of the leading contractors in this city. Prejudice is very strong
between the white and colored mechanics here. Even the architects are
against us. I get there just the same."
Athens — Carpenter. "Work almost entirely for non-union white con-
tractor, who employs and pays white and colored alike. There has arisen
within the last three years a feeling on the part of white union carpenters
against my present employer for using on equal terms and wages, white
and colored mechanics."
Carpenter. "I have been working at the trade for 40 years and can do
any kind of finishing, and can get a reputation from any contractors who
know me. I have Worked both North and South."
Augusta — Painter. "The Negro painters are doing well."
LaGrange — Carpenter and Contractor. "I learned my trade under my
father. I have been a contractor and bridge builder for 30 years. My
contracts for 1901 amounted to $10,000."
Augusta — Plasterer. "Negro workmen have very little competition in
this line of work, as this kind of work is too hard for whites."
Eatonton — "I am a painter at $1.50 per day. The white men get $2.00
per day. I work 10 hours per day, and keep pretty busy all the year. I
began work in 1889."
Buena Vista — Turner and Glazier. "This boy is a fireman, glazier and
turner. I have been knowing him some 12 or more years as a fireman.
He has the certificates of his trade."
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 123
Quitman— Carpenter. "I am employed almost the entire year, mostly
for whites. I work with white and colored. There is very little discrim-
ination shown toward good workmen."
Thomasville— Tinner. uWe have several skilled workmen here, such
as carpenters, blacksmiths, and shoemakers."
Marietta— Blacksmith. uIn they ear 1890 1 went to work at the American
Marble Co., as a yard hand, and m three weeks I was sent to the shop as
a helper to make and dress marble tools and in three months I was'given
a forge. In the year 1894 I was made foreman and machinist. My first
wages were 90c per day. Then my wages were $1.25 during the part of the
year 1894. Afterward I went to Canton, Ga., to work for the Georgia
Marble Finishing Works for $1.50 and my expenses of travel paid. In the
year 1895 I went into business of my own. In 1897 I was offered $2.00 per
day by the McNeal Marble Company of Marietta, Ga. Now I am working
for the Butler Brothers, of Marietta Ga., and others."
Fort Valley— "The town is being benefited no little by the different
trades that are taught tht boys and girls at the Fort Valley High and In-
dustrial School."
Athens— Carpenter. "I fail to work about one-third of the year. I get
$1.50 up to $2.00 per day. There is a white union here but the colored do
not belong to it."
Darien— Contractor and Builder, now Post Master. "This is my third
term as post master, but I continue with mv trade. I have men working
now. I pay them $1.00, $1.50 and $2.00 per day."
College — Mason and Plasterer. "I am instructor in Ga. State College.
Have erected $20,000 brick dormitory with student labor. Under my su-
pervision students work for both white and colored around the College."
Wrightsville — Carpenter. " There is some discrimination as to color
where the colored mechanic is not of high standard."
Savannah — Contractor. "When I first went out to learn the trade I re-
ceived 50c per week; as my trade advanced, wages advanced, and now I
am foreman of my work."
Augusta — Bricklayer. "I am a bricklayer by trade. I have been work-
ing for the leading contractor of Augusta" for 20 years. I work regularly
when it is so we can work."
Eaton ton — Contractor of Brick, Tile and Plastering. "I own property
and real estate. I am a competent and active contractor and have been
engaged in it for 85 years. I have learned nearly 50 young men to be
first-class workmen, together with my two sons."
LaGrange — Blacksmith and Machinist. "I worked in one shop two
years, and where I am now I have been working 13 years, and I am the
only colored man in the shop, and I stand equal to any man in the shop;
if you need any references you can get them."
Roberta — Carpenter. "I have been engaged in this trade for about 14
years and follow it about half of my time now. I farm and carry on my
trade whenever called on to do a job of work."
Valdosta — Painter. ktAs to unions, we can have separate branches and
co-operate with whites in cases of a strike or regulation of hours per day
or wages, by a committee."
St. Mary's — Carpenter. "I have contracted for work and worked quite
large gangs, both colored and whites, but have been working for
for 10 years at Cumberland Island, Ga."
Augusta — Plumbers. u There is no union among the colored laborers
here at all. I wish there were. At the shop where I am employed, Mr.
and myself are the only two that are reliable. We both work
124
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
right along by the side of the white men. We do gas and steam fitting
just the same as the white men. But still we don't get the same wages
for the work. Of course there are a great many others that will work,
but they work only as helpers with white men."
Marietta — Plumber. "I have been a steady workman under others for
nine years. I can do tin work of any kind; I can set bath tubs, toilets,
rough a job on new houses; can fit up any kind of steam work in the line
of plumbing; make steam quids, can wipe a pretty good joint, and most
any other work in common plumbing. I am sorry I cannot give you a
more interesting sketch. A man must have a good head to run that trade
for himself to make anything out of it. I have a home, and I like the
farm and the country the best. I have no idle time through the year, for
when I am out of the shop I am in the field.'1
Marietta — Plumber. tlI have worked at the trade for ten years, and
have found many discouragements. It is a known fact that the whites do
everything they possibly can to prevent a Negro 'from getting into the
plumber's trade, and after he gets in he can get no employment in a white
shop. I have been doing business for myself as a plumbing and tinning
contractor for 2% years and have had as much work as I can do."
31. Illinois. The state of Illinois had 57,028 Negroes in 1890 and 85,078
in 1900. Over a third of these persons (30,150) live in the city of Chicago.
The census of 1890 reported the following artisans:
MALE.
Miners, 556
Barbers and hairdressers, 762
Engineers and firemen, (stationary) 243
Boatmen,canalmen,pilotsand sailors, 73
Steam railroad employees, 243
Street railway employees, 3
Telegraph and telephone operators, 4
Apprentices, 22
Bakers, 17
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights, 103
Boot and shoe makers, 35
Brick makers, potters, etc., 69
Butchers, 32
Cabinet makers and upholsterers, 15
Carpenters and joiners, 128
Coopers, 19
Harness, saddle and trunk makers, 9
Iron and steel workers, 67
Machinists, 27
Marble and stone cutters & masons, 110
Painters, 79
Plumbers, 16
Printers, 29
Saw and planing mill employees, 85
Tailors, 20
Tinners and tinware makers, 8
Tobacco and cigar factory operatives, 54
Wood workers, 26
FEMALE.
Telegraph and telephone operators, 1
Apprentices, 2
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives, 6
Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses, 329
Printers, 5
Tailoresses, 2
Tobacco and cigar factory operatives, 2
The Negroes are found in the trades as follows in various towns:
In Chicago there are carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths, stationary
engineers, plasterers, butchers, coopers, etc. They are slowly gaining in
the trades. The lack of leading contractors and the restrictions on ap-
prentices keep the Negroes out of the trades, as well as their own lack of
appreciation of the advantages of mechanical trades. In Springfield there
are over 400 Negro miners and a number of hod-carriers, plasterers and
barbers. In Centralia, Streator, Pontiac, Rock Island and Danville many
Negro miners are reported ; at Alton there are hod-carriers and a few fire-
men and masons ; at Peoria, barbers, building laborers and firemen ; at
Galesburg, building laborers.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 125
3S\ Indiana. There were 45,215 Negroes in Indiana in 1890, and 57,505 in
1900. Over a fourth of these persons live in Indianapolis, which has
already been spoken of in § 22. The census of 1890 reported the follow-
ing- Negro artisans:
MALE.
Miners and quarrymen, 185 Cotton & other textile mill opera-
Barbers and hairdressers, 699 tives, 34
Engineers and firemen (stationary) 154 Glass workers, . 56
Steam railroad employees, 128 Harness, saddle and trunk makers, 5
Telegraph and telephone operators, 2 Iron and steel workers, 162
Apprentices, 24 Machinists, 15
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights, 81 Marble & stone cutters and masons, 92
Boot and shoe makers, 31 Millers, 12
Brickmakers, potters, etc., 130 Painters, 40
Butchers, 12 Plasterers, 90
Cabinet makers and upholsterers, 18 Printers, 14
Carpenters and joiners, 133 Saw and planing mill men, 124
Carriage and wagon makers, 9 Tailors, 7
Coopers, 11 Wood workers, 39
FEMALE.
Stenographers and typewriters, 1 Tailoresses, 2
Cotton & other textile mill operatives, 6 Tobacco & cigar factory operatives, 1
Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses, 161 Wood workers, 2
Indiana has but a small number of Negro artisans and the opposition of
Trade Unions is strong. A report from Mount Vernon says there are
several bricklayers, masons and engineers there and that the Negro is
gaining in the trades. The chief obstacles are "prejudice among the
masses and the hostility of organized white artisans." There is some dis-
crimination in wages and Negroes are barred out of the unions. Before
the war there were no artisans in the place. Since then artisans have
come from the South, the most conspicuous one from Alabama. "He is a
very fine mechanic and engineer."
33. Indian Territory and Oklahoma. These two territories had a Negro
population of 21,609 in 1890, and 55,684 in 1900. Oklahoma* with 2,873 Ne-
groes in 1890 had the following artisans :
MALE.
Engineers, (civil, mechanical, etc), 1 Carpenters and joiners, 10
Barbers and hairdressers, 18 Confectioners, 1
Steam railroad employees, 1 Marble and stone cutters, . 1
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights, 11 Masons, 6
Boot and shoe makers, 2 Painters, 1
Brick makers, 2 Plasterers, 4
Butchers, 1
FEMALE.
Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses, etc., 1
A report from Ardmore, Indian Territory, says there are not many
skilled Negro laborers there ; the leading ones include 3 blacksmiths, 4
carpenters, 2 printers, 2 shoe makers and a type-writer. The Negro me-
chanics are gaining, however, and young men are entering the trades.
Only lack of skill hinders the black artisan. There are no trade unions
and " white men have been let out of jobs for colored mechanics of greater
ability."?
-There was no report for Indian Territory.
fRepoit of Mr. S. T. Wiggins.
126
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
34. Iowa and Kansas. Kansas had 49,710 Negroes in 1890 and 52,003 in
1900; Iowa had respectively 10,685 and 12,693. There were the following
artisans reported in the two states in 1890:
MALE.
Miners,
Barbers and hairdressers,
Engineers & firemen, (stationary)
Steam railroad employees,
Telegraph & telephone operators,
Bakers,
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights,
Boot and shoe makers,
Butchers,
Carpenters, joiners and coopers,
Carriage and wagon makers,
Harness, saddle & trunk makers,
Iron and steel workers,
Stenographers and typewriters,
Cotton & other textile mill operatives,
In Atchison, Kansas, there are very few Negro artisans, and they are
chiefly blacksmiths. Nevertheless, the Negro is gaining and numbers of
young people are entering the industrial schools. In Kansas City there
are a number of stationary firemen and beef-butchers. The trade unions
are the chief obstacles. In Iowa there are a large number of Negro
miners and many in the building trades. In Ottumwa there are hod-car-
riers, steel and metal workers, plasterers, carpenters, and miners in con-
siderable numbers.
815
Lead and zinc workers,
108
637
Machinists,
7
91
Marble & stone cutters & masons,
234
287
Millers,
25
4
Painters,
43
2
Plasterers,
151
151
Printers,
27
27
Tailors,
7
37
Tinners and tinware makers,
14
157
Apprentices,
5
3
Brickmakers, etc.,
13
10
45
Saw & planing mill employees,
19
FEMALE.
1
Dressmakers,milliners,seamstresses,
141
, 9
Printers,
2
35. Kentucky. In 1890 there were 268,071 Negroes in Kentucky and 284,-
706 in 1900. The census of 1890 reported the following artisans :
MALE.
Lumbermen, raftsmen, etc., 114
Miners, . 976
Barbers and hairdressers, 657
Engineers and firemen, 359
Steam railroad employees, 2,492
Apprentices, 36
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights, 592
Boot and shoe makers, 143
Brickmakers, potters, etc., 491
Butchers, 80
Cabinet makers and upholsterers, 29
Carpenters and joiners, 886
Coopers, 169
Cotton & other textile mill operatives, 225
Harness, saddle & trunk makers,
Iron and steel workers,
Machinists,
Marble & stone cutters & masons,
Millers,
Painters,
Printers,
Saw and planing mill employees,
Tailors,
Tinners and tinware workers,
Tobacco & cigar factory operatives,
Wood workers,
Apprentices,
Boot and shoe makers,
Cotton and other textile mill opera-
tives,
FEMALE.
7 Dressmakers,milliners, seamstresses,
2 Printers,
Tailoresses,
29 Tobacco & cigar factory operatives,
19
240
27
586
77
181
23
312
19
31
857
51
576
1
2
162
The chief artisans are miners, tobacco workers, hod-carriers, marine
firemen, carpenters, railway men, etc. At Paducah there are many arti-
sans; the 22 leading ones include 9 carpenters, 3 bricklayers, 4 plasterers,
3 painters and 3 blacksmiths. The black artisans are gaining here. In
Lebanon there are carpenters, blacksmiths and masons, but they are losing
ground on account of inefficiency. "Old artisans are dying out and no
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
127
young men are taking their places." At Danville, Ky., the leading arti-
sans include carpenters, masons, painters and plasterers. They are gain-
ing as a result of industrial training and the entrance of young men into
the trades. In Georgetown the leading artisans include 2 contracting
carpenters, 4 contracting masons, 1 cabinet maker and 1 paper hanger.
Young men are entering the trades and the Negro is gaining. In Louis-
ville there are perhaps 500 artisans of various kinds. They are not gain-
ing perceptibly.
36. Louisiana. There were 559,193 Negroes in Louisiana in 1890, and
650,804 in 1900. The census of 1890 reported the following artisans:
MALE.
Lumbermen and raftsmen, 484
Engineers (civil and mechanical) 37
Barbers and hairdressers, 369
Engineers and firemen (stationary) 309
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots, sailors, 660
Steam railroad employees, 1,593
Apprentices, 190
Bakers, 145
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights, 699
Boot and shoe makers, 438
Butchers, 141
Cabinet makers and upholsterers, 111
Carpenters and joiners, 1,611
Coopers, 605
Cot'ton & other textile mill operatives, 263
Iron and steel workers, 30
Machinists, 24
Marble and stone cutters and masons, 766
Painters, 280
Printers, 39
Saw and planing mill employees, 948
Tailors, 70
Tinners and tinware makers, 44
Tobacco & cigar factory employees, 539
FEMALE.
6 Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses, 656
18 Tailoresses, 45
22 Tobacco & cigar factory operatives, 21
Apprentices,
Bakers,
Cotton & other textile mill operatives,
In New Orleans there are large numbers of artisans in the building
trades and in shoe making, cigar making, blacksmithing, coopering, etc.
The impression seems to be that the Negro artisan here is either gaining
or at least not losing. There are about 4,000 Negroes in the trade unions.
The influx of white mechanics is increasing the competition, however,
and ilthe brief life, so far, of the industrial school among the colored peo-
ple will not permit one to see any large results as yet. It is promising,
however, and ought to be encouraged." There is no apparent discrimina-
tion in wages in this city and the trade unions are open to Negroes in most
cases. One report says: "There is no way of telling the number of Negro
artisans in this city. The directories do not distinguish them from others.
Before and since the war they have built some of the best structures of
our city. They work in various shops and in cigar factories,but have been
lately crowded out of machine shops. The new stone library of Tulane
University is now being erected by Negroes entirely."*
Another report says: "The city of New Orleans comprises among its
population Negro artisans who receive recognition in their respective
trades, are widely employed and paid remunerative wages. Contractors
of public buildings and private work appreciate the Negro workmen and
a majority of the most imposing structures in the city were built by col-
ored men. The number of artisans has increased since the war, and their
Report of Mr. F. B. Smith.
128
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
condition is better. A large proportion of them are property-holders."*
Baton Rouge is said to be "an exceptionally good community for Negro
artisans" and they are gaining there. uThe old slave time plasterers,
masons and carpenters trained up an array of youngsters to fill their shoes
and they are doing it most admirably."** Among the buildings erected en-
tirely by Negro mechanics are a $25,000 dormitory, a $25,000 public school
building and a $10,000 bank building.
There are many strong Negro trade unions in Louisiana, especially the
Longshoremen's Benevolent Association, the Screwmen, the Cotton Yard
men, the Teamsters and Loaders, the Excelsior Freight Handlers, the
Round Freight Teamsters, etc.
At Shreveport there are carpenters, hod-carriers and bricklayers organ-
ized in unions. On the whole the Negro artisans leem better organized
and more aggressive in this state than in any other. . The colored secretary
of the Central Labor Union says: "By amalgamation of organizations
and through International connections we expect to have the color line in
work removed."
37. Maine and Massachusetts. These two states have a comparatively
small proportion of Negroes: Maine had 1,190 in 1890, and 1,319 in 1900;
Massachusetts had 22,144 and 31,974. The report of artisans in 1890 for
both states was :
MALE.
Lumbermen, etc., 83
Engineers (civil, mechanical, etc.) 12
Barbers and hairdressers, 390
Engineers & firemen (stationary) 53
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots, sailors, 156
Steam railroad employees, 83
Street railway employees, 9
Apprentices, 15
Bakers, 11
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights, 34
Boot and shoe makers, 159
Brickmakers, potters, etc., 18
Butchers, 20
Cabinet makers and upholsterers, 27
Carpenters and joiners, 103
Cotton & other textile mill operatives,
Gold and silver workers,
Iron and steel workers,
Leather curriers, dressers,tanners,etc,
Machinists,
Marble and stone cutters,
Masons (brick and stone)
Painters,
Paper mill operatives,
Piano and organ makers,
Plumbers,
Printers,
Rubber factory operatives,
Tailors,
Wood workers,
Stenographers and typewriters,
Boot and shoe makers,
Cotton & other textile mill operatives, 64
Dressmakers,milliners,seamstresses, 271
FEMALE.
3 Printers,
Rubber factory operatives,
Straw workers,
Tailoresses,
2
22
42
46
12
93
59
16
5
16
30
11
66
28
4
2
1
31
In Portland, Maine, there are five skilled workmen in the unions and
they stand well.
In Massachusetts the meat handlers, longshoremen, and building trades
are represented and a great many are in the unions. In Boston the Ne-
groes are in the building trades, cigar makers', meat handlers', and a few in
the machinists' unions. In Springfield there are masons and mason tenders
and barbers; but not many. They are good workmen. Brockton has a
few electric linemen, stationary firemen, boot and shoe makers and laun-
dry workers. In the smaller towns there is here and there an artisan.
-Report of Mr. E. Bones.
--Report of Mr. A. H. Colwell.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
129
88. Maryland. There were 215,657 Negroes in Maryland in 1890, and 285,064
in 1900. There were reported in 1890 the following artisans:
MALE.
Miners 139
Barbers and hairdressers 480
Engineers and firemen (sta.) 220
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots and
sailors 1,085
Steam railroad employees 467
Street railway employees 4
Apprentices 57
Bakers 21
Blacksmiths & wheelwrights 206
Boot and shoe makers 155
Brickmakers, potters, etc 1,143
Butchers 130
Carpenters and joiners 96
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives.. 57
Iron and steel workers 68
Machinists.. 13
Marble and stone cutters and
masons 231
Millers ..." 76
Painters 59
Plumbers 13
Printers 27
Saw and planing mill em-
ployees.. 230
Ship and boat builders 96
Tailors 22
Tinners and tinware makers 68
Tobacco and cigar factory
operatives 18
FEMALE.
Apprentices 9
Confectioners 3
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives 10
Dressmakers, milliners, seam-
stresses, etc 990
Hat and cap makers 1
Meat, fish, and fruit packers,
canners, etc 19
Tailoresses 7
The Negro population of this state centres in Baltimore, where over a
third of the colored people live. Here the Negroes have had an interest-
ing industrial history.* Before the war the Negroes made brick, shucked
oysters, loaded ships and did the caulking; there were also carpenters and
blacksmiths. Then came foreign competition and the war until gradually
by skill and prejudice the Negroes were more and more forced out. There
are still painters and building laborers, brickmakers and other artisans,
but the trades unions have largely confined these to job-work. The hod-
carriers are still strong and there was a strong union of caulkers in 1890.
The brickmakers, too, are well organized and have white and black
members.
There have been in Baltimore some interesting experiments in industrial
co-operation, the most noted of which was that of the Chesapeake Marine
Railway. There was a brickmakers' strike after the war which led to
colored men organizing a brick yard which flourished awhile and died. A
strike against colored caulkers and stevedores followed which
forced most of them out of work ; as a result the Negroes raised $10,000,
bought a ship yard and marine railway and several hundred caulkers
went to work. The capital was soon raised to $30,000. The venture was
successful until it was found that instead of having been purchased out-
right the yard had only been leased for 20 years and at the end of that
time the yard passed into the hands of whites and loft the Negroes with
nothing but the two or three dividends that had been paid.
*Cf Brackett: Notes on the Progress of the Colored People of M.I.. etc., .1. II. D. studies, Nth
series, 1890.
130 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
As an example of the situation of Negro artisans in the country districts
in Maryland we may take the village of Sandy Spring* with about a thous-
and Negroes. There were here in 1900 :
2 barbers. 1 miller.
6 blacksmiths. 3 shoemakers.
2 carpenters — $1.25 a day. 1 shingle maker.
3 engineers— $12-$24 a month. 2 masons— $2-$2. 50 per day.
Five of these own their homes.
39. Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Michigan had 15,223 Negroes in
1890 and 15,816 in 1900; Minnesota had 3,683 and 4,959 in those years, and
Wisconsin 2,444 and 2,542. The following artisans were reported in these
states in 1890 :
MALE
Lumbermen and raftsmen 235 Coopers 39
Miners 4 C'ton & o'er textile mill operates 6
Barbers and hairdressers 731 Harness, saddle & trunk makers 8
Engineers and firemen (sta.) 85 Iron and steel workers 28
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots and Machinists 15
sailors 82 Marble & stone cut'rs & masons..lll
Steam railroad employees 56 Millers 3
Blacksmiths & wheelwrights 40 Painters 55
Boot and shoe makers 18 Printers 16
Butchers 19 Saw & planing mill employees.... 82
Cabinetmakers & upholsterers... 7 Tailors 9
Carpenters and joiners 122 Tobacco & cigar fact'y operat's... 7
Carriage and wagon makers 2 Woodworkers 13
FEMALE.
