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The Black Worker, Volume 5

The Black Worker from 1900 to 1919

Edited by Philip S. Foner and Ronald L. Lewis

With a Foreword by Keona K. Ervin


Published over the course of six years, the eight volumes of The Black Worker: From Colonial Times to the Present contain a voluminous amount of archival material. Through their publication, Philip S. Foner, Ronald L. Lewis, and Robert Cvornyek birthed a new generation of Black labor history scholarship. Theirs was big, synthesis-style, social, political, intellectual, and institutional history that tried to capture as broadly as possible the patterns, trends, and themes that made race and class, and the Black labor experience, in particular, significant, shaping forces in United States history. With its compelling perspective on the salience of Black labor history along with its sheer breadth and depth, The Black Worker was and is required reading for students of labor and working-class history and African American history.


Prior to publication of The Black Worker, Black workers were largely absent from or mere footnotes in established histories; dominant narratives presented a “house of labor” occupied primarily if not exclusively by white, male, industrial workers. These accounts paid little attention to unions’ widespread practice of racial exclusion and discrimination, nor to attempts by Black workers to organize their own labor. Through its documentation of these practices, The Black Worker in no small part helped to bring about acknowledgment of these practices and the start of inclusiveness.


Inserting the voices and actions of the marginal into the canon of history was of monumental importance. By incorporating new voices into the standard chronology of American labor history, The Black Worker helped to push the field to revise its core keywords and conceptual underpinnings.

