African American Life Circa 1900

Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

EDUCATION STANDARDS USII.1 USII.4 USII.5 USII.6 USII.8

OVERVIEW & PURPOSE

Students will explore the social, economic and technological changes of the early 20th century by: Part 1: Examining the biographies of African Americans, employed as domestic workers at Maymont Mansion in Richmond, Virginia. Using information obtained in the biographies, students will complete a graphic organizer, analyzing the experiences of a specific individual Part 2: Using a biography and additional independent research, students will create a museum exhibit about the individual they were assigned to research.

OBJECTIVES ESTIMATED TIME 1. Provide students with inquiry-based learning opportunities. part one Approx. 55 min. as written, but additional time can be 2. Help students become familiar with primary and secondary sources. spent with large or small group discussions. Compatible with a virtual learning model. 3. Engage students through project-based learning. part two This project should take place over several class periods.

MATERIALS NEEDED part one

Google folder for your class to use. Student Page 1–Each student should have access to this page in order to complete the activities and links to supplemental resources. Curiosity Cultivation–Copy the Google slides into your folder and duplicate the 2nd slide (one per student). Students will have access to the following job descriptions. Maymont Background–PowerPoint slides Vocabulary List Historical Figure Choice Board–the historical figure biographies with biographical graphic organizers are linked by their names in the choice board. Students should copy the organizers into the class or student Google folder before completing it in order to keep their responses private. part two Student Page 2–in addition to the resources above, students will have access to additional resources in order to engage in this project based learning opportunity. Guiding Questions for students to use in the project type of their choice. Project Choice Board

This program has been funded in part by a grant from Virginia Humanities. A special thank you to our curriculum experts who assisted in the development, editing and pilot implementation: Denise Gammon, History Educator | Hillary Parkhouse, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education | Ma’asehyahu Isra-Ul, Ed.S (C&I), K-12 Instructional Specialist-History/Social Science, Richmond Public Schools Michael Hasley, Secondary Social Studies Specialist, Henrico County Public Schools | Gabriel Reich, Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education

LESSON OVERVIEW GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

VOCABULARY LIST

Domestic (adj)/(n) (adjective) Of or relating to the home, the household, household affairs or the family. (noun) a hired household servant.

Servant (n.) A person who is employed to help clean and maintain the home.

Butler (n.) A male servant hired to manage domestic staff, serve food, polish silver among other tasks. If more than one, rank is described by “Head”, “Second” or “Under”

Head Butler (n.) The highest ranked butler, in charge of managing staff, including the second or under butler

Under Butler (n.) The second highest ranked butler, also referred to as “second butler”. Is the assistant to the head butler.

Maid (n.) A female domestic employee, usually in charge of cleaning the home.

Kitchen Maid (n.) A female domestic employee, in charge of cleaning the kitchen and maintaining the stove. Under the management of the cook Ladies Maid (n.) A female domestic employee in charge of her female employers clothing and accessories and hair styling. She helps her female employer get dressed and is managed directly by the lady of the house and the housekeeper if there is one in the home.

Nurse Maid or Nanny (n.)

Female in charge of taking care of her employer’s children, more than a babysitter, she is in charge of raising and ensuring the education of the children in her care. Cook (n)

A traditionally female domestic employee in charge of cooking meals for her employer's family and her coworkers. Laundress (n)

A female domestic employee who washes the laundry of her employer, usually works in multiple homes, rather than just one. Housekeeper (n)

A female domestic employee who is in charge of the maids who clean the house. She also serves as a domestic accountant. Chauffeur (n)

A male domestic employee who is in charge of maintaining the vehicles of the household for which he is employed and for driving his employers to their destinations. Valet (n)

Can be pronounced as Val-ley, val-let or Val-a.A male domestic employee who attends to the personal needs of his male employer. Assists him with dressing and maintains his wardrobe. Note: Not to be confused with a modern valet who parks cars.

VOCABULARY LIST PAGE 1 GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

VOCABULARY LIST (continued)

Ancestry(n) Family or ancestral descent. Lineage

Anti-miscegenation Laws A law that makes marriage or cohabitation between two people of different races illegal.