Telegraph & telep'ne operatives.. 2 stresses, etc 194
Cotton & other textile mill op- Printers 1
eratives 7 Tailoresses 3
Dressmakers, milliners, seam- Woodworkers 3
In Michigan there are about 500 barbers, engineers, plumbers, brick-
layers and coal-miners in the unions. In Grand Rapids there are build-
ing trades laborers; in Detroit there are longshoremen, engineers and car-
penters. This is one of the few cities where there are several colored
motormen and conductors on the street railways. They were forced in by
political influence but have proven excellent workmen. In Sault Ste.
Marie there are several good mechanics. uWe have no toughs in the race
here." There is an excellent Negro plumber at Flint, and several good
mechanics in Ann Arbor. One in the latter city does considerable small
contracting. In Kalamazoo there are bricklayers and masons.
In Minnesota there are few Negroes and fewer artisans ; there are a
number of barbers in the twin cities, a few cigar makers, printers and
carpenters.
In Wisconsin there are few artisans except barbers here and there. In
Milwaukee there are a few cigar makers.
*Cf. U. S. Bulletin of the Department of Labor, No. -\2.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
131
40. Mississippi. There were 742,559 Negroes in Mississippi in 1890 and
907,630 in 1900. The census of 1890 reported these artisans :
MALE
Lumbermen and raftsmen 192
Barbers and hairdressers 326
Engineers & firemen (sta.) 203
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots
and sailors 275
Steam railroad employees 2,736
Telegraph and telephone op-
erators 1
Blacksmiths & wheelwrights... 665
Boot and shoe makers 130
Brickmakers 355
Butchers 128
Carpenters and joiners 1,476
94
Charcoal, coke &lime burners.
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives 7<>
Machinists 41
Marble and stone cutters and
masons 29(5
Mechanics 85
Millers 63
Painters 153
Printers 22
Saw & planing mill employees. 1,387
Tinners and tinware makers.... 16
Woodworkers 53
Basket makers...
Cotton and other
employees
textile mill
FEMALE.
26 Dressmakers, milliners, seam-
stresses, etc 759
8 Printers 5
A report from Westside says: "Our population is mostly rural, but the
towns are growing constantly in number and importance; and, whereas
heretofore few skilled artisans were needed in Mississippi the demand for
them grows constantly.
"As there are no trades unions in the state to interfere colored mechanics
And work without difficulty. There appears to be few labor organizations
in the state ; there is one at Vicksburg. I presume it was instigated by
white mechanics, who induced colored men to organize with them in order
that they, the whites, might then more easily obtain work where they
were thrown into competition with colored mechanics. They thus pro-
cured work through the aid of colored men. There is no trouble whatever
on the part of colored men to obtain work in this state as carpenters,
blacksmiths, brickmasons,brickmakers, shoemakers, painters or plasterers.
"There is a brickmasons' union at Meridian, Miss. The colored masons
are allowed to join it, there being only two such masons in the city. There
is somewhat of a dearth of colored masons in the state. This fact being-
appreciated by the authorities of this institution arrangements are now
being made to give instructions in brickmaking and brick masonry."
A report from Ebenezer mentions blacksmithing as the chief trade and
thinks the status of artisans is about the same as in the past although
they "may be gaining." There is general lack of efficiency, but students
from industrial schools are entering the trades. There is some color dis-
crimination in wages. In Woodville the leading 14 artisans include two
builders and contractors, two carpenters, four blacksmiths, one smith and
carpenter, three machinists, and two painters. They are competing with
white labor and are gaining. The effect of industrial training is apparent ;
but there is a lack of leading contractors with capital. In all lines but
brickmasonry there is discrimination in wages. There are so few white
masons that the differences do not extend to this trade. (Jloster lias a
number of carpenters, blacksmiths, painters, engineers and bakers. The
182
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
writer of the reports "cannot say the Negro is losing as an artisan, but his
gains are not satisfactory." There is a demand for better artisans, but
there are no industrial schools near and young men are not entering the
trades. There is very little discrimination in wages. "We have no or-
ganized unions but the colored men generally confer and have certain
mutual understandings with each other." The great drawback is lack of
sufficient skill and education to follow plans and specifications and do
the highest grades of work. Mound Bayou has a number of blacksmiths,
engineers, surveyors, carpenters, printers and masons. The artisans are
gaining fast here. "This is a distinctively Negro town and colony com-
prising 2,500-3,000 inhabitants, with 20^000-30,000 acres of rich land. We
have three cotton gins, two of them with saw-mill attachments. There
are three blacksmith shops and one printing press. These are handled
exclusively by Negro labor and Negro managers. The settlement was es-
tablished about 1887 and the inhabitants are chiefly cotton -growers."*
At Holly Springs many young men from the industrial schools are en-
tering the trades; there are several carpenters and masons. There is dis-
crimination in wages. At Grace the Negro artisans are gaining. The
leading artisans include 3 carpenters, 1 engineer, 4 masons and a black-
smith. Young men are entering the trades.
41. Missouri. There were 150,184 Negroes in this state in 1890 and 161,234
in 1900. The census of 1890 reported these artisans :
MALE
Lumbermen, raftsmen, etc 157
Miners 915
Barbers and hairdressers ....909
Engineers and firemen (sta.) 321
Steam railroad employees 703
Street railway employees 7
Apprentices 25
Bakers 13
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights. ..206
Boot and shoe makers 52
Butchers 65
Cabinet makers & upholsterers... 12
Carpenters and joiners 263
Coopers 22
Harness, saddle & trunk makers.. 8
Iron and steel workers 177
Machinists 19
Marble and stone cutters 50
Masons 231
Millers 35
Painters 66
Plasterers 262
Printers 32
Saw & planing mill employees.... 233
Tailors 9
Tinners and tinware makers 11
Tobacco and cigar factory
operatives 222
FEMALE,
2 stresses, etc 1,835
Printers 59
4 Tailoresses 294
Tobacco and cigar factory
operatives 199
Stenographers & type writers..
Telegraph & telephone opera-
tors
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives 106
Dressmakers, milliners, seam-
There are some three thousand Negroes in the labor unions of Missouri —
hod-carriers, teamsters and barbers, miners, and a few printers, carpen-
ters and masons. In St. Louis the Negro artisan is losing; "he does not
keep pace with the times in efficiency and is besides crowded out of em-
ployment by the trade unions." As to industrial training "there has been
-Report of the mayor, Mr. A. P. Hood.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 133
a manual training department in the colored schools for more than ten
years but I have not heard of any thus trained who have got positions
thereby." In St. Joseph, on the other hand, there are 65 or 70 Negro
artisans and they are gaining. The nine leading artisans include one
paper hanger, one kalsominer, three carpenters, one painter, one mattress
maker, one plasterer and one tailor. "Trade unions have to a great ex-
tend hindered the Negroes' progress" and they are barred from nearly
all the unions. At Kansas City Negroes are reported by a leading trade
unionist to "have done good work at bricklaying, plastering, painting,
carpentry and paper hanging." Only the hod-carriers, however, are in the
unions. At Joplin there area few masons and stone cutters; at Com-
merce there are carpenters, blacksmiths and engineers, but the Negro is
losing. The chief obstacles are "trade unions, prejudice and the lack of
capital among our people."
42. Other New England States, (N K, Vt., E, L, and Conn.) The states
of New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut had alto-
gether 21,246 Negroes in 1890, and 25,806 in 1900. Over half these Negroes
live in Connecticut. The census of 1890 reported the following artisans
in these states :
MALE
Miners and quarrymen 7 Gold and silver workers 8
Barbers and hairdressers 159 Gunsmiths, locksmiths, bell
Engineers and firemen (sta) 36 hangers 9
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots and Hat and cap makers 12
sailors 30 Iron and steel workers 44
Steam railroad employees 31 Machinists 21
Apprentices.... 15 Marble and stone cutters and
Bakers 9 masons 142
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights.. 38 Metalworkers 16
Boot and shoe makers 54 Painters 59
Brass workers 39 Plumbers 10
Butchers 31 Printers 16
Cabinetmakers and upholsterers 18 Rubber factory operatives 8
Carpenters and joiners 76 Tailors 15
Clock and watchmakers... 2 Tool and cutlery makers 4
Cotton & other textile mill op 82 Woodworkers 15
Female
Cotton and other textile mill Paper mill operatives 2
operatives 38 Printers 1
Dressmakers, milliners, seam- Tailoresses 9
stresses, etc 281
There are very few Negro artisans in these states except barbers; Rhode
Island has a few printers, longshoremen and masons. New Hampshire
has a few in the building trades. Connecticut seems to have very few if
any artisans.
43. New York and New Jersey. New York had 70,092 Negroes in L890 and
99,232 in 1900. New Jersey had 47,<>HS and 69,*44 in these years. The
census of 1890 reported these artisans in New York :
134
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
MALE
Barbers and hairdressers 672
Engineers and firemen (sta.) 120
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots and
sailors 240
Steam railroad employees 196
Street railway employees 16
Apprentices 20
Bakers 22
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 51
Boot and shoe makers 39
Brickmakers, potters, etc 394
Butchers 40
Cabinet makers & upholsterers.. 43
Carpenters and joiners 156
Coopers 17
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives 24
Iron and steel workers 49
Machinists 22
Marble and stone cutters 21
Masons 156
Painters 176
Plumbers 26
Printers 41
Saw and planing mill employees 23
Tailors 53
Tinners and tinware makers 27
Tobacco and cigar factory
operatives 192
Wood workersr. 25
FEMALE
Stenographers and typewriters... 4
Box makers (paper) 2
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives 11
Dressmakers 674
Glove makers , 4
Milliners 5
Printers 7
Seamstresses 215
Sewing machine operators 11
Shirt, collar and cuff makers...... 17
Tailoresses 17
Tobacco and cigar factory
operatives 8
In New Jersey the following artisans were reported in 1890:
MALE
Miners 14
Engineers (civil & mechanical).. 3
Barbers and hairdressers 257
Engineers and firemen (sta.). 61
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots and
sailors 89
Steam railroad employees 102
Apprentices 14
Bakers 4
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights.. 20
Boot and shoe makers 56
Brick and tile makers 755
Butchers 26
Cabinet makers &upholsterers... 29
Carpenters and joiners 103
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives 17
Glass workers 10
Harness, saddle and trunk
makers 5
Hat and cap makers 3
Iron and steel workers 61
Leather curriers, dressers, etc... 19
Machinists 6
Marble and stone cutters and
masons 102
Painters 49
Plumbers 15
Potters 9
Printers 14
Tailors 7
Tinners and tinware makers 8
Tobacco and cigar factory
operatives 14
FEMALE
Apprentices 1
Boot and shoe makers 1
Box makers 1
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives 5
Dressmakers, milliners, seam-
stresses, etc '. 238
Printers 1
Tailoresses 6
Tobacco <fe cigar fact'y operat'es. 3
The mass of the Negro population of New York is centered in New York
City. Here the artisan has had a thorny path to travel. As late as 1836
a well-to-do Negro was refused a license as drayman and the riots of 1863
had an economic as well as a political cause. The ensuing enmity between
Irish and Negroes and the absorption of the Irish into the industries kept
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
135
the Negroes out. In 1890 about 10% of the working Negroes were in skilled
trades as follows :*
Tailors 45
Engineers and firemen 84
Building trades 147
Apprentices 10
Railroad employees 84
Printers : 29
Cabinet makers 28
Tobacco workers 187
Sailors 132
Barbers 166
Painters 132
Machinists 12
Shoe makers 12
Blacksmiths 13
Bakers 11
Making something over a thousand in all besides some 700 dressmakers
and seamstresses. Since 1890 ''artisans have not perceptibly increased on
account of the trade unions and the indifference of employers."
In Albany and Troy there are two tailors, one electrician, 1 printer, 1
carpenter, 1 blacksmith, 1 civil engineer,! mason. The Negro is not gain-
ing here. In Rochester there are two stationary engineers. At Bing-
hampton there are a few barbers and building laborers. At Auburn there
are a few horse shoers, stationary engineers, and building laborers. A few
are in the building trades in Middletown, a machinist at Hornelsville, etc.
In New Jersey there are a few more artisans but not many. From
Newark we learn of a few artisans hututhe trouble with the colored people
here is that few of them have trades," and they "are backward aoout
getting their boys in as apprentices." Three engineers, three masons,
three lathers and one carpenter are mentioned. Trenton reports a cooper,
a paper hanger, a shoe maker and a cigar maker.
44. North Carolina. There were 561,018 Negroes in North Carolina in
1890 and 624,469 in 1900. The census of 1890 reported these artisans:
MALE
Lumbermen and raftsmen. 810
Miners 278
Barbers and haii dressers 482
Engineers and firemen (stationary): 432
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots & sailors. 316
Steam railroad employees 3,534
Telegraph and telephone operators . . 3
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 831
Boot and shoe makers 384
Brick makers, potters, etc 443
Butchers 144
Cabinet makers & upholsterers 53
Carpenters and joiners 1,789
Carriage and wagon makers 49
Coopers 304
Cotton and other textile mill op-
erati ves 564
Iron and steel workers 88
Machinists 46
Marble & stone cutters & masons. . . 827
Mechanics 74
Millers 15«s
Painters 297
Printers 56
Saw and planing mill employees 1,992
Tobaccos cigar factory operatives 2,77(.)
FEMALK.
Cotton & other textile mill operatives 127
Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses 705
Tailoresses 8
Tobacco & cigar factory operatives. . . 1,462
Charlotte is a city of 18,091 inhabitants (1900) , 7,151 of whom are colored ;
the suburbs covered by the city directory brings this total up to 25 or 30
thousand. In 1890 the city had 5,134 Negroes. A special report from this
city gives the following artisans*:
*See the "Black North," a series of articles in the New York Times, iooi.
t Made by the kindness of Mr. II. A. Hunt, of Biddle University; the artisans were ascertained from
the directories.
136
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
NEGRO ARTISANS IN CHARLOTTE, N. O.
1885 |
1902
Bakers
1
21
1
33
1
4
20
1
6
8
17
1
6
3
6
129
3
Basket makers
1
Bridge builders
Blacksmiths
2
15
Brick makers
1
Cabinet makers
1
Carriage builders
Carpenters :
36
Collar makers j
Firemen „
25
Harness makers
2
Lathers
1
Machinists
1
Masons (brick and stone).....
37
Mattress makers
Molders
2
Painters
33
Plasterers
16
Printers
9
Shoe makers
16
Tailors
7
Tanners
2
Tinners
3
Upholsterers
1
White washers
Total
214
Although the artisans are more numerous than formerly still they are
losing in relative importance. This is in a measure due to inefficiency, and
the great growth of the South, ubut more largely, perhaps, to prejudice —
the prejudice incident to competition as well as race prejudice.7' Young
men "are not entering the trades very largely as journeymen * * * I
find comparatively few young men following trades learned in school, ex-
cept in the art or trade of printing." The obstacles in learning trades are
uthe inability of colored men to have sufficient work to keep apprentices,
and the unwillingness of whites to employ apprentices." The chief
obstacle in working at the trade when learned is "prejudice." There is
discrimination in wages, and some of the trade unions bar Negroes; other
unions, like the bricklayers, have a considerable Negro membership.
Directly after the war three Negroes were the leading bricklayers and
plasterers, and were so acknowledged by all. To-day a Negro "is and has
been for years the best bricklayer and contractor in town ; he is able to
follow plans and conduct a contracting business in an intelligent and
profitable manner. He has built some of the best buildings in and around
Charlotte — not small houses, but large ones, as, for instance: the City
Hall, several churches, school buildings, etc."
The leading Negro artisans of Raleigh include 1 tinner, 1 blacksmith, 3
carpenters, 2 wood and iron workers and 5 masons. The black artisan is
losing here, largely on account of indifference. Few young men enter in-
dustrial schools "with a view to making industrial pursuits a life-work.'
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 13 »
There are no Negroes in the Ealeigh unions and it is doubtful if they
could get in. In Salisbury the artisan is losing also, for the older artisans
are not contractors and employ no apprentices. There are, nevertheless,
several good artisans; the leading ones include three tailoring establish-
ments, 5 carpenters, 2 plasterers, 2 bricklayers, 2 shoe makers and a
painter. As to young men, "my opinion is that the schools do not make
good mechanics, i. e., practical mechanics. It is almost impossible to
give a good mechanical and literary training in the time allotted by our
manual training schools." Race prejudice and their own unreliability are
the Negroes' great obstacles. Often special efforts are put forth to attract
and employ white mechanics in preference to Negroes. "In some places
Negroes and whites work together as artisans. In other parts of the
state whites refuse to work with Negroes."*
The leading Negro artisans of Asheville are three plasterers, three
brickmasons, two blacksmiths and a carpenter. The Negro is gaining
here in the trades and a few young men are entering. The trade unions
in most instances receive Negroes. At Goldsboro the Negro artisan u is
holding his own ; he is not losing." The leading artisans include 4 masons,
6 carpenters, 1 wheelwright, 2 blacksmiths and a painter. "Two young-
men who attended industrial schools work at their trades; one at carpen-
try, the other at cabinet making ; two other young men who have not been
away from home to any schools have good trades as masons, and are reg-
ularly employed." There is very little discrimination in wages, chiefly
due to the fact that there are no unions here. In Winston-Salem the
unions have Negro members.
In Hillsboro the leading artisans are two carpenters, a painter, a plas-
terer and two masons. These artisans "hold their own as they are the
best in the little town." A few young men are entering the trades but
unot as many as I could desire." The Negro is his own greatest obstacle
here as there is no discrimination in wages and no unions. "The Negro
artisans here are less in number than before the war. The young men
seem not to care for the trades of their fathers. What few artisans we
have get all the work that is to be done. They take contracts, and work
colored and white hands together without friction. On all skilled work
in my town a Negro has, in nine cases out of ten, been the boss. Some
young men think that the trades are hard work, so they take to school
teaching, hotel work, barbering, etc."t
One enterprise deserves especial mention :
"The first experiment with Negro labor in a cotton factory was made about three
years ago in the city of Charleston, S. C. The outcome was unsatisfactory and the
factory soon closed down. However, this test was not made under favorable circum-
stances
"A more decisive test of the fitness of Negro labor for cotton mills is now being
made at the Coleman cotton mill of North Carolina. The mill is owned and operated
by Negroes. The site is in the Piedmont section of the state, one mile from the city
-From President W. H. Goler of Livingstone College.
-(•Report of Mr. L. P. Berry.
138
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
of Concord. The capitalization of the mill is $100,000, of which $66,000 has been paid
in. The subscribers to the stock are scattered throughout the state and number about
350. The subscriptions vary from $25 to $1,000, and are payable in installments.
"When the mill started up in July, 1901, all of the employees were inexperienced.
Mr. A. G. Smith, of Massachusetts, the superintendent, and the only white person
connected with the work, had to train each employee for his or her task.
"The Coleman plant consists of 100 acres of land, one three-story brick building,
80x120, two boilers of 100 horse-power each, and a complete modern outfit of looms,
spindles and other machinery necessary for spinning and weaving. The weaving
capacity is 40,000 yards per week. A dozen or more very substantial tenement cot-
tages have been erected and rented to the employees.
"The writer has visited the mill and viewed the operatives at work, and was agreea-
bly surprised to find that only one of the operatives was inclined to go to sleep. The
superintendent expressed himself as entirely satisfied with the progress of the work-
ers, and stated that he felt confident that the enterprise would prove a financial suc-
cess. Several of the operatives, he said, had been "caught napping," but, he added,
that such occurrences were not uncommon even among white operatives in Massa-
chusetts. The operatives, so far, have been very prompt in coming to work, and have
shown no disposition to drop out
"This cotton mill venture will be watched with interest, and if it succeeds, no doubt
other mills will be started up with Negro help. The operatives in the Coleman mill
are paid about one-half as much as the same grade of workers would receive in Mas-
sachusetts. The capitalists of the South will have a rich harvest if they can suc-
cessfully operate with this cheap labor."*
45. Ohio. There were 87,113 Negroes in this state in 1890, and 96,901 in
1900. The census of 1890 gave the following artisans :
MALE
Miners 578
Quarrymen 42
Barbers and hairdressers 1,372
Engineers and firemen (stationary). 295
Steam railroad employees 355
Telegraph and telephone operators. . 9
Apprentices 28
Bakers 29
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 258
Boot and shoe makers 97
Brick makers, potters, etc 152
Butchers 59
Cabinet makers & upholsterers 20
Carpenters and joiners 277
Carriage and wagon makers 23
Coopers 69
Glass workers 13
Harness, saddle and trunk makers. . 8
Iron and steel workers 286
Machinists 51
Marble and stone cutters & masons. 280
Painters 207
Plasterers 285
Printers 19
Saw and planing mill employees .... 57
Tailors 2H
Tinners and tinware makers 15
Tobacco and cigar factory opera-
tives 18
Wood workers 38
FEMALE.
Stenographers and typewriters 3
Cotton & other textile mill operatives . 8
Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses . . 393
Paper mill operatives 1
Printers 6
Tailoresses 7
uIn those callings which are classed as skilled very few workmen of the
dark complexion are to be found. I mean such trades as printing, cigar
making, molding, machinists', etc. ; while of course the number of Negro
barbers is somewhat large. "t Cincinnati has by far the largest Negro
*Professor Jerome Dowd, in Gunton's Magazine, Sept. 190-2.
-(•Report of the Secretary of the Stale Federation of Labor.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 139
population of the cities (14,482). Conditions here are such that Negroes
are practically excluded from the unions save a few who got in in earlier
years and who are usually so light in complexion as not to be easily rec-
ognized as of Negro descent. On this account Negro skilled laborers are
decreasing in number, although there are many doing job work. There
are some 300 Negro hod-carriers, 8 union men in the building trades and
"outside of organizations Negroes working at almost every trade." •
In Cleveland there are about 100 skilled artisans and they are not dis-
criminated against to any large extent. In Oberlin, there has long been
an interesting colored colony. They have among their leading artisans an
excellent mason, three painters, two building contractors, and a carpen-
ter. Compared with the past, however, the Negro is losing. "Our young
men are not entering trades. Those who work at a trade have not an eye
to become skilled. " There is, too, considerable prejudice from the whites
and the unions.* At Xenia, there are at least 40 Negro artisans. Among
the leading ones are a marble cutter and letterer, two carriage makers, a
stationary engineer, a boiler setter, two contracting plasterers, a carpen-
ter, a contracting mason, four blacksmiths (two of whom are expert horse
shoers, and other uthe best blacksmith in the city") two tile -setters and a
cigar maker. The number of artisans is decreasing because the young
men do not enter the trades. One of the carriage makers, Mr. Lewis
Sydes, "believes he is the first man in the United States to make the
double felly in the carriage wheel. He has worked at the trade more than
50 years."**
In other localities there are a few artisans, as firemen in Mt. Vernon,
engineers, bricklayers, and hod carriers in Youngstown, blast-furnace
workers in Iron ton, and longshoremen in Lorain.