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Table of Contents

The Black Worker From 1900 to 1919—Volume V

  • Cover
  • Series Page
  • Title Page
  • Copyright
  • Foreword
  • Contents
  • Preface
  • Part I: Economic Conditions of Black Workers at the Turn of the 20th Century
    • Introduction
      • The South
        • 1. Labor Questions in the South
        • 2. After All – The Causes
        • 3. Negro Labor in Factories, by Jerome Dowd
        • 4. A Negro Woman Speaks, 1902
        • 5. Negroes of Farmville, Va., by W. E. B. Du Bois
        • 6. The City Negro: Industrial Status, by Kelley Miller
        • 7. Economic Conditions in Nashville, 1904
        • 8. White Labor Only
      • The North
        • 9. Training of the Negro Laborer in the North, by Hugh M. Browne
        • 10. Menial Jobs Lost, We Go Higher
        • 11. Black Occupations in Boston, Mass., 1905
        • 12. The Negro in New York
        • 13. The Industrial Condition of the Negro in New York City, by William L. Bulkley
        • 14. The Negro's Quest for Work
      • Black Artisans and Mechanics
        • 15. Handicaps of Negro Mechanics, by Harry E. Thomas
        • 16. Negro Mechanics
        • 17. The Negro as a Skilled Workman
        • 18. The American Negro Artisan
        • 19. Skilled Labor in Memphis, Tenn., 1908
        • 20. The Economic Condition of Negroes in the North; The Skilled Mechanic in the North, by R. R. Wright, Jr.
        • 21. The Colored Woman as an Economic Factor, by Addie W. Hunton
        • 22. The Negro Artisan, by W. E. B. Du Bois
  • Part II: Organized Labor and the Black Worker before World War I
    • Introduction
      • Race Relations in the Labor Movement
        • 1. Race Feeling Causes a Strike
        • 2. Status of the Negro in Trades Union Movement
        • 3. Albany, New York
        • 4. Lessons of the Strike
        • 5. Labor Unions and the Negro
        • 6. Duty and Interest of Organized Labor
        • 7. Organization and Leadership
        • 8. The Great Strike
        • 9. The Negro as a Blessing
        • 10. The South: a Country Without Strikes
        • 11. Government's Union Men
        • 12. The 1904 Meat Packing Strike in Chicago, by John R. Commons
        • 13. Woman's Local in the Stockyards
        • 14. Unity
        • 15. View of a Black Union Official
        • 16. The Inner Meaning of Negro Disfranchisement
        • 17. Expert Negroes to Check Unions
        • 18. Niagra Movement Address
        • 19. Negroes and the Ladies Waist-Makers Union
        • 20. Disfranchising Workingmen
        • 21. "Take Up the Black Man's Burden"
        • 22. The Negro and the Labor Unions, by Booker T. Washington
        • 23. Negro Press and Unionism
      • The American Federation of Labor and the Black Worker
        • 24. James E. Porter to Samuel Gompers, April 20, 1900
        • 25. James Leonard to Samuel Gompers, May 18, 1900
        • 26. James E. Porter to Samuel Gompers, May 19, 1900
        • 27. James E. Porter to Samuel Gompers, June 15, 1900
        • 28. James Leonard to Samuel Gompers, June 29, 1900
        • 29. H. H. Spring to Frank Morrison, December 16, 1900
        • 30. C. H. Blasingame to Samuel Gompers, January 1, 1901
        • 31. John T. Wilson to Frank Morrison, November 2, 1903
        • 32. J. C. Skemp to Frank Morrison, July 9, 1904
        • 33. Samuel Gompers to the Brown & Williamson Company, August 18, 1904
        • 34. Editorial
        • 35. Excerpt from a Speech by Samuel Gompers in St. Paul, Minnesota
        • 36. Excerpts from Convention Proceedings of the Texas State Federation of Labor
      • New Orleans Levee Strike 1907
        • 37. To Rise Together, by Oscar Ameringer
        • 38. General Strike of All Levee Unions is Now On
        • 39. Screwmen Agree on 180 Bales
        • 40. Committee to Investigate Port Charges Not Chosen
        • 41. Levee Labor Peace is Again Threatened
        • 42. Port Inquiry Goes Deeper Into Levee Labor Troubles
        • 43. Placing the Blame for Labor Troubles on the Levee
      • 1908 Alabama Coal Strike
        • 44. Strike Situation is Unchanged
        • 45. A Card
        • 46. Sheriff Higdon Against Them
        • 47. Troops Out For Strikers
        • 48. With 1000 Volleys Rang Mountain Around Jefferson
        • 49. Deputies Wounded by Leaden Missiles
        • 50. Masked Men Beat Yolande Pumper to Insensibility
        • 51. More Disturbances in Mining District Cause Some Alarm
        • 52. Negroes Arrested on Grave Charges
        • 53. More Lawlessness Results in Death in Mining Fields
        • 54. Miners Afraid to Return to Work at Short Creek
        • 55. Arrest in Ensley for Dynamiting
        • 56. More Negroes are Held on Suspicion
        • 57. Miners' Union Invades Walker With the Fight
