_A Delinquency Study of the Negro in Pittsburgh_
An understanding of the conduct and morality of the newcomer and
stranger is essential both for the migrant himself and for the
community upon which he is thrust. The migrant is unknown to us. We
look upon the stranger with suspicion and upon all his habits and
customs as queer and out of the ordinary. It is therefore natural for
us to question his morality and character and to consider him the cause
of the crimes and vices of the community. In the past, we blamed the
Italians, the Slavs, the Jews and the other foreign groups as being
mainly responsible for many of the anti-social acts in our urban
society; but when we come to know them our attitude changes.
The Negro, although with us for centuries, is still unintelligible to
the average northern community. This has been borne out by our present
survey in the Pittsburgh district. Although in many instances the
Negroes live near the whites, even among them, there is very little
understanding or communication between the two races, and mutual
prejudice and suspicion prevail.
With the cessation of the white immigration incident to the war and
the influx of thousands of Negroes from the South the black has become
the stranger in town. We see him crowding in certain districts,
congregating on street corners, apparently amazed at his sudden
transference from country to city life; from his home, a familiar
though oppressive environment, into the glare and lure of the great
industrial city with its apparent freedom for all. The Negro looks with
wonder upon all this, and his reaction to it seems suspicious to the
whites. When they see the police patrol wagon frequently in the colored
district or when some crime is committed in that neighborhood it is not
unnatural for them to think that these strangers are responsible for
all crime and vice. This, unfortunately, is not only the attitude of
the average person unfamiliar with conditions, but is also the theory
upon which the police officials seem to proceed in their work. On one
occasion when a murder was committed in the “Hill” district the police
made wholesale arrests of the Negroes, only to free them in a few days,
having no evidence against them.
This assumption of the Negro’s responsibility for a “wave of crime,
rape and murder” this year was held not only by persons who got their
information from a played-up case in the newspapers, but also by many
social workers and Negroes themselves, as was evidenced by their
expressed personal opinions. A colored probation officer, for instance,
asserted that the juvenile delinquency among her people had at least
doubled during the last year, and she was greatly surprised when an
examination of the records disclosed a very considerable decrease
in these cases, (Table No. XIX). This illustrates how erroneous our
impressions about strange groups in our communities may be, and how
essential are the facts to a clear understanding of the situation.
[Illustration: Wednesday 3:30 P. M. Lower Wylie Avenue.]
In order to ascertain the facts concerning the extent of Negro crime
in the Pittsburgh district, an analysis was made of the police court
records of seven months in the year 1914-1915 in comparison with the
same period of 1916-1917. The periods selected were December 1, 1914 to
June 30, 1915 and December 1, 1916 to June 30, 1917. The first period
embraces the time of the initial war prosperity before the migration
had begun. In the second period the Negro migration was at its highest
point. The police dockets of Station Number 1, the Central Station, and
Station Number 2--which is in the most densely populated Negro section
of the city--were carefully canvassed and compared as to number of
arrests, kind of charges, disposition of cases and age, sex, etc., of
the accused. Tables follow:
_TABLE NUMBER XV_
_Showing Total Number of Charges of Arrested Negroes Brought to
Stations No. 1 and No. 2 from December 1, 1914 to June 30, 1915 and
December 1, 1916 to June 30, 1917, and also the percentage of Increase
during the last Period._
+--------------------+------------------+-------------------+------+
| | 1914-1915 | 1916-1917 | % of |
| CHARGES +-----+------+-----+-----+------+------+ Inc.|
| | Male Female Total| Male Female Total | 1917|
+--------------------+------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+------+
| PETTY OFFENCES | | | | | | | |
|Suspicious Persons | 390| 77| 467| 668| 111| 779| 67|
|Disorderly Conduct | 353| 74| 427| 493| 106| 599| 41|
|Drunkenness | 240| 42| 282| 869| 40| 909| 222|
|Keeping Disorderly | | | | | | | |
| Houses | 16| 22| 38| 36| 55| 91| 140|
|Visiting Disorderly | | | | | | | |
| Houses | 92| 29| 121| 217| 76| 293| 142|
|Common Prostitute | 0| 58| 58| 0| 54| 54| --7|
|Violating City | | | | | | | |
| Ordinances | 85| 0| 85| 143| 0| 143| 68|
|Keeping Gambling | | | | | | | |
| Houses | 5| 0| 5| 0| 0| 0| |
|Visiting Gambling | | | | | | | |
| Houses | 31| 0| 31| 0| 0| 0| |
|Vagrancy | 75| 9| 84| 93| 0| 93| 11|
|Other non-Court | | | | | | | |
|Charges | 83| 0| 83| 37| 0| 37| |
|--------------------| ----| ---| ----| ----| ---| ----| |
|TOTAL | 1370| 311| 1681| 2556| 442| 2998| |
+--------------------+------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+------+
| MAJOR OFFENCES |
+--------------------+------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+------+
|Larceny | 20| 1| 21| 20| 3| 23| |
|Assault & Battery | 12| 0| 12| 13| 0| 13| |
|Highway Robbery | 3| 0| 3| 4| 0| 4| |
|Entering Buildings | 20| 0| 20| 7| 0| 7| |
|Felonious Cutting & | | | | | | | |
| Felonious Shooting | 7| 1| 8| 17| 2| 19| |
|Murder turned over | | | | | | | |
| to Coroner | 12| 0| 12| 5| 1| 6| |
|Assault and Battery | | | | | | | |
| with attempt to | | | | | | | |
| Commit Rape | 5| 0| 5| 3| 0| 3| |
|Concealed Weapons & | | | | | | | |
| Point. Firearms | 2| 1| 3| 12| | 12| |
|Other Court Charges | 9| 0| 9| 6| 1| 7| |
| -------------------| --| -| --| --| -| --| |
| TOTAL| 90| 3| 93| 87| 7| 94| |
+--------------------+------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+------+
GRAND TOTAL 1460 314 1774 2643 449 3092
The foregoing tables and figures reveal many features which are
extremely interesting. The first thing that strikes us is the
disproportionate increase in petty arrests over the increase in court
charges or graver crimes. From the figures obtained it appears that
although the number of arrests on charges of suspicion, drunkenness,
disorderly conduct and similar petty charges have increased from
approximately forty percent to over two hundred percent; the graver
crimes, as a whole, have remained stable in spite of the increase in
population, while in some of the crimes which are usually accredited
to Negroes, we find a marked decline. The percentage of grave charges
compared to the total number of arrests, has decreased from 5% in
1914-15 to 3% in 1916-17. Thus, we find only two more larcenies in
1916-17 than in 1914-15; a considerable decline in charges for entering
buildings and two charges less of rape.