46. Oregon and the North West. ( Ore., Ida., Mont., N D., S. D., Neb., U., Wash.,
and Wy.) These states had in all 5,212 Negroes in 1890, and 5,982 in 1900.
There are very few artisans in this region, only one Negro carpenter
being mentioned in Salt Lake City. The census of 1890 enumerated the fol-
lowing colored artisans — which includes Indians and Chinese— how many
of the last two is uncertain:
MALE
Lumbermen and raftsmen 61 Butchers .31
Miners 2,417 Carpenters and joiners 83
Engineers (civil and mechanical). .. 3 Machinists 3
Barbers and hairdressers 564 Marble cV: stone cutters and masons. . . 67
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots, and MeaLfish, fruit packers and canners. . .518
sailors 82 Painters 18
Engineers and firemen (stationary) . 23 Plasterers 86
Sceam railroad employees 1,183 Printers 17
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 58 Saw and planing mill men 189
Bakers 11 Shin and Doat builders 5
Boot and shoe makers 19 Tailors 250
Brickmakers and potters 135 Tinners and tinware makers 7
FEMALE
Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses, etc 112
*Report of Mr. Elias V. .lone-. ^Report of Mr. .T. M. Summers.
140
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
47. Pennsylvania and Delaware. There were 107,576 Negroes in Pennsyl-
vania in 1890, and 156,845 in 1900. Delaware had 28,386 and 30,697 in these
years. The census of 1890 reported the following artisans in Pennsylvania
for 1890:
MALE
Lumbermen, raftsmen, etc 64
Miners 849
Quarry men 206
Barbers and hairdressers 1,477
Engineers and firemen (stationary) . . 186
Steam railroad employees 526
Apprentices 64
Bakers 35
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 137
Boot and shoe makers 133
Brickmakers, potters, etc 627
Butchers 53
Cabinet makers and upholsterers .... 76
Carpenters and joiners 152
Cotton & other textile mill operat'es. 77
Glass workers 19
Iron and steel workers 795
Leather curriers, dressers, finishers . . 68
Machinists 29
Marble and stone cutters 102
Masons 211
Millers 19
Oil well employees 5
Painters 57
Plumbers 17
Printers 75
Saw & planing mill employees 53
Tailors 41
Tinners and tinware makers 16
Tobacco & cigar factory operatives. . 75
Wood workers 51
FEMALE.
Stenographers and typewriters 6
Apprentices 12
Boot and shoe makers 4
Cotton & other textile mill operatives . 9
Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses. .993
Printers 4
Tailoresses 12
Tobacco and cigar factory operatives . 5
In Delaware there were in 1890, according to the census:
MALE
Barbers and hairdressers 51
Engineers and firemen (stationary) ... 27
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots and sailors 55
Steam railroad employees 88
Telegraph and telephone operators. . . 1
Apprentices 3
Bakers 1
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 23
Boot and shoe makers 23
Brick makers 146
Butchers 7
Cabinet makers & upholsterers 4
Carpenters and joiners 20
Carriage and wagon makers 1
Cotton & other textile mill operatives . 15
Iron and steel workers 186
Leather curriers, dressers, tanners . . 75
Machinists 3
Marble and stone cutters and masons. 37
Millers 6
Painters 6
Plumbers 1
Printers 1
Saw and planing mill employees 34
Ship and Iboat builders 28
Steam boiler makers 1
Tinners and tinware makers 3
Wood workers 14
FEMALE.
Apprentices ,. . . 2 Dressmakers, milliners, seam-
Cotton and other textile mill operat'es 2 stresses, etc 32
Over a third of the total Negro population of Pennsylvania resides in
Philadelphia. A detailed history of the Negro artisan in this city has
been published.* The chief trades represented are barbers, cigar makers,
shoemakers, engineers, masons, printers, painters, upholsterers. There
are probably some two thousand Negro artisans in all. Carlisle has a few
masons. At Washington there are about 50 Negroes in the tin plate and
glass factories. In western Pennsylvania there are numbers of Negro
miners and iron and steel workers, but no detailed report has come from
this regrion.
-The Philadelphia Negro, Ginn & Co., 1890. See Chapters IX and XVI.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 141
48. South Carolina. There were in this state 688,934 Negroes in 1890, and
782,321 in 1900. The census of 1890 reported these artisans :
MALE
Lumbermen and raftsmen 164 Butchers 274
Miners 715 Carpenters and joiners 2,730
Engineers (civil, mechanical, etc.). . 26 Coopers 294
Barbers and hairdressers 380 Cotton & other textile mill operat'es . 369
Engineers and firemen (stationary) . 344 Machinists . . 42
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots, sailors. . 381 Marble and stone cutters. 96
Steam railroad employees 3,052 Masons 793
Telegraph and telephone operators. . 8 Mechanics 58
Apprentices 255 Millers 108
Bakers 123 Painters 482
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 832 Printers 57
Boot and shoe makers 353 Saw and planing mill employees. . . . 452
Brickmakers, potters, etc 286 Tailors 172
FEMALE.
Steam railroad employees 19 Cotton & other textile mill operat'es 22
Apprentices 48 Dressmakers,milliners, seamstresses. 2,193
Bakers 7 Tailoresses 21
Charleston with 31,522 Negroes has always had a large number of arti-
sans. Here, at the Vesta Cotton Mill, Negro labor was used in cotton
manufacturing. The president of the mill said in 1900: UI cannot say the
Negro is a success as a mill operative, lest I deceive somebody, or the
statement eventually prove to be untrue. Nor am I willing to say he is a
failure." The eventual giving up of the mill and its removal to Georgia
was due to many reasons, of which the matter of securing competent
help was only one and, it would seem, not altogether the decisive reason.
It is thought that the Negro artisan is gaining in Charleston and that
many young men are entering the trades. Race prejudice is still a hin-
drance and there are many lines of work into which a colored man cannot
enter. There are 75 or 80 union masons and 12 to 25 non-union. There are
several hundred carpenters, and many blacksmiths, painters, wheel-
wrights and plumbers. There is some discrimination in wages: masons
receive $3 for a 9 hours day, and carpenters $1.75 to $2.50 for the same. In
Columbia Negroes are employed in a hosiery mill and a report gives 386
skilled workingmen in all in. the city. The colored artisans are gaining.*
At Anderson there are 15 carpenters, 10 masons, many blacksmiths, ma-
chinists, plumbers, 6 shoemakers, and 10 painters. The Negroes are slow-
ly gaining. At Aiken there are 35 carpenters, 4 contracting masons and
25 journeymen under 30 years of age, 2 tailors, 4 blacksmiths, etc. The
Negro is steadily gaining and forms the sole membership of the only
local union— the masons. The Negro is reported to be gaining in Green-
ville where there are 40 carpenters, 50 masons and plasterers, 15 black-
smiths, 15 shoemakers, and 14 painters, besides tinners, plumbers, harness
makers and other artisans. There is some color prejudice but young men
are entering the trades. " Quite a number of young men are entering the
trades and are doing well" at Chester, where again the black artisan is
gaining. The leading artisans include 5 masons, 4 painters, 2 tailors, 2
carpenters, and 1 upholsterer. There are no unions here, and the whole
-Report of 3d Hampton Conference, p. 18.
142
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
growth has been since the war, as there were practically no artisans here
before.*
49. Tennessee and Arkansas. There were 430,678 Negroes in Tennessee in
1890, and 480,243 in 1900. The census of 1890 reported the following-
artisans :
MALE.
Lumbermen and raftsmen 150
Miners • 769
Quarrymen 482
Barbers and hairdressers 871
Engineers and firemen (stationary). 558
Steam railroad employees 4,039
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 1,032
Boot and shoe makers 348
Brick makers 849
Butchers 132
Carpenters and joiners 1,361
Coopers ' Ill
Cotton & other textile mill operatives. 201
Harness, saddle, trunk makers 13
Iron and steel workers 982
Machinists 66
Marble and stone cutters 269
Masons 1,160
Mechanics 48
Millers 130
Painters 287
Plasterers 324
Printers 43
Saw & planing mill employees 1,040
Tinners and tinware makers 33
Wood workers 148
FEMALE.
Stenographers and typewriters 1
Telegraph & telephone operators 2
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives 48
Dressmakers,milliners,steamstresses . . 915
Printers 2
Tailoresses 3
Tobacco & cigar factory operatives .... 124
In Arkansas there were 309,117 Negroes in 1890 and 366,856 in 1900. The
census of 1890 reported the following artisans:
MALE.
Lumbermen and raftsmen. 94
Miners 7
Engineers (civil, mechanical, etc.). . 2
Barbers and hairdressers 332
Engineers and firemen (stationary). 165
Steam railroad employees 1,013
Telegraph and telephone operators. 1
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights 364
Boot and shoe makers 68
Brickmakers, etc 269
Butchers • 64
Carpenters and joiners 581
FEMALE
Carriage and wagon makers 8
Cotton & other textile mill operatives.. 83
Machinists 31
Marble & stone cutters and masons . . . 198
M echanics 59
Millers 26
Painters -85
Plasterers 63
Printers 17
Saw & planing mill employees 1,114
Tailors 1
Wood workers 2s
Dressmakers, milliners, seam-
stresses, etc
266
Telegraph and telephone operators ... 1
Cotton & other textde mill operatives . 5
Memphis has already been spoken of in §19. "Jonesboro is a very small
place and the Negro gets very little to do here." There are a few carpen-
ters and masons who are kept busy. Trade schools would help our boys
to learn trades, otherwise almost all of them will be common laborers.?
The leading colored artisans of Clarkesville include 2 masons, 2 carpen-
ters, 1 cabinet-maker, 1 engineer, 1 plumber, 2 printers, 1 blacksmith, and
1 cooper. uThe Negro is capable of doing any skilled work but has no op-
portunities to develop his skillfulness." For this and other reasons, "as a
rule, the Negro does not learn his trade thoroughly, that is he does not be-
come a master workman." The demand for Negro workmen being thus
curtailed there is little incentive for the young man to learn trades. Ne-
-Most of the South Carolina reports were submitted by Mr. W. W. Cooke of Clafliu University
t Report of Mr. P. L. LaCour.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 14»
groes "cannot get employment on many large contracts — the whites prefer
to hire white artisans, unless they can employ colored workmen at great-
ly reduced wages."* Twenty years ago the Negroes of Jackson were
chiefly railroad brakemen, firemen and common laborers; today the lead-
ing artisans include 7 engineers, 6 brickmasons, 5 plasterers, 5 brick-
molders, 6 carpenters, 3 blacksmiths, 4 printers, 8 meat-cutters, 1 milli-
ner, 1 upholsterer, 1 painter, 1 candy-maker, and 2 cabinet-makers. While
the Negro artisans have increased however they have not kept pace with
the growth of the town, and this is due mainly "to discrimination in fa-
vor of white workmen and also to the fact that young men have not en-
tered the trades." The chief obstacles before Negroes are "Labor Unions:
they do not receive Negroes as apprentices and when Negroes are em-
ployed as helpers they prevent them from receiving promotion according
to merit. "f At Rogersville there are about 12 artisans — 4 carpenters, 2
blacksmiths, 1 paper-hanger and painter, 2 masons, 1 engineer, 1 tanner,
etc. There a.re no unions and the black artisan is holdinghis own. There
is little discrimination but the outlook is not encouraging because the
young people do not enter and stick to the trades. "The leading mer-
chants of our town were erecting a bank building a short time since. They
wanted the work completed in a certain time. They employed colored
carpenters to assist. The white carpenters complained. They dismissed
them all and employed all colored
The colored engineer referred to above stands ahead of all in the town as
a plumber and electrician.
"The Negro has the ability to succeed along all industrial lines; what
he needs is more faith in himself and in the opportunities before him."*
In Columbia the Negro artisans seem "to be losing, somewhat," This
is due in part to the great industrial advance of the South, in part to
prejudice, and in part to the fact that "the young Negro is not patient-
will not stick long enough to become master of a trade." The leading
colored artisans of the city include 4 carpenters,! shoemaker, 2 black-
smiths, 1 wheelwright, 2 stone cutters, and 2 masons.
The Negro is gaining as an artisan in Jefferson City, although there are
few artisans there. The leading brick mason "stands high with the white
citizens and gets more work than he can do. The very finest jobs are
generally offered him in preference to the white masons. He has been
working at his trade over twenty years and owns some good property. "$
In Nashville there are eight leading Negro contractors— a painter, 4
masons, 3 carpenters; there is also a prominent tailor and a leading black-
smith. "I think the whole number of skilled workmen as compared with
the Negro population is less than before the war. Those mentioned above
are contractors, own good homes, have other good renting property, and
-Report of Mr. R. L. Yancy.
-j- Report of Rev. Mr. A. R. Merry.
$ Report of Mr. W. H. Franklin.
j;Reportof Mr. G. X. Bowen.
144 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
are men of force and standing."* In Murfreesboro the Negro artisan "is
gaining very fast," and uis in great demand." The leading artisans in-
clude 5 shoe makers, 2 masons, 4 blacksmiths, 2 engineers, 3 painters and
a number of carpenters. "The young men are entering trades more now
than ever" and industrial training is enabling them to take and execute
contracts ; this latter ability was the deficiency of the older artisans. The
general condition of Negro artisans "is much better than in the times be-
fore the war, because the demand is greater, and more diversified ; this
sharpens the appetite for advancement and the artisan now uses his own
head instead of working from dictation. "t In McMinnville, also, the
Negro is "gaining, not by under-bidding, but by prompt attention to bus-
iness." The leading artisans are 7 masons, 4 blacksmiths, a plasterer and
a carpenter. Young men are entering the trades but they are apprentices
and do not come from industrial schools. There is no discrimination in
wages, and there are no trade unions here. "There are more Negro arti-
sans here now than there have been at any time before in the history of
the town. Those here are well situated, owning their own homes — some
of the nicest homes in town ; they are good and law abiding citizens and
are well thought of by both races. This town is the county-seat of War-
ren county and has a population of about 2,000. Negro artisans build all
the bridge-piers in this and adjoining counties. "J
In Maryville the black artisans have suffered "some loss ; that is, we have
fewer carpenters and blacksmiths now than 20 years ago." This is chiefly
due to "the neglect of parents and guardians in not impressing the im-
portance of a knowledge of the industries upon the minds of sons and
wards." On the other hand a small town like this does not demand many
artisans; there are some ten masons, blacksmiths and carpenters. "Some
few young men in a casual way and of necessity are entering the above
named trades, but the outlook for wages is bad and our boys seem to prefer
doing nothing for nothing."The difficulty with most of the local artisans
is that they cannot intelligently plan their work and make specifications.
"White men in the same trades use the influence of a white skin to take
away trade."
"The Negro artisans of Maryville are chiefly those who learned their
trades before the civil war. There are some younger men who were taught
by their fathers or by the aforesaid ante-bellum men. There is no union
or agreements as to hours of labor or price and every man is guided by
his own judgment as to any particular piece of work. There were before
the civil war about the same number of artisans as now — mostly slaves.
These men now own their own homes, with but two exceptions, and from
their trades derive a living, though not much more. Intelligent, up-to-
date artisans could have all they could do in this section if only they
could go in and assume a contract, giving bond for faithful performance
-Report of Dr. J. A. Lester.
t Report of F. G. Carney.
J Report of Mr. A. C Maclin.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 145
of obligations, &c. An industrial training school for Negroes is in courre
of foundation."*
In Knoxville there are a good many skilled laborers; they "are gainii g
in the variety of trades followed, but losing when one considers the in-
crease of population here since I860." The leading artisans include:
Carpenters 15 Stone cutters 2
Blacksmiths 12 Printers 1
Masons 10 Tailors 1
Puddlers 9 Boiler makers 1
Dressmakers 6 Millers 1
Telegraph linemen 5 Carpet makers 1
Shoemakers 5 Contractors 1
Painters 5 Tinners 1
Plumbers 5 Furniture repairers 1
Plasterers 4 Tanners 1
Jewelers 3
There are also numbers of iron and steel workers.
Young men are entering the trades, '"or at least trying to do so," but are
hindered partly by prejudice, partly by "inherent vices resulting from
the former bondage of the race," and particularly by trade unions which
"in but few instances" admit Negroes. t In 1900 "iron workers are being
paid more for labor in consequence of the increased demand for iron and
the inducements offered to local workingmen at the Carnegie Works in
Pittsburg. Quite alarge force from Knoxville went there in the early spring.
A large iron furnace has been opened up at Bristol, Tenn., employing Ne-
gro laborers, and several smaller industries at Harriman, Tenn., employ-
ing Negro laborers exclusively, "t
Chattanooga is a center of Negro artisans and they have had an inter-
esting industrial history. Unfortunately, however, it has been very diffi-
cult to get hold of detailed information or reports from there. The unions
report a number of artisans in the building trades, and in the large estab-
lishments there are 382 skilled men reported, chiefly molders and foundry
men, with some skilled saw-mill hands:
20
382
This is a great increase over anything in the past and has been brought
about by a persistent battle with the trade unions in which, so far, the
Negroes are victorious.
Few detailed reports have been received from Arkansas. The state has
considerable numbers of barbers, blacksmiths, brickmakers, carpenters,
and masons, and many semi-skilled workmen on the railroads and in the
lumber yards.
In Little Rock there are very many Negro artisans and they are "gaining
all the time here." The artisans are "not from trade schools but have
been apprenticed as a rule." The leading artisans include 6 carpenters,
2 masons and a blacksmith. There are, of course, many others. Their
Molders,
110
Saw mill men,
Molders and foundry men,
52
Total,
Stove makers,
200
"Report of Mr. George R. Brabham, who is the founder of the proposed school.
t Report of Mr. J. W. Manning.
{Report of Mr. C. W. Cansler to Mr. A. F. Hilyer.
146 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
greatest obstacle is "want of capital to overcome prejudice." They oan
join some of the trade unions. "There were few artisans here until recent
times, but now the number increases yearly."*
50. Texas and the Southwest, {Tex., Ariz., N. Mex., and Nev.) Texas had, in
1890, 488,171 Negroes and 620,722 in 1900. The census of 1890 reported the
following artisans:
MALE.
Lumbermen and raftsmen, 268 Carpenters and joiners, 917
Miners, 197 Cotton and other textile mill ope-
Engineers (civil, mechanical, etc.) 6 ratives, 330
Barbers and hairdressers, 816 Harness, saddle, trunk makers, 7
Engineers and firemen (stationary), 212 Machinists, 41
Boatmen, canal men, pilots, sailors, 45 Marble <fe stone cutters & masons, 298
Steam railroad employees, 2,658 Millers, 34
Telegraph and telephone operators, 4 Painters, 133
Blacksmiths & wheelwrights, 537 Printers, 22
Boot and shoe makers, 85 Saw & planing mill employees, 1,881
Brick makers, 466 Tailors, ' 20
Butchers, 174 Tinners and tinware makers, 19
FEMALE.
Telegraph and telephone operators, 4 Dressmakers, milliners, seam-
Cotton & other textile mill operatives, 9 stresses, etc., 425
Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada had in all 2,786 Negroes in 1890, and
2,416 in 1900. There were reported the following artisans, including Ne-
groes, Chinese, and Indians:
MALE.
Lumbermen and raftsmen, 45 Butchers, 12
Miners, , 529 Cabinet makers & upholsterers, 9
Barbers and hairdressers, 89 Carpenters and joiners, If
Steam railroad employees. 251 Cotton & other textile mill operatives, 6
Telegraph & telephone operatives, 1 Marble and stone cutters & masons, 10
Blacksmiths, 12 Printers, 4
Brickmakers, 15 Saw and planing mill employees, 72
Boot and shoe makers, 14 Tailors, 6
FEMALE.
Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses, etc. 15
Texas has already been treated to considerable length in Mr. Holmes'
report (§ 20). There are not many artisans in Dallas and they are losing
on account of inefficiency. The city directory gives 20 carpenters, 5 black-
smiths, 4 painters, 4 printers, 3 masons, 2 engravers, 2 plasterers, a roofer,
a contractor and builder, a shoe maker, a tailor, a furniture maker and a
machinist. Young men are not entering the trades. The artisans udo not
contract for very large jobs; they work mostly for colored people and on
small jobs for whites. During and before the war most of the skilled
labor was done by colored artisans, "t In Navasota the number of skilled
laborers is not large but "it is my opinion that the Negro is gaining con-
stantly Prejudice and trade unions are the barriers that
usually obstruct his path as a mechanic. There are few instances in which
colored men are permitted to join the trade unions at all. They are gen-
erally barred from this privilege entirely. Sometimes discrimination in
wages occurs; colored men possessing skill equal to white men, and work-
*Reportof Mr. W. Mcintosh.
fReport of Mr. Charles Rice.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
147
ing with them on the same building, have, in some cases, been paid smaller
wages than the whites." There are in this town 4 Negro blacksmiths, 5
carpenters, 2 painters, a wheelwright, a mason and a jeweler. ''These
men are doing well in their trades and securing considerable paying work
both from white and colored people."*
In Georgetown also the Negroes are gaining and are at work as carpen-
ters, blacksmiths, masons and barbers. In Ennis they are "standing still."
They are barred from the unions and discriminated against in wages. In
Richmond the Negro is gaining in the trades but is barred by the unions.
In Bryan he is losing because of lack of properly trained men.
51. Virginia and West Virginia. Virginia had 635,438 Negroes in 1890, and
660,722 in 1900. The census of 1890 gave the following Negro artisans:
MALE.
Lumbermen, raftsmen, etc., 1,091
Miners, 1,700
Quarrymen, 577
Engineers (civil and mechanical), 16
Barbers and hairdressers, 835
Engineers and firemen (stationary), 521
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots, sailors, 812
Steam railroad employees, 7,648
Telegraph & telephone operators, 7
Apprentices, 186
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights, 1,554
Boot and shoe makers, 849
Brickmakers, potters, etc., 1,213
Butchers, 231
Carpenters and joiners, 2,017
Coopers, 403
Cotton & other textile mill operatives, 462
Iron and steel workers,
Machinists,
Marble and stone cutters,
Masons,
Millers,
Painters,
Plasterers,
Printers,
Saw & planing mill employees,
Tinners and tinware makers,
Tobacco & cigar factory operatives,
FEMALE.
1
Printers,
Tailoresses,
Tobacco and cigar factory oper-
atives,
MALE.
Lumbermen, raftsmen, etc,
Miners,
Engineers (civil & mechanical),
Barbers and hairdressers,
Engineers and firemen (stationary),
Boatmen, canalmen, pilots, sailors,
Steam railroad employees,
Telegraph and telephone operators,
Apprentices,
Blacksmiths and wheelwrights,
Boot and shoe makers,
Brick and tile makers,
Butchers,
Carpenters and joiners,
Cotton and other textile mill opera-
tives,
793
61
168
745
212
206
524
44
2,541
39
4,419
30
2,572
Basket makers,
Cotton and other textile mill
operatives, < 187
Dressmakers, seamstresses, mil-
liners, etc., 1,412
West Virginia had, in 1890, 32,690 Negroes, and in 1900, 43,499. The
census of 1890 reported the following artisans :
10
Charcoal, coke and lime burners,
336
2,016
Coopers,
20
3
Glass workers,
1
220
Iron and steel workers,
13
36
Leather curriers, dressers, tanners,
57
22
Machinists,
2
1,401
Marble and stone cutters,
16
6
Masons,
60
5
Millers,
4
97
Painters,
20
39-
Printers,
5
22
Saw and planing mill employees,
21
7
Tailors,
2
51
Tobacco and cigar factory operatives,
2
V KM ALE.
Dressmakers, milliners, seamstresses, 37
Tailoresses, 2
-Report of Mr. R. P. Neal.
148 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Richmond is a great center for Negro skilled labor. The Third Hamp-
ton Conference reported.* "The colored people of Richmond are employed
principally in all branches of the tobacco business, with the exception of
cigarette making, cigar making and cheroot rolling. About 8,000 men,
women and children are employed in tha factories; of this number about
2,000 might be classed as skilled laborers. Perhaps 2,000 more are em-
ployed in the iron works." The census of 1890 reported 1,345 tobacco
workers, 293 skilled iron and steel workers, besides 139 blacksmiths, 123
shoe makers, 150 carpenters and 165 plasterers. The Allen & Ginter
branch of the American Tobacco Co. employ 18 tobacco packers and por-
ters at an average weekly wage of $6.53 and 208 stemmers and machine
hands at $4.09. The T. C. Williams Company employ Negro labor almost
exclusively; uour experience with this labor has been very satisfactory."
The P. Whitlock branch of the American Tobacco Co. have these Negro
employees:
167 leaf tobacco strippers, $3.50-$4.00 per week.
42 " " bookers, 5.00 "
22 helpers, 5.00 "
"We have been working Negroes in the above capacities for a number
of years, having found them very efficient in this class of work." The
Richmond Stemmery of the American Tobacco Co. employs 1,000 Negroes
at an average of $4.50. uFor the class of work for which we employ them
there is no other help in the world so good." The Continental Tobacco
Co. employs "at times from six to seven hundred Negro employees and
we consider this class of labor quite satisfactory. ' 'f The Hampton conference
thought the skilled Negro laborer losing in this city but a report of 1902
says: "I think he is gaining on the whole, inasmuch as his skilled labor
is of a higher order. They are to-day doing some of the high grade work
in this city." As to efficiency the report says: "Colored workmen, as a
rule, are not efficient here. The exclusion from labor organizations, the
general unwillingness of white workmen to work with Negroes, and the
consequent loss of hope of employment furnishes the explanation of slow
progress." Industrial training "is doing something for the race, but the
many skilled laborers of Richmond received their trades by the old method
of apprenticeship. The fact is the industrial school is yet an experiment."
Many young men are entering the trades. There is discrimination in
wages "but this is the price Negroes pay if they get any employment at
all from some employers." Nearly all the unions exclude Negroes, but
they have unions of their own in the tobacco industry and among long-
shoremen. "During the last 20 years the number of shoe makers, black-
smiths, carpenters and plasterers have increased Many of
these artisans have more work than they can do."i The directory for
1902 gives the following Negro artisans :
Carpenters, 59 Printers, 9
Blacksmiths, 55 Iron workers, 13
Plasterers, 63 Upholsterers, 5
*In July 1899; printed report, page 19.
fFrom personal letters to Mr. A. F. Hilyer, 1900.
{Report of Mr. J. R. L. Diggs.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 149
Shoe makers, 84 Painters, 11
Dressmakers, 24 Candy makers, 5
Coopers, 25 Bakers, 9
Millers, 1 Umbrella maker, 1
Glazier, 1 Dyers, 4
Masons, 18 Plumbers, 2
Engineers, 4 Regalia maker, 1
Butchers, 14 Cabinet makers, 2
Pavers, 2 Broom makers, 5
Photographers, 6 Contractors, 4
Decorators, 2 Tinner, 1
Cigar makers, 1 Wheelwright, 1
Tailors, 9 Machinist, 1
Carriage makers, 1
There are manifest omissions in this list — as in the case of iron workers,
carpenters, etc — but it illustrates the diversity of trades.
At Danville the Negro artisan is said to be gaining in spite of the fact
that "very few young men are entering the trades; the most of them want
to be dudes." There are 19 masons, 21 blacksmiths, 11 plasterers and 4
painters. There is some discrimination in wages and most of the unions
are closed to Negroes.
Some interesting news came from Lynchburg in 1900:
"The bricklayers especially are experiencing a decided improvement in their work.
Several years ago colored bricklayers were excluded entirely from all work on the
principal streets of the city, and their opportunities generally to follow their trade
were very limited in this community.
"A change has gradually taken place in the last year or two which has brought
them well to the front. No colored mechanic was employed to lay pressed brick in
this city several years ago. He was thought to be utterly incapable to do high grade
work of that kind. But now colored bricklayers are seen constructing churches and
business houses on the principal streets of the city, requiring the best skilled labor
necessary to do such work. The first Presbyterian church (white) constructed in
this city recently at a cost of $35,000 of pressed brick Was started by white mechanics.
After they had carried the wralls up some distance, they struck for more wages.
The contractor, who was white, declined to make any advance. The white me"
chanics quit. Colored mechanics were employed and they finished the brick work.
It may be said that they built the church. It is one of the handsomest church
structures in this city or section.
"One of the largest as well as most difficult buildings ever constructed in this
locality is the addition made to the cotton mill here within the last year. It was
built by Negroes and the great difficulty of putting the machinery in place was all
supervised by a colored mechanic with entire satisfaction to all concerned.
"In asking this very efficient mechanic a few days ago about the outlook, he re-
marked the situation is growing brighter every day. It is simply a question of
capacity and reliability. Said he tome, lI am about to be offered the largest job I
ever had to build one of the largest structures in the state.'
"The colored mechanics have been asked to join the white trades union with the
distinct understanding that the white mechanics would not work with them. This
request was declined with thanks.
"The lesson of the year in this city is, that colored mechanics ought to fit them-
selves thoroughly to do the highest grade of work in their line, so that when white
mechanics strike they may be able to take their places without causing the work to
suffer in the least." t
fReport of Mr. Ceo. E. Stephens.
150 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
In Manchester the Negro mechanic appears to be losing. There are
among the leading artisans 1 dyer, 7 shoemakers. 7 blacksmiths, 2 en-
gineers, 5 plasterers, 2 painters, a carpenter, a printer and a tinner. The
unwillingness of young men to enter the trades and the opposition of
trades unions are the chief hindrances. There is some discrimination in
wages but not as much as in some places. ''Frequently white and colored
artisans work on the same job."* Newport News has about 100 skilled
Negro workmen and the Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company are receiv-
ing Negro mechanics and apprentices. They are not admitted to the
unions. Norfolk has "many competent and reliable colored mechanics."!
In West Virginia a report of 1900 says: t
"There are about 8,000 or 10,000 colored miners in the Flat-top coal fields and about
the same number of white miners.
"These colored miners are admitted on the same terms with white miners to the
United Order of Mine Workers. About half of the firemen on the Pocahontas di-
vision are colored, half the trainmen, and 90% of the yard men. There is a gang of
20 colored men who do common labor about the round house.
"None but the miners are admitted to the labor unions. While the other colored
men get the same as white men for like work in the divisions mentioned, they are
debarred from the unions because they are colored, and are plainly told so."
At Bluefield the artisans are gaining; there are a number of railway
firemen, masons and blacksmiths. Trade unions are a hindrance to Ne-
gro workmen and the lack of responsible contractors able to give bonds.
"There were not more than 600 Negroes in this section previous to the war and but
two skilled laborers. Immediately after the war both these left the section, leaving
the section without any until 1883-85, when Negroes having various trades came,
brought by the opening of the coal mines of this region, in which several thousand
Negroes find employment to-day. In the building of this town Negroes were em -
ployed equally with the whites and entrusted with the same kind of work, being
made foremen on buildings or given the more finished parts of the work to do. I
have been assured by their employers that they gave satisfaction." §
At Parkersburg the black artisan is gaining but there are not many me-
chanics there.
52. Summary of Local Conditions. The statistics given are far from com-
plete and of varying value ; the opinions reflect different personalities and
different opportunities of knowing. On the whole, however, there is evi-
dent throughout the nation a period of change among colored artisans.
For many years after the war the Negro became less and less important
as an artisan than before the conflict. In some communities this retro-
gression still continues. It is due in part to loss of skill but primarily to
the great industrial advancement of the South. In many communities
this industrial revolution has awakened and inspired the black man ; he has
entered into the competition, the young men are beginning to turn their at-
*Report of Rev. D. Webster Davis.
fReport of 3rd Hampton Conference, p. 19.
|Frora Mr. Hamilton Hatter.
gReport of Mr. R. R. Sims.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
151
tention toward trades and the economic emancipation of the Negro seems
approaching in these particular communities. In the light of these two
counter movements it is interesting to compare communities by tabulat-
ing the cases where the artisans are reported as gaining or losing. We
must, of course, remember that such reports are based on opinions and
that the personal equation must be largely allowed for :*
NEGRO ARTISANS REPORTED TO BE "GAINING1
AND EFFICIENCY.
IN NUMBER
State
Town
Total Pop.
Negro Pop.
Remarks
Ala.
Anniston.
9,(395
3,669
Birmingham.
38,415
16,575
Montgomery.
30,346
17,229
Absolutely if not relatively.
Tuskegee.
Little Rock.
2,170
Ark.
38,307
14,694
"All the time."
D. C.
Washington.
278,718
86,702
Fla.
Jacksonville.
28,429
16,236
Ga.
Atlanta.
Marshall ville.
89,872
879
• 35,727
Milledgeville.
4,219
2,663
Washington.
3,300
2,163
111.
Chicago.
1,698,575
30,150
"Slowly."
Ind.
Indianapolis.
169,164
15,931
Mt. Vernon.
5,132
892
I. T.
Ardmore.
5,681
1,153
Kan.
Atchison.
15,722
2,508
Ky.
Danville.
4,285
1 ,913
Georgetown.
3,823
1,677
"I think."
Paducah.
19,446
5,814
La.
Baton Rouge.
11,269
6,596
New Orleans.
287,104
77,714
"At least holding his own."
Miss.
Ebenezer.
170
"May be."
Gloster.
1,661
"Not satisfactorily."
Grace.
Holly Springs.
Mound Bayou.
2,815
1 ,559
287
287
"Assuredly."
Woodville.
1,043
Mo.
Jefferson City.
9,664
1,822
St. Joseph.
102,979
6,260
"Slightly."
Pa.
Carlisle.
9,626
1,148
Pittsburg.
321,616
17,040
S. C.
Charleston.
55,807
31,522
Columbia.
* 21,108
9,858
Tenn.
Chattanooga.
1,980
Knoxville.
3,999
2,248
Absolutely not relatively.
McMinnville.
30,154
13,122
Murfreesboro.
32,6157
7,359
"Very fast."
Tex.
Georgetown.
2,790
608
Houston.
44,633
14,608
Navasota.
3,857
2,105
"Constantly."
Richmond.
Va.
Danville.
16,520
6,515
Newport News.
19,635
6,798
Richmond.
85,050
32,230
W.Va.
Bluefield.
4,644
754
.
Parkersburg.
11,703
783
-The population given is for lfcOO.
152
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
NEGRO ARTISANS REPORTED TO BE "LOSING'
OR EFFICIENCY.
IN NUMBERS
State
Town
Total Pop. |
Negro Pop.
Remarks
Ga.
Albany.
Greensboro.
4,606
1,511
2,903
Ky.
Lebanon Junction.
599
Miss.
Westside.
"Beginning to do better."
Md.
Baltimore.
508,957
72,258
Mo.
Commerce.
588
St. Louis.
575,238
35,516
N. Y.
Troy and Albany.
154,802
1,578
? (contradicted).
N. C.
Charlotte.
18,091
7,151
Relatively to growth.
Raleigh.
13,646
5,721
Salisbury.
6,277
2,408
"On the whole."
0.
Oberlin.
4,082
641
Xenia.
8,696 .
1,988
Cincinnati.
325,902
14,482
Tenn.
Columbia.
6,052
2,716
Somewhat.
Jackson.
14,511
6,108
Proportionately.
Maryville.
Memphis.
102,320
49,910
Nashville.
80,865
30,044
"I think. 'J
Tex.
Bryan.
3,589
1,515
Dallas.
. 42,638
9,035
Va.
Manchester.
9,715
3,338
NEGRO ARTISANS REPORTED TO BE "HOLDING THEIR OWN1
NEITHER GAINING NOR LOSING.
AND
State
Town
| Total Pop.
Negro Pop.
Remarks
Fla.
Pensacola.
17,747
8,561
St. Augustine.
4,272
1,735
Tampa.
15,839
4,382
Ga.
Savannah.
54,244
28,090
Augusta.
39,441
18,487
Relatively, not absolutely.
Ky.
Louisville.
204,731
39,139
Mass.
Boston.
560,892
11,591
N.Y.
New York.
3,437,202
60,666
N. C.
Goldsboro.
5,877
2,520
Pa.
Philadelphia.
1,293,697
62,613
Tenn.
Jonesboro.
Rogersville.
854
1,386
Tex.
Ennis.
4,919
1,057
"Standing still."
In the villages and smaller towns of the South where there has been
some industrial awakening the Negro artisan has advanced ; in others he
is standing still or losing his place in the trades; in the larger Southern
cities he has in some cases gained, in others lost. Much of this loss,
however, is apparent and relative rather than absolute : when, for instance,
Augusta, Ga., was a small town the Negroes did all the skilled work ; now
that it is a growing manufacturing centre the Negroes do only a part of
the skilled work ; nevertheless there are probably more skilled Negro arti-
sans in Augusta today than formerly, and they are following more diversi-
fied trades. This view is further borne out by the fact that a count of the
Negro artisan ten or twenty years since by the defective, but nevertheless
valuable testimony of the directories, proves in most cases that there is a
larger number of artisans now than formerly. There is good ground for
assuming that in many cities like St. Louis, Mo., Charlotte, N. C, Balti-
more, Md., and Nashville, Tenn., relative retrogression on the part of the
Negro artisan compared with the growth of the community, is neverthe-
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 153
less absolute advance in numbers and skill so far as the Negro is concerned.
This is not true in all cases but it certainly is in many. In the great
Northern centres of industry, on the other hand, the Negro had no foot-
hold in the past and is gaining none at present save in some western
communities. His great hindrance here, as at the South, is lack of skill
and general training, but outside of that it is manifest that the black me-
chanic is meeting strong resistance on the part of organized labor; that
in both South and North the trade union opposes black labor wherever it
can and admits it to fellowship only as a last resort.
53. The Negro and Organized Labor. It would be interesting to know if
Crispus Attucks, the Negro who fell as the first martyr in the Revolution,
was a member of that roistering band of rope walk hands whose rash-
ness precipitated the Boston Massacre. If so, then the Negro's
connection with organized labor, like his connection with all other
movements in the history of the nation, dates back to early times.
There appeared, too, in early times that same opposition to
Negro workingmen with which we are so familiar today.* This oppo-
sition came chiefly from the border states where the free Negro me-
chanics came in contact with white mechanics. On the other hand in the
actual organizations of workingmen which began in the North nothing is
usually heard of the Negro problem except as the labor movement avow-
edly made common cause with the abolition movement. The Evans
brothers, who came from England as labor agitators about 1825, put among
their twelve demands: "10th. Abolition of chattel slavery and of wages
slavery. "f From 1840 to 1850 labor reformers were, in many cases, earnest
abolitionists ; as one of them said in 1847 :
"In my opinion the great question of labor, when it shall come up, will be found
paramount to all others, and the operatives of New England, peasant of Ireland and
laborers of South America will not be lost sight of in sympathy for the Southern
slave."!
"Indeed, the anti-slavery agitation and the organization of the mechanics of the
United States kept pace with each other; both were revolutionary in their character
and although the agitators differed in methods, the ends in view were the same, viz.
the freedom of the man who worked." ||
Along with this movement went many labor disturbances which had
economic causes, especially the series of riots in Philadelphia from 1829
until after the war, when the Negroes suffered greatly at the. hands of
white workingmen. "§ The civil war with its attendant evils bore heavily
on the laboring classes, and led to wide-spread agitation and various at-
tempts at organization.
"In New York City, especially, the draft was felt to be unjust by laborers because the
wealthy could buy exemption for $300. A feeling of disloyalty to union and bitter-
*Cf. pp. 15, 16.
fEly; labor movement, p. 42.
t McNeill: Labor movement, pp. Ill, 118.
Powderly: Thirty years of labor, p. 61,
gThe .Philadelphia Negro, ch. IV.
154 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
ness toward the Negro arose. A meeting was called in Tammany Hall and Greeley
addressed them. Longshoremen and railroad employees struck at times and assault-
ed non-unionists. In New York Negroes took the places of longshoremen and were
assaulted."*
The struggle culminated in the three days1 riot which became a sort of
local war of extermination against Negroes.
There had been before the war a number of trade unions — the Caulkers
of Boston (1724), the Ship-wrights of New York (1803), the Carpenters of
New York (1806), the New York Typographical Society (1817), and others.
There had also been attempts to unite trades and workingmen in general
organizations as the Workingmen's Convention (1830), in New York, the
General Trades Union of New York City, (1833 or earlier) , the National
Trades Union (1835) and others. In all these movements the Negro had
practically no part and was either tacitly or in plain words excluded from
all participation. The trade unions next began to expand from local to
national bodies. The journeymen printers met in 1850 and formed a na-
tional union in 1852; the iron molders united in 1859, the machinists the
same year, and the iron workers the year before. During and soon after
the war the railway unions began to form and the cigar makers and
masons formed their organizations; nearly all of these excluded the Ne-
gro from membership.
After the war attempts to unite all workingmen and to federate the trade
unions were renewed and following the influence of the Emancipation
Proclamation a more liberal tone was adopted toward black men. On
Aug. 19, 1866, the National Labor Union said in its declaration :
"In this hour of the dark distress of labor, we call upon all laborers of what ever
nationality, creed or color, skilled or unskilled, trades unionist and those now out of
union to join hands with us and each other to the end that poverty and all its at-
tendant evils shall be abolished forever." +
On Aug. 19, 1867, the National Labor Congress met at Chicago, Illinois.
There were present 200 delegates from the states of North Carolina, Ken-
tucky, Maryland and Missouri. The president, Z. C. Whatley, in his re-
port said among other things:
"The emancipation of the slaves has placed us in a new position, and the question-
now arises, What labor position shall they now occupy ? They will begin to learn
and to think for themselves, and they will soon resort to mechanical pursuits and
thus come in contact with white labor. It is necessary that they should not under-
mine it, therefore the best thing that they can do is to form trades unions, and thus
work in harmony with the whites." %
It was not, however, until the organization of the Knights of Labor that
workingmen began effective co-operation. The Knights of Labor was
founded in Philadelphia in 1869 and held its first national convention in
1876. It was for a long time a secret organization, but it is said that from
the first it recognized no distinctions of urace, creed or color. "||
*McNeill, p. 126.
fMcNeill, p. 162.
JMcNeill, p. 136.
UPowderly, p. 429.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 155
Nevertheless admission must in all eases be subject to a vote of the
local assembly where the candidate applied, and at first it required but
three black balls to reject an applicant. This must have kept Northern
Negroes out pretty effectively in most cases. On the other hand the
shadow of black competition began to loom in the horizon. Most people
expected it very soon and the Negro exodus of 1879 gave widespread alarm
to labor leaders in the North. Evidence of labor movements in the South
too gradually appeared and in 1880 the Negroes of New Orleans struck for
a dollar a day but were suppressed by the militia.
Such considerations led many trade unions, notably the iron and steel
workers and the cigar makers, early in the eighties, to remove "white"
from their membership restrictions and leave admittance open to Negroes
at least in theory. The Knights of Labor also began proselyting in the
South and by 1885 were able to report from Virginia :
"The Negroes are with us heart and soul, and have organized seven assemblies in
this city (Richmond) and one in Manchester with a large membership."*
So, too, the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners said about 1886 that
they had Negro unions as far South as New Orleans and Galveston:
"In the Southern States the colored men working at the trades have taken hold of
the organization with avidity, and the result is the Brotherhood embraces 14 unions
of colored carpenters in the South."t
Even the anarchists of this time (1883) declared for "equal rights for all
without distinction to sex or race."t By 1886, the year uof the great up-
rising of labor," the labor leaders declared that uthe color line had been
broken, and black and white were found working together in the same
cause. "|| That very year, however, at the Richmond meeting of the
Knights of Labor, ominous clouds arose along the color line. District
Assembly 49 of New York had brought along a Negro delegate, Mr. F. J
Ferrell, and he was the source of much trouble in the matter of hotels and
theatres and in a question of introducing to the convention Governor
Fitzhugh Lee. Mr. Powderly had to appeal to the chief of police for pro-
tection, the press of the nation was aroused and the Grand Master Work-
man issued a defense of his position in the Richmond Dispatch:
"You stand face to face with a stern living reality — a responsibility which cannot
be avoided or shirked. The Negro question is as prominent today as it ever was. The
first proposition that stares us in the face is this : The Negro is free ; he is here and
he is here to stay. He is a citizen and must learn to manage his own affairs. His
labor and that of the white man will be thrown upon the market side by side, and no
human eye can detect a difference between the article mannfactured by the black me-
chanics and that manufactured by the white mechanics. Both claim an equal share
of the protection afforded to American labor, and both mechanics must sink their
differences or fall a prey to the slave labor now being imported to this country. * * *
"Will it be explained to me whether the black man should continue to work for
starvation wages? With so many able-bodied colored men in the South who do not
*Ely, p. 83.
tMcNeill, p. 171.
iManifesto o International Working People's Association, anarchists blacks : Powderly, p.693.
|| McNeill, p. 360.