        • 58. Dynamite Under Brighton House
        • 59. Governor Comer Comments on Strike Situation
        • 60. Negroes are Acquitted
        • 61. Two Deputies in Brighton are Held for Lynching Negro
        • 62. Striking Miners Rally Near Mines at Dora
        • 63. New Troops Take Up Duty in the Strike District
        • 64. Three are Dead and Eleven Wounded
        • 65. Arrest 30 Miners for Train Murders
        • 66. Lawless Acts Again Reported
        • 67. Governor Confers With Col. Hubbard
        • 68. Negro Masons Advised to Stay Out of Unions
        • 69. Camp of the Blocton Soldiers Inspected
        • 70. Shatter Homes and Spread Terror
        • 71. Why Should Leaders Be Permitted to Remain?
        • 72. Social Equality Talk Evil Feature of Strike
        • 73. Non-Union Miner Shot from Ambush Near Pratt City
        • 74. Arrests Made in Strike District
        • 75. Two Speakers Put Under Arrest
        • 76. The Social Equality Horror
        • 77. Everybody Knows Who is to Blame For Conditions
        • 78. Spirit of Deviltry Causes Disorder and Crime
        • 79. Put Down All Attempts to Overturn Social Status
        • 80. Race Question Important Issue In Miners' Strike
        • 81. Race Question Bothering the Strike Leaders
        • 82. "Social Equality" Side of the Miners' Strike
        • 83. Strike Called Off; Order Goes Forth
        • 84. Strike Called Off by Official Order
      • Georgia Railroad Strike, 1909
        • 85. Negroes Cause Strike
        • 86. Union Wars on Negroes
        • 87. Violence Continues on Georgia Railroad
        • 88. Georgia Road Not Trying to Establish Negro Supremacy
        • 89. Mob Negro Firemen on Georgia Railroad
        • 90. Anti-Negro Strike Ties Up Railroad
        • 91. Neill Offers Mediation
        • 92. The Strike in Georgia
        • 93. Race Prejudice Mixed With Economics
        • 94. May Arbitrate Georgia Strike
        • 95. Georgia Firemen's Strike
        • 96. Georgia Strike at a Deadlock
        • 97. To Run Mail Trains with Negro Firemen
        • 98. Anxiety in Washington
        • 99. Mob Attacks Train Causes New Tie-up
        • 100. Federal Officials End Georgia Strike
        • 101. Conference to Aid Negroes
        • 102. Ousting of Negroes is Still Demanded
        • 103. The Georgia Strike
        • 105. Georgia Railroad Strike
        • 106. Race Strike on Georgia Railroads
        • 107. The Georgia Compromise
        • 108. What Shall the Negro Do?
        • 109. Negro Firemen Upheld
        • 110. Georgia Firemen Satisfied
        • 111. Hope For the Negro
        • 112. Want No Negro Firemen
        • 113. The Georgia Strike
        • 114. Black Spectre in Georgia
        • 115. Georgia Railroad Strike
  • Part III: The Great Migration
    • Introduction
      • Exodus to the North
        • 1. Migration of Negroes to the North, by R. R. Wright, Jr.
        • 2. Negro Exodus From the South, by W. T. B. Williams
        • 3. Labor
        • 4. The Negro Moving North
        • 5. Before Leaving the South
        • 6. To North: Bad Treatment, Low Pay
        • 7. Why the Negro Leaves the South
        • 8. "Freedom's Ticket"
        • 9. The Black Migrant: Housing and Employment
      • Letters of Negro Migrants, 1916–1918
        • 10. Letters Asking for Information About the North
        • 11. Letters About Groups for the North
        • 12. Letters About Labor Agents
        • 13. Letters About the Great Northern Drive of 1917
        • 14. Letters Emphasizing Race Welfare
  • Part IV: The Migration and Northern Race Riots
    • Introduction
      • Race Riot in East St. Louis, 1917
        • 1. East St. Louis Riots: Report of the Special Committee
        • 2. The Congressional Investigation of East St. Louis, by Lindsey Cooper
        • 3. What Some Americans Think of East St. Louis
        • 4. The East St. Louis Pogrom, by Oscar Leonard
        • 5. A Negro on East St. Louis
        • 7. East St. Louis Race Riots
        • 8. Our Tyranny Over the Negro
        • 9. Union Labor Denies Blame for Race Riots
        • 10. The Massacre of East St. Louis
        • 11. The East St. Louis Riots
      • The Chicago Race Riot, 1919
        • 12. The Chicago Riot
        • 13. Chicago Race Riots
        • 14. A Report on the Chicago Riot by an Eye-Witness
        • 15. Chicago and its Eight Reasons, by Walter White
        • 16. Exploitation of Negroes by Packers Caused Riots
        • 17. On the Firing-Line During the Chicago Race-Riots
        • 18. What the South Thinks of Northern Race-Riots
        • 19. Chicago in the Nation's Race Strife, by Graham Taylor
        • 20. Why the Negro Appeals to Violence
        • 21. The Lull After the Storm
  • Part V: George E. Haynes and the Division of Negro Economics
    • Introduction