Black Codes Any law that defined or limited the rights of previously enslaved people in the United States.

Census The process of counting every person in a country. In the United States it is completed every 10 years.

Courting; to court Predates “dating”. Behavior designed to persuade someone to marry under the supervision of a chaperone.

Inflation Economic term that helps describe the buying power of money, the increased value of money.

Minimum Wage A law, created by a state of national government that defines the lowest amount a worker can be paid by the hour. Current national minimum wage is $7.25. The first minimum wage law was enacted in 1938.

VOCABULARY LIST PAGE 2 GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

STUDENT PAGE 1

DRIVING QUESTIONS

Using the lives of the domestic staff working for the Dooley family at Maymont Mansion as a case study, what are the experiences of African Americans in the Jim Crow south during the early twentieth century?

OBJECTIVES I will analyze secondary source documents describing the lives of African Americans employed at Maymont estate. I will cite examples from the secondary source document when I complete a biographical graphic organizer exploring the experiences of a specific individual. I will know that I am successful when I am able to state one inference and justify my stance using information from the text for each section of the biographical graphic organizer.

MATERIALS NEEDED

Curiosity Cultivation–Your teacher will provide a link to the PowerPoint slides for your class Maymont Background–PowerPoint slides Vocabulary List Historical Figure Choice Board–the historical figure biographies with graphic organizers are linked by their names in the choice board

ACTIVITY

To start this lesson, use the google slides link provided by your teacher to consider the following question: What do you think it would be like to work as a staff member (a maid, butler or cook) in the home of a millionaire? To understand more about Maymont and those who lived and worked there, watch the PowerPoint slides titled Maymont Background. Use the Historical Figure Choice Board to pick one historical figure to learn more about. Choose one of the names to take you to the person’s biography. Once you have read the biographical information, use the information to complete the graphic organizer. A vocabulary list is available for reference. Copy the organizers into the class or student owned Google folder before completing it in order to keep your responses private. Make sure your responses include information from the text to support your answer. Example: James Carter may have thought that: it was important to serve his country because he enlisted in the United States army when WWI started.

STUDENT PAGE 1 GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

STUDENT PAGE 2

DRIVING QUESTIONS

OBJECTIVES Using the biographies of African American domestic workers and my own research I will develop a museum exhibit on my assigned historical figure. I will do this so that I have a better understanding of the African American perspective from the early twentieth century. I will know that I am successful when I have developed a museum exhibit that correctly answers the guiding questions provided to you.

MATERIALS NEEDED Copies of biographies, notes from previous class Guiding Questions document Computers and internet (if independent research assigned) Access to Library if needed Other materials depend on the “exhibit” type you select Exhibit choice board

ACTIVITY

Using your notes in the graphic organizer and historical figure biography from the previous activity, complete the Guiding Questions. You should copy the Guiding Questions into class or student owned Google folders to keep your responses private. Research any answers to questions you were not able to complete using the biographical information provided such as historical events that happened in the historical figure’s lifetime (Richmond, Virginia, United States and International). Choose the type of “exhibit” you would like to present and prepare for the presentation. Be sure to practice your presentation (speak to be understood, make eye contact, interact with your audience and/or be dynamic, etc.) Presentations may be done virtually by video recording or through video conferencing (Zoom or Google Hangout).

STUDENT PAGE 2 GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

PROJECT CHOICE BOARD

MUSEUM OUTREACH Museums often provide outreach programs to schools. Pretend you are a museum educator and create a PowerPoint presentation about your historical figure using graphics and cited images to enhance your presentation.

LIVING HISTORY In museums living history figures take on the role of a historic figure. Be able to answer the assigned questions and be prepared to answer the questions in first person.

MUSEUM EXHIBIT PANEL Museum panels interpret important information about an exhibit to the public. Create a poster or online equivalent that answers the assigned questions. Use cited images to enhance your exhibit panel.

INTERVIEW OR FILM CLIP Museums often use videos to enhance their collections or displays. Create a film about your historical figure answering the assigned questions. This can be in “interview” format—either answering questions as the historic figure or historian.