_TABLE NUMBER XVI_
_Showing the disposition of the Negroes Arrested and Brought to
Police Stations Number 1 and Number 2 from December 1, 1914 to June
30, 1915 and December 1, 1916 to June 30, 1917; the percentage of the
total arrests and the percentage of increase or decrease during the
latter period._
+-----------------+---------+---------+-------------------+----+----+
| |1914-15 |1916-17 | Percentage of |% of|% of|
| DISPOSITION |Total No.|Total No.| Total Arrests |inc.|dec.|
| | | | 1914-15 1916-17 | | |
+-----------------+---------+---------+----------+--------+----+----+
| Discharged | 849 | 1716 | 48 | 55 | 102| |
| Held for Court | 93 | 94 | 5 | 3 | 0| |
| Fines | 308 | 532 | 17 | 17 | 73| |
| Jail | 230 | 369 | 13 | 12 | 60| |
| Workhouse | 179 | 334 | 10 | 11 | 87| |
| Otherwise | 114 | 47 | 7 | 2 | | |
| disposed | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | | |
| | 1773 | 3092 | 100 | 100 | | |
+-----------------+---------+---------+----------+--------+----+----+
Of the three thousand ninety-two arrests during 1916-1917, one thousand
seven hundred and sixteen were discharged without fines, again
demonstrating the petty character or the lack of evidence on these
charges.
It is not difficult to find an explanation for the tremendous increase
in arrests on charges of suspicion, disorderly conduct and the like.
The colored migrant, timid, friendless and unknown as he is when he
comes from the South, easily becomes an object of surveillance. The
railroads were bringing a train load of black workers practically every
day. Many come to Pittsburgh with the desire to remain here, but the
labor agents want them to go further east. Workers of this class either
try to get away from the labor agent, or, being separated from him in
the general confusion prevailing at the stations, are stranded and
left without resources. As strangers they know nothing about the city
or its ways. They are but lately come out from communities where they
have known only oppression, and in many cases their exodus has been a
secret one. It is not remarkable that men in their state of mind should
be looked upon by the police as questionable characters and arrested on
the charges of being suspicious persons, or should fall into the hands
of the law for various other reasons.
The marked increase in drunkenness is not surprising either. From an
analysis of the housing and lodging situation in Pittsburgh the reader
will realize that these migrants have no place in which to spend
their leisure time except the street corners and in the saloon. In
practically all rooming houses beds are run on a double shift basis.
A man may stay in his room only when he sleeps. On awakening he must
surrender his bed to another lodger and go elsewhere. There are no
recreational facilities provided him by the city. Only one place,
the saloon, welcomes him with open doors, and even this dangerous
hospitality is denied him except in the Negro quarters. That the
stranger should not embrace the only means of relaxation offered him in
his new environment would be incredible.
_TABLE NUMBER XVII_
_Showing the age and sex of the persons Arrested in the two Stations
from December 1, 1914 to June 30, 1915 and from December 1, 1916 to
June 30, 1917._
+------------+--------------+--------------+----------------+
| | Total No. | Total | |
| | 1914-15 | 1916-17 | Total |
| | Male Female | Male Female | 1914-15 1916-17|
+------------+--------------+--------------+----------------+
|Under 16 | 40 | 8 | 21 | 7 | 48 | 28 |
|16 to 20 | 69 | 31 | 112 | 18 | 100 | 130 |
|20 to 30 | 556 | 195 | 1133 | 237 | 751 | 1370 |
|30 to 40 | 398 | 109 | 797 | 96 | 507 | 893 |
|40 to 50 | 232 | 18 | 432 | 35 | 250 | 467 |
|50 and over | 107 | 11 | 192 | 12 | 118 | 204 |
|----------- | ---- | --- | ---- | --- | ---- | ---- |
| | 1402 | 372 | 2687 | 405 | 1774 | 3092 |
+------------+--------------+--------------+----------------+
_TABLE NUMBER XVIII_
_Showing the Number of Married and Single People Arrested; Also
Showing the Sex._
+---------+---------------+--------------+-----------------+
| | Total No. | Total No. | |
| | 1914-15 | 1916-17 | TOTAL |
| | Male Female | Male Female | 1914-15 1916-17|
+---------+---------------+--------------+-----------------+
| Single | 1024 | 194 | 2269 | 256 | 1218 | 2525 |
| Married | 395 | 161 | 428 | 139 | 556 | 567 |
+---------+---------------+--------------+-----------------+
| | 1419 | 355 | 2697 | 395 | 1774 | 3092 |
+---------+---------------+--------------+-----------------+
That there should be a big increase in the visitation of disorderly
houses is to be expected. As we have seen, the migration is as yet
largely that of single men and of men who have left their families
behind them. As with the other foreign groups who have migrated to
America, there is an entire break up of the normal family standard. It
is therefore inevitable that with higher wages and with the prevailing
housing and rooming congestion vice should flourish. The fact that
in spite of the tremendous increase in disorderly houses there is
some decline in arrests on charges of prostitution can be interpreted
only in terms of the laxity and tolerance of the police department.
This also accounts for the fact that while during the seven months of
1914-1915 five gambling houses were raided and thirty-one persons were
arrested for gambling, there were no raids or arrests during the same
period this year.
The big increase in arrests on charges of felonious cutting, pointing
firearms, and carrying concealed weapons, may be explained in a variety
of ways. Since the post bellum days, the carrying and handling of arms
in the South was sanctioned socially. The whites have carried, and in
some places are still carrying these weapons with them. The Negro,
whether because of his habit of imitating the whites or because he
has learned the lesson of protecting and defending himself, has also
acquired the habit of carrying weapons. Being too poor or too timid in
the South to purchase a revolver or similar dangerous weapon, he had to
content himself with a knife or a razor.
Immediately upon the Negro’s arrival in Pittsburgh, and as soon as he
gets off the train, his attention is called to these means of defense
which are profusely displayed in the show windows of second hand stores
near the stations. These arms are tempting to his primitive instinct
of display, and being unfamiliar with conditions in this city--still
thinking in terms of the Southern environment--he considers these
things a necessity. As they can be obtained easily, he manages to
purchase one of these weapons at the first opportunity. That the
lynchings, riots and mistreatments should not teach him a lesson of
self-defense and the need for such weapons would be incredible. It may
also be added that the Southern Negro does not consider cutting another
Negro an offense against the law. Such cutting was frequently practiced
in the South and arrest did not follow. It may therefore not be strange
to learn that on several occasions, when arraigned on charges of
felonious cutting, these migrants expressed great surprise when they
learned that their offense involved a jail or workhouse sentence.
_TABLE NUMBER XIX_
_Total Number of Negro Charges in the Juvenile Court from January
1st, 1915 to June 30, 1915 and January 1st, 1917 to June 30, 1917._
+-------------------------------+----------+----------+
| CHARGES | Total No.| Total No.|
+-------------------------------+----------+----------+
| | 1915 | 1917 |
+-------------------------------+----------+----------+
| Incorrigibility | 11 | 10 |
| Delinquency | 34 | 13 |
| Dependent and Neglected | 18 | 23 |
| Entering a Building | 4 | 1 |
| Larceny | 5 | 8 |
| Violating Parole | 1 | |
| Malicious Mischief | 2 | 1 |
| Assault and Battery | 5 | 1 |
| All other Charges | 3 | 3 |
| | -- | -- |
| | 83 | 60 |
+-------------------------------+----------+----------+
_TABLE NUMBER XX_
_Dispositions of Same._
+-------------------------------+----------+----------+
| | Total No.| Total No.|
+-------------------------------+----------+----------+
| | 1915 | 1917 |
+-------------------------------+----------+----------+
| Returned to Parents | 3 | 4 |
| Detention Home | 1 | 0 |
| Private Home | 30 | 15 |
| Home on Probation | 22 | 16 |
| Thorn Hill Industrial School | 15 | 12 |
| State Reformatory | 4 | 2 |
| Polk School for Feeble Minded | 1 | 5 |
| Other Places | 7 | 6 |
| | -- | -- |
| | 83 | 60 |
+-------------------------------+----------+----------+
Table number XVII indicates that the majority of those arrested are
between the ages of 20 and 40. The large number of women arrested
is rather surprising, although the proportional increase of women
arrested is far below that of men. This may be due to the fact that the
migration is largely of men without families. The overwhelming number
of single people as compared with married ones, is also to be expected,
although the police record based only upon uninvestigated statements of
prisoners, may not be very authentic.
[Illustration: A House in the Hill District Credited with Sheltering
Over 200 Negroes.]
The examination of police court dockets reveals one or two other
significant features. It shows the continuance of the migration by
the fact that a great number are listed as having “no homes.” The
number giving such “address” this year is far greater than during
the previous period; even when the total of those who refuse to give
correct addresses is subtracted, the increase is still clearly shown.
In the records of those who give their addresses as of this city, it
is important to note the close relation of congestion and bad housing
conditions to the police court records. Throughout the docket, a few
houses notorious for their overcrowding stand out very prominently.
Thus, a well known tenement house on Bedford Avenue, which is credited
with having over one hundred families inside its four walls, has given
eighty-four arrests during the seven months of 1914-1915, and over one
hundred during the seven months of 1917. The same thing is true of
several other houses.
Table number XIX showing the Juvenile Court records is surprising. That
there should still be an absolute decline in juvenile delinquency, in
spite of the increase in population, is something the most optimistic
of us would have hardly anticipated.
After the preceding analysis, the reader has doubtless already
realized how unfounded was the popular belief in a Negro “wave of
crime, rape and murder” in Pittsburgh within the last year. The facts
are self-evident. From our analysis, we must conclude that the Negro
migrant is not a vicious character; is not criminally and mischievously
inclined _per se_, but on the other hand is a peaceful and law
abiding individual. He comes to Pittsburgh to seek better economic and
social opportunities. He is in most instances anxious to let others
alone in order that he himself may be let alone.
That the rise in wages is a considerable factor in the decrease of
juvenile delinquency and graver crimes as a whole is probable. That the
Negro becomes a victim of the saloon and the vice elements is evidently
more the fault of the community than of himself. He is often anxious to
rid himself of these associations, but it can be done only by his white
brother’s realization of the social responsibility which he owes to the
community.
HEALTH STUDY
That the conservation of health is no longer the concern of the
individual affected alone, but is the problem of the whole community
is now generally recognized. The relation of cause and effect in our
complex urban life is nowhere more clearly shown than in the health
phase of our group relations. In this aspect of community life at
least, it is realized that each of us constitutes one of the cogs in
the civic machinery, and that the welfare of the whole depends upon the
welfare of the individual. No one in the city, even if he be living
under the best conditions can be certain of immunity from the menace of
epidemic or of venereal diseases and tuberculosis. Infantile paralysis,
and the other contagious or infectious diseases have no regard for
differences of social status or residential respectability.
The Negroes of Pittsburgh constitute a very considerable fraction of
the city population. We have only partially segregated districts, and
the Negroes live near us or in our midst. They are with us on the
streets, in street cars, stores and amusement places. They work side
by side with us in the mills, factories and offices. Their children
and ours attend the same schools, drink from the same fountains and
play in the same yards. Since the beginning of the European War, our
foreign supply of domestic servants has been practically cut off, and
the colored women are the only ones available for this type of work.
These women live in our homes, wash our clothes, cook our dinners,
make our beds and nurse our children. A close inter-relation between
the two races exists, and we cannot long hope to be free from the
diseases to which our servants are subject. Once it is realized that
our own welfare is greatly affected by the welfare of the Negro, it is
obvious that we must see to it that his health is conserved. Our old
ostrich-like policy of comfortable neglect will not serve to protect us.
[Illustration: INTERIOR COURT SCENE
Note Hydrant on Left and Privy on Right which are used by Twelve
Families, White and Negro.]
We cannot remain indifferent to the startling adult and infant
mortality rates among Negroes. Ignorance of and indifference to disease
in any one group will ultimately work harm to the entire population,
and neglected disease in the black race means the increase of disease
among the whites. It is essential, therefore, for our own well-being
that we look into the conditions under which our Negro brethren live;
and ascertain all the facts which may throw some light upon the actual
conditions existing. Hence, we have proceeded to analyze the records
which could be obtained in our city health department, the records
of a few of the larger hospitals in the city, and the records of the
coroner’s office. The tables and discussion of the same follow.
It is unfortunate that the statistical bureau of our Health
Department--whether through insufficient appropriations or
otherwise--does not maintain the standards set by similar departments
in other cities. Our department does not afford the information
necessary for a complete study of the health situation. However, from
the figures obtained, it is obvious that our Negro mortality rate and
especially the infant mortality rate is much higher than that of New
York City, for instance, and that we are facing a grave situation.
_TABLE NUMBER XXI_
_Causes of the Negro Mortality Comparing Periods of Seven Months,
January to July, 1915 and January to July, 1917._
+--------------------------------+-------+-------+
| CAUSES | 1915 | 1917 |
+--------------------------------+-------+-------+
| Pneumonia (all forms) | 64 | 183 |
| Tuberculosis (all forms) | 51 | 51 |
| Bright’s Disease and Nephritis | 21 | 23 |
| Apoplexy | 9 | 20 |
| Meningitis | 1 | 17 |
| Syphilis | 12 | 6 |
| Heart Disease | 23 | 45 |
| Diabetes | 4 | 5 |
| Cancer (all forms) | 9 | 8 |
| Bronchitis (all forms) | 4 | 9 |
| Scarlet Fever | 2 | 1 |
| Whooping Cough | 1 | 1 |
| Diphtheria | 1 | 2 |
| Typhoid Fever | 2 | 5 |
| Measles | 3 | 0 |
| Poliomyelitis | 0 | 2 |
| Peritonitis | 0 | 5 |
| Rickets | 5 | 1 |
| Puerperal Septicaemia | 1 | 4 |
| Uremia | 0 | 4 |
| Asphyxia | 0 | 6 |
| Cirrhosis of Liver | 2 | 0 |
| Accidents | 12 | 16 |
| Homicide | 8 | 3 |
| All other causes | 60 | 110 |
| | ---- | ---- |
| | 295 | 527 |
+--------------------------------+-------+-------+
From a glance at the Negro mortality figures in Pittsburgh during the
first seven months of 1917, (Table No. XXI), we observe the startling
total of five hundred and twenty-seven deaths (excluding still births)
as compared with two hundred and ninety-five deaths in 1915 during the
ante-migration period, an increase of seventy-eight percent. While
it is true that the Negro population has increased according to our
estimate about forty-five percent during the past two years, this
expansion in nowise explains the disquieting increase in mortality. An
examination of the table also reveals the character of this increase.
Pneumonia cases have increased nearly two hundred percent; we also had
a marked increase in acute bronchitis and meningitis, and almost twice
as many deaths from heart disease.
It is often claimed that the Negro is affected by climatic changes.
Transferred suddenly into a northern climate, and compelled to live
in all sorts of dwellings, often with no ventilation and light and in
congested quarters, he may easily succumb to disease. Unaccustomed as
he is to the heavy labor and pace-setting of the Pittsburgh industries,
it can readily be seen how rapidly his health is undermined through
excessive and hard labor. The fact that there has been no increase in
tuberculosis is in accord with the expressed opinion of many colored
physicians interviewed, who claimed that this disease is mainly a city
product, and that the newcomers, especially those coming from isolated
southern districts, are apt to be relatively free from this disease for
a considerable period after their arrival in Pittsburgh.
_TABLE NUMBER XXII_
_Record of Negro Morbidity for a Period of Six Months Before the
Migration, as Compared with an Equal Period during the Migration in the
West Penn Mercy and St. Francis Hospitals._
+--------------------------+-------+-------+
| CAUSES | 1915 | 1917 |
+--------------------------+-------+-------+
| Digestive System | 24 | 29 |
| Respiratory and Throat | 54 | 76 |
| Heart and Kidney | 16 | 10 |
| Brain and Nervous System | 9 | 5 |
| Urogenital Diseases | 35 | 44 |
| | ---- | ---- |
| | 138 | 164 |
+--------------------------+-------+-------+
Table number XXII was ascertained from a study of the records of three
of the largest hospitals in Pittsburgh, as to the treatment of Negro
patients in these Institutions for a period of six months before the
migration and an equal period during the migration. Although this
table proved interesting, as showing the amount, kind and extent of
the hospital morbidity among the colored people, it is not at all
conclusive. That the hospital records give no clue to the sickness
among the Negroes is apparent from the following: Eighty to ninety
percent of the hospital cases examined were ward patients. Very few
Negroes can afford private rooms, and almost every colored physician
complained of the difficulty he had in securing places for his
patients. It is only fair to state however, that one of the largest
hospitals in the city, had no such charge lodged against it.
Aside from possible difficulty in securing beds in the hospitals, there
is another cause for the scanty number of Negro hospital cases. The
Negro not only because of his ignorance, but perhaps even more because
of his inclinations to voodooism and superstition, feels an aversion
to the hospital, where he thinks the knife and the “black bottle” are
frequently used. He is still child-like in many ways, and will prefer
all sorts of patent medicines and quack doctors rather than expose
himself to the surgeon’s knife in a hospital; and chooses to stay at
home among his own people where he may “die in peace.”
_TABLE NUMBER XXIII_
_Comparative Record of the Births and Deaths of Negroes and the
Entire City Population, during the Year of 1915 and the First Seven
Months of 1917._
NEGRO ENTIRE CITY
1915 1915
BIRTHS ███████████ 565 BIRTHS ████████████████ 16,139
DEATHS ██████████ 536 DEATHS █████████ 8,722
FIRST SEVEN MONTHS 1917 FIRST SEVEN MONTHS 1917
BIRTHS ███████ 356 BIRTHS ███████████ 11,013
DEATHS ██████████ 527 DEATHS ████████ 7,657
There is no more striking phase of the local Negro problem, than that
shown in table number XXIII. These figures disclose the astonishing
fact that the death rate among Negroes in this city during the first
seven months of 1917, was forty-eight percent greater than the birth
rate. In other words, while in the city population as a whole, the
number of deaths was thirty percent less than the number of births,
the number of deaths among colored people was forty-eight percent
more than the number of births; thus, for every one hundred persons
born in Pittsburgh in 1917, there were seventy deaths, while among the
colored population, for every one hundred children born, one hundred
and forty-eight persons died.
These figures seem of sinister significance to the Negro race. Even
when taking into consideration the facts that the migration is largely
that of single males, rather than that of families, and that because
most of the women here are doing some work outside the home there is a
definite policy of limiting their birth rate, there still remains the
fact that even during the entire year of 1915, while the birth rate
of the entire city population was practically twice the death rate,
the excess number of births over deaths among colored people was only
twenty-nine in a total of over five hundred.
_TABLE NUMBER XXIV_
_Ages of Persons who Died Within the First Seven Months of 1917._
+---------------+------+
| Under 1 year | 87 |
| Under 5 years | 43 |
| From 5 to 12 | 16 |
| From 12 to 20 | 24 |
| From 20 to 30 | 69 |
| From 30 to 40 | 101 |
| From 40 to 60 | 138 |
| Over 60 | 49 |
| ----- | --- |
| TOTAL | 527 |
+---------------+------+
_TABLE NUMBER XXV_
_Causes of Deaths of Children Under 5 Years of Age._
+-------------------------+------+
| Burns | 1 |
| Malnutrition | 4 |
| Syphilis | 4 |
| Tuberculosis Meningitis | 3 |
| Pneumonia | 51 |
| Tuberculosis | 5 |
| Enteritis | 21 |
| Premature | 9 |
| Meningitis | 2 |
| Bronchitis | 4 |
| Influenza | 2 |
| Asphyxia | 4 |
| Hemorrhage | 1 |
| Convulsions | 6 |
| Diphtheria | 2 |
| Rickets | 1 |
| Heart Disease | 8 |
| Mumps | 1 |
| Poliomyelitis | 1 |
| ----- | --- |
| TOTAL | 130 |
+-------------------------+------+
That the infant mortality rate among colored people is much higher than
among the white groups, is generally believed and it is not surprising
to find that the mortality among Negro infants in Pittsburgh is much
greater than the infant mortality rate for the entire city. Figures for
the year 1916-17 were unobtainable. The records of the Department of
Health show that during the year 1915 one hundred and four children per
thousand born in Pittsburgh, died in their first year.
There were three hundred and fifty-six Negro births in the first seven
months of 1917. During the same period eighty-seven Negro children died
under one year. Of this number fifty-nine had been born between January
and July 1917, which means that one hundred and sixty-six children per
thousand die in their first seven months. This clearly indicates that
the death rate of Negro infants is far above the death rate of white
infants. Table No. XXV also shows the cause of deaths of children under
five years of age who died within the last seven months. At least half
of these deaths were due to preventable disorders, as is apparent from
the figures in the same table.
_TABLE NUMBER XXVI_
_Colored Bodies Received and Disposed of in Morgue, First Six Months
During 1915 as Compared with First Six Months During 1917_.
+-------------------------+------+------+
| | 1915 | 1917 |
+-------------------------+------+------+
| Identified and Claimed | 13 | 32 |
| Identified and Cremated | 5 | 13 |
| Unknown and Cremated | 1 | 2 |
| | --- | --- |
| | 19 | 47 |
+---------------------------------------+
The figures obtained from the Coroner’s Office also indicate an
abnormal increase in the number of colored bodies received and disposed
of by the County Morgue. There were more than twice as many morgue
cases within the first six months of 1917 as during the same period of
1915. That the majority of these bodies were claimed and not disposed
of at public expense, is doubtless due to the high wages paid this
year. High wages at least provide for burials, which are considered
of paramount importance by the Negroes, because of their primitive
superstition, and abhorrence of having their bodies turned over for the
purpose of dissection.
The preceding analysis indicates that the conservation of the
health of the Negro in Pittsburgh is a very complex problem, and is
inter-related with his social, moral, industrial, housing and racial
situation. The Negro is affected by all the elements which render
difficult the preservation of health among whites but in a greater
degree. Many of the factors which work continuously to undermine his
health are to a large extent eliminated among whites; and on the other
hand, much of the effective work done by whites to counteract these bad
influences is entirely lacking among Negroes.
“The Triad of ‘baby-killers’--poverty, ignorance and neglect”--says
Dr. Sobel, of the New York Health Department, “works havoc among Negro
children to a greater extent even than among the whites.”
“The well known relationship between family income and infant
mortality exists among Negroes as among the whites. The crude death
rate is exceedingly high in all Negro districts. There are, however,
well-defined differences in their respective rates, resulting, we
think, from economic conditions. In the districts where the family
income is highest, the death rate is lowest, confirming the opinion
that if we can improve the social and economic condition of the Negro,
an appreciable reduction in their death rate will have been secured.”
(August, 1917 Bulletin of the Department of Health, New York City,
pages 87 and 88.)
While we may admit the claim often advanced that even under the same
conditions disease and infant mortality among Negroes would ordinarily
be higher than that of the whites, because, due to the climatic and
environmental maladjustments, his racial power of resistance is not
as great as that of the white; the Negro is still confronted with
many forces which handicap and work against him, but which are almost
non-existent among the whites.
From our discussion of employment, housing and opportunities for
advancement in Pittsburgh, the reader will realize the difficulties
and hardships which the Negro is compelled to face in this city. Only
a very few of the Negro migrants earn more than $3.60 a day for twelve
hours work. Half of the families here live in one room dwellings.
Practically all of the mothers are doing some work outside the home.
The Negroes have as yet no organization for mutual co-operation. They
live separate and apart from each other. In many cases for instance,
it was found in our survey, that women living next door to each
other for months would hardly know one another, although often they
would both come from the same state and even from the same city. The
Negroes are more exposed and liable to disease because their social,
industrial, educational and moral development is more handicapped than
that of the white man. The Negro is apparently as yet not free even
in the North; he is still held captive in economic bondage, and is
deterred from rising above the lowest servant class. He is, judging
from the present situation, limited to common labor at thirty cents an
hour during prosperous times.
The conservation of health, is as we have seen, no longer the problem
of the individual. It is therefore time that we awaken to the
realization that sickness and a high mortality rate among Negroes is
no longer the problem of the Negro alone. Eventually all of us will
have to pay the price for our indifference, both in money and in lives.
The taxpayer ultimately pays for hospitals and morgues, as well as for
jails and prisons. Our children are not at all immune from the sources
of disease which are ravaging the colored children. This problem is our
problem; we must face it squarely, and see whether any improvement in
this situation is possible.
The significance of such a study and its importance as the basis for
a practical program is clearly demonstrated by the remarkable results
brought about in New York City through a similar study. After a survey
of conditions in the Columbus Hill District, the Negro section of the
Borough of Manhattan the startling evidence of conditions prevailing
there stimulated the New York Bureau of Child Hygiene to take action.
This Bureau has succeeded in reducing the infant mortality rate among
colored people from 202 deaths per thousand children born in 1915 to
193.3 in 1916, and to 180 per thousand children born during the first
six months of 1917.
Dr. Jacob Sobel, Chief of the Division of Baby Welfare, writes as
follows in one of the recent monthly bulletins of the New York
Department of Health.[9]
“The stimulus to our program was given by a study of conditions in the
Columbus Hill District, and it was here that our efforts were first
concentrated. It was our knowledge of the conditions in this district
which led to an effort on the part of the Bureau of Child Hygiene to
institute a campaign against the excessive death rate among colored
infants, by studying primarily the needs of the situation, and by
securing the co-operation of all agencies and individuals interested
in the welfare of colored people. With this end in view, there was
first instituted a preliminary census of the babies residing in the
above district, by house to house canvas, and an effort was made to
have these babies enrolled at the Baby Health Station within said
district. Mothers’ meetings were held at schools, settlement houses,
churches, etc., at which the physicians of the Health Department gave
short talks to the parents of the neighborhood. The co-operation of
prominent colored citizens, ministers, physicians, newspaper men, etc.,
of the district, was secured. Educational slides, containing pointed
references to the high mortality among colored babies, and special
reference to the high mortality in particular sections inhabited by
colored people, were prepared and displayed on the screens of the
various moving picture houses in this and other districts.
“A series of articles on baby care was published in one of
the newspapers read largely by the colored race, namely, ‘The
Amsterdam News’, under the title of ‘The Baby’, and presented short
heart-to-heart talks on baby care. The Department of Health also
published a local bulletin for this district, known as ‘The Columbus
Hill Chronicle’, in which special attention was directed to conditions
among the colored population, with specific recommendations for the
improvement of their health and surroundings.
“In view of the large number of working mothers among the colored
people, a temporary shelter or day nursery for colored babies was
established in this district through the co-operation of the Babies’
Welfare Association, and funds have subsequently been provided, through
private means, for the permanent equipment and maintenance, in the
heart of this district, of a day nursery for colored children.
“The ‘Little Mothers’ of this district was organized, and in this way a
large amount of education was brought into the homes.
“Immediately upon the receipt of notification of births in this and
other colored districts, the Bureau of Records notified the Baby Health
Station, in order that the home might be visited, and the infant
enrolled for care and treatment.
“Special attention was directed to the supervision of colored babies
boarded out in the homes, and wherever a colored baby was found, not
a relative of the occupant of the premises, information was elicited
whether this individual had a permit to board and care for a baby, as
required by the provisions of the Sanitary Code.
“Provision was made for the distribution of free milk and free ice, to
needy families of the districts, through the organized relief agencies
and ice companies.
“Special attention was directed towards securing employment for the
fathers, so as to keep the mothers at home as much as possible.
“To supplement the work of baby care, two nurses were assigned by the
Department of Health to the Columbus Hill and Upper Harlem Districts,
for instruction and supervision of expectant mothers. The Association
for Improving the Condition of the Poor also assigned a nurse to the
Columbus Hill District for similar instruction, so that a beginning was
made to bring the colored expectant mother under the guiding influence
of trained nurses.
“The co-operation of the Tenement House Department was affected to the
extent that special attention was given to the sanitary condition of
the tenements occupied by colored people.
“In a further effort to control the mortality among the colored babies,
the policy of the Bureau to assign nurses during the summer months to
those districts of the city showing a high infant mortality rate and
a high birth rate, was applied with special reference to the colored
sections, and a large force was assigned there, each nurse having under
her direct charge from 100 to 150 babies during these months, keeping
up this complement whenever, through death or removal, the number fell
below the required amount.”
* * * * *
It is inevitable with any group, suddenly transferred into a new
situation, that striking maladjustments should arise. While single
instances of suffering very often are misleading and do not give a just
view of the case, numerous and typical incidents which are by no means
exceptional or exaggerated may help to visualize the problem.
A Georgia farmer who is making $3.60 a day for twelve hours of work
here brought over his wife and eight children, the oldest of whom was
thirteen years of age, to a house which he was fortunate to secure on
Second Avenue. Only a few weeks after his arrival all of the eight
children were taken sick, and two of them, one eleven and the other
six years old, died of pneumonia. Because of the contagion of some of
his children the man was unable to leave his house for eight weeks.
His physician said that the death of the children was due to the
over-crowded condition of the house. This man received no charity and
the money he had saved up was spent to the last cent on doctor bills.
Mrs. E. H. lives on Crawford Street with her three children the oldest
of whom is five years of age. She occupies a small and damp room. Since
there is no gas in the house, a red hot stove can always be found
burning in the room which is at the same time kitchen, dining room,
bedroom and washroom; for Mrs. H’s husband is in jail somewhere in
Georgia, and she does washing all day in order to support her children.
The water supply of the house is in the street, and the stairway
leading to the upper floors is in her room. All of her children were
sick; one had pneumonia. She came here a few months ago as everybody
else was coming. Relatives and charity are helping to support her.
Mr. F. J. P. was born in Jamaica of well-to-do parents, tobacco
planters, and was educated in England as a botanist. He works now as
a common laborer in Pittsburgh for he cannot secure work in his own
field; he is planning to go back to England.
Mr. J. D. has had his wife here for several months, but still has his
only child back in Florida as there is no room for him in his present
place.
Messrs. E. and R. Smith, one living on Penn Avenue, and the other
on Ross Street, worked for a steel plant and construction company
respectively. E. had an eye accident and was in the hospital for four
weeks, while R. had two fingers cut off while at work. The companies
paid the hospital bills for both but neither one of them ever heard or
knew anything about compensation, and never claimed any.
J. G. hails from West Virginia. He has been in town for two days and
has no room as yet. The lodging places he went to asked seventy-five
cents a night for a dirty bed. He stayed up both nights, and expects to
leave the city as soon as he can.
The Case family have eight children. The oldest is a girl of seventeen
years of age who works in a hotel. The mother works every day in the
week; she leaves home at seven in the morning and returns at five
o’clock in the afternoon. A girl of fifteen takes care of the children
in the meantime.
Mr. P. Roberts was a prosperous Negro in Florida. He was an experienced
concrete maker, earning according to his statement more than five and
six dollars a day at home, and owning property in the South. When the
industrial boom began he thought that the wages in his line were much
higher here than in his own home town, and that it would pay him to
come North. He came to Pittsburgh together with his wife, five children
and an old invalid mother who was confined to bed. When first visited,
Mr. Roberts occupied two small rooms, each having one window, in a
rooming house where there were about twenty-five male roomers. This
man could get no work here in his own trade, and was trying to save up
enough money from his $3.00 to $3.60 a day to go back to Florida. When
Roberts was visited again about six weeks after the first visit, his
old mother had already passed away, his wife had died of pneumonia,
while his oldest girl of sixteen who had been taking care of the
four little tots was sick in bed, and the children were playing on
the streets. Roberts was still trying to save from his $3.60 a day
sufficient money to carry him back to Florida, which he still considers
his home, as he owns property there.
These amazing instances of individual maladjustments are bound to
arise in any group which goes through such a sudden and abnormal
transformation. But they are even more frequent in the race which is
still primitive and child-like in many ways, with no one to direct,
guide and protect them.
But the significance and danger of these wrongs are even of greater
importance for the community as a whole, than for the few individuals
affected. The fact cannot be over-emphasized that the community
ultimately pays the price for its stupidity. Indifference to this
problem at present when it still can be coped with and adjusted will
result in an uncontrollable situation later. We have seen above some
of the costly results of our housing and wage conditions. We have also
learned in this war that we can no longer afford to breed and foment
discontent and antagonism among our own people. We must not only see
that the strangers among us are adjusted, but that they also do not
become a menace to the well-being of the community.
It is not sufficient that we bring these people here, give them a
“bunk-house” or a basement to sleep in, and a job in our mills for
twelve hours a day. Once these people are in our midst they become
a part of ourselves, and if we desire them to work in harmony with
our own interests and not become anti-social malcontents we must go
further than that. We must see that they become part and parcel of our
community, that they are educated and made familiar with the problems
that we are facing locally. The man who is here for several days and
stays up all night because he can find no place to sleep cannot be
expected to remain for long a social being. Pittsburgh’s progress will
be greatly handicapped if a certain element of our community has to
take advantage of the saloon and vice resorts for relaxation. Neither
can we afford to let a considerable part of our voting population
remain, because of lack of intelligence, the prey and spoil of
politicians who may jeopardize the whole life of the city for their own
selfish interest. We cannot permit sickness and high mortality rates
among the dark-skinned people. One of our big steel mills had to have
its whole office and plant forces vaccinated, and was even in danger
of being quarantined, when a number of Negroes working in the plant
scattered all over the city after a case of smallpox was discovered in
the rooming house where these men stopped. The Department of Health had
a big task hunting these men, and the danger to which the whole city
population was exposed was obvious. No more can we afford to let the
Negroes become the victims of all sorts of anti-social elements and
feel complacent after we send them for a period of time to the jail or
workhouse. They are a heavy burden upon the taxpayer while they are in
these Institutions and often become even a greater menace when they
are released. Our utmost attention is therefore essential to meet the
maladjustments before they have become acute; and we do not base this
claim upon sentimental grounds but upon the benefits of economic and
social far-sightedness.
Many Negroes in the North seem to understand the situation, and are
striving to do their best to help adjust conditions. Some of the Negro
churches in this city for instance tried to ameliorate the housing
conditions by converting their churches into lodging places for the
newcomers until rooms could be found for them. Besides the Provident
Rescue Mission on Fullerton Street, which accommodated thirty to forty
men at a time during the entire winter, at least one other church
converted the entire building into quarters for migrant families. The
latter church accommodated a number of families until the committee in
charge could secure homes for the newcomers. But the responsibility of
the white people is just as great, and it is indeed in very opportune
time that a prophetic warning is sounded by a colored writer in a
Cleveland paper as follows:
“Let them alone--permit them to grope blindly through the mazes of
startling new environments, and in a few years a social problem will
be created that will require a half century and millions of dollars to
solve.”
“Let them alone now, permit and enforce them to live in unsanitary
districts and homes, relieved of Christian and moral influence, and
what is perhaps a 20,000 responsibility today, will become a 50,000
heavy, crime-breeding burden tomorrow.”
“Let them alone today, permit them to become the flotsam and jetsam
of neglect, or pernicious discrimination--such as they were in the
South--and tomorrow, having inhaled a bit of Northern freedom, they may
become a dark, sinister shadow falling athwart the white man’s door.”
“Let them alone today, permit them to be retired to over-crowded shacks
and shanties where sanitation is an unuttered word, and tomorrow,
contagions, arising from these congested, unsanitary shanties and
shacks, will fly, like the black bat of night, over our fair city, and
in its wake will stalk the gaunt form of Death, claiming thousands of
our best white and Colored citizens as a debt paid for inaction.”
[9] August, 1917 Bulletin of the Department of Health, New York City.