      • New Opportunities Raise New Questions
        • 1. The Negro at Work During the War and During Reconstruction, by George E. Haynes
        • 2. An Appeal to Black Folk From the Secretary of Labor
        • 3. The Opportunity of Negro Labor, by George E. Haynes
  • Part VI: Organized Labor and the Black Worker During World War I and Readjustment
    • Introduction
      • American Federation of Labor Conventions and the Black Worker
        • 1. American Federation of Labor Convention, 1917
        • 2. American Federation of Labor Convention, 1918
        • 3. American Federation of Labor Convention, 1919
      • Race Relations and the Labor Movement
        • 4. The Negro Migration and the Labor Movement
        • 5. Our Women Wage-Earners
        • 6. Factory Girls Resent Abuse
        • 7. The Trainmen's Strike
        • 8. Organize the Negro
        • 9. Organized Labor Not Friendly?
        • 10. Negro Workers are Organizing
        • 11. Big Labor Day Celebration
        • 12. Mills Open to Colored Labor
        • 13. Colored Men Denied Increase
        • 14. The Negro and the War
        • 15. Open All Labor Unions to Colored
        • 16. The Case of the Women Strikers
        • 17. Skeptical of Labor Unions
        • 18. The Changing Status of Negro Labor
        • 19. The Black Man and the Unions
        • 20. The Labor Union
        • 21. Is Organized Labor Patriotic?
        • 22. Negro Workers Get Impetus to Organize in Labor Unions
        • 23. Reasons Why White and Black Workers Should Combine in Labor Unions
        • 24. Would Unionize Negro
        • 25. Negro Striker is Victim Under Espionage Charge
        • 26. Negro Workers' Advisory Committee
        • 27. The Negro Enters the Labor Union
        • 28. The Negro and the American Federation of Labor
        • 29. The Negro and the Labor Union: An NAACP Report
        • 30. Strikes
        • 31. Memorial on Behalf of Negro Women Laborers
        • 32. Eugene Kinckle Jones
        • 33. Report of the Chicago Commission on Race Relations on Organized Labor and the Negro Worker
        • 34. The Negro in Industry, by Herbert J. Seligmann
      • Black and White Unite in Bogalusa, Louisiana
        • 35. Loyalty League Kill 3 Union Men
        • 36. Union Protests to Palmer
        • 37. Views and Reviews, by James Weldon Johnson
        • 38. Arrest Labor Riot Police
        • 39. Report on Situation at Bogalusa, Louisiana by President of Louisiana State Federation of Labor
        • 40. Labor and Lynching
  • Part VII: Socialism, the Industrial Workers of the World, and the Black Worker
    • Introduction
      • Before the War
        • 1. Negroes, Capitalists, Socialists
        • 2. Debs Scores Slanderers
        • 3. A Socialist Carpenter on the Negro
        • 4. The Race Question a Class Question
        • 5. The Colored Strike Breaker, by Rev. George W. Slater, Jr.
        • 6. Delegate Barnes of Louisiana
        • 7. Gompers and the "Race Question"
        • 8. A Warning to "Nigger" Haters
        • 9. Race Prejudice
        • 10. Appeal to Negroes
        • 11. Wants to Know
        • 12. Negro Workers.!
        • 13. "Big Bill" Haywood
        • 14. Colored Workers of America Why You Should Join the I.W.W.
        • 15. Race Equality
        • 16. The Southern Negro and One Big Union, by Phineas Eastman
        • 17. The Nigger Scab
        • 18. Who Cares?, by Mary White Ovington
        • 19. I.W.W. and the Negro, by Joseph Ettor
        • 20. Radical Movement Among New York Negroes
      • Covington Hall
        • 21. Revolt of the Southern Timber Workers
        • 22. Negroes Against Whites
        • 23. Labor Struggles in the Deep South
        • 24. Another Constitutional Convention
        • 25. Views of Voc on Dixieland
        • 26. Manifesto and By-Laws of the Farm and Forest Workers Union, District of Louisiana
        • 27. The Democratic Party
        • 28. As to "The Race Question"
        • 29. "White Supremacy"
      • Post-War and Readjustment
        • 30. Negro Workers: The A.F. of L. or I.W.W.
        • 31. Why Negroes Should Join the I.W.W.
        • 32. The March of Industrial Unionism
        • 33. Justice for the Negro
        • 34. There Is No Race Problem
        • 35. I.W.W. Workers Busy in Chicago
        • 36. Strike Mightier Than Bullets
        • 37. Ben Fletcher
        • 38. Warrant for the Arrest of Ben Fletcher
  • Notes and Index
  • Notes
  • Index

Metadata

  • isbn
    ISBN 9781439917749
  • publisher
    Temple University Press
  • publisher place
    Philadelphia, PA
  • restrictions
    CC-BY-NC-ND
  • rights
    Copyright © 1980 by Temple University—Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education

    First published 1980. Reissued 2019.

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