ARTIFACTS EXHIBIT Museums often use objects from the time period to help tell the story of the exhibit. Curate an exhibit using objects to answer the assigned questions. Each object should have a label that explains why it is used and how it tells the story of the individual. Objects can be collected or made.

PROJECT CHOICE BOARD GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

THE NOT SO GILDED AGE OF JIM CROW

The Maymont era coincided with the beginning of the Age of Jim Crow, one of the most violent and repressive periods in American race relations. The term Jim Crow, coined from an antebellum theater character, refers to the subordination and separation of African Americans through law, custom, and force.

Strict segregation compounded other hardships, such as low income, poor housing, limited education, and inadequate health care. In Richmond at the turn of the century, the average life expectancy for black residents was 37 years, compared to 52 years for whites.

Between 1900 and 1925, the Virginia General Assembly passed a series of laws building the racial divide—obstructing the black vote and mandating racial separation in schools, hospitals, churches, cemeteries, public transportation, and assembly. Despite organized protests by the black community, as in Richmond’s 1904 streetcar boycott, segregation remained intact until the 1960s.

Even James Dooley’s prestige and wealth could not protect Maymont employees from the sting of Jim Crow practices. In 1920, a Richmond taxi company refused to transport his black employees.

In the face of segregation, black Richmond provided support networks through family, churches, clubs, and benevolent and fraternal societies. Jackson Ward—with its black-owned banks, businesses, restaurants, theaters, and churches—became the heart of a growing community consciousness. Leaders, like bank president Maggie L. Walker, stressed social uplift, the dignity of honest labor, and the importance of saving. Many laundresses invested at her Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank.

Dependent on jobs in the white community, black workers often assumed a polite attitude of deference, described by W. E. B. Du Bois as a protective veil. The Richmond Planet, the leading black newspaper, explained: “We cannot reach the top of the ladder at one bound. Bow low, and work! ‘Stoop to conquer.’ You do the stooping, and your children will do the conquering.”

THE NOT SO GILDED AGE OF JIM CROW GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

MAYMONT DOMESTIC STAFF

The Dooleys had between 7-10 employees working within the Mansion and dozens working on the grounds. The presence of competent, uniformed domestic workers also signified James and Sallie Dooley’s social standing and affluence. Most Maymont staff members were African American from the greater Richmond area—although a handful had migrated from other states. Census records indicate a high literacy rate among those workers listed. They ranged in age from late teens to mid-sixties; mostly single but several were married with children and women made up the majority of employees. Making a living was tough. Some employees worked full time, others part time; extra workers were hired as needed. A few individuals resided in the house or on the estate, but most “lived out”—that is, they returned to their separate homes and families at night. Both residential and live-out employees worked every day of the week, and full-time employees typically worked thirteen hours every day, except Thursdays and Sundays, when they had the afternoon off. They ran up and down stairs, lifted, scrubbed and bent for hours. They had daily tasks, weekly chores and monthly or seasonal duties. They often stepped in to help at various positions if needed. The cook might wait a table, the lady’s maid might sweep or the butler might drive. They helped each other. When the Dooleys spent summers, up to 5 months, at their Swannanoa located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, many of their Maymont employees would also travel to work there, leaving their own families behind for several months at a time.

butler

$100/month 1923 wages. The position was the most entrusted and highest-ranking household employee. He held keys to outer doors, storage cupboards and the wine cellar (he also unpacked crates, bottled wine from casks and decanted it for the table). Responsibilities included ensuring all ground-floor rooms were kept orderly and clean in addition to ceremonial duties like answering the door. The butler or second butler would answer the telephone just as they did the doorbell. The cook and butler also placed calls to order the delivery of groceries and household supplies. He supervised the housemaid and second butler. He set the dining room table, placed linens, china, glass and silver. During meals, he served and directed other employees in the correct presentation and timely removal of each course. He was tasked with cleaning and maintaining the silver and table wear. He prepared mealtime and after-dinner drinks and also attended Mrs. Dooley when she served tea. He was assisted by the second butler in all his duties. Known Employees: John Winston, 1900; Frank Alexander, 1910; Joseph A Carter, Sr., 1912-1913; William J Dilworth, 1919-1925. second butler