156 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
know enough to ask for living wages it is not hard to guess that while this race con-
tinues to increase in number and. ignorance, prosperity will not even knock at the
door, much less enter the home of the Southern laborer." ******
"In the field of labor and American citizenship we recognize no line of race creed
politics or color."*
This was high ground for a labor leader to take— too high, in fact, for
the constituency he led, since the history of the labor movement from 1886
to 1902, so far as the Negro is concerned, has been a gradual receding from
the righteous declarations of earlier years.
The Knights of Labor, after a brilliant career, having probably at one
time over half a million members, began to decline owing to internal dis-
sentions and today have perhaps 50,000-100,000 members. f Coincident with
the decline of the Knights of Labor came a larger and more successful
movement— the American Federation of Labor which has now nearly a
million members. This organization was started in 1881 at a meeting of
disaffected members of the Knights of Labor and others. From the be-
ginning this movement represented the particularistic. trade union idea as
against the all inclusive centralizing tendencies of the Knights. And al-
though the central administration has grown in power and influence in
recent years, it is still primarily a federation of mutually independent
and autonomous trade-unions, among which it strives to foster co-opera-
tion and mutual peace. The declared policy of such a body on the race
question is of less importance than in the case of the Knights of Labor,
since it is more in the nature of advice than law to the different unions.
The attitude of the Federation has been summed up as follows:
"It has always been regarded as one of the cardinal principles of the Federation
that 'the working people must unite and organize, irrespective of creed, color, sex
nationality or politics.' The Federation formerly refused to admit any union which,
in its written constitution, excluded Negroes from membership. It was this that kept
out the International Association of Machinists for several years, till it eliminated
the word 'white' from its qualifications for membership. J It was said at onetime
that the color line was the chief obstacle in an affiliation of the Brotherhood of Lo-
comotive Firemen with the Federation. The Federation seems, however, to have
modified the strictness of the rule. The Railroad Telegraphers and Trackmen have
both been welcomed and both restrict their membership to whites.
"In a considerable degree the color line has been actually wiped out in the affiliated
organizations. Great Unions controlled by Northern men have insisted in Southern
cities on absolute social equality for their colored members. Many local unions re-
ceive whites and blacks on equal terms. Where the number of Negroes is large, how-
ever, national unions usually organize their white and their colored members into
separate locals. In 1898 the Atlanta Federation of Trades declined to enter the peace
jubilee parade because colored delegates were excluded.
"The convention of 1897 adopted a resolution condemning a reported statement of
Booker T. Washington that the trades unions were placing obstacles in the way of
*A Richmond lady wrote inviting Mr. Powderly to replace her black coachman "as you are so
much in sympathy with the Negro."
Powderly, pp. 651-62.
Public Opinion, II p. 1.
t Report of Industrial Commission, Vol. XVII. p. XTX.
X As a matter of fact it practically excludes Negroes still.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 157
the material advancement of the Negro, and reaffirming the declaration of the Fed-
eration that it welcomes to its ranks all labor without regard to creed, color, sex, race
or nationality. One delegate from the South declared, however, that the white people
of the South would not submit to the employment of the Negro in the mills, and that
the federal labor union of which he was a member did not admit Negroes. President
Gompers said that a union affiliated with the Federation had no right to debar the
Negro from membership.
"With increasing experience in the effort to organize the wage earners of the South,
the leaders have become convinced that for local purposes separate organizations of
the colored people must be permitted. President Gompers said in his report to the
convention of 1900, that here and there a local had refused to accept membership on
account of color. In such cases where there were enough colored workers in one
calling, an effort had been made to form a separate colored union, and a trades coun-
cil composed of representatives of the colored and the white. This had generally
been acquiesced in. In some parts of the South, however, a more serious difficulty
had arisen. Central bodies chartered by the Federation had refused to receive dele-
gates from local unions of Negroes. The Federation had not been able to insist that
they be received, because such insistence would have meant the disruption of the
central bodies. President Gompers suggested that separate central bodies composed
of Negroes be established where it might seem practicable and necessary. The con-
vention accordingly amended the constitution to permit the executive council to
charter central labor unions, as well as local trade and federal unions, composed ex-
clusively of colored members."*
The attitude of the American Federation of Labor may be summed up
as having passed through the following stages:
1. "The working people must unite and organize irrespective of creed, color, sex,
nationality or politics."
This was an early declaration but was not embodied in the constitution.
It was reaffirmed in 1897, after opposition. Bodies confining member-
ship to whites were barred from affiliation.
2. "Separate charters may be issued to Central Labor Unions, Local Unions or
Federal Labor Unions composed exclusively of colored members.11
This was adopted by the convention of 1902 and recognizes the legality
of excluding Negroes from local unions, city central labor bodies, &c.
3. A National Union which excludes Negroes expressly by constitutional pro-
vision may affiliate with the A. F. L.
No official announcement of this change of policy has been made, but
the fact is well known in the case of the Railway Trackmen, Telegraphers,
and others.
4. A National Union already affiliated with the A. F. L. may amend its laws so
as to exclude Negroes.
This was done by the Stationary Engineers! at their Boston convention
in 1902, and an (unsuccessful ?) attempt in the same line was made by the
Molders at their convention the same year. The A. F. L. has taken no
public action in these cases. \
-Report of Edgerton & Durand iu Report of Industrial Commission, Vol. 17, pp. 36-7.
f'The Stationary Engineers are organized under the International Union of Steam Engineers,"
Erank Morrison, Sec. A. F. L., Dec. 22, 1902. The Steam Engineers are affiliated with the A.F.L.
KThe above statement has been submitted to the President of the American Federation of Labor for
criticism. Up to the time of printing this page no reply has been received. If one is received
later it will be printed as an appendix.
158
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
This is a record of struggle to maintain high and just ideals and of retro-
gression ; the broader minded labor leaders, like Samuel Gompers, have had
to contend with narrow prejudice and selfish greed; it is a struggle paral-
lel with that of the Negro for political and civil rights, and just as black Amer-
icans in the struggle upward have met temporary defeat in their aspira-
tions for civil and political rights so, too, they have met rebuff in their search
for economic freedom. At the same time there are today probably a larger
number of effective Negro members in the trade unions than ever before,
there is evidence of renewed inspiration toward mechanical trades and a
better comprehension of the labor movement. On the other hand the in-
dustrial upbuilding of the South has brought to the front a number of
white mechanics, who from birth have regarded Negroes as inferiors and
can with the greatest difficulty be brought to regard them as brothers in
this battle for better conditions of labor. Such are the forces now arrayed
in silent conflict.
If we carefully examine the various trade unions now in existence, we
may roughly divide them as follows:
1. Those with a considerable Negro membership.
2. Those with few Negro members.
3. Those with no Negro members.
The first two of these classes may be divided into those who receive Ne-
groes freely, those to whom Negroes never apply, and those who receive
Negro workmen only after pressure.
54. Unions with a Considerable Negro Membership .*
follows:
These unions are as
Trade Unions
Negro Membership
1890 | 1900
Total Membership
1901
Journeymen Barbers' International Union
International Brick, Tile and Terra-Cotta
Workers' Alliance.
International Broom-makers' Union.
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
Carriage and Wagon Workers' International
Union.
Cigar-makers' International Union.
Coopers' International Union.
International Brotherhood of Stationary
Firemen.
International Longshoremen's Association.
United Mine Workers of America.
Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Pa-
per-hangers of America.
International Seamen's Union.
Tobacco Workers' International Union.
Brotherhood of Operative Plasterers.
Bricklayers' and Masons' Union.
200
50
240
0
1,500
33
1,500
800
200
1,000
500
200
2,700
6,000
20,000
169
1,000
8,672
1,500
380
20,000
2,025
33,954
4,481
3,600
20,000
224,000
28,000
8,161
6,170
7,000
39,000
These unions represent the trades in which the Negro on emerging from
slavery possessed the most skill, i. e., the building trades, work in tobacco,
and work requiring muscle and endurance. Most of these unions deny any
*The figures as to Negro membership are reported to us by the unions. The figures as to total
membership are minimum estimates made by the A. F. L. and based on actual fees paid. See
Report of Industrial Commission.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE . 159
color-discrimination, although the secretary of the carpenters merely says,
"None that I know of;" the carriage and wagon workers: "None that has
been reported;1' the coopers: "If any, it was many years ago;" and the
painters' secretary: "I do not know." The carpenters and coopers both
admit that local unions could refuse to receive Negroes, and the carpen-
ters and plasterers are not certain that the travelling card of a Negro
union man would be recognized by all local unions.
The following note in the barbers' official journal throws light on the
situation in that craft:
"At a previous convention of our International Union a resolution was passed, call-
ing upon our General Organizer to make a special effort to organize our colored crafts-
men in the South. To-day we have, at a fair estimate, about eight or nine hundred
colored members. My experience with them, both as General Secretary-Treasurer and
President of a local, has shown that when they become members they at once become
earnest and faithful workers. I find, however, that during the past term an unusual
amount of friction has taken place in the South and that some of our white mem-
bers, who still have the southern objection to a colored man, have sought to bring
about class division. It is, of course, known to all of us, that the labor movement
does not recognize class, creed, or color; that the black man with a white heart and
a true trade union spirit is just as acceptable to us as a white member. Hundreds of
letters have reached me asking if the colored man could not be kept out of the union.
In every case I have answered that if he is a competent barber our laws say that he
must be accepted. If below the so-called Mason and Dixon line where the color line
is still drawn, they have the right to form them into separate unions, if above that
line they can join any local.
"A question of the color line, and one which must be acted on in some way by this
convention, is the trouble now existing in Little Rock, Ark. Bro. Pinard was in that
city in February of last year and organized a union of colored craftsmen. No white
union could be formed as they would not attend a meeting. In October following,
however, a white union was formed. From that time on there has been trouble. The
whites want to control the situation and want our colored local to adopt their laws.
The colored local, however, was organized first and refused. This has brought on a
heated correspondence and when the photo of delegates was asked for, the delegate
from the white union stated distinctly that his photo must not appear near 'any
colored man, as he was a white man and must not be placed near any burly Negro.
In a number of places he refers to them as black demons. I know nothing definite
as to their trouble, as it is a question of law and as such comes under the jurisdiction
of the General President, but I felt that as No. 197 is a union in good standing in the
International they were entitled to protection."
The trouble is not confined to the South; in Northern cities barbers are
sometimes refused admittance into unions, and one secretary in Pennsyl-
vania writes :
"We have to recognize them to hold our prices and short hours, but we find it very
hard to get along with them."
The Negro membership seems, however, to be increasing rapidly and
members are reported in nearly every state.
The secretary of the brick-makers writes :
"We have had a number of strikes where the colored man was imported to take the
place of any man, therefore, there is more or less prejudice against them but we hope
that will be removed in time."
160 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
They have but few of the large number of colored brick-makers.
The secretary of the broom-makers writes:
"I am informed that some organizations refuse membership to the Negro. I con
sider it a serious mistake, as white labor cannot expect the Negro to refrain from
taking their place unless we will assist him in bettering his condition."
Nine-tenths of the black membership of the carpenters is in the South
and mostly organized in separate unions from the whites. In the North
there are very few in the unions; there are a few in the West. In great
cities like Washington, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York
and even Boston it is almost impossible for a Negro to be admitted to the
unions, and there is no appeal from the decision.
The cigar-makers' is one of the few unions that allows its locals little
discretion as to membership:
"Our constitution makes it obligatory on the part of local unions to accept jour-
neymen cigar makers as members. Any journeyman cigar maker who has served
three years at the trade can come in, and by paying his initiation fee in installments,
if he wants to, he is regarded as having been initiated. It requires no vote ; the con-
stitution makes it mandatory."
Colored cigar makers can be found in small numbers in nearly all
Northern cities and in large numbers in the South. Florida alone re-
ports 2,000.
The secretary of the coopers' writes :
"We have local branches composed entirely of colored coopers at Egan, Ga., Nor-
folk and Lynchburg, Va. At New Orleans, Hawkinsville, Ga., and other places they
work together in the same local union."
Practically no Negroes have been admitted to Northern unions — Tren-
ton, N. J., alone reporting a single union Negro.
The stationary firemen in 1899 requested the St. Louis union to stop color-
discrimination and they have organized a number of Negro locals, espec-
ially in the mining regions. They assert that Negroes are received in all
locals and this would seem to be so in most cases.
Among the longshoremen, who may be classed as semi-skilled
artisans, the Negro element is very strong. From the great lakes a secre-
tary reports :
"We have many colored members in our association, and some of them are among
our leading officials of our local branches. In one of our locals that I can call to
mind there are over 300 members, of which five are colored; of these two hold the
office of President and Secretary; so you can see that nothing but good feeling pre-
vails among our members as regards the colored race, and when you consider that
our people average fifty cents per hour when at work, you can readily imagine that
our people are not half-starved and illiterate."
From the gulf another writes :
"In New Orleans we have been the means of unity of action among the longshore-
men generally of that port, both in regards to work, wages and meeting in hall to-
gether. I believe that we are the only craft in that city who have succeeded in
wiping out the colored question. Our members meet jointly in the same hall and are
the highest paid workmen in New Orleans."
Still the color question arises here and there :
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 161
i(In 1899 a color line difficulty arose among the longshoremen of Newport News, Va.
The local unions there of longshoremen were composed entirely of colored men.
White men refused to join them. The colored men were finally persuaded to consent
to the issue of a separate charter for the white men."
The membership of Negroes is very large; Florida alone reports 800;
Detroit, Mich., 60, and large numbers in Virginia, Louisiana and Texas.
The United Mine Workers receive Negroes into the same unions with
whites, both North and South ; Secretary Pearce testified before the Indus-
trial Commission :
"As far as we are concerned as miners, the colored men are with us in the mines.
They work side by side witn us. They are members of our organization ; can receive
as much consideration from the officials of the organization as any other members,
no matter what color. We treat them that way. They are in the mines, many of them
good men. There is only one particular objection, and that is they are used to a
great extent in being taken from one place to another to break a strike, as we call it,
in such cases as we have here now at Pana, where this trouble is going on, and that
trouble they had at Virden, 111."
In the Alabama mines, 50% of the'miners are black, still the whites are
said to
"Recognize — as a matter of necessity they were forced to recognize — the identity of
interest. I suppose among miners, the same as other white men in the South, there
are the same class differences, but they have been forced down, so that they must raise
the colored man up or they go down, and they have consequently mixed together in
their organization. There are cases where a colored man will be the officer of the
local union — president of a local union."
The state president of the Federation, however, reports considerable dis-
satisfaction on the part of the whites at the recognition of Negroes. Negro
unionminers are reportedin Pennsylvania,WestVirginia,Alabama, Illinois,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky and Missouri. There are also a few members of
the Northern Mineral Mine Workers Progressive. Union, a kindred organ-
ization operating in Michigan.
The secretary of the painters' union writes :
"The only difficulty we find with Negroes is that there is a disposition on their part
to work cheaper than the white man. This is due largely to want of education and
the influence of men of their own race who are opposed to the Trades Union move-
ment. The Trades Union movement is the only movement that will ever settle the
Negro question in America, and men who are interested in the advancement of the
Negroes should thoroughly investigate the whole question of Trades Unionism, as it
relates to the Negro and the working people in general."
There would seem to be other difficulties, however, as there are almost
no colored union painters in the North — one or two being reported in
Portland, Me., Cincinnati, O., and Trenton, N. J. They seem to be pretty
effectually barred out of the Northern unions, and in the South they are
formed usually, if not always, into separate unions. Florida reports a con-
siderable number, but there are not many reported elsewhere.
The secretary of the seamen writes :
"We are exerting every effort to'get the Southern Negroes into the union at pres-
ent, and if we can once convincejthem that they will have an opportunity for employ-
ment equal to the white man I believe that we can succeed. We have nearly all the
162 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Portuguese Negroes in the union at present. And they get the same wages as the
white men, and the same opportunity for employment. The Negro seaman is now be-
coming a menace to the white seaman since the ship owner is endeavoring to use him
against the union to break down wages, and they take the pains to impress on their
minds that if they join the union and demand the same wages as the white men they
will not be given employment. The Negro seaman being somewhat more illiterate
than his white brother believes this, rather than believe us. We may in time be able
to convince them that this is not so, but at present it is an uphill fight. The most of
the colored sailing out of New York are union men and we have increased their pay
from $16 and $18 to $25 and $30. Our worst ports are Philadelphia, Baltimore and
Norfolk."
The following quotation from the testimony of the secretary of the
tobacco workers is characteristic of the labor union attitude:
"Probably one of our greatest obstacles will be the colored labor, for it is largely
employed in the manufacture of tobacco in the South. It is pretty difficult to edu-
cate them to the necessity of organization for the protection of their interests. In
the South I suppose 75% in the tobacco business are colored, although there are a
number of white people it seems, going in from the country to work in the factories,
as I have been told. A number of manufacturers told me they did employ and would
employ one wherever they could, either male or female
"There was one colored tobacco workers union organized in Winston but the white
men resisted the organization and I do not think it succeeded. I do not think there
is any colored organization in the state now."*
Opposition on the part of Southern white workmen, and the eagerness
of union organizers to replace Negro by white laborers explains the diffi-
culty of extending the union movement and the justifiably suspicious
attitude of Negroes toward it. The tobacco workers' constitution especially
prohibits color distinctions, but separate locals are organized. The colored
union men are chiefly in Kentucky, Virginia and the Carolinas.
The plasterers have a good number of Negro members. In Memphis,
Birmingham, Atlanta, Richmond, Danville, Savannah and New Orleans
they are said to outnumber the whites, and in the South there are some uin
most, if not in all, of our locals." They are scarce in the North, however,
2 being reported in Pennsylvania, 1 in Massachusetts, and a score or more
in Illinois. The Southern unions are often mixed.
The masons and bricklayers also have a large Negro membership in the
South and often in mixed unions. Considerable numbers are reported in
Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana and South Carolina; there are some
200 in Florida, and at least that number in Georgia, and probably in Ala-
bama. In the North, however, it is very difficult for Negroes to enter the
unions. The First General Vice-President of the National Building
Trades Council testified before the Industrial Commission that "we do
not permit" Negroes to join our organization in the city of Washington —
"we do not admit colored men to our organization." He said, however,
that the national organization "does not prohibit colored men from be-
coming members"! and that there were members in some other cities. A
Negro bricklayer and plasterer of St. Mary's, Ga., who has long worked
-Report Industrial Commission, Vol. 7, pp. 405, 497; Vol. 17, p. 320.
•j-Report of Industrial Commission, Vol. 7, pp. 162-3.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 163
as foreman, and can read and write, has travelled over a large part of the
country. Although he had his union travelling card he was refused work
and recognition in Tampa, Fla., Norfolk, Va., Washington, D. C, Balti-
more, Md., and New York City. He was allowed to work in Boston and
Chicago and most other Southern towns. In Cincinnati, a report says:
"We have some colored bricklayers here but those that work on buildings with
union men and who belong to the unions are men so fair in complexion as not to be
noticed, among sun-burned and brick dust covered white men, as colored men. I
have a distinct recollection of an experience 1 had with a black bricklayer who came
to this city in 1893, from Chicago. He was a member of a union there and worked
with white men in that city. He came to Cincinnati with a band of- white brick-
layers who vouched for him. They were given, by the local union here, union cards
and immediately got work. He, the black man, was kept dancing attendance on the
master of the local union and delayed upon one pretext and other until he was driven
from the city without being permitted to follow his trade because the local union did
not give him his card. I was remodeling a building of ours and I gave him work as
a plasterer. The union hod carrier, an Irishman, refused to carry mortar for him be-
cause he did not have a card from the local plasterers' union as a plasterer. He was
compelled to work as a scab to get money enough to get out of town."*
The Knights of Labor claim 6,000 Negro members at present, and 8,000
in 1890, a decrease of 25 per cent. This report came too late for insertion
in the table.
To sum up we may make the following list in the order of increasing
hostility toward the Negro :
Miners — Welcome Negroes in nearly all casses.
Longshoremen — Welcome Negroes in nearly all cases.
Cigar-makers — Admit practically all applicants.
Barbers — Admit many, but restrain Negroes when possible.
Seamen— Admit many, but prefer whites.
Firemen — Admit many, but prefer whites.
Tobacco Workers — Admit many, but prefer whites.
Carriage and Wagon Workers — Admit some, but do not seek Negroes.
Brick-makers— ' " " *' "
Coopers— " " " " " "
Broom-makers— " " " " " "
Plasterers — Admit freely in South and a few in North.
Carpenters — Admit many in South, almost none in North.
Masons- " " ''
Painters — Admit a few in South, almost none in North.
The evidence on which the above is based cannot all be given here; it
is, however, pretty conclusive: there are, for instance, numbers of compe-
tent Negro painters, carpenters and masons — yet who has seen one at
work in a Northern city ? There are numbers of brick-makers, wheel-
wrights and coopers, but few have been brought into the unions and in the
North few can get in. The seamen, firemen and tobacco workers have
many Negroes, but Negroes fear to join them lest, by demanding union
wages, their white fellow-workmen will hasten to supplant them. This
has virtually been admitted by labor leaders and others. A South Caro-
lina employer says that among bricklayers of equal skill Negroes receive
$1.75 and whites $2.50 a day and "the object of the white men in organizing
the Negroes is to get them to demand the same wages that the whites de-
*R'3port of Mr. Geo. II. Jackson.
164
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
mand." Messrs. Garrett and Houston, President and Secretary of the
Georgia Federation, confirm this, as do many others, and the Secretary of
the Southern Industrial Convention adds: "There is discrimination even
in the union. The white members try to get employment for each other
and to crowd out the colored members." The same thing occurs in the
North ; now and then a Negro is admitted to a union but even then he
stands less chance of getting work than a white man.*
55. Unions with Few Negro Members:
port a few Negro members :
Trade Unions
Journeymen Bakers and Confectioners' In
ternational Union
International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths
National Association of Blast Furnace
Workers and Smelters of America
Boot and Shoe Workers' Union
National Union of United Brewery Workers
Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and
JoinersJ
National Society of Coal Hoisting Engineers
Amalgamated Society of Engineers
International Union of Steam Engineers.
United Garment Workers of America
Granite Cutters National Union
United Hatters of America
International Union of Horse Shoers of
United States and Canada
Hotel and Restaurant Employees' Interna-
tional Alliance and Bartenders' Interna-
tional League of America
Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel
and Tin Workers
Shirt, Waist and Laundry Workers' Inter-
national Union
Tube Workers' International Union
Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher
Workmen of North America
International Association of Allied Metal
Mechanics
American Federation of Musicians
Jonrneymen Tailors' Union of America ....
National Alliance of Theatrical Stage Em-
ployees
International Typographical Union
Watch-case Engravers' International Asso-
ciation
Wood, Wire and Metal Lathers' Interna-
tional Union
Amalgamated Woodworkers' International
Union of America
Amalgamated Association of Street Rail-
way Employees
The following national unions re-
Negro Membership
Total Membershipt
"Several."
"Very few."
6,271
4,700
100 or more.
A few.
12.
8,037
25,000
A few.
4.
"Several."
A few — 1 local.
10.
5.
Very few.
2,500
950
1,779
4,409
15,000
6,500
7,500
?
2,100
100.
10,962
"Practically none."
8,000
2 locals.
"Some."
A few.
3,066
4,500
2,400
A few — 1 local.
10.
8,100
9,000
10.
A few.
3,000
38,991
1.
25-50?
?
5-10.
285
14,500
4,000
*Possibly the hod-carriers ought to he mentioned under this division as semi-skilled laborers. They
have a predominating Negro membership in all parts of the country, but have no national
association. The local bodies are usually associated with the various city central labor bodies.
The teamsters have a national body and many Negro members.
fBased mainly on actual paid membership tax. Cc. Report Industrial Commission: Vol. 17.
JNot the same as the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, but a smaller independent body allied
with English unions as well as with the A. F. L.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 165
The small Negro membership in these unions arises from two causes :
the lack of Negro mechanics in these lines, and color discrimination.
Probably the first is the more important in the case of boot and shoe
makers, brewers, granite cutters, hatters, metal workers, watch-case en-
gravers and metal lathers. In these cases the real discrimination is in
keeping Negroes from learning the trades. In the case of most of the
other unions, however, especially blacksmiths, blast-furnace workers, en-
gineers, horse-shoers, hotel employees, iron and steel workers, musicians,
street railway employees and printers, the chief cause of the small num-
ber of Negroes in the unions is color discrimination. Without doubt in-
competency plays some part here, too, but it is doubtful if it is the lead-
ing cause. The granite cutters say that "employers do not care to employ
Negro apprentices, hence the few Negro journeymen." The steam en-
gineers say through their secretary :
"The Trade Union movement is based upon the broadest lines and recognizes that
every wage worker ought to be within its ranks. There is, of course, an unfortunate
feature, one that will take time and education to remove, and that is the biased opin-
ion held in regard to the Negro. Our organization grants charters to Negroes when
same is requested and there are a sufficient number of them to support a self-sustain-
ing local. We have some difficulty with the accepting of a card when presented by a
Negro but headquarters has always taken action in the matter and endeavored to
have the card recognized."
The prejudiced element prevailed, however, at the last meeting in Boston,
1902, of the Stationary Engineers (an organization formed under the Steam
Engineers,) and it was voted to have the word "white" placed before the
word "engineers" in one of the articles of their constitution. The motion
was made by a Mr. Grant of New Orleans, and was the cause of a most
passionate debate. The vote was carried by a large majority, but not un-
til there had been many strong speeches, the Southerners of course taking
the affirmative and the Northerners opposing. Mr. Grant said that if the
association granted "the Negro this social equality he did not deserve,"
it would lose all standing in the South, and that the Negro belonged in
Africa. Mr. Optenberg of Wisconsin said if he voted to shut out the Ne-
gro he would be ashamed to look any Grand Army man in the face. Mr.
Babbitt of Worcester said he knew colored engineers who deserved re-
spect and he would stand for the colored man. But when Mr. C. Eli
Howarth of Fall River declared that there were men present whom he
would rather discard than the Negro, he was hissed for a full minute, and
the Southerners had their way.
The secretary of the iron and steel workers thinks it is "only a question
of time when it will be necessary to accord the Negro the same privileges
as are extended to the white brethren." In the recent strike of steel em-
ployees against the Steel Trust the color line was broken for the first time
and Negroes invited into the union. Few, if any, seem to have entered.
The hotel employees and bartenders have spent $525 "in a futile effort
to organize colored locals," no Negro being allowed in a white local. "The
main objection from our membership against Negroes appears to come
from locals in the southern part of the country." The printers usually
166 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
exclude Negroes; there are a few individual exceptions here and there,
but not many. The secretary of the Atlanta Federation of Trades when
asked if the printers there barred Negroes said: "I cannot answer that;
we have no colored typographical men in the South that I know of."
There are from 50 to 100 black printers in Georgia alone.
The metal lathers report a few members in Birmingham, Savannah,
Asheville, Augusta, Memphis, Nashville and Jacksonville, but none in
the North. Three colored shoemakers are reported. There was a local in
New Orleans which barred Negroes but this is now defunct. The meat
handlers have colored members in Kansas City and Boston. In the latter
city they took part in the strike of the freight handlers of last summer.
In one local a Negro has held officer and the last convention had several
Negro delegates. The bookbinders say: "Some of our people refuse to
recognize Negroes as mechanics," but there are no actual discriminating
statutes.
When asked how many Negro applicants had been refused admission to
the unions, the Amalgamated carpenters, musicians, blacksmiths, street
railway employees and brewers returned no answer; the engineers, granite
cutters and glass workers were evasive, saying that they were without
official data or did not know. Most of the others answered, uNone."
Many acknowledged that local unions could refuse to recognize a travel-
ling card held by a Negro, although several said the action was "illegal."
56. Unions with no Negro membership. The following unions report that
they have no colored members:
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
167
Trade Union
Negro Members | Total M'mb'rship*
Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Iron Ship-
builders
International Brotherhood of Bookbinders. .
International Association of Car Workers. . .
Chainmakers' National Union of the U. S. A.
Elastic Goring Weavers' Amalgamated As-
sociation
International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers
International Ladies' Garment Workers'
Union
American Flint Glass Workers' Union
Glass Bottle Blowers' Association
Amalgamated Glass Workers' International
Association
International Jewelry Workers' Union of A.
Amalgamated Lace Curtain Operatives
United Brotherhood of Leather Workers on
Horse Goods
International Association of Machinists
Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers, Brass and
Composition Metal Workers' International
Union
International Brotherhood of Oil and Gas
Well Workers
United Brotherhood of Paper makers
Pattern-makers League of North America . .
Piano and Organ Workers International
Union of America "
United Associaiion of Journeymen Plumb-
ers, Gasfitters, Steamfitters, and Steamfit-
ters' Helpers
National Association of Operative Potters. . .
International Printing Pressmen and Assist-
ants' Union •
Order of Railway Telegraphers and Brother-
hood of Commercial Telegraphers
Brotherhood of Railway Trackmen
National Steel and Copper Plate Printers'
Union • • • • •
International Stereotypers and Electrotypers
Union : • ■• • • •
Stove Mounters, Steel Range Workers, and
Pattern Fitters and Filers International
Union of North America
United Textile Workers of America
Ceramic, Mozaic and Encaustic Tile Layers
and Helpers' International Union
Trunk & Bag Workers International Union .
Upholsterers International Union of N. A. . .
The American Wire Weavers Protective As-
sociation
International Wood-carvers' Association —
Grand International Brotherhood of Loco-
motive Engineers
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
Brotherhood of Railway Car-men
The Switchmen's Union of North America. .
Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen
Order of Railroad Conductors
The Stone Cutters Association
Special Order Clothing-makers Union
D. A. 300, K. of L. (window glass workers). . .
Custom Clothing Makers' Union
"Not wanted."
"No record."
"None."
"None."
"None in trade."
"Not allowed."
"None in trade."
"Never had any."
"None in trade."
"No applications."
"None in trade."
"Quest'n undecided."
"None."
Not admitted."
"None."
"None."
"None."
"None."
"None in trade."
"None."
"None."
"No record."
Barred by constit't'n
"None known."
'Question not settled'
"No legislation."
"No applications."
"None."
u
"Would not work
with Negro."
"No applicants."
Barred by constitut'n
Barred by constitut'n
Would not be ad'tted
Don't admit Negroes
"None."
"None."
"None."
7,078
3,730
465
250
7,000
2,000
1,400
278
1,000
3,402
30,000
6,000
670
1,000
2.403
8,000
2,450
9,745
8,000
4,500
700
1,269
3,435
357
234
1,400
226
37,000
39,000
15,000
15,000
25,800
10,000
*Based mainly on actual paid membership tax. Cf. Report Industrial Commission, Vol. 17.
168 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
These unions fall into three main groups: those who say that they ad-
mit Negroes but have no Negro members; these include the goring
weavers, trunk workers, tile layers, leather workers, metal workers,
plumbers, plate printers, car workers, paper workers, oil well workers,
ladies' garment workers, special order clothing workers, chair makers,
upholsterers and piano workers. Their explanation is that no Negroes work
at these trades and they consequently have no applications. This is true
except in the case of plumbers and upholsterers. The plumbers have a
semi-secret organization and there can be no doubt that they practically
never admit a Negro, although one Negro member is reported in Flint,
Mich. The organizer says that most Negroes are incompetent.
"Such Negroes as have shown a greater ability than others have usually found their
way into a small business and are. patronized by the Negro residents of our Southern
cities. There is no general law in our organization to exclude Negroes but as before
stated none have ever joined and to the best of my knowledge but one has ever made
application to us."
A prominent official of the chain makers reports that'they had 6 Negro
members in 1901, but that they refused to strike which "naturally would
cause hard feelings." The general secretary of the metal workers thinks
uthere would be no difficulty in initiating a colored metal worker into one
of our local unions," but adds "I am speaking from a personal standpoint
on this question. There is no doubt but what we have some members who
are prejudiced against the Negro."
The second class of unions is those which are undecided or non-com-
mittal on the Negro question. These are the various glass workers, the
potters, stove-mounters, jewelry workers, wood carvers, textile workers,
stereotypers and electrotypers, printing pressmen, metal polishers, steam
fitters and lace curtain operatives. As no Negroes work at most of these
trades the question of their admission has not been raised or decided.
The textile workers are exceptions and have very clearly drawn the color
line, North and South, although they do not acknowledge it. The Negroes
working at the trade have never been allowed to join the union, and the
attempt to introduce Negro mill labor in Atlanta, a few years ago so
strengthened the Textile Union in the South that uit is doubtful whether
in the future a Southern cotton mill can employ any Negro labor unless
it is ready to employ all Negro labor."* There appear to be one or two
printing pressmen in Rhode Island and Illinois.
The last class of unions includes those who openly bar the Negro.
These are the great railway unions — the engineers, firemen, telegraphers,
car men, switchmen, train men, track men, and conductors ; and the stone
cutters, machinists, electrical workers, boiler makers, and wire weavers.
The editor of the organ of the engineers attributes the exclusion of the
Negro to the prejudices of Southern engineers, but thinks that most of
their fellows agree with them. Mr. E. E. Clark, Grand Chief Conductor
and member of the Coal Strike Arbitration Commission, writes:
^■Outlook, Vol. 56, p. 980.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 169
"I think wherever any opposition to the colored race on the part of organized labor
is manifested, it can generally be traced to the fact that colored men are always wil-
ling to work for wages which white men cannot, and should not be asked, to work for."
The Grand Master of the Trainmen says:
"The Brotherhood has no plans for the organization of colored men employed in
railway occupations. Some ideas have lately been proposed along these lines, but as
yet they have not met with any general favor among our membership."
Mr. John T. Wilson, president of the trackmen, was once addressing
some Negroes in St. Louis on the advantages of unionism. They reminded
him of the attitude of his union and he replied that
"I was employed to execute laws, not to make them, and if they could see them-
selves as I saw them, they would not be surprised at my inability to annihilate race
prejudices."
And he added that
"Concerted action on the part of practical and intelligent Negroes and white] men
of character who really desire to see the conditions of the down trodden masses im-
proved without regard to race, would eventually cause the white and Negro workmen
to co-operate in industrial organization for their mutual advancement."
The Negro locomotive firemen are still active competitors of the white,
although forced to take lower wages and do menial work.* The Commis-
sioner of Labor of North Carolina testified before the industrial commis-
sion that
"The truth of it is, a great many engineers like Negro firemen best. They had Ne-
groes at first and are now on)y working white men in ; the white men are taking the
place of Negroes A great many of the old engineers prefer Negro
firemen. They treat them differently — make them wait on them. The white man
does not do that."
The Grand Secretary of the Boiler-makers says:
"There is not one man in this order that would present the application of a Negro
for membership. This without laws forbidding him. Hence we have none. Being
a Southern man myself, having lived 30 years in New Orleans, I know that no Negro
has worked at boiler making since the war."
The secretary of the wire weavers says:
"Our laws, up to a few years ago, provided that only white males were eligible, but it
at present makes no distinction, but at the same time I am satisfied that our men
would not work with a Negro. We work partners and coming in such contact with
one another no white man would take a Negro for a partner. And I am frank enough
to say that I don't think any of the men would allow a Negro to start at the trade."
The International Association of Machinists was organized in 1888:
"Almost alone among national labor organizations, excepting the railroad brother-
hoods, it put a clause in its constitution excluding colored men. It desired to join
the American Federation of Labor, but the Federation refused at that time to admit
unions whose constitutions recognized distinctions of color
"At the Federation convention of 1892 the president of the Association of Machinists
appeared before a committee of the Federation, expressed satisfaction with the action
of the executive council, and stated that the next convention of the Machinsts' Asso-
ciation would eliminate the color line from its constitution. It was not until 1895
that affiliation with the Federation was finally effected." t
*Cf. p. 115.
tReport Industrial Commission, Vol. 17, p. 217.
170 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Notwithstanding this the secretary of the Washington lodge writes us
in 1899 "the Negro is not admitted to the International Association of
Machinists," while the secretary of the National Union refused to answer
questions as to the eligibility of black men. A labor leader when asked
by the Industrial Commission if he had ever worked with a Negro ma-
chinist, answered:
"No, sir; I never worked in a shop with a Negro as a machinist."
"Would you not?" "No, sir; I would not."
The president of Turner Brass Works tells how the machinists in his
establishment objected to a colored workman, but the Negro "was so good
natured and did his work so well" that he was permitted to stay — but not
to join the union.
"Right there is my objection, and right there is my reason for declining to treat
locally with unions, because the men out of the union should have as good a right to
employment as the men in the union. We do not ask them if they are Methodists or
Democrats, or whether they are Masons or union men. We ask them, 'Can you do
this work!' "*
There may possibly be one or two Negroes in the machinists' union in
Boston.
The secretary of the electrical workers reports :
"I will state that we have no Negroes in our organization. We received an appli-
cation from Jacksonville, Fla., but it was thrown down by our locals. We are in
favor of the colored men organizing, but we believe that they should have locals of
their own, and not mixed with the whites."
In the Jacksonville case it is said that the local was granted a charter;
then it was learned that they were colored and the charter was revoked.
There are one or two Negro members in Massachusetts and New Jersey.
The reasons adduced for discrimination against Negroes vary:
"Unfit for the business." — Telegraphers.
"Not the equals of white men." — Boiler-makers.
"Color." — Electricians, Locomotive Firemen.
"Race prejudice among the rank and file of our members." — Trainmen.
When asked if these objections would disappear in time, the answers
were:
"No." — Locomotive Firemen.
"Eventually; co-operation will come." — Trainmen.
"We hope so." — Electricians.
"Not until prejudice in the South disappears." — Engineers.
"Time makes and works its own changes." — Boiler-makers.
"Think not." — Telegraphers.
Finally the Railway Educational Association writes:
"Usually the railroad service is open from the top to the bottom for promotion to
those who enter it, but your race seems to be discriminated against and barred from
promotion. I understand that you are working on the idea that education is the
power that must advance your race, and finally break down opposition to the prog-
ress of its members. In this you are surely right, although the time for the realiza-
tion of your hopes may be more distant than you expect."
*Report of Industrial Commission Vol. 8, p. 38.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 171
There are a number of unions from whom repeated inquiries secured no
information, as, for instance, the bridge workers, core makers, table knife
grinders, iron molders, paving cutters, tin plate workers, marble workers,
lithographers and sheet metal workers. The addresses of others were not
found in time, as the powder workers, brick makers, spinners, box makers,
marine engineers and firemen, and stogie makers. Most of these, how-
ever, have none or very few Negroes, except possibly the core makers and
molders, in which trades many Negroes are employed. In the last Toronto
meeting of the molders, 1902, its is said that:
"A warm discussion was precipitated in the iron molders convention this morning
by a delegate from the South touching the admission of Negroes to the Iron Molders*
Union. The delegate thought they should be excluded, but those from the Northern
States, ably assisted by the Canadian members, championed the Negro. They thought
there should be no difference made. They objected to the making of a race question."*
Repeated letters to the secretary of the molders' as to the result of this
proposal and the general attitude of the molders, have elicited only this
response :
"You will have to kindly excuse me from giving such matters any more of my
time as I am very busy with my office work !"
57. Local option in the choice of members. The general attitude of the
Federation of Labor, and even of the National Unions, has little more
than a moral effect in the admission of Negroes to trade unions. The
present constitution of tne Knights of Labor admits members "at the
option of each local assembly. "t The real power of admission in nearly
all cases rests with the local assemblies, by whose vote any person may be
refused, and in a large number of cases a small minority of any local may
absolutely bar a person to whom they object. The object of this is to keep
out persons of bad character or sometimes incompetent workmen. In
practice, however, it gives the local or a few of its members a monopoly of
the labor market and a chance to exercise, consciously or unconsciously,
their prejudices against foreigners, or Irishmen, or Jews, or Negroes.
The following unions require a majority vote for admission to the locals:
Boot and Shoe Workers. • Amalgamated Engineers.
Amalgamated Carpenters. Metal Polishers.
Bottle Blowers. Stove Mounters.
Glass Workers. Bakers.
Wood Workers. Barbers.
Coopers. Steam Engineers.
Stogie-makers. Coal Hoisting Engineers.
The wood workers, coal hoisting engineers, and coopers, require an ex-
amining committee in addition.
The following require a two-thirds vote for admission to the locals:
Brotherhood of Carpenters. Sheet Metal Workers.
Painters. Pattern-makers.
Tile Layers. Tin Plate Workers.
Flint Glass Workers. Broom-makers.
Iron and Steel Workers.
*Toronto Star, July 9, 1902.
fReport Industrial Commission, Vol. 17, p. 18.
172 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Nearly all these require also the favorable report of an examining com-
mittee. Among the iron and steel workers and tin plate workers two black
balls can make a second election necessary.
These unions require more than a two-thirds vote for admission :
Electrical Workers, two-thirds vote, plus one, and examination.
Molders, " " " " "
Core-makers, " " " " "
Boiler-makers, three black balls reject.
Blacksmiths, " " " " two require second election.
Street Railway Employees, three-fourths' vote.
Leather Workers, (horse goods), three black balls reject.
The Typographical Union and printing pressmen and many others leave
all questions of admission to the local unions absolutely, except that an
appeal lies to the National Union. In nearly all cases save that of the
cigar-makers the adverse vote of a local practically bars the applicant.
It is here, and not, usually, in the constitutions of the National bodies,
that the color line is drawn ruthlessly in the North.
The colloquy between the Industrial Commission and the First General
Vice President of the Building Trades Council brought this out with
startling clearness :
Question. — "It seems to be true here that the local organization has the power to
draw the color line absolutely, without regard to the qualifications of the applicant.
To what extent does that power generally go with local organizations? Is it abso-
lute? Could it extend to a Roman nose, gray eyes, wart on the chin, or must it rest
upon some reason? What is the law about it?
Answer — Such a condition might be possible, but not at all probable.
Q. — You mean that all those things rest absolutely upon the will of the local organ-
ization? j^y
A. — Why, yes ; they rest upon the will of the majority."* JH
In like manner the methods regulating apprenticeship militate against
Negroes in nearly all the trades. Many unions, like the hatters, trunk
makers, printers, stone cutters, glass workers, and others, limit the num-
ber of apprentices according to the journeymen at work. Very often, as
in the case of the hatters, the union prescribes the terms of apprentice-
ship and oversees the details. In the case of the coal hoisting engineers,
elastic goring weavers, and some others, the consent of the local must be
obtained before any particular apprentice is admitted. In other cases
there are age limits, and there is very general demand among the unions
for still more rigid regulation and the use of articles of indenture. Strong
unions go so far as to refuse to recognize a workman who has not served
his apprenticeship in a union shop or begun it between the ages of 17 and
18. The tin plate union especially enjoins its members from teaching their
trade to any unskilled workingmen about the mills. The black boy who
gets a chance to learn a trade under such circumstances would indeed be
a curiosity.
^Report of Industrial Commission, Vol. VII, pp. 162, 163.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
173
58. Strikes against Negro workmen. It is impossible to get accurate statis
tics on the number of cases where white workmen have refused to work
with black men. Usually such strikes, especially in the North, are con-
cealed under the refusal to work with non-union men.* Strikes for this
cause have occurred in 2,751 establishments in this country in the last 20
years, and nearly 70% of them have been successful. It is thus possible
in some trades for three men absolutely to bar any Negro who wishes to
pursue this calling.
There are a number of cases where the object of getting rid of Negro
workingmen has been openly avowed. These, by causes, are as follows :t
Strikes from Jan. 1, 1881, to Deo. 31, 1900.
Total Succeeded I Failed
Against employing colored girls
" •' men
" " " " and for increased wages . .
" " " foreman
" working with Negroes '
For discharge of Negro employees
" " of foreman and vs. colored laborers doing
journeymen's work
Total
1
1
23
5
18
1
1
1
1
7
1
6
16
5
11
1
1
50
12
38
Industries in which Strikes Against Negro Labor
Have Occurred.
| No | Succeeded | Failed
Agricultural Implements
Brick
Building Trades
Clothine
Coal and Coke
Cotton Goods
Domestic Service
Glass
Leather and Leather Goods. . .
Machines and Machinery
Metals and Metallic Goods . . .
Public Ways Construction —
Stone Quarrying and Cutting
Transportation
Wooden Goods
Miscellaneous
Total
1
1
1
1
4
4
1
1
6
3
3
3
2
1
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
3
3
2
2
1
1
18
3
15
1
1
1
1
49
11
38
*"From the data in my possession it is not possible to secure any information as to the number of
strikes against non-union men which were in reality against Negroes."— Carroll D.Wright,
Commissioner of Labor, Dec. 22, 1902.
fFrom the Reports of the U. S. Bureau of Labor. A slight discrepancy in the totals will be noticed.
This is unexplained.
174
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Strikes by Years.
Year
Cause
Against employment of colored men
t. (i u 4( it
For discharge of colored employees
Against employment of colored men
Against working with colored men
For discharge of colored employees
Against employment of colored men and for
increased wages
Against working with colored men
It • (t l( It u
For discharge of colored employees
Against working under colored foreman
Against working with colored men
U U It M u
i( a a n a
For discharge of colored employees '. . . .
Against employing colored men
For discharge of colored employees
Against employing colored men
Against certain rules and for discharge of
colored head-waiter.
For discharge of colored employees
Against employment of colored girls
men
Total
Establish-
ments
Succeeded
Failed
1882
1883
1885
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1894
1897
1898
1899
1899
1900
2
2
1
1
1
5
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
12
1
1
1
4
1
5
47
3
10
1
]
1
]
12
1
3
1
2
37
Detailed information as to all of these strikes is unfortunately not
available for the last ten years; for the first ten years 1,458 men were en-
gaged in such strikes, involving 21 establishments and entailing a pecu-
niary loss to employers and employed of $215,945. If the strikes of the
last ten years were similar in character we may say that in the last 20
years 3,000 white workingmen have fought against the employment of
other workingmen for the sole reason that they were black at a cost of
nearly half a million dollars. And that moreover this probably is only
a small part of the strikes against colored men, since usually the
strike is technically against "non-union labor."
The greatest strike of which we have record before 1891 is that which took
place in a steel works in Pittsburg in 1890. The Iron and Steel Workers
Union ordered out 400 of the 500 employees because Negroes were employed .
The strike lasted over eight months and failed. The wage loss was
.$15,000, toward which labor unions contributed $8,000. The employers lost
$25,090 and eventually 300 new hands were hired in place of the strikers.
Of the 25 strikes, 1894 (July 1) to 1900 (Dec. 31), the Department of Labor
has kindly furnished details as to seven, and also details as to 15 strikes
in which Negro workmen struck against color discrimination :
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
175
Employers1 Loss.
ft
Assistance.
Wage Loss.
Succeeded ?
Duration of strike
days.
[Not closed.
|sg [Closed.
No. of establish-
ments involved.
Ordered by labor
organizations.
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176 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
59. Summary of the Attitude of Organized Labor, Putting the strength of
organized labor in the United States at the conservative estimate of
1,200,000, we may say :
Unions with 500,000 members, include 40,000 Negroes.
" 200,000 " " 1,000
" " 500,000 " " No Negroes.
The rule of admission of Negroes to unions throughout the country is
the sheer necessity of guarding work and wages. In those trades where
large numbers of Negroes are skilled they find easy admittance in the parts
of the country where their competition is felt. In all other trades they are
barred from the unions, save in exceptional cases, either by open or silent
color discrimination. There are exceptions to this rule. There are cases
where the whites have shown a real feeling of brotherhood ; there are
cases where the blacks, through incompetence and carelessness, have for-
feited their right to the advantages of organization. But on the whole a
careful, unprejudiced survey of the facts leads one to believe that the
above statement is approximately true all over the land.
It is fair, on such a vital point, however, to let the white labor leaders
speak for themselves and the opinions of a few are here appended.
60. Views of Labor Leaders — (By C. C. Houston, Secretary of the Geor-
gia Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, President of the American
Federation of Labor, and others) .
"A labor union is primarily a business institution and very little sentimentalism
enters into its make-up. It is for the collective bargaining, conciliation and arbitra-
tion of labor. It is to the working man what the Chamber of Commerce is to the
business man. It differs from a commercial trust in that it is not a close corporation
but its influences for good are world-wide, and its membership is restricted only to
those qualified to perform the work of any special calling in a workmanlike manner.
It gives greater liberty and independence of action to the workman and insures not
only a higher standard of wages but a higher standard of living.
"Dr. George E. McNeill, author of a volume entitled 'The Labor Movement,' says :
'There is no such thing as liberty of contract between a single wage-worker and an
employer. It first becomes possible through the efforts of trade unions. The union
is to the laborer what a republican form of government is to the citizen — it gives him
freedom. Unions have first made labor problems a matter of interest to the people
generally, and have increased respect for labor. They have brought back self-respect
and have a strong educational influence. Drunkenness and other bad habits are
frowned upon by labor unions.'
"Were it not for the labor unions the working people of this and other civilized
countries would be in little better condition than were the chattel slaves of this sec-
tion before the civil war, and this is the only power that can resist the great and
growing combination of capital. There are in the United States today over 2,000,000
skilled working men and women enrolled in the ranks of the various labor organiza-
tions. The system comprises local, state and national unions. Each local union is a
self-governing body, and is to the national body what a single state is to the United
States. Each local union has complete trade autonomy, and regulates its own inter-
nal affairs. These local unions range in membership from seven to over six thousand,
the last being "Big Six" typographical union of New York City, the largest local labor
organization in the world.
"The older trade unions, which have practically complete control of their trade
membership, such as the printers, stone cutters, tailors, engineers, conductors and
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 177
cigar makers, have comparatively few strikes and it is only the newer organizations
that are usually forced to resort to strikes to gain recognition of demands for wage
scales and regulation of hours. In the case of the older trade unions they have local
and sometimes national agreements with associations of employers as to wages and
hours of labor. Through the efforts of trade unions few skilled workmen now work
over ten hours, while in a great majority of instances eight and nine hours constitute
a day's labor at a greater wage scale than formerly prevailed for ten and eleven
hours.
"In this general trade union movement the Negro artisan has been a beneficiary jn
proportion to his membership. It is only during the past ten years that the colored
workingman has become in any great measure a factor in organized labor affairs, for
there are very few unions among unskilled laborers.
"With the' possible exception of the railway orders, none of the trade unions of
this country, North or South, exclude the Negro, and his connection with the labor
movement is becoming more apparent every year, and he is fast finding out that it is
to his individual and collective interest to become affiliated with the organization of
his craft. In this the white artisan is lending encouragement and assisting the Ne-
gro, giving him a seat, with voice and vote, in the labor councils, local, state and na-
tional. The feeling that formerly prevailed' among the Negro skilled artisans that the
white laborer's sympathy for him was for a selfish purpose is being rapidly dispelled
by the mutually beneficial results of organization." — C. C. Houston.
The President of the American Federation of Labor writes:
"It has been and is now our endeavor to organize the colored workers whenever and
wherever possible. We recognize the necessity of this if it is hoped to secure the
best possible conditions for the workers of every class in our country." Later, on
reading §53, he replied: "I should say that your statement is neither fair nor accurate.
After careful perusal of the summing up of the attitude of the A. F. of L. toward
colored workmen, I should say that you are inclined, not only to be pessimistic upon
the subject, but you are even unwilling to give credit where credit is due." — Samuel
Gompers.*
The following opinions are from various states:
Virginia. — "One of the greatest drawbacks to the labor movement in the South i9
the ignorant prejudice against the Negro on the part of the whites in trades unions."
Massachusetts. — "I always considered a Negro as good as a white man, in any labor
union, provided they live up to the obligations."
Kansas. — "Unions do not bar Negroes by their laws but do not solicit them. If they
would apply they would be rejected."
Iowa. — "There are only a few Negroes here but they are not discriminated against
according to my knowledge except in the Federation where a Negro can not act as a
delegate legally."
Fxobida. — "The Negroes in this city have no need to complain, as the white men
work, smoke, eat and drink together with them, meet in Central Union and hold office
together. I organized and installed the Central Union, as General Secretary, and I
am a Negro, and have held the same for two elections and was elected by the whites
who are in majority. I have presided over the same body, but do not visit their
*On pp. 157 and lfi5, it is stated that the Stationary Engineers who met in Boston and passed a law
excluding Negroes from membership were connected with the Union of Steam Engineers and
affiliated with the A. F. L. Mr. Gompers does not deny this and Secretary Morrison writes as
though this were true, (cf. p. 167 note). Nevertheless, it is possible that this body of Stationary
Engineers is not connected with the A. F. L., but is a separate organization. Prolonged cor
respondence has not been able to settle this point.
178 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
daughters and have no wish. The white painters do in a way draw a line, but not
openly ; the boiler makers also, but none others."
Illinois. — "We have but one Negro in this town and don't need him."
Iowa. — "The Negro in the world is fast learning to overcome superstition, race prej-
udice, etc He is 90% a better citizen than the semi-civilized
pack of humanity that is being imported into this country by capitalists from Asia
Minor and Syria."
Massachusetts.— "I have met Negroes in the printing trade who were rapid com-
positors and good union men."
Illinois. — "There is only one union here but what the Negro stands on a level with
whites, and they would take them in when they apply ; but the Negro knows better
than to apply."
Indiana. — "It is my opinion that if a Negro proves himself a mechanic and a man,
and holds up trades rules, he has a right to work and make an honest living, the same
as any one else ; but don't understand by this that I am in favor of this class of people
in general, for I am not."
Pennsylvania. — "The working people do not believe in distinctions of races at all."
Washington. — "I want to say under this head that the Negroes as a race are bigoted
and should not, in my opinion, be allowed to associate with whites on an equal basis.
Although they do not follow my line of business, I have had enough experience with
them to convince me that any time they are treated as equals by whites they go too
far and apparently consider themselves entitled to more consideration than a native
born white American citizen."
Pennsylvania. — "I have known cases here where colored men were refused admit-
tance to a trades union, the reason being that there are so many of them who are un-
reliable ; which is due to a great extent to their want of education, and this but points
more forcibly to the need of the 8 hour day for the colored workman, and their organ-
ization into some body which will awaken them to the greater possibilities of eleva-
tion both material and intellectual, offered them by trades unionism."
Ohio. — "I am of the opinion that the Negro in common labor pursuits is far ahead
of the whites, and many in trade occupations. One Negro friend of mine holds a very
responsible position with this union — has been presiding officer since its organization
three years ago, and the organization has about 200 members, white and black."
Indiana. — "We have had no test here in regard to admitting Negroes to our local
unions. How they would be received is hard to tell at present.
Texas. — "Color discrimination must disappear, if the trade union movement suc-
ceeds."
Texas. — The Negro question is the one draw back to the success of the labor move-
ment today, especially is this true in the South. The Negro has always been the
stumbling block in the way of success in many cases ; this, however, is not the fault of
the Negro, but until the white men realize that it is with the organization and assist-
ance of the Negro, that they can and must win, the labor movement will not be as suc-
cessful as we hope for. I believe that if the Negro was organized thoroughly, then the
solution of the labor problem would be found. They are laborers, in a larger percent-
age than their white brothers ; they are the ones used to whip the white men into
line when striking for their rights or demanding recognition from their employers,
whereas, if they were organized, no inducement could be made to cause them to
falter in their duty to mankind."
Michigan. — "In my opinion it is only a question of time— the evolution which will
bring with it the higher civilization— when a colored man will be recognized and en-
titled to all the rights and privileges now enjoyed by the whites, and by such enjoy-
ment proving the claim that it is civilization and education that makes the man."
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 179
61. The Employer, the Artisan, and the Right of Suffrage. A few quotations
throw an interesting side light on the suffrage question in the South and
its relation to the Negro. The last Southern Industrial Convention at
Chattanooga said:
"We recommend that every possible means shall be used to educate the public senti-
ment of the South to regard the Negro as a factor in the upbuilding of the South, and
that as such we should use all possible means to make him as efficient as possible, and
pledge him the fullest guaranty of earning a living in every honest field of honest
endeavor, and protection in his God-given right of self-support."
A prominent Southern man said before the Industrial Commission:
"I believe that in the Negro labor of the South lies the panacea for the wrongs fre-
quently committed by organized labor,and a reserve force from which can be supplied
any needed number of workers when the time shall come when they shall be needed."
Most workingmen in the South laugh at such threats because they are
certain the Negro cannot become a formidable competitor in skilled labor.
A writer in the Molder's Journal makes considerable fun of the exagger-
ated predictions as to the Negro molder and writes him down as a "dismal
failure." Another writer, however, takes him to task and asserts that the
writer
"Will not woo us into a sense of fancied security and induce us to look upon the Negro
problem in our trade as one that will solve itself by the Negro's demonstrating his
incapacity and being ignominiously dismissed from the foundry.
"That is very flattering to our vanity, but it is contrary to facts. I believe I am
well within the mark when I say that in the last twenty years Negro molders have
increased 500 per cent., and that excluding the Negro pipe molders, whom I do not
class as skillful mechanics, I know of two foundries, at least, where' the molding is
done entirely by Negroes — three if we include the Ross-Mehan annex in Chattanooga.
There is the one at the foot of Lookout Mountain, and another in Rome, Ga. A few
years ago a mere handful of Negroes worked at molding in Chattanooga, today there
are over two hundred ; and I am convinced that the question of what shall be done
with the Negro molder is one which, in the very near future, will demand more of
our attention if we would maintain for ourselves fair wages and conditions in the
South."*
On the other hand a white speaker in the 10th Barbers' Convention said :
"Is the disfranchisement of the Negro the first step toward making history repeat
itself ? I for one will not believe it, as I have too much confidence in American man-
hood to think that they will allow it Those of you who live in the South may feel,
you may even say it is right, and then I will say to you, If it is right to deny the right
of franchise to any American citizen, though his color or nationality be what it may,
then it may be your turn tomorrow, because those who seek to disfranchise the Negro
today will seek to extend their power by disfranchising you tomorrow. Our protec-
tion for tomorrow calls on us to protest in favor of the disfranchised Negro of today."
Here, then, are the four great forces: the Northern laborer, the South-
ern laborer, the Negro and the employer. The Southern laborer and the
employer have united to disfranchise the Negro and make color a caste;
the Northern laborer is striving to make the whites unite with the Negroes
and maintain wages; the employer threatens that if they do raise labor
troubles he will employ Negroes. The Northern laborer sees here the
*CL Chattanooga Tradesman, Nov. 1, 1901.
180
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
danger of a disfranchised, degraded and yet skilled competitor, and raises
the note of warning. Is not this a drama worth the watching?
62. The Employment of Skilled Negroes in the South. The Chattanooga
Tradesman made, in 1889 and 1891, inquiries into the status of Negro labor
in the South. The employers questioned in 1889, employed 7,000 Negroes
of whom possibly 2,000 were skilled or semi-skilled. uThe general tenor
of the replies indicated perfect satisfaction with Negro labor." In 1891
replies were received from the employers of 7,395 Negroes of whom 978
were skilled and many semi-skilled and the editor concluded that "the
Negro, as a free laborer, as a medium skilled and common worker, is by no
means a'failure;' that he is really a remarkable success."* ■
In 1901, a third joint investigation into Negro skilled labor was made by
the Tradesman and the Sociological Department of Atlanta University.**
It was not an exhaustive inquiry and there is no way of knowing what
proportion of the employers of skilled Negro laborers were reached. In
1891, twelve per cent, of the Negroes employed by those written to were
skilled or semi-skilled; in 1901, twenty per cent.; 344 firms answered in
1901, employing 35,481 men, of whom 16,145 were Negroes, and 2,652 of these
were skilled or semi-skilled workmen. Negroes were employed at given
occupations as follows in the various establishments:
Kinds of Employment Followed by Negroes, by Establishments.!
1
14
9
2
1
4
2
6
1
14
1
1
5
1
2
2
2
3
5
1
3
Shipping clerk.
1
Plasterers,
Saw sharpening,
5
Edgers,
Pan shoving,
3
Setters in planing mill,
Farmers,
2
Trimmers,
Engineers,
23
Teamsters,
Sawyers.
20
Graders,
Wood workers,
2
Lumber inspectors,
Cupola tenders,
Pressmen,
29
Meal cooks,
40
Stove mounters,
Linters,
17
Molders,
Handlers Cotton Seed Products,
1
Log cutters.
Handlers of Machines,
26
Watchmen,
Firemen,
45
Planers,
Huller men,
4
Raftsmen,
Grinders,
3
R. R. engineers,
Cake millers,
5
Wood turners,
Ginners,
14
Boiler makers,
Pipe fitters,
2
Furnace men,
Mill wrighters,
1
Core makers,
Pump men,
4
Electric linemen,
General oil mill men,
5
Painters,
Stockers,
1
Stone cutters,
Truckers,
1
Inspectors of castings,
Drillers,
Sackers,
1
Ice plant men,
1
General saw mill workers.
Cake formers,
3
Barrel makers,
Oilers,
4
Stave makers,
Machine repairers,
1
Plow polishers,
Strippers,
2
Stove tenders,
Foremen,
4
Pattern makers,
Blacksmiths,
14
Iron pourers,
Blocksmen,
5
Riveters and drillers,
*Yet Hoffman in his "Race Traits and Tendencies" twists these same figures into proof of the Ne-
gro's economic retrogression. **See schedule on p. 12.
fThis table means, e. g., that 23 establishments employed Negroes as engineers and not that there
were necessarily only 23 engineers.
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
181
(Kinds of Employment Followed by Negroes, by Establishments— Continued.)
Carpenters, 11 Sash door makers, 1
Mechanics, 2 Hanging sash doors, 1
Brick makers and setters, 6 Shingle packing, 1
Brick layers, 5 Section foreman on R. R., 1
The reports according to kinds of business and number of skilled labor-
ers employed are as follows:
REPORTS ACCORDING TO BUSINESS AND STATE.
03*
S
03
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03
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Founders and Machinists .
Cotton Seed Products :
Saw and Planing Mills
Lumber
Wagon Manufacture
Iron Works
Plow Manufacture
Stave Manufacture
Brick Manufacture
Stove Manufacture
Sugar Manufacture
Shingle Manufacture
Wood Working :
Contractors and Builders
Hardwood Work
Manufacture of Pumps & Porch Col'ns
Manufacture of Handles
Sash, Doors, Blinds, etc
Furniture Manufacture
Ginning and Delinting
Steel and Galvanized Sheets
Farming and Merchandise
Refrigerator and Gin Manufacture
Soil Pipe and Fittings..
Fruit Packing
Manufacture of Coffins and Caskets....
Wood Textile Mill Supplies
Spoke Manufacture
Box Manufacture
Ship Building
Manufacture of Sad Irons and Hollow
ware
Brick and Lumber Builders' Supplies.
Boiler Works
Tin Manufacture
Dishes, Fruit Packing and Veneering..
House Finishing and Manufacturing...
Furnace Manufacturing and Erecting..
Mill Building
Manufacture of Farm Implements
Saw Manufacturing
3 1 1
46
96
38
43
9
17
7
3
12
5
2
4
5
3
2
1
1
13
4
5
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
3
3
3
182
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
NUMBER OF SKILLED LABORERS EMPLOYED, (NOT INCLUDING ABOUT
400 SEMI-SKILLED).
o3
c3*
c3
S
P-
&
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a.
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B
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£
34
8
1
3
5
5
38
46
57
63
234
37
49
39
33
20
18
56
50
8
11
6
33
70
21
13
14
20
75
4
10
1
i
5
21
7
4
13
17
7
1
10
10
2
1
1
1
14
8
5
8
7
3
1
30
1
3
151
175
108
8
210
118
114
257
190
148
57
378
fe
a
M
v
fs
s
o
+S
p
a
^
a-
c
M
p
Founders and Machinists..
Cotton Seed Products...
Saw and Planing Mills
Lumber
Wagon Manufacture
Iron Works
Plow Manufacture
Stave Manufacture
Brick Manufacture
Stove Manufacture
Sugar Manufacture
Shingle Manufacture
Wood Working
Contractors and Builders..
Hardwood Work
Manufacture of Pumps and
Porch Columns
Manufacture of Handles...
Sash, Doors, Blinds, etc
Furniture Manufacture
Ginning and Delinting
Steel & Galvanized Sheets.
Farming & Merchandise. ...
Kefrigerator Manufacture ;
Gin Manufacture
Soil Pipe & Fittings
Fruit Packing
Manf . of Coffins & Caskets.
Wood Textile Mill Supplies
Spoke Manufacture ,
Box Manufacture
Ship Building
Manufacture of Sad Irons
and Hollowware
Brick & Lumber Builders'
Supplies
Boiler Works
Tin Manufacture
Dishes, Fruit Packing and
Veneering
House Finishing & Manfg
Furnace Manf. & Erecting.
Mill Building
Manf. of Farm Implements
Saw Manufacturing
Total
157
75
26
45
225
91
12
613
102213
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
183
It is difficult to get a statement of the wages paid in tabular form. The
following table gives the maximum wages per day paid skilled Negro
laborers in various industries:
MAXIMUM WAGES, PER DAY, PAID ANY SKILLED NEGRO LABORER,
ACCORDING TO ESTABLISHMENTS AND KINDS OF BUSINESS.
■e^J-Vr-
c
i— i
O
H
Contractors and Builders
Founders and Machinists
Stove Manufacturing
Lumber Manufacturing
Wagon Manufacturing
Woodworking '.
Ginning and Delinting
Boiler Works
Iron Works
Stave Manufacturing
Brick Manufacturing
Saw and Planing Mills
Plow Manufacturing
Gin & Refrigerator Manufacturing
Furniture Manufacturing
Sash, Doors, Blinds, etc
Mfg. Wood Pumps & Porch Columns.
Hardwood Works
House Finishing and Manufacturing..
Steel and Galvanized Sheets...
Brick and Lumber Builders' Supplies.
Spoke Manufacturing
Box Manufacturing
Sugar Manufacturing
Ship Building
Cotton Seed Products
Total •.
10
20 24
220
2
19
2
26
6
2
3
1
9
2
7
22
2
1
1
3
1
2
1
1
1
3
2
2
1
69
191
Condensing we have this table of maximum wages:
Under $1
$1 -$1.49
1.50- 1.99
2.00- 2.99
3.00 or more
— 8 establishments.
— 49
— 52 u
— 69
— 13
Total 191
The answers to the various questions were as follows
184
THE NEGRO ARTISAN
A. How do Negroes compare in efficiency with white workmen f
Answers.
<x» be
a. s'
CO *
o
Sa
2 I
<D 0>
O ©
B3
I"?
^ a>
uFar inferior."
"Not as good."..,,
"Poor average, some as good."
"Better" for "this work" or "at same wages1
available whites."
"As good." !,.
"Better."
No answer
Cannot say
"Cannot compare, employ no whites."
or "than
17
28
23
42
43
19
4
3
9
96
135
260
382
456
665
79
34
49
38
55
57
89
145
80
Some of the comments were :
"No good, but the white help is mighty poor, too."
"Not reliable — lack judgment."
"Haven't as good hands for skilled work."
"Would give perfect satisfaction if they were steady."
"Prompt, willing and steady, but lack judgment."
"Not as quick to learn, but stick closer to work."
"More easily controlled."
"As good or better."
"Perfect satisfaction."
B. Are Negro Workmen Improving in Efficiency ?
Answers.
Establishments Answering
Negroe
Skilled
s Employed.
Semi-Skilled.
"Yes."
64
47
13
46
26
1,261
415
137
252
198
114
"To some extent."
"Cannot tell."
136
10
"No."
101
Unanswered
119
C. How much edacation have your Negro workmen received?
Answers
Establishments Ans.
Negroe
Skilled
s Employed.
Semi-Skilled.
"None."
16
68
33
27
16
2
1
33
173
1,125
302
204
115
10
1
283
14
"Very little."
99
"Majority can read and write." . . .
"All can read and write."
141
68
"Common school training."
"Good education."
45
4
"All they can stand."
Unanswered
109
Taking those who report that their workman can read and write, or
have received more training than this, we find that they answer as follows
to this question:
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
185
D. What effect has this education had ?
Answers.
Establishments
Employing Negroes.
Skilled | Semi-Skilled
'Bad effect."
"No effect."
"A little learning is a dangerous thing."
"Little effect."
"Cannot say."
"Helps some, hinders others."
"Would help if industrial."
"Good effect."
16
9
4
4
5
5
1
28
73
134
30
7
41
31
40
257
66
22
57
13
89
Some comments follow:
"Think they feel more responsibility than the ignorant ones — want more and are
more willing to work to get what they want."
"Somewhat improved by it."
"The education has' had a good effect on them and I had rather employ these Ne-
groes with education than if they had no education."
"Educating a Negro makes him worthless as a laborer. He gets saucy and thinks
he is as good as a white man. Uneducated Negroes give no trouble. Educating a
Negro makes him mean and indolent. You find more criminals in educated Negroes
than in uneducated."
"Makes them better citizens by giving them means to employ their minds. The
bad Negro, as a rule, is the most ignorant."
"There is some more indolence and disposition to loaf among Negroes who have a
smattering of education, although there are exceptions. We would much prefer to
have a man who can at least read, write and figure a little'than one entirely ignorant,
provided he is a steady worker."
"Enables them to undertake more. It is questionable whether education tends to
modify or decrease their humility towards white men, probably it does. They are
still, on the whole, inferior to the white man."
"Can't say, except in our opinion it follows as a matter of course that the more a
man learns, the more he is worth."
"Has done but little good, owing to lack of sense to start with."
"We believe educating the Negro is having the effect of taking them from the farms,
going to the towns and cities hunting public works at better pay. This is but natural
and we believe in the end*will prove beneficial."
"We can't but feel that education improves them, our experience, though, has been
that those who have some knowledge of books are profligate. This may be due to
bad selection on our part."
"What kind ? We guess you mean training. A Negro can not be educated. We
only want a Negro with educated hands and bodies. Some darkies can learn to read
and write a little — and just then they are ready and ripe for the penitentiary or for
Hades."
"From our observation the result is not good from an industrial standpoint. Our
opinion being that the trouble is that the little education they have received has been
literary instead of industrial."
"It has detracted from his usefulness in positions where he is the most useful, such
as hard manual labor, without fitting him to take a better position in the ranks of
skilled labor."
"We have but few positions where education of itself would be of much value.
Coupled with other good qualities it would have value. Our colored people are gen-
erally self-respecting and we believe better because of their steady employment, but
they seem to lack in thrift, frugality and in saving their wages."
293
semi-ski
44
(<
25
(<
28
a
5
(<
-1
u
1
<<
79
u
186 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
"We believe that education would have a good effect if with it there was some
systemized effort to make them property owners, and to build up a healthy interest
in their particular community. This does not seem to be the trend of affairs, and
until present conditions change, as they will, perhaps sooner than any of us think
now, we do not look for much radical improvement."
"We have heard a good deal about education spoiling the colored man as a laborer ;
our experience here, however, convinces us that the better he is educated the better
he is able to compete with the white man in giving close attention to the business
that employers require of him, thereby giving better satisfaction and better work. It
is true in many cases that an education seems to spoil the colored man, but we think
he would be spoiled anyway, just the same as among white men many times, the
highly educated seem to feel themselves above doing manual labor."
E. Shall you continue to employ skilled Negro labor f
Yes. 140 establishments. 1,950 skilled.
No. 16 " 30 "
Prefer white labor. 5 " 29 "
Shall employ semi-skilled. 3 "
Only as laborers. 1 "
Can't say. 1
As they drop out we shall
fill their places with whites. 1 " 1 "
Unanswered. 29 " 207
Some general comments on Negro workmen follow:
"Yes, they understand my way of having work done and are willing workers when
treated right. I never allow them imposed upon by any one and have no strikes -t
they are the best judges of human nature on earth."
"The most satisfactory sawyer, shop man (blacksmithing and wood working), green
yard fireman, train track fireman, logging engine fireman, log-trippers, cant hook
man, night watchman, edger man, trimmer man, or teamsters, and men grading lum-
ber in saw mill, are all Negroes."
"Best laborers we can get. We believe the Negro the best laborer in the South."
"Are more tractable, steadier and can be depended upon in their particular places.
In an emergency whites have better judgment. On the whole we prefer Negroes
where it is possible to use them."
"The work they do is well done and for furnace work equally as efficient as that of
white men and indeed I prefer them."
"Some are just as good as any or most white men, while a greater number are just
as poor as the white trash."
"After living in the South for twenty years and employing from one to twenty Ne-
groes all the time will say from any standard there are no skilled workmen with black
skins, and I have employed the best to be found in Montgomery, as carpenters, brick-
layers, engineers, firemen and machine operators."
"We find that many of our most thrifty and intelligent Negroes are drifting North
and securing employment in the large industries about Pittsburg, and many of them
making good records for efficiency."
"We have just this day begun the employment of Negro molders for our stove-
foundry. We have been employing white molders for the past fifteen years but as
nearly all the foundries in this city are employing Negro molders and seem well sat-
isfied with the result, we decided to do so also. We believe we will make a success of
the venture, but will not be able to answer your questions until we have had them
at work for awhile."
"We consider them a necessity in our business because white labor is not obtaina-
ble. Considering the condition of their ancestry and the conditions in which they
themselves live I think they are doing very well indeed. Future generations will
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
187
doubtless see the race in a better condition and more intelligent, making better
citizens."
"In this line they are much superior to white labor. White men would not stand
the heat and grease. We don't want white labor. They are too prone to strike. Give
them the earth and they would strike for the moon. White men could be more effi-
cient than Negroes, but they wont."
"Do the same work and obey better, more profit, less trouble."
"Some of them display excellent judgment, while others are stupid. They don't
expect as much as white men, and do, if anything, more faithful work than the
white labor."
"The younger class are more given to loafing and light work. When given places
as foremen, or semi-responsible, they are usually very exacting."
"A Negro is a Negro with us and is made to keep his place."
t-The white workmen do not like to work side by side with the Negro workmen.
However, they treat them politely, and there is the kindliest feeling between whites
and blacks here."
63. The Negro Inventor. It was a Massachusetts lawyer who said in re-
sponse to an inquiry from the United States Patent office: UI never knew
a Negro to invent anything but lies." Nevertheless, the Patent Office
was able in 1900 to report a partial list of 357 patents issued to Negro in-
ventors. They were issued as follows:
Before 1875
1875-80
1880-85
1885-90
21 1890-95
15 1895-1901
31 Year unknown
73 Total
90
126
1
357
The inventions may be classified as follows :
Domestic appliances,
Transportation,
Agricultural implements.
Horse and vehicle appliances,
Telegraph, telephone, and electri-
cal apparatus,
Medical and surgical apparatus
and appliances,
Boot, shoes, and shoe working
apparatus,
Railroad appliances,
Machinery & mechanical devices,
101
19
15
32
27
12
60
35
Building apparatus,
Games, »
Textile and paper-making apparatus,
Mercantile appliances,
Photography,
Fire escapes and fire extinguishers,
Musical instruments,
Books and printing and writing
devices,
Miscellaneous,
Total,
4
6
18
5
2
4
3
7
3
357
The inventors according to number of inventions are :
Inventor.
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
4
14
28
138
193
Inventions.
27
22
16
10
8
7
5
4
3
2
1
357
The most prolific inventors are Mr. Granville T. Words, of New York,
with 27 electrical devices, many of which are in use all over the country,and
one of which is the well-known transmitter used by the Bell Telephone Co. ;
188 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
and Mr. Elijah McCoy, of Detroit, with 22 inventions (and another in col-
laboration) who is the pioneer in the matter of machinery lubricators, and
whose inventions are used on nearly every railroad in the country. With
such a record the mechanical genius of the Negro can hardly be doubted.
64. Summary. We have studied in considerable detail the history of
the Negro artisan, the industrial schools, the condition of Negro mechanics
throughout the country, the attitude of organized labor toward the Negro,
the opinions of employers, and Negro inventions. On the whole the sur-
vey has been encouraging, although there is much to deplore and criticise.
Our conclusions may be summed up as follows :
1. Slavery trained artisans, but they were for the most part careless and
inefficient. Only in exceptional cases were they first-class mechanics.
2. Industrial schools are needed. They are costly and, as yet, not well
organized or very efficient, but they have given the Negro an ideal of
manual toil and helped to a better understanding between whites and
Negroes in the South. Eventually they may be expected to send out
effective artisans, as they have already begun to do.
3. There are a large number of Negro mechanics all over the land, but
especially in the South. Some of these are progressive, efficient work-
men. More are careless, slovenly and ill-trained. There are signs of
lethargy among these artisans and work is slipping from them in some
places; in others they are awakening and seizing the opportunities of the
new industrial south.
4. The labor unions, with 1,200,000 members, have less than 40,000 Ne-
groes, mostly in a few unions, and largely semi-skilled laborers like
miners. Some labor leaders have striven against color prejudice, but it
exists and keeps the mass of Negroes out of many trades. This leads to
complicated problems, both industrial, political and social.
5. Employers on the whole are satisfied with Negro skilled labor and
many of them favor education as tending to increase the efficiency of
Negroes. Others think it will spoil the docility and tractableness of Ne-
gro labor. The employment of Negro skilled labor is slowly increasing.
6. The Negro evinces considerable mechanical ingenuity.
On the whole this study of a phase of the vast economic development
of the Negro race in America but emphasizes the primal and emphatic
need of intelligence. The situation is critical and developing swiftly.
Deftly guided with the larger wisdom of men and deeper benevolence of
great hearts, an outcome of good to all cannot be doubted. Muddled by
half trained men and guided by selfish and sordid interests and all the
evils of industrial history may easily be repeated in the South. u Wisdom"
then nis the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get
understanding.'''
FINIS.
INDEX.
jnLbolitionists and labor unions, 153.
Ages of artisans, 92, 93, 94, 117, 118, 121.
Agriculture, Negro in, 6.
Ambitions of Negro children, 27, 28.
American Federation of Labor, 10, 156, 157, 177.
American Missionary Association, 39.
Anniston, 108
Answers of public school children, 26-28.
Ante-bellum artisans, 13-21.
Anti-slavery and labor movement, 153.
Apprenticeship, 172.
Armstrong, Gen. S. C, 33, 64, 84.
Armstrong and Slater Memorial Trade School, 64.
Artisans before the war, 13-21 ; Artisans, kinds of, 13, 18, 87, 94, 106, 150.
Artisans from industrial schools, 78, 79.
Artisans, white, 15, 16, 17, 22, 24, 153-178; Negro, see Negro Artisans.
Atlanta Conference, 1, 4.
Atlanta, Ga., 113, 114, 115-120.
Atlanta artisans : Conjugal condition, 117; Age, 117; Occupations, 118;
Number, 114.
Atlanta University, 1, 33, 34, 37, 40, 56, 57, 58, 61, 66, 119.
Attucks, Crispus, 153.
Augusta, 113.
B,
Baltimore, 129.
Banneker, Benjamin, 13.
Benson, W. E., 5.
Birmingham, 108.
Byrd, Col. William, 13.
C
hange of industrial conditions, 82.
Charleston, S. C, 13, 141.
Charlotte, N. C, 136.
Chattanooga, Tenn., 145.
Chattanooga Tradesman, 11, 180.
Children in public schools, 12, 26-28.
Cincinnati, O., 16, 138, 163.
City artisans, 21.
City central labor bodies, 10.
Clark, Mr. E. E., 168.
Coleman cotton mill, 137, 138.
College-bred Negroes, 85.
Colleges, 8.
Color discrimination in trades, 8, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30, 94-96, 104-106, 107, 112v
113, 114, 115, 122-24, 125, 128, 129, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137, 141, 143, 147,.
149, 150, 153-178.
Conjugal condition of artisans, 93, 94.
Co-operative land purchase, 85.
Co-ordination of hand and head work, 83.
Cost of industrial training, 65-68, 79, 80.
Country districts, reaching of, 83.
Courses of study in Industrial schools, 42-58.
Cromwell, Mr. J. W., 28.
Crummell, Rev. Alexander, 29.
Curricula of industrial schools, 42-58.
Curry, Dr. J. L. M., 42.
190 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
JJavis, Miss L. D., 114.
Discrimination, see Color discrimination.
Distribution of industrial schools, 34-37.
Distribution of Negro Artisans, 87-150.
Dixie Industrial Company, 85.
Domestic service, 7.
Douglass, Frederick, 29.
Draft riot in New York, 153, 154.
Xiducation of Negroes, 184, 185, 186.
Education, effects of, 185, 186.
Ellis, Mr. Geo. W., 110.
Emancipation, 21.
Employers of Negro skilled laborers, 180, 181, 182, 186.
Evans Brothers, 153.
F,
errell, Mr. F. J., 155.
Field hand class, 83.
Fitzhugh, Colonel, 13.
Freedmen's Bureau, 21.
Frissell, Mr. H. B.,64,84.
ompers, Mr. Samuel, 158, 176, 177.
G
Jiamilton, Jr., Mr. Alexander, 4, 102.
Hampton Conference, 111.
Hampton Institute, 32, 33, 37, 42-44, 61, 64, 65, 68, 80.
Haygood, Mr. A. G., 39, 41, 42, 59.
Henson, Father, 30.
Higher Education and Industries, 83.
Hilyer, Mr. A. F., 104n, 110, 111.
Hiring of slave mechanics, 14.
Holmes, Mr. E. H., 4, 98.
Home training, 23, 26.
Houston, Mr. C. C, 5, 176, 177.
Houston, Texas, 98.
Humphreys, Mr. Richard, 31.
Ideals of Negro children, 27, 28.
Illiteracy of Negro artisans, 91, 97.
Income bf industrial schools, 66-68, 80.
Indianapolis, Ind., 104.
Industrial art, 81.
Industrial Commission, 179.
Industrial Schools: Artisans sent out by, 68-79; Cost of, 65-68; Curricula
of, 42-58; Early efforts toward, 28-31; Evolution of, 31-33; Kinds of,
58-62; List of Chief, 34-39, 66-68; Schedule sent to, 11; "School of
Work," 32; Slater Fund and, 39-42; Success of, 68-83; Trade Schools,
32, 62, 65.
Industrial settlements, 8.
Industries taught in industrial schools, 42-58.
Institute for colored youth, Philadelphia, 30, 31, 68.
Inventors, Negro, 187, 188.
Ki
_inds of Artisans, see Negro Artisans.
Knights of Labor, 154, 155, 156, 163.
Knoxville, Tenn., 145.
Kowaliga, industrial settlement at, 84-87.
\
SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE 191
AJabor, cost of student, 80.
Labor leaders' opinions, 177.
Labor leaders, views of, 176, 177.
Labor movement. 153; see Trade Unions.
Lee, Mr. H. N., 4, 94.
Lemon, Mr. J. G., 116.
Local option in choice of members of Trade unions, 171, 172.
Lynchburg, Va., 149.
M
.anual training, 32, 33, 59-62.
Manual training in public schools, 60, 61, 106, 132, 133.
McCoy, Mr. Elijah, 188.
Membership of Negroes in labor unions, 158-171.
Memphis, Artisans in, 94-97.
Merrill, Dr. J. G., 5, 83-84.
Mobile, Ala., 14.
Molders, Negro, 179.
Moton, Mr. R. R , 5, 62.
Mound Bayou, Miss., 132.
N,
ational Labor Congress, 154.
Negro Artisans: Ambitions of school children to be, 27; Ante-bellum, 13;
By ages, 93; By cities, 90; Bv conjugal condition, 93, 94; By illiteracy,
91; By states, 18, 19, 106-153; By trades, 13-18, 87-94, 104-150; Distribu-
tion of , 106-153 ; General statistics of, 87-94; In Atlanta, Ga., 115-120;
In Charlotte, N. C, 135, 136; In Indianapolis, 104-106; In Memphis, 94-
97; In the North, 104, 106-176 passim; In Reconstruction, 21; In select-
ed establishments, 180-187; In Texas, 98-102, 146, 147; In Washington,
D. C, 19, 20, 109-111; Local conditions of, 87-153; Sent out from In-
dustrial schools, 68-79; Strikes against, 173-176; Training of, see In-
dustrial Schools;
Negroes compared with white workmen, 184.
Negro contractors, 22, 102-104.
Negro conventions, 28.
Negro engineers, 17.
Negro in cotton mills, 137, 138, 141.
Negro inventors, 187, 188.
Negro suffrage, 22.
New Haven, Conn., proposed industrial school, 29.
New Orleans, 127, 128.
O,
'ccupations of Negroes, 24.
Occupations of Negroes, by states, 25.
Occupations of whites, 24.
Organized labor, see Trades Unions.
Pace, Mr. H. H., 115.
Patents issued to Negroes, 187.
Philadelphia, 140.
Population by states, 106, 108, 109, 111, 112, 124-133, 135, 138-142, 146, 147 150.
Powderly, Mr. T. V.. 155.
Proceedings of Seventh Atlanta Conference, 4.
R,
railway unions, 167, 168.
Reason, Mr. C. L., 29.
Real estate owned by Negroes, 97, 102, 114, 117, 120.
Reports from artisans, personal, 122-124.
192 THE NEGRO ARTISAN
Resolutions of Conference, 7, 8.
Richmond meeting, K. of L., 155.
Richmond, Va., 148, 149.
Riots vs. Negro workingmen, 153.
S
an Francisco, 108.
Savannah, 113.
Schedules of questions, 9-12.'
Separate Negro central labor bodies, 157.
Skilled laborers, Negro, see Negro Artisans.
Slater Fund, 39, 42, 59.
Slaves as artisans, 13-21.
Sociological work at Atlanta University, 2-4.
Southern Industrial Convention, 179.
State Federations of Labor, 11.
States of the United States, Artisans in, see Index.
St. Louis, 132.
Stowe, Mrs. H. B., and the Negro industrial school, 29..
Strike of iron and steel workers, 174.
Strikes vs. Negroes, 129, 173, 175.
Student labor, 80.
Students in industrial courses, 34-37.
Suffrage, right of, 179.
Summaries, 69, 79, 150, 176, 188.
Superintendents of education, 12.
JL obacco factories, 13, 14.
Tolliver, Mr. A. C, 116.
Tools in homes, 26.
Trade graduates, see Industrial Schools.
Trade Schools, see Industrial Schools.
Tradesman, The, Chattanooga, 11, 180.
Trade Unions: Resolutions on, 8; Schedule of questions sent to, 10, 11;
Opposition to Negroes, 15, 16, 30, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126^ 129, 136, 137, 139,
143, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150; Graduates of trade schools and, 71, 73, 74,
75, 76; Attitude of, toward Negroes, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 102, 105; Member-
ship of Negroes, in states, 107, 108, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 122, 123, 124,
126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135, 136, 137, 139, 141, 148 ; Membership
of Negroes in Unions, 153-177; Methods of discrimination in, 153-177;
Apprenticeship and, 172; Choice of members by, 171, 172; History of,
153-158; Lists of various, 158, 164, 167.
Turner Brass Works, 170.
Tuskegee Institute, 37, 40, 42, 44, 58, 59, 65, 66, 80T 84, 107.
U
V
w,
nemployed Negro artisans, 91, 92.
esta cotton mill, 141.
ages, 95, 97, 99, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 119*, 120, 122, 123, 125, 147, 148, 163, 183.
Washington, Mr. B. T., 5, 59, 156.
Washington, D. C, artisans and mechanics in, 20.
White mechanics' opposition to Negro, &ee Trade unions,- and Color dis-
crimination.
White, Miss E. E., 114.
Williams, Mr. W. T. B., 104.
Wilmington, N. C, 15.
Woods, Mr. G. T., 187.
" The proper study of mankind is man."
STUDIES OF NEGRO PROBLEMS.
Atlanta University Publications.
No. 1 — Mortality among Negroes in Cities; 51 pp., 1896, (out
of print).
No. 2— Social and Physical Conditions of Negroes in Cities;
86 pp., 1897, 50 cents.
No. 3 — Some Efforts of Negroes for Social Betterment; 66
pp., 1898, 50 cents.
No. 4 — The Negro in Business; 78 pp., 1899, 50 cents.
No. 5— The College-bred Negro; 1 15 pp., 1900, (out of print).
— The College-bred Negro; 32 pp., (2nd ed., abridged),
25 cents.
No. 6 — The Negro Common School; 120 pp., 1901, 25 cents.
No. 7— The Negro Artisan; 1902, 50 cents.
No. 8— The Negro Church. (To be published in 1903.)
We study the problem that others may discuss it.
"IN America all schooling should lead primarily to the ele-
T vation and development of the individual and only sec-
ondarily to a greater material prosperity."
Report oj
J. B. Johnson, University of Wisconsin,
C. M. Woodward, Washington University,
H. T. Eddy, Cornell University,
G. T. Swain, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
E. Marburg, University of Pennsylvania,
Committee on American Industrial Training,
Appointed by the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, 1900.
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