It was out of the question to get data w_The Negro at Work in New York City: A Study in Economic Progress

points, but sufficient material was gathered to throw considerable

light on (1) the length of time the firms had been established, (2)

the length of time they had been situated at the particular address

where they were found, (3) the means used in keeping the accounts of

sales, expenditures, _etc._, (4) whether they gave credit to customers

and whether they received credit from suppliers, and (5) what

proportion of their customers were white and what proportion were

colored.

I. AGE OF ESTABLISHMENTS

Negroes are often said to be able to start but unable to continue in

undertakings which require determination, persistence, tact, and

which involve strenuous competition. This opinion is certainly not

borne out by the age of their business enterprises in New York. For,

in the face of conditions they had met in beginning business in New

York City, only 51 out of the known 309 enterprises had been

established less than one year; 67 between one and two years; 114

between two years and six years, and 33 between six years and ten

years. Twenty-two had been established between ten and fifteen years,

and twenty were fifteen or more years old, nine of them having been

established twenty years or more; the age of two was unknown. When it

is remembered that during the first decades after emancipation the

larger number of the most energetic Negroes was absorbed in

professional occupations, principally teaching, because of the great

need in race uplift, and that business pursuits have had until within

the last few years minor consideration, to say nothing of trials and

failures in the effort to gain business experience, the age of these

enterprises must be counted a creditable showing. And it is a good

recommendation to the commercial world that the Negro has not made a

reputation for bankruptcy assignments. When one reflects that nearly

all of these proprietors and promoters have migrated to New York City

from less progressive communities and that the chances to get

experience in a well-established business before they attempt to start

an enterprise for themselves is, except in very rare cases, denied

Negroes, the permanency of the ventures in the commercial current

deserve commendation.

2. PERMANENCE OF LOCATION

No less interesting than the length of time a firm had been

established was the length of time it had been located at the address

where it was found by the canvasser in 1909. The exact causes which

induce the Negro firms to change addresses could not be ascertained,

but 81 out of 275 had been at the address where they were found less

than one year, although, as shown above, only 51 were less than one

year old; 72 had been at their present address between one year and

two years, which leaves a smaller margin between that number and the

67 shown to have been established that length of time. There was a

similar small margin of comparison in the groupings of two to four and

four to six years between the time the firms were established and the

length of time they had remained at the one address. This shifting is

due probably to the movements of the Negro population upon which the

firms depend for patronage, but partly to inexperience.

TABLE XXVI. SHOWING LENGTH OF TIME 309 BUSINESS ENTERPRISES HAD BEEN

AT ADDRESSES WHERE FOUND, MANHATTAN, 1909.

--------------------------+----------------------------------------

|Length of time at present address.

--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

| Less | 6 mos.| 1 yr. | 2 yrs.| 4 yrs.|

Class of | than | to 11 | to 1 | to 3 | to 5 |

establishment. | 6 mos.| mos. | yr. 11| yr. 11| yr. 11|

| | | mos. | mos. | mos. |

--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

Barber shops | 5 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 5 |

Brokers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |

Coal, wood and ice | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |

Dressmaking and millinery | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -- |

Employment agencies | -- | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 |

Express and moving vans | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

Groceries | 4 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 4 |

Hairdressers, etc. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -- |

Hotels and lodging houses | -- | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 |

Pool and billiard rooms | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |

Printers | -- | -- | 3 | 1 | -- |

Restaurant and lunch rooms| 5 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 2 |

Saloons and cafés | -- | 2 | -- | 2 | -- |

Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 2 | 5 | 10 | 7 | -- |

Undertakers | 1 | 1 | -- | 3 | 1 |

Miscellaneous | 6 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 3 |

--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

Total | 30 | 51 | 70 | 66 | 22 |

--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

--------------------------+-----------------------------------------

|Length of time at present address.

--------------------------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------

| 6 yrs. | 8 yrs. | 10 | |

Class of | to 7 | to 9 | yr. | |Total.

establishment. | yr. 11 | yr. 11 | and |Unknown.|

| mos. | mos. | over | |

--------------------------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------

Barber shops | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 50

Brokers | 2 | 1 | -- | 3 | 16

Coal, wood and ice | -- | 2 | 1 | 7 | 19

Dressmaking and millinery | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 8

Employment agencies | -- | 1 | -- | 2 | 14

Express and moving vans | -- | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12

Groceries | -- | -- | 1 | 2 | 36

Hairdressers, etc. | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 8

Hotels and lodging houses | 3 | -- | 2 | 1 | 17

Pool and billiard rooms | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 10

Printers | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 5

Restaurant and lunch rooms| -- | -- | -- | 1 | 26

Saloons and cafés | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 5

Tailoring, pressing, etc. | -- | -- | -- | -- | 24

Undertakers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11

Miscellaneous | 2 | -- | 1 | 5 | 48

--------------------------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------

Total | 14 | 9 | 13 | 34 | 309

--------------------------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------

The first of these facts would have effect on the question of a firm's

getting credit on purchases of supplies and both facts mean a great

deal in securing and holding a retail trade.

That a detailed comparison may be made, Table XXVI, showing length of

time firms had been at addresses where they were found, is added (p.

119).

3. BUSINESS METHODS

The age and permanence of a firm does not influence its success so

much as its business methods. And an index of its efficiency in this

respect is its methods of accounting. These are shown in the means

used for keeping accounts Negro business men were asked whether or not

they used ledger, journal, cash-book, day-book, or other records. Some

enterprises such as grocery stores, would have need of a mechanical

establishments were not available. Of these, 35 firms had no means of

keeping accounts, other than the memories of those running the place.

These were, however, very small enterprises. Of the 260 remaining,

60, or 23 per cent, kept a ledger, 122, or 46.9 per cent, kept a

cash-book, and 33.5 per cent had day-books. Thus showing that 37 more

firms kept day-books than kept ledgers, and 62 more firms kept

cash-books than ledgers. Of the 260, 28 had mechanical cash registers

and 64 had some form of record in addition to or other than those

named. In a phrase, the Negro business man is learning the methods of

the business world in keeping track of his business affairs, though in

most cases they are small. Table XXVII gives the details on this

point. (See p. 121.)

TABLE XXVII. MEANS FOR KEEPING ACCOUNTS USED BY 309 NEGRO BUSINESS

ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.

--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------

|Means used in accounting by Negro business

| enterprises.

+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------

Class of | Ledger. | Journal. | Cash-book.| Day-book.

establishment. | | | |

--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

| Yes.| No. | Yes.| No. | Yes.| No. | Yes.| No.

--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

Barber shops | 2 | 43 | -- | 45 | 23 | 22 | 7 | 38

Brokers | 13 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 16 | -- | 8 | 8

Coal, wood and ice | -- | 13 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 6

Dressmaking and millinery | 1 | 7 | -- | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 7

Employment agencies | 3 | 11 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 10

Express and moving vans | -- | 10 | -- | 10 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5

Groceries | 10 | 25 | 3 | 32 | 12 | 23 | 21 | 14

Hairdressing, etc. | 1 | 4 | -- | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2

Hotels and lodging houses | 4 | 6 | -- | 10 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 6

Pool and billiard rooms | 1 | 9 | -- | 10 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 8

Printers | 2 | 3 | -- | 5 | 3 | 2 | -- | 5

lunch rooms | 2 | 10 | -- | 12 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 11

Saloons and cafés | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3

Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 2 | 19 | 2 | 19 | 7 | 14 | 8 | 13

Undertakers | 8 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6

Miscellaneous | 8 | 32 | 2 | 38 | 16 | 24 | 9 | 31

--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

Total | 60 | 200 | 15 | 245 | 122 | 138 | 87 | 173

--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

--------------------------+------------------------------------------

|Means used in accounting by Negro

| business enterprises.

--------------------------+--------------+-----------+-------+-------

| Mechanical | Other | |

|cash-register.| records. | |

Class of +------+-------+-----+-----+ |

establishment. | Yes. | No. | Yes.| No. |Unknown|Totals

--------------------------+------+-------+-----+-----+-------+-------

Barber shops | 10 | 35 | 2 | 43 | 5 | 50

Brokers | -- | 16 | 5 | 11 | -- | 16

Coal, wood and ice | -- | 13 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 19

Dressmaking and millinery | -- | 8 | 1 | 7 | -- | 8

Employment agencies | -- | 14 | 14 | -- | -- | 14

Express and moving vans | -- | 10 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 12

Groceries | 7 | 28 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 36

Hairdressing, etc. | -- | 5 | 5 | -- | 3 | 8

Hotels and lodging houses | -- | 10 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 17

Pool and billiard rooms | 5 | 5 | -- | 10 | -- | 10

Printers | -- | 5 | 2 | 3 | -- | 5

lunch rooms | -- | 12 | -- | 12 | 14 | 26

Saloons and cafés | 4 | 1 | -- | 5 | -- | 5

Tailoring, pressing, etc. | -- | 21 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 24

Undertakers | -- | 11 | 11 | -- | -- | 11

Miscellaneous | 2 | 38 | 11 | 29 | 8 | 48

--------------------------+------+-------+-----+-----+-------+-------

Total | 28 | 232 | 64 | 196 | 49 | 309

--------------------------+------+-------+-----+-----+-------+-------

4. CREDIT RELATIONSHIPS

The manner and care with which a firm keeps record of the business it

transacts is closely connected with its credit relations with the

buying and selling community. And both these determine to a large

extent its business operations. Considerable light was thrown upon the

credit relations of Negro enterprises by finding out, wherever

possible, whether a firm gave credit occasionally or habitually to

customers and whether it received credit from suppliers. Naturally,

many proprietors would not give any reply to such an inquiry, and

especially about their credit standing with wholesale firms. On such a

delicate point, however, information about the giving of credit was

secured from 205 firms, and about the receiving of credit from 94

firms. Of the 205 that furnished statements on the matter of giving

credit, 87, or 42.4 per cent, occasionally, and 69, or 33.6 per cent,

habitually had given credit to customers, while 49, or 23.9 per cent,

did not allow credit. When asked about their credit relations with

suppliers, 47 replied that they did receive credit, and 47 that they

did not receive any; and 215 gave no reply on this point.

5. THE PURCHASING PUBLIC

Length of time established, length of location at an address, methods

of accounting and the credit relations play no more important a part

in the efforts of Negroes to build up their business enterprises than

do the subtle whims and prejudices of the community. This is shown

first by the location of nearly all the enterprises in Negro

neighborhoods. Of all the 309 enterprises, 288 were located either

within or upon the border of the Negro districts. It may be expected,

of course, that Negroes will look to their own people first for their

patronage, but they should be allowed to cater to the public at large,

especially in a cosmopolitan commercial center like New York. In the

case of real estate brokers, this is partly true and has grown partly

out of the Negro broker's ability to handle more successfully than

others properties tenanted by Negroes. It is not generally the case in

other lines of business, however, as the testimony of many Negro

business men shows.

It was difficult to get statements that would be a basis for a

percentage estimate of how liberally white people traded with these

Negro firms. Brokers gave no statements that could be so used because

nearly all of the 16 brokers had many transactions which involved

white owners and colored tenants, white or colored sellers and white

or colored buyers. Employment agencies faced a similar situation. Of

the other 279 firms, 81, or 29.7 per cent, reported no white

customers; 92, or 33.3 per cent, reported that less than 10 per cent

of their customers were white. Thus 63 per cent of the Negro business

firms have to depend upon the small purchasing power of their own

people for the trade with which to build up their enterprises. This is

partly due to the feeling of the Negroes in business that they are to

cater mainly to Negroes and partly to their inexperienced way of

handling customers. But the main reasons are the difficulties they

have in renting places in desirable localities and in the refusal of

white people to patronize Negroes in many lines of trade.[76] Of the

remaining firms 42, or 15 per cent, reported between 10 and 49 per

cent white customers. The numbers above were small and only one firm,

in the class of dressmaking and millinery, and three in the

miscellaneous class, reported an exclusive white trade.

What a battle the Negro business man has to fight can be surmised when

to the fact of a narrow patronage from his own people, who have the

small purchasing power of their low-paid occupations, is added the

severe competition of white firms with larger capital, with more

extended credit and larger business experience, that vie with him for

even this limited field. Table XXVIII (p. 125), which follows, was

compiled on the basis of proprietors' statements of the probable

number of white and colored customers over a given number of months.

It is about as accurate as such an estimate can be and is far more

reliable and definite than general impressions. The percentages of

white customers are given, it being understood that the remainder were

Negroes. This small amount of information is very significant in

showing how the attitude of the white public affects the economic

advancement of the Negroes.

In the foregoing chapter we have reviewed some very definite facts

concerning the Negro business man's dealing with the community. We

have seen that his enterprises are permanently established although

against great odds, but that permanence of address is not so well

secured. Nearly all, 260 out of 309, were known to have some of the

usual methods of keeping accounts, and of the 205 from whom

information on the matter was obtained about three-fourths gave credit

either occasionally or habitually; while of the 94 who answered as to

their receiving credit, about half did and the other half did not

receive credit.

TABLE XXVIII. ESTIMATED PROPORTIONS OF WHITE CUSTOMERS OF 279 NEGRO

BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, MANHATTAN, 1909.

---------------------------+----------------------------------------

|Estimated Proportion of Whites of Total

|Customers of Negro Business Enterprises.

+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

Class of establishment. | None. | Less | 10%- | 25%- | 50%- |

| | than | 24%. | 49%. | 74%. |

| | 10%. | | | |

---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

Barber shops | 16 | 23 | 7 | 2 | -- |

Brokers | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |

Coal, wood and ice | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |

Dressmaking and millinery | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | 1 |

Employment agencies | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |

Express and moving vans | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |

Groceries | 10 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 2 |

Hairdressers, etc. | 1 | 5 | -- | -- | -- |

Hotels and lodging houses | 15 | 1 | -- | 1 | -- |

Pool and billiard rooms | 3 | 3 | 2 | -- | 2 |

Printers | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 2 |

Restaurant and lunch rooms | 16 | 7 | 1 | 2 | -- |

Saloons and cafés | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | 2 |

Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 4 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 2 |

Undertakers | 5 | 6 | -- | -- | -- |

Miscellaneous | 4 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 11 |

---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

Totals | 81 | 92 | 22 | 20 | 28 |

---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

---------------------------+----------------------------------------

|Estimated Proportion of Whites of Total

|Customers of Negro Business Enterprises.

+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------

Class of establishment. | 75%- | 90%- | 100%. |Doubtful|Total.

| 89%. | 100%. | |and |

---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------

Barber shops | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 50

Brokers | -- | -- | -- | -- | --

Coal, wood and ice | 1 | -- | -- | 3 | 19

Dressmaking and millinery | 2 | 2 | 1 | -- | 8

Employment agencies | -- | -- | -- | -- | --

Express and moving vans | 2 | 1 | -- | 1 | 12

Groceries | -- | -- | -- | -- | 36

Hairdressers, etc. | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 8

Hotels and lodging houses | -- | -- | -- | -- | 17

Pool and billiard rooms | -- | -- | -- | -- | 10

Printers | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 5

Restaurant and lunch rooms | -- | -- | -- | -- | 26

Saloons and cafés | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5

Tailoring, pressing, etc. | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | 24

Undertakers | -- | -- | -- | -- | 11

Miscellaneous | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 48

---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------

Totals | 10 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 279

---------------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------

The attitude of the white purchasing public has had a tremendous

effect on Negro business, because it has failed to forget color in its

business dealings. In many lines of business white people will not

patronize Negroes at all and about two-thirds of all enterprises

depend upon the low purchasing power of the Negro group. The idea that

white people will not trade with them to any considerable extent and

that they must depend upon their own people is so steeped into the

mind of the Negro that he often does not perceive that he is catering

to the whole public, white and black.

FOOTNOTES:

[76] This conclusion is based upon the statements of Negroes that

white people have entered their stores apparently to buy, but beat a

retreat upon finding a Negro in charge. Two Negro proprietors employed

white workmen to call at residences, _etc._, in the operation of their

businesses while they kept in the background. The writer traced out

cases of refusals to rent places to Negro firms. Some of the incidents

would be amusing if they were not tragic.

CHAPTER IV

SOME SAMPLE ENTERPRISES

In the first chapters on Negro business enterprises, the several

classes of establishments were described in order to present a picture

of business among Negroes as a whole. A more concrete idea of the

organization and operation of these enterprises, as well as of the

proprietors who own and operate them, may be gained from detailed

descriptions of selected establishments of each kind. These have been

chosen as representing a fair type of the classes to which they

belong. On some points there may be wide variations, but each class as

a whole is fairly represented by those detailed.

1. INDIVIDUALS AND PARTNERSHIPS

Establishment No. 1 was a barber shop started in 1898, and moved once

to the present address eleven years before. The proprietor was born in

Savannah, Georgia, had resided in New York City for about twenty

years, and was a journeyman barber before starting his own shop. He

employed four barbers besides himself, paying each barber between

forty and fifty per cent of his receipts. This shop was about 12 feet

by 40 feet, and the rental was $30.00 per month. The estimated value

of his tools and fixtures was about $700.00, and the estimated gross

receipts of his business were $3,500.00 in 1907 and $4,000.00 in 1908.

The proprietor kept a cash-book which he balanced once a week. He

started his enterprise with one chair, bought with savings from his

earnings as a barber. He did a strictly cash business. His customers

were Negroes only, although he kept a first-class, cleanly place, was

in a district where there were a large number of small white business

establishments and some white tenants, and bought his supplies from a

white firm.

No. 2. This was a barber shop established in 1890, had moved twice,

and had been located at the last address four years. The proprietor

called himself "the pioneer" as he visited New York City in 1856-7 and

had been living here 32 years in 1909, coming from Calvert County,

Maryland. He had worked as a barber in a shop run for white customers,

and by this means saved money to set up for himself in Mott Haven some

years before opening in New York. He employed one additional barber,

had a shop about 12 feet by 28 feet, for which he was paying $35.00

rent. His tools and fixtures were worth about $200.00, and his gross

receipts amounted to about $900.00 in 1907 and about $850.00 in 1908.

He used a cash-book and occasionally credited customers, although he

paid cash for supplies from a white firm. His shop was located in a

distinctly Negro neighborhood and all his customers were Negroes.

No. 3. This establishment was a grocery store started by a West Indian

at the address where it was found, who took a partner at the beginning

of the second year. The junior partner, a Virginian by birth, was

brought to New York by his mother 12 years previously, while the other

had resided here ten years. The senior partner had a very small

grocery business during one year in the West Indies and worked as an

elevator boy and saved capital after coming to New York, as his change

of residence had absorbed his limited resources. The Virginian was

peddling tea and coffee before entering the firm. He had been a porter

in a department store, but preferred "to be independent, as it seemed

too hard to work for another man." They employed one helper and both

put in their time; they occupied a floor space 20 feet by 40 feet, at

a rental of $35.00 per month. The tools and fixtures were estimated at

$350.00; these included a safe and a large national cash register. The

careful inventory of stock showed $450.00 worth on hand, and the gross

receipts from May, 1908, to May, 1909, was estimated at $6,000.00. The

large national cash register and bank book were sufficient means of

keeping accounts for the strictly cash conduct of the business. Only a

few whites, about all of whom were Jews, live in the blocks adjoining

the Negro neighborhood. They found this store most convenient and

traded with the firm, but more than five-sixths of its customers were

Negroes. The firm sent out hand-bills weekly, and used other forms of

advertisement.

No. 4 was a grocery, started in September, 1906, at the same address

where it was found by the investigator. The proprietor came from the

West Indies to New York City about 12 years previously and engaged in

hotel work by means of which he saved his capital. He was still so

employed, while his brother conducted the store. The store room was

about 14 feet by 40 feet, at a rental of $35.00 per month. The tools

and fixtures were valued at $100.00, and the merchandise on hand at

about $300.00. The estimated gross receipts were between $2,500 and

$3,000 in 1907, and about $2,700 in 1908. Only a cash-book was used in

keeping accounts. This was balanced once a week, and an inventory of

the stock was taken once a quarter. Credit was habitually allowed to

customers, all of whom were Negroes. No whites lived in the

neighborhood.

No. 5. This was a real-estate and insurance agent, who began business

in July, 1907, and had moved once since. He was born in Virginia and

had been in New York City twelve years. This man's business career

started as soon as he left college, as his father had given him an

education and arranged affairs to that end. He entered his father's

barber shop in Virginia and remained three years, then came to New

York and started a club and saloon business with capital brought from

his native home. This was carried on four years and sold out. After

several intervening years, the present enterprise was started on some

of the capital derived from the sale of the previous establishment. He

employed two collectors, had an office space of about 12 by 40 feet in

one of the tenements of which he had charge. His gross receipts from

commissions, _etc._, were about $2,300.00 in 1908. Ledger, cash-book

and day-book were used in accounting. The landlords of the properties

he handled were all white, but all tenants were Negroes. The real

estate sales and exchanges he has handled have been of a similar kind.

No. 6. This was a real estate broker who began business in November,

1903, in Nassau street and moved to his present address two years

later. He was born in New York and has always made his home there.

Before he finished his high school course, he worked during spare

hours and vacations for a real estate firm. After graduation from high

school, he started to work with the same firm on a commission basis

until he began business for himself as a regular broker. He employed

two assistants in his business and had an office in one of the large

buildings in the Wall Street district. His office was modestly but

adequately furnished, the fixtures, typewriter, _etc._, estimated at

$200.00. In 1907 his gross receipts from commissions, fees, _etc._,

were over $2,500, and in 1908 over $3,000. His capital was accumulated

from the business; he used ledger and cash-book in his accounting and

both gave and received credit in his transactions. He was a member of

the New York Fire Insurance Exchange, and has done considerable study

in evening courses on insurance, banking, _etc._ About 95 per cent of

his business dealings were with white people.

No. 7. This enterprise in dressmaking and ladies tailoring was started

in August, 1906, at the address where found. The proprietress came

from her native city, Pittsburgh, Pa., to New York three years

previously, and set up her establishment with money she had saved from

sewing in Pittsburgh. She employed three helpers and used for business

purposes the front room of her apartment, which rented for $25.00 per

month. Her tools and fixtures were valued at about $175.00, and she

kept less than $100.00 worth of stock on hand, as all work was to

order. Gross receipts were about $2,300 in 1907, and about $3,000 in

1908. A cash-book only was used in keeping accounts. About

three-fourths of the customers were white.

No. 8. This is an employment agency started about 1889 by the

proprietor who came from Delaware the year preceding. In the

flourishing days when Negro help was in large demand he made money and

formerly employed two or three helpers. When seen, he alone did not

find full employment. His fixtures were worth less than $50. He used

two front rooms of his living apartment for business purposes. His

gross receipts in 1907 were $1,316, and in 1908, $1,076. He used a

cash-book and the two record books required by the employment license

law. He supplied colored help for white families almost entirely;

business was running low because white help was "displacing the

colored help of years past."

No. 9. This was a restaurant, established in September, 1904, and

moved to the present address two years later. The proprietor was born

in Jacksonville, Florida, and had resided in New York six years when

interviewed. He was a cook and head-waiter before beginning business

for himself. He had two employees, his place occupied a 14 feet by 40

feet basement, for which he paid about $18.00 rental. His fixtures,

_etc._, were valued at about $150, and his gross receipts were about

$3,500 in 1907, and $3,000 in 1908. He had saved money for the

enterprise while engaged in hotel service in Jacksonville. All his

customers were Negroes, except one white regular customer. He admitted

occasionally giving credit to customers, although a sign on the wall

said, "Positively, no trust."

No. 10. This firm sold coal, wood and ice. It was established in

September, 1907, at the address where found, by a native Virginian who

had lived in New York seventeen years, and had previously worked as a

porter in a jewelry house. No help was employed and the small amount

of stock on hand, between $40 and $50, was kept in a cellar about 12

feet by 18 feet. For this a rental of about $8.00 per month was paid.

The gross receipts amounted to about $800 in 1908. The proprietor had

saved some money from his previous occupation on which to begin; he

was located in a Negro neighborhood, so depended entirely on their

patronage. He habitually gave credit to customers but received none

from his white suppliers.

No. 11. This tailoring establishment was started in September, 1907,

by a West Indian, who had lived in New York eighteen years and had

worked as journeyman tailor in St. Christopher, W.I. He had moved five

times since the business was begun. He did mostly cutting and fitting,

but some "busheling." He did not employ any help, and lived in two

rooms in the rear of his business place, paying $25 per month for all.

The tools and fixtures were worth about $150, and the stock on hand

about $50, while gross receipts had amounted to $1,200 in 1907 and

about $1,100 in 1908. He kept a cash-book; gave credit occasionally,

but received none.

This proprietor said he came to New York leaving paying work behind,

because of tales of high wages in his trade; that at first he answered

advertisements for journeymen but was turned away when they saw he was

a Negro. Finally, he worked as waiter to get money to start for

himself. His first "stand" was in a white neighborhood with white

trade, but when a considerable number of Negro customers began to

frequent his place the neighbors made objections to the landlord, who

would no longer rent him the place. At the time of the interview he

was in a Negro neighborhood and had only four or five white customers.

No. 12. This also was a tailoring firm, started in 1907, which did

mainly cleaning, pressing and repairing ("busheling"). The proprietor

was a Georgian by birth, came to New York six years previously, and

worked as a valet, and as elevator man in an apartment. He employed

one part-time assistant, used for his business the front room, about

12 feet by 14 feet, of an apartment which rented for $25 per month.

His tools and fixtures were valued at $140, and he carried about $75

worth of second-hand clothing in stock. His gross receipts in 1908

were about $800. He kept lists of work done for customers. He had been

in the same line of business for seven years in his native state, and

both times had saved wages to carry out his "desire from a lad up to

do business." About two-thirds of his customers were white, and he

gave credit habitually.

No. 13. This firm for express and moving service was established in

September, 1902, in the same block where found, by a Virginian, who

had lived in New York City fifteen years and who worked as a Pullman

porter before beginning in this line of business. He usually employed

from five to seven men, according to the seasonal trade. He had an

express wagon and two vans, which with the horses were valued at

$1,200. His gross receipts amounted to about $3,100 in 1907, and about

$3,600 in 1908. In keeping accounts both ledger and day-book were

used. The proprietor had run a small grocery in Virginia before coming

to New York, and some of the capital from its sale had been saved and

put into this enterprise. He depended upon white customers for about

two-thirds of his patronage.

No. 14 was a manicurist and hair-dressing firm started by the

proprietress in May, 1903, who had been in New York eleven years in

1909 and who worked at a pocket-book factory before starting into this

venture. She was a native of Virginia. The enterprise was not large

enough for any employees; tools and fixtures were worth about $60, and

hair goods, _etc._, on hand were valued at $75; the front room, about

12 by 14 feet, of the living apartment was used for business purposes.

In 1907 and 1908 the gross receipts averaged about $1,000, which was

mainly fees for manicure and hair-dressing services. This enterprise

was started that the proprietress might "be at home," and a cash trade

almost solely among white people was being developed.

No. 15. This was an undertakers establishment started in 1897 by a

minister, who came to New York from Virginia about twenty-five years

ago. The firm had been located at the address where found about nine

years, and had a branch in another part of Manhattan. Two helpers were

employed, the floor space was about 20 by 40 feet, for which a rental

of $35 per month was paid. Tools and fixtures, including dead-wagon,

were valued at $1,200, and about $300 of stock was kept on hand. The

gross receipts of the business were about $9,000 in 1907, and about

$8,000 in 1908. Ledger, cash-book, day-book, and funeral register were

used in keeping accounts. The proprietor started on a small saving

from his salary as a minister, having to run the business a year

before he had the additional $200 in cash for deposit for registration

in the Casket Makers Association, thus securing credit on supplies. He

habitually allows credit to customers, all of whom, with very rare

exceptions, are Negroes.

No. 16 was a hotel on the European plan, established in 1899 by a

Georgian who had been in New York five years previously and had saved

his wages in several kinds of hotel work to get his start. He usually

employed six helpers; the place occupied a four-floor building about

25 by 60 feet, for which a rental of $1,800 per year is paid.

Fixtures, furniture, _etc._, were valued at $2,000. The gross receipts

of the hotel were a little over $10,000 in 1907, and between $9,000

and $10,000 in 1908. Both ledger and cash-book were used in keeping

accounts. Nearly all customers were Negroes, and whites were not

especially sought because those who did come were usually looking for

a colored dive and did not act in an orderly way. Credit was

occasionally allowed customers and the firm had such standing that it

could get such amounts from suppliers as it wished.

No. 17 was a pool-room with a club arrangement in connection. It was

started in 1901 by a native of Virginia, who had been living in New

York eleven years. The firm had moved once since its establishment.

The proprietor was a waiter before beginning this enterprise; he

employed two helpers, his place occupied three floors about 25 by 40

feet, and he paid a rental of $75 per month. His fixtures, tables,

_etc._, were valued at between $1,800 and $2,000, and he said they

were all paid for. In 1907 the gross receipts were about $3,400, and

in 1908 about $3,700, the "best year." A cash-book was kept and

balanced twice a year. Negroes "almost altogether" were customers.

This proprietor had an ambition from boyhood to run a business and at

one time had a second-hand furniture store in Long Branch, N.J.

No. 18 was a job-printing house, started in June, 1908, run since that

time at the same place by two partners, one of whom was born in

Washington, D.C., the other in the West Indies. The West Indian had

been in New York fifteen years in 1909, and had been in the same

business once before; the other had been in New York twenty-five

years; both had saved money as they worked as journeymen printers

before entering business for themselves. At the time of the interview

they did not employ any helpers, but their tools, fixtures, _etc._,

were valued at about $900, and the floor space occupied was about 14

by 25 feet. The gross receipts during the six months of 1908 were

about $900, and the monthly average for the first month of 1909 was

somewhat higher. A cash-book was used in keeping accounts, and about

one-third of their customers were white people. They did a strictly

cash business.

No. 19 was a saloon and café which was opened in November, 1908, at

the place where found. The proprietor came from Kentucky to New York

about ten years previously and worked in a cigar store. He employed

from seven to nine helpers, and his place occupied about 20 by 60 feet

floor space, with a rathskeller in the basement; he paid $100 per

month rental. Fixtures, _etc._, were valued at about $2,200, and stock

was kept on hand to the amount of between $700 and $800. Sufficient

data for an estimate of gross receipts were not forthcoming. Ledger

and cash-book, with cash-register, kept record of business transacted.

Customers were "Negroes, almost exclusively" with a "white person now

and then." At one time the proprietor ran a cigar store, growing out

of his work in such an establishment.

2. THE NEGRO CORPORATION

As was pointed out in a previous chapter, the Negro enters business

either alone or with one or two partners. Small enterprises can be so

financed. But for undertakings that require considerable capital those

who enter them must either have large means or a number must combine

their small funds.

The Negro is alert to business lines which offer chances of profit. He

is slowly learning the method of "big business." The corporation, with

its advantages of impersonal responsibility, facility for taking in or

releasing members, and particularly its combined capital, has been

adopted in a few cases. These can be treated briefly for what

variations they show from the general type.

One of these was a corporation that ran a garage, furnished storage

and other care for machines and operated a line of taxicabs, employing

from nine to eleven men. Three of the firm members had been employed

chauffeurs and thus got the idea and the money to start the firm.

There was storage space for about 50 cars. One of the proprietors came

from Georgia, another from North Carolina. They had a book-keeper and

the usual books for a business house. Five Negro owners and about

forty white owners were storing cars with them.

Another enterprise was a corporation of undertakers with a board of

eight directors, who held nearly all of the stock. In size they had

four employees, occupied a floor space of about 1,200 square feet at a

monthly rental of $150. The investments represented about $1,500 in

dead-wagon and fixtures and a stock on hand of about $1,000. The gross

business was between $9,000 and $10,000 in 1907, the first year of the

business; and over $20,000 in 1908. At its organization there were ten

corporators who subscribed about $300 each to float the enterprise. It

is interesting to note that a hotel-keeper, a minister, three men in

other lines of business and the manager of the concern were among

these ten.

Two other corporations were printing establishments, each with six

original incorporators. One firm did job printing. The other was a

publisher of popular songs and has produced several of New York's most

popular airs. They had two and ten employees, occupied about 158 and

3,000 square feet of floor space, respectively. The larger firm had a

plant valued at between $4,000 and $5,000, kept several hundred

dollars worth of stock on hand and did a gross business of about

$15,000 in 1907, and about $17,000 in 1908. The smaller firm had been

organized in 1909. The larger had run more than four years. The

corporators of the smaller concern included an editor, a messenger,

silk-factory employee, and laundry employee; those of the larger, a

liquor dealer, two actors and three composers of popular songs.

The four other corporations were real estate firms, a line of business

requiring considerable capital and attracting the higher grade of

business ability. In these instances, all except one firm was composed

of the few original incorporators, making the arrangement only a

little removed from a partnership. The one exception was a large

concern with a capital stock of over $500,000. The previous

occupations of the principal promoters of this company included a

lawyer, a pharmacist and two real estate brokers.

The stock of this concern was held by small investors in many parts of

the United States. The firm at one time employed over 200 people in

and out of New York, and claimed to have done an annual business of

over $200,000. At some period in its history it may have done so large

a business, but this was probably only for an exceptionally prosperous

year. This may have led to too sanguine attempts on the part of the

promoters. Because of other poor business methods and bad attempts at

investment the enterprise failed in the winter of 1910-11.

Three obvious points are shown by the facts concerning these

corporations: First, they were composed of only a few members and

therefore were not far removed from large partnerships. This set a

large limit to command of capital for there were no large capitalists

in New York among Negroes. Second, this form of combining capital and

business ability has been tried in a few lines of business only--three

in all, if we exclude the garage. Third, as seen in their previous

occupations, the promoters were men above the average in ability and

of some experience.

CONCLUSION

The significance of the foregoing facts is clearly indicated by the

summaries following each set of figures. The road to the conclusions

is straight. Turning to the preceding chapters, let us see what

conclusions are warranted.

The urban concentration of the Negro is taking place in about the same

way as that of the white population. In proportions, it varies only to

a small extent from the movement of the whites, save where the

conditions and influences are exceptional. The constant general causes

influencing the Negro population have been similar to those moving

other parts of the population to cities. The divorce from the soil in

the sudden breaking down of the plantation régime just after the Civil

War and the growth of industrial centers in the South, and the call of

higher wages in the North, have been unusually strong influences to

concentrate the Negro in the cities. It is with him largely as with

other wage-earners: the desire for higher wages and the thought of

larger liberty, especially in the North, together with a restlessness

under hum-drum, hard rural conditions and a response to the

attractions of the city, have had considerable force in bringing him

to urban centers. Labor legislation in the South has played its part

in the movement.

The growth of the industrial and commercial centers of the South, the

larger wages in domestic and personal service in the North, and social

and individual causes of concentration bid fair to continue for an

indefinite period. The Negro responding to their influence will

continue to come in comparatively large numbers to town to stay.

But the Negro's residence in the city offers problems of

maladjustment. Although these problems are similar to those of other

rural populations that become urban dwellers, it is made more acute

because he has greater handicaps due to his previous condition of

servitude and to the prejudiced opposition of the white world that

surrounds him. His health, intelligence and morals respond to

treatment similar to that of other denizens of the city, if only

impartial treatment can be secured. Doubtless death-rate and

crime-rate have been and are greater than the corresponding rates for

the white populations of the same localities, but both crime and

disease are a reflection of the urban environment and are solvable by

methods similar to those used to remedy such conditions among white

people, if prejudiced presuppositions, which conclude without

experiment or inquiry that Negroes have innately bad tendencies, give

place to open-minded trial and unbiased reason. Snap-shot opinions

should be avoided in such serious questions and statesmen,

philanthropists and race leaders should study the facts carefully and

act accordingly.

The study of the wage-earners among the Negroes of New York City has

disclosed conditions and led to conclusions in line with the foregoing

inferences. The Negro population was solidly segregated into a few

assembly districts, thereby confining the respectable to the same

neighborhoods with the disreputable. This population is made up mainly

of young persons and adults of the working period of life, attracted

to the city largely from the South and the West Indies, principally by

the thought of better industrial and commercial advantages. Single

persons predominate and the percentage of the aged is low. High rents

and low incomes force lodgers into the families to disturb normal home

life.

From the early days of the Dutch Colony the Negro has had a part in

the laboring life of this community. While most of the wage-earners

have been engaged in domestic and personal service occupations,

figures that are available warrant the inference that the Negro is

slowly but surely overcoming the handicaps of inefficiency and race

prejudice, and is widening the scope of employment year by year. What

the individual asks and should have from the white community is a fair

chance to work, and wages based upon his efficiency and not upon the

social whims and prejudices of fellow-workmen, of employers, or of the

community.

In domestic and personal service the Negro is poorly paid compared

with the cost of living. And even in skilled occupations, where unions

admit him and wages are offered equal to those of white workmen, the

Negro must be above the average in speed, in quality of work done, and

in reliability to secure and hold places.

In domestic and personal service, the verdict from a large body of

evidence is that, judged by the testimony of employers as to the

length of time employed, the capability, sobriety and honesty of the

workers, Negroes furnish a reliable supply of employees that need only

to be properly appraised to be appreciated. What is needed for the

workers in this class of occupations and for those in the skilled

trades, is that more attention be given to adequate training, that

more facilities be offered and that a more sympathetic attitude be

shown them in their efforts for better pay and better positions.

In reviewing the Negro's business operations judgment should be

tempered by consideration of his past and of the tremendous odds of

the present. There are handicaps due to the denial of the chances of

getting experience, to inefficiency born of resulting inexperience,

to the difficulty of securing capital and building credit and to the

low purchasing power of the patronage to which a prejudiced public

limits him. He is not only denied experience, sorely limited in

capital and curtailed in credit, but his opportunities for securing

either are very meagre. In spite of all this, there has been progress

which is prophetic of the future.

From the days of slavery Negroes have tried the fortunes of the market

place and under freedom their enterprises have increased in number and

variety. At the present time Southern-born and West Indian Negroes

form the bulk of the business men, the latter far in excess of their

proportion in the Negro population. This success of West Indians is

partly a result of training and initiative developed in a more

favorable environment, as they had the benefit of whatever

opportunities their West Indian surroundings offered.

Although they gained the meagre capital chiefly from domestic and

personal service occupations, Negroes have entered and maintained a

foothold in a number of lines of business unrelated to these previous

occupations. One of the most important findings is that Negroes form

few partnerships and that those formed are rarely of more than two

persons. Co-operative or corporate business enterprises are the

exceptions. This fact has its most telling effect in preventing

accumulations of capital for large undertakings. But co-operation in

business is largely a matter of ability born of experience and where

can Negroes get this experience in well-organized firms, under

experienced supervision? For it is more than a matter of school

instruction in book-keeping and the like. In practically the entire

metropolis, they rarely get beyond the position of porter, or some

similar job. Some fair-minded white people who wish to help the Negro

help himself could do great service for the economic advancement of

the Negro by throwing open the doors of business positions to a number

of ambitious, capable Negro youths, who would thus enter the avenues

of economic independence. The writer knows of three Negroes in New

York City who proved themselves so efficient in their respective lines

that they were taken in as members of large firms.

Another serious matter is connected with this point. All 309 firms

were retail establishments, all of them bought from wholesale

suppliers who so far as could be ascertained were white firms. In some

lines, there were sufficient retailers to support a wholesale house if

their purchases were combined. For example, the group of 50 barber

shops or of 36 grocers would each support a jobber if they pooled

their patronage. But this would demand an organizing power, a business

initiative, a fund of capital and a stretch of credit, which only some

men experienced in the method of the modern business world could

possess.

The small size and scope of Negro enterprises cannot be attributed to

lack of business capacity alone. For the gross receipts of the

selected years taken in connection with the valuation of tools and

fixtures, and with the stock of merchandise on hand showed

considerable diligence and thrift in turning these small resources to

active use.

The variety of the many small establishments indicates also the

initiative of the Negro in using every available opportunity for

economic independence. As we have seen, some of the proprietors had

early ambitions for business careers, and others had worked hard and

saved carefully from small wages that they might rise from the class

of the employed to that of employers. The public to which the Negro

business man caters should accept his wares and his services for their

face value and not discount them because of the complexion of his

face. Then, too, Negroes must learn that the purchasing public desires

to be pleased and is larger than the limits of their own people.

Negro wage-earners and business men have great difficulty in scaling

the walls of inefficiency and of race prejudice in order to escape the

discomforts and dangers of a low standard of living.

APPENDIX A

FAMILY SCHEDULE

------------+--------------+----------------------+----------------------------------

Serial | | FAMILY SCHEDULE |Surname:

No. |Investigator. |No. in family: |Address:

Date: |Source of |No. earning wages: |Floor: No. of rooms: Bath? Rent:

| information.|No. depending on |Location on floor:

| | family income: | front, rear, right, left.

======================================================================================

| | | | +---------+ | +----------------------------

Family |Age|Place of|Time |Reason|M|S|W|D|S|Chr|Pol|R|W|M S|M C|M I S|M T|T |W F

Members. | | Birth. |in | for |a|i|i|i|e| + | X |e|r|o c|o o|o n c|o r|r |h o

| | |N.Y. |coming|r|n|d|v|p| | |a|i|s h|s l|s d h|s a|a |e l

| | | |to |.|g|.|.|.| | |d|t| o|. l|. u o|. d|d |r l

| | | |N.Y. | |.| | | | | |.|e|i o| e| s o| e|e |e o

| | | | | | | | | | | | |.|n l|i g|i t l|a .| | w

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | .|n e|n r .|t | | e

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | .| i | | | d

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | a | | | .

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | l | | |

------------+---+--------+-----+------+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+-+-+---+---+-----+---+--+---

1. Man | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

(Sex.) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

3. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

4. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

5. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

7. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

8. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

======================================================================================

| [*] OCCUPATION. (State exact kind of work done and weekly pay.)

|-------+------+-----+------+------+-------+-------+----------------------

------------+-------+------+-----+------+------+-------+-------+P = Presbyterian.

1. Man | | | | | | | |C = Catholic.

(Sex) | | | | | | | +----------------------

3. | | | | | | | |X Political

4. | | | | | | | | affiliations.

5. | | | | | | | |R = Republican.

7. | | | | | | | |S = Socialist.

8. | | | | | | | |PB = Prohibition.

9. | | | | | | | +----------------------

10. | | | | | | | | *See space for

11. | | | | | | | |remarks on other

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FAMILY SCHEDULE (REVERSE SIDE)

UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS | |TRADE UNION, SECRET

FOR WORK.* (1) | REASON FOR REFUSAL.* (1) | SOCIETIES.* (2)

------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------+----+------------+-------+------+-------+-----+-----+--------+----------

1. Man | | | | | | | | |

(Sex.) | | | | | | | | |

3. | | | | | | | | |

4. | | | | | | | | |

5. | | | | | | | | |

7. | | | | | | | | |

8. | | | | | | | | |

------------+----+------------+-------+------+-------+-----+-----+--------+----------

* (1) Remarks on Unsuccessful Applications:

* (2) Remarks on Trade Unions and Secret Societies:

* (3) Remarks on Occupation:

* (4) Remarks on Education, Trade Training, _etc._: (Where and how was trade learned?)

APPENDIX B

FIRM EMPLOYEES SCHEDULE

(The information given will be regarded as confidential.)

Nature of business of firm-------------------------------

1. Total number of employees: 2. Total number Negro employees:

3. In spaces below state exact nature of work done by your Negro

employees:

------------+-----+--------+------+------------+-----+--------+------

------------+-----+--------+------+------------+-----+--------+------

| | | | | | |

------------+-----+--------+------+------------+-----+--------+------

4. Are white workmen paid same wages for same kind of work?

5. Are your Negro workmen

(a) Faster, equal, or slower in speed than white workmen?

(_underline proper word_).

(b) Better, equal, or poorer in quality of work done than white workmen?

(_underline proper word_).

6. If not now, have you ever employed Negroes?

(See the other side.)

FIRM EMPLOYEES SCHEDULE (REVERSE SIDE)

7. If competent Negro workmen could be furnished, would you employ them?

8. If you would not employ them, please give reasons.

9. Remarks on attitude of your white workmen toward Negro workmen, _etc._

APPENDIX C

BUSINESS SCHEDULE.

BUSINESS SCHEDULE--CONFIDENTIAL

DATE: FIRM NAME:

ADDRESS:

INFORMANT: WHEN ESTABLISHED: HOW LONG AT THIS ADDRESS?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Organization (underline): individual, partnership,

number of partners______, agent.

2. (underline): Manufacture, jobbing, wholesale, retail,______________

3. Kind of service or goods offered (e.g., hotel, barber,

groceries, real estate, etc.)______________________________________

4. Number of employees: ______ Estimated total business

done past 1907: $____________

1908: $____________

5. Previous occupations of owners or promoters: ______________________

6. Birthplace of owners or promoters: ________________________________

Years in N.Y. City: ______

7. Valuation of plant, tools, Fixtures, etc.: $_________

Of merchandise on hand: $_________

8. Other assets: $__________ Liabilities: $__________

9. Insurance: $__________ Rent per month: $_________ Floor space:_____

10. Nationality of customers: ________________________________________

11. Account books used (underline): Ledger, journal, cash-book,

day-book

12. How often are books balanced? ____________________________________

13. Inventory taken?__________________________________________________

14. For what special reasons did you enter business: _________________

(How was capital secured?):_______________________________________

15. Remarks on history, etc., of firm: (Credit given occasionally?

Habitually? Received?): __________________________________________

(For further remarks use back).

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Scottron, Samuel R. The Negro in business before the war. Colored

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545-551. 1907; 37: 1.

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INDEX

Assembly districts, Negroes in, 52-53

Back-to-the-land movement, 33

Business establishments, nature of, 98

Classified, 99

Floor space occupied by, 106

Gross receipts of, 113-114

Length of residence in New York of proprietors of, 101

Number of employees in, 105

Ownership of, 100

Permanence of location of, 118-119

Table of floor space of, 107

Table of gross receipts of, 115

City growth, causes of, 13

Foot-note on, 43-44

Colonial General Assembly, laws passed by, 94-95

Colored American (newspaper), 67, 96

Crime in cities, 39-41

Death-rates of whites and Negroes, 34-37

Changes in Richmond, Va., 37-38

Diagrams:

I. Increase of whites and Negroes in cities, 16

II. Death-rates in cities, 36

III. Distribution of Negro population in Harlem, 50

IV. Distribution of Negro population in "San Juan Hill" district, 51

Freedmen, as shiphands, 66

Property escheated, 95

Health of Negroes in cities, 34-38

Industrial centers, migration of Negroes to, 19-25

Lake George, Negroes in battle of, 66

Lodgers, natural members and, 62

Consist of, 63

Natural members in families, 62-63

Number of lodgers in families, 64

Migration to cities, 15-17

Secondary causes of, 29

Nativity of Negroes, of New York State, 57

Of New York City, 58-59

Of West Indians, 58

Of business proprietors, 100

Negro population of New York, table showing growth of, 47

Distribution of 2,500 families in, 52-53

Segregation of Negro, 48-51

Negro, riot of 1712, 95

So-called plot of 1741, 67

New Amsterdam Colony, slaves as laborers in, 66

Slaves owned land in, 67

Occupations, history of, 66-69

In 1890 and 1900, 69-71

In 1905, 72

Proportion of males and females in, 73

Tables of, 71-72, 74

Reasons for Negroes coming to New York, 27-28

Tables of, 27, 31-32

Slaves, as farm laborers and stevedores, 66

Able to hold land, 67

Forbidden to trade, 94

Soil, divorce of Negro from, 18-19

United Public Waiters, 68

Becomes Beneficial Association, 69

United States, city growth in, 13

Wages, in domestic and personal service, 78-79

In hotel service, 81

Table of, 80-81

Union rates, 82

Wage-earners, sex and age, 54-55

Efficiency of male, 83

Efficiency of female, 84

Efficiency of skilled, 88

Marital condition of, 60-61

Tables of efficiency of, 85, 87

Wilcox, Professor, quoted, 14

Work, M.N., quoted, 40-41

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The Negro at Work in New York City: A Study in Economic Progress · 第 6 / 6 章

It was out of the question to get data which would cover all of these