$60/month 1923 wages. The second butler tended to have heavier tasks including cleaning, lifting, running errands, hauling coal in heavy scuttles and stoking the furnace. He cleaned the front steps and porches daily. He may also have functioned as a valet, polishing shoes, brushing and laying out clothes and helping Mr. Dooley bathe and dress. Known Employees: John Thomas Walker, 1919-1920; Justin Simms, 1923-1925

coachman (full-time)

They kept a variety of horse-drawn vehicles in the carriage house. The full-time coachman’s responsibilities were to maintain and drive the Dooley carriages even after they began to acquire automobiles.

Chauffers

$140/month 1923 Wages. Drive and care for motorcars. By the early 1920s, the Dooleys owned two Fords, a Hupmobile, a Pierce Arrow touring car, and a seven-passenger Packard Landaulet. Known Employees: James Fitzgerald, 1914-1917; Abraham Walker, 1919-1920; Joseph Walker, 1919-1920; C. Hamilton Fitzgerald, 1920-1925; James Patrick Lewis, 1923-1924.

Groundsworkers

Estate Manager – Louis Walker Taliaferro 1899-1925 Gardeners Stable hands: unknown Grooms: unknown General laborers Known Employees: R. Olie Butler, George Mitchell Tatum

MAYMONT DOMESTIC STAFF GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

MAYMONT DOMESTIC STAFF

house maid

$30 per month 1923 wages. She was responsible for keeping the mansion clean including dusting, sweeping, cleaning, polishing and hauling coal in heavy scuttles. She also removed trash, beat carpets, scrubbed bathrooms, changed sheets and collected soiled laundry. At times the Dooleys may have employed multiple house maids. Maids were required to wear special uniforms. A gray dress with white apron for daytime, black dress with white apron for evenings and a burgundy dress with white apron detailed with burgundy piping for special events. White collars, cuffs and caps of various styles completed the outfit. Known Employees: Genevieve Glaser, 1910; Emma Harrison, 1910-1915; Martha“Mattie” Netherland, 1919-1921; Fannie Waddy, 1920-1925, Rosa Jones, dates unknown

Ladys maid

$30 per month 1923 wages. A personal attendant helped the lady of the house with bathing, grooming, and dressing. She laid out her employer’s clothes--sometimes arranging as many as four changes a day. It was her responsibility to see that garments were properly cleaned, pressed, and mended. Evening wear needed extra attention. Mrs. Dooley’s wardrobe included European-made gowns of such costly material as antique lace, brocade embroidered with silver and pearls, and silk trimmed with fur. When Mrs. Dooley traveled, her lady’s maid packed her trunks. If she went out for the evening, the maid waited up to assist her to bed. During sickness, the maid nursed her and, if needed, slept in her room. Known Employees: Georgia Anderson*, early 1920s; Fannie Waddy. *After Mrs. Dooley’s death in 1925, the City of Richmond employed Ms. Anderson to work at Maymont house as a housekeeper and occasional guide. She held this position throughout the remainder of her life.

laundress

$15 per month 1923 wages. Two or three days a week, a laundress arrived to wash clothing and linens of the Dooley’s and their employees. This was hot, wet and heavy work. Using the mansion’s original triple-basin tub, she could soak, scrub and rinse three loads at once. Between stages, she squeezed out excess water with a wringer. A laundress job required skills for using flammable fluids or absorbent powders for “dry” cleaning, ironing and folding and they worked with a variety of fabrics. Few domestic jobs were more physically demanding. She would endure hours of standing, bending, lifting, with their hands in hot water and harsh cleaners or lifting hot, heavy irons. For their efforts, they were respected in the working community. The names of the laundresses employed by the Dooleys is unknown.

head cook

$43 a month 1923 wages. This position shared equal authority with the butler. Kitchen staff wore a gray uniform and white aprons, and white collars, cuffs and caps of various styles completed the outfit. Duties included meal preparation in consultation with Mrs. Dooley. The cook was responsible for feeding the Dooleys, their guests, and the staff. They maintained a rigid schedule with many deadlines and used a coal- burning range to prepare these meals. The cook and her assistant no doubt benefited from the era’s new canned and packaged foods, but they still faced hours of preparation. With the help of her assistants, they baked bread loaves and rolls which specifically required a lengthy process of several hours devoted to mixing, kneading, allowing dough to rise, shaping and baking. Their responsibilities also included, plucking and dressing chickens, soaking hams, grinding coffee, grating spices, shelling beans and peas, baking, churning butter, making buttermilk and cottage cheese. They spent very long hours on their feet. A 1911 study showed cooks walked the equivalence of 250 miles a year just in meal preparation! A typical work day was estimated to include: 24 minutes of sifting ashes, 15 minutes of carrying coal, 24 minutes laying fires, 2 hours tending fires and 30 minutes emptying ashes and every 2 weeks another 2 hours of labor was spent “blackening” the stove so it wouldn’t rust. They were also charged with keeping the range in working order. All of these additional chores were done to support cooking meals and cleaning the kitchen. A cook, even with help, could spend up to 10 hours on one meal! Known Employees: Francis Twiggs Walker*, 1919-1925; Georgia Weedon, 1910-1914; Nannie Johnson, 1915-1919; Alice Johnson, 1915-1919 *Francis Twiggs Walker was skilled in both ordinary fare and specialties such as French cooking, nasturtium sandwiches and white potato pie.

MAYMONT DOMESTIC STAFF GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

MAYMONT DOMESTIC STAFF

kitchen maid

$20 per month 1923 wages. These positions were Cook assistants. Prepped vegetables, meats and fish; stoked the cook stove and kept the kitchen clean. If she did well she may advance to another household as head cook. Known Employees: Francis Walker, 1923-1925; Hannah Walker, 1919-1922 and Mary Walker, 1920-1923. Note: these three women were daughters of Frances Twiggs Walker (head cook, 1919-1925)

summering in swannanoa

One time, Papa carried me upstairs and said, "Now, I’ll be away for the summer. I want you to look out for the family and look out for Mamma." When he was gone, he would write every week and send home his check. —Harold Bailey, grandson of Maymont butler William Dilworth, interview (2000). For many members of the Maymont staff, the summer brought additional chores and a long absence from loved ones. For others, it brought a cut in work and pay. Like many upper-class families, the Dooleys left the city’s oppressive heat for the cooler temperatures of country retreats or hotels. After 1913, the couple summered at Swannanoa, their new estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They took some of their Maymont employees with them, leaving others behind on reduced “board wages.” In the mountains, the Dooleys also hired temporary, local workers. Swannanoa included five servant bedrooms in the main, a cottage for the estate manager, and a garage apartment for the chauffeur. Relocating a household to the country was a difficult task. Domestic staff had the difficult task of “closing” the city house, removing heavy carpets and curtains, draping furnishings with dust sheets and packing employers’ clothing and provisions. It was a long process they reversed in the fall.

MAYMONT DOMESTIC STAFF GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

MAKING A LIVING

finding employment

Black workers struggled with poor education, limited job training and opportunities, and racial discrimination. Many took jobs in agriculture or industry—like thousands who worked in Richmond’s tobacco factories. A vast number, however, turned to domestic service for a living. Richmond maintained a high demand for household workers in the Maymont period. An 1897 survey by Lucy Maynard Salmon, determined that Richmond and Washington, D.C. tied for the highest domestic employment rate among all major American cities. That year in Richmond, there was on average one servant for every thirteen people. Black workers could wield some degree of control through mobility. When conditions or wages weren’t good, they looked elsewhere. They also shared information about jobs and employer reputations. Most preferred to find employment by word of mouth. Networks of family and friends, both white and black, placed workers within known households. With the prestige of Maymont behind her, Frances Twiggs Walker was able to help place a daughter and niece in other upper-class households. Others located jobs through employment agencies, churches, YWCA and the Urban League and newspaper classified ads.

wages

The Dooleys’ employees received wages comparable to—or slightly higher than—domestic workers in other upper-class Richmond households. Surviving documents record the payroll for one month in 1923. Variations indicate a differing pay scale between white and black employees, male and female, skilled and semiskilled. C. Hamilton Fitzgerald, chauffeur/mechanic...... $140 William [Dilworth, butler]...... $100 Justin [Simms, second butler]...... $60 Frances [Walker, head cook]...... $43 Fannie [Waddy, lady’s maid]...... $30 Rosa [Jones?, house maid]...... $30 Kitchen maid, [unnamed]...... $20 Laundress, [unnamed, part-time]...... $15

making ends meet

At the top of his profession in 1923, head butler William Dilworth earned a wage of $100 a month—the highest of Maymont's black employees. Compare his wages to the average monthly income of other African American men in Richmond: Other butlers...... $68 Unskilled iron workers...... $76 Black teachers in city schools...... $91 Tobacco factory laborers...... $78 Skilled iron workers...... $109 Compared to wages across the United States, Mr. Dilworth's pay ranked just above that of the average unskilled male laborer ($95). Could William Dilworth support his wife and three children? His annual income of $1200 fell below a living wage of $1400 for a family of five at that time. His wife, Mary Fields Dilworth, supplemented his wages by taking in wash.

MAKING A LIVING GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GUIDING QUESTIONS

MUSEUM EXHIBIT PROJECT

These questions will help guide you in completing your museum exhibit. Many of these questions are similar to those museum curators use to develop exhibits in museums. Some of the answers to these questions will be found in the biographical reading and your notes, other questions you will need to research to find accurate answers, some questions will be based on your research and your opinions about the information you have learned. Remember to cite your sources!

1. What is my name?

2. When did I live? Era/estimated years?

3. What was my training/what was my job?

4. Describe the positions I held. What were my responsibilities? How long did I work each day?

5. What did I do in my free time and how much free time did I have in a week?

6. Name one interesting personal fact about me (hobbies, likes, dislikes, talents, remembrances of children/descendents).

7. What were some historical events that happened in my lifetime? Why/how did they affect me, or why were they important?

8. What did you learn about my time period from reading my story?

9. Why do you think my story is important to be told?

GUIDING QUESTIONS GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

HISTORIC FIGURE CHOICE BOARD

william georgia joseph a. emma dilworth anderson carter harrison head butler lady's maid butler housekeeper gardening fashion 1900s wwi 1900s healthcare

james mary e. emily justin patrick harrison lackmick simms laundress servant/maid lewis under butler survived immigrated to chauffer & coal mining slavery U.S. groundskeepr union

frances martha e. frannie abraham twiggs netherland waddy lincoln walker maid lady's maid walker cook leisure courtship chaufer clean food activities 1900 great migration standards

john frances hannah john thomas walker walker winston maid cook walker butler great migration lifestyle 1900s chauffer segregated great migration south

HISTORIC FIGURE CHOICE BOARD GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

william dilworth

William Dilworth worked as the Head Butler for the Dooleys at Maymont from 1919–1925. Mr. Dilworth had many years of experience in the service and domestic industries and was 40 years old when he began working at Maymont.

As a Head Butler for the Dooleys, Mr. Dilworth was like a manager for the domestic staff. He was responsible for making sure that the Dooleys had what they needed or wanted as quickly as possible. Without Mr. Dilworth, the Dooleys would not have been able to live their lives of luxury. He was in charge of managing the household staff including maids, cooks, day laborers and others. He had the keys to the silver and fine china cabinets, alcohol storage, table cloths and other expensive items. He would take inventory of these items and make sure they were in good condition. On top of all of his other duties, Mr. Dilworth greeted Mr. and Mrs. Dooley’s guests at the front door.

Mr. Dilworth worked long hours to make sure all of his work was done. He would wake up before dawn, walk or ride his bike to Maymont, then work until 8:00 or 9:00 at night. If there was a formal dinner, Mr. Dilworth and the other staff members would have to work much later, even staying overnight. Mr. Dilworth worked for the Dooleys all year long. He worked at Maymont during the winter. During the summer months, Mr. Dilworth would leave his family in Richmond to travel with the Dooleys to their summer home, Swannanoa. Mr. Dilworth would then live at Swannanoa and continue his duties as a butler there. His daughter, Jeanette Bailey said that one time, he told her he was going away for the summer and that she should “look out for the family and look out for Momma”. He would write a letter every week while working at Swannanoa and would mail it along with his paycheck. As an African American in the South, Mr. Dilworth faced Jim Crow Laws and increasing segregation and racism. Jim Crow laws limited the rights of African Americans granted by the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. In Virginia black codes and other legislation enforced segregation in public places, restricted voting rights and provided unequal opportunities to the black community. African Americans were paid less than other workers for the same jobs and prevented from taking leadership roles. Street cars, stores, libraries, theaters and other public places were segregated or did not allow African Americans at all. Racist imagery was also everywhere, from comics in newspapers to advertisements and product branding. James Dooley and Sarah Dooley paid their domestic employees more than other wealthy families of the same time period. Mr. Dilworth was paid $100 a month. While more than other butlers in similar homes, Mr. Dilworth’s salary alone was not enough to cover all of his family’s expenses and did not meet what was considered a living wage for the time period. Although Mr. Dilworth worked long hard hours for a relatively low salary, he believed that a person should take pride in the work that he did. Jeanette Bailey, Mr. Dilworth’s daughter, explained that “the Dooleys called Papa ‘William,’ but Major Dooley told others, ‘I don’t want you calling him by any name but Mr. Dilworth ‘cause that’s who he is. . . . You don’t call him by his [first] name.” As it was uncommon for African American employees to be addressed so formally, being called “Mr. Dilworth” was a sign of respect. Mrs. Dooley left $1000 to Mr. Dilworth in her will and Mr. Dilworth used this money to buy a house. Mr. Dilworth’s family remembers that he took pride in maintaining a beautiful garden at his home.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Mr. Dilworth may have thought that:

Mr. Dilworth may have seen:

Mr. Dilworth may have said:

Mr. Dilworth may have felt:

Mr. Dilworth may have worked on:

Mr. Dilworth went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

georgia v. lewis anderson

Georgia V. Lewis Anderson held many positions as a domestic worker in Richmond, Virginia in the early part of the twentieth century. Census records show that Mrs. Anderson served as a laundress and as a cook for several households in the city. Mrs. Anderson worked as Mrs. Dooley’s lady’s maid during the late 1920s. As a lady’s maid, Mrs. Anderson was responsible for Mrs. Dooley’s clothing, hair, shoes, jewelry and other accessories. Mrs. Anderson had to make sure that all of Mrs. Dooley’s clothing was in good condition and that there were no holes in her stockings, undergarments, or dresses. Mrs. Anderson was responsible for repairing any damages in the clothing as well as making sure every item was ironed and ready to be worn, even undergarments! Mrs. Anderson would also help Mrs. Dooley change, dress her hair and help her put on accessories.

As a lady’s maid, Mrs. Anderson’s schedule was built around the needs of Mrs. Dooley. Mrs. Anderson would arrive early at Maymont, where she would complete tasks such as ironing Mrs. Dooley’s clothing, mending any tears, polishing shoes, and assessing the conditions of accessories to determine if they needed to be replaced or repaired. When Mrs. Dooley was ready to be dressed, she would press a call button in her room that would ring in the basement, where the domestic employees worked. Mrs. Anderson would have gone to Mrs. Dooley’s room and may have taken breakfast to her. Mrs. Dooley would have then planned out what she wanted to wear for the day, based on her schedule. Mrs. Anderson would go to the third floor of the Dooley's house to bring down all the heavy clothing that Mrs. Dooley requested. If Mrs. Dooley changed her mind, Mrs. Anderson would have to go upstairs to where Mrs. Dooley’s clothing was stored, find what Mrs. Dooley wanted to wear, