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"We, too, are Americans": African American women, citizenship, and civil rights activism in Detroit and Richmond, 1940-1954 Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Taylor Shockley, Megan Newbury Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 06/10/2021 12:21:39 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/284135 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMl films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Bell & Howell Infomriation and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 "WE, TOO, ARE AMERICANS": AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN, CITIZENSHIP. AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISM IN DETROIT AND RICHMOND. 1940-1954 by Megan Newbury Taylor Shockley Copyright © Megan Newbury Taylor Shockley 2000 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2000 UMI Number: 9965942 Copyright 2000 by Taylor Shockley, Megan Newbury All rights reserved. UMI" UMI Microform996S942 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Infomnation and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann AriDor, Ml 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Megan Newbury Taylor Shockley entitled "We, too, Are Americans": African American Women. Citizenship, and Civil Rights Activism in Detroit and Richmond, Virginia, 1940-1954 and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dr. Sarah Deutsch Dat~ k~ cv-fA '-#'/. 1~ Dr. Shafla Fett Date 1 Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. J/flALt ~ D~~;;;u:~ Director Dr. Karen Anderson 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements tor an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Through the various stages of this dissertation, I received invaluable support and guidance from a number of people. I must first give my gratitude to my dissertation committee: Karen Anderson, my advisor, Sarah Deutsch, and Sharla Fett. Their constant willingness to offer guidance and suggestions through various incarnations of these chapters has enabled me to write a more coherent, more compelling study. They challenged me to think about gender, race, and citizenship in ways that deepened my analysis and made my work much easier. I cannot thank them enough for their efforts. I must also thank Dr. Francis Foster and Mrs. Hilda Warden, both of whom taught me much about the racial dynamics of Richmond, both past and present. Their knowledge of the African American community in the city enabled me to look for myriad sources, many of which I would never have noticed on my own. In addition, I am grateftil to the various librarians and archivists who made my work much easier. Mike Smith and Carolyn Davis of the Walter P. Reuther Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University cheerfully offered advice, pulled collections, and gave me rides home on cold Detroit nights. Their knowledge of the UAW collections was a tremendous help. William Wallach of the Bentley Memorial Library, Gregg Kimball at the Virginia State Library and Archives, Ray Bonis from the Virgim'a Commonwealth University Special Collections, and numerous other archivists helped me to track down elusive sources so that I could create an accurate account of African American women's activities. I was fortunate to receive financial assistance from several sources, including the Merrill Gilbraith Travel Fellowship from the University of Michigan and the Alpha Chi Omega Fellowship. These fellowships enabled me to travel to Michigan and Virginia to conduct my research. In addition, the Alpha Chi Omega fellowship allowed me to travel to conferences in order to engage with historians of various disciplines, whose questions and comments enhanced my work. I could not have completed this dissertation without the help of my family. My sisters and parents have been cheerfiil listeners and supporters, though the seemingly endless Ph.D. process. My husband Jeflfhas endured countless jobs—taking care of my beloved pets for weeks at a time while I went on the road to research my dissertation, acting as copyeditor and critic, and being a cheerleader when I felt the pressures of the trials of candidacy. My thanks goes out to him, and to all of the others who I have and have not mentioned who helped me to shape this dissertation into its present form. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGLFRES 7 ABSTRACT 8 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 10 Central Questions 11 Gender, Race, and Citizenship 14 Class, Race, and Different Conceptions of Citizenship within the Black Community 21 World War II and the Possibilities for Citizenship 28 Race, Region, and Citizenship 42 African American Women. Citizenship, and Civil Rights 56 CHAPTER 2: ENGAGING WITH THE STATE: MIDDLE-CLASS WOMEN AND RESPONSIBLE PATRIOTISM. 1941-1945 58 Volunteer Work 66 Civil Rights Work 89 Social Work 103 Working-Class Advocacy 110 CHAPTER 3: WORKING FOR DEMOCRACY: WORKING-CLASS WOMEN AND WARTIME OPPORTUNITIES 121 Racism and Sexism in War Industries 124 Using State Structures to Secure Employment Opportunities 128 Securing the Support of Historically Black Institutions 139 Black Women and the UAW in Detroit 144 Progress in Employment 148 Promoting Equality Within Factories 152 Demanding Upgrades and Fighting Demotions 162 Expanding Constricted Parameters in Richmond 169 Fighting for Day Care 178 CHAPTER 4: LOOKING AHEAD: MIDDLE-CLASS WOMEN'S ACTIVITIES IN THE POST-WAR WORLD 185 Matemalism in the Cold War State 193 Matemalism, Citizenship, and Social Work 200 Unpaid Service to the State 215 Civ^ Rights Activism 222 Working-Class Advocacy 237 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued CHAPTER 5: TRYING TO HOLD ON: WORKING-CLASS WOMEN'S ACTIVITIES IN THE POST-WAR ERA 251 Support of Unions as Vehicles of Change 258 Using State and Private Institutions to Continue the Fight for Fair Employment 260 The UAW and Equal Employment Opportunities 268 Progress in the Non-Productive and Light Industrial Sectors 270 Fights for Seniority 275 Fighting for Equality on the Factory Floors 284 Strikes 287 Fighting tor Entitlements from State and Private Agencies 291 Working-class Women and Social Motherhood 306 CHAPTER 6: CLAIMING SPACE: AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND PUBLIC PROTESTS AGAINST INEQUALITY, 1940-1954 312 Battles over Recreational Facilities 315 Desegregating Restaurants and Buses 321 Housing Battles 335 Richmond Women and the Fight to Desegregate Public Facilities 347 Street Fights 350 Protesting Police Brutality 369 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION 377 APPENDIX 383 WORKS CITED 385 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1, EMPLOYMENT DATA FOR DETROIT, 1943 8 ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the activities of middle- and working-class African American women during and immediately after World War II in Detroit and Richmond, Virginia, in order to examine how World War II enabled African American women to negotiate new state structures in order to articulate citizenship in a way that located them within the state as contributors to the war effort and legitimated their calls for equality. This study provides a new understanding of the groundwork that lay behind the civil rights activism of the 1950s and 1960s. By looking at Afncan American women's wartime protest and exploring how those women created templates for activism and networks for the dissemination of new discourses about citizenship, it reveals the gendered roots of the civil rights movement. This study uses a cross-class analysis within a cross-regional analysis in order to understand how African American women of different socioeconomic levels transformed their relationship with the state in order to use state structures to gain equality in diverse regions of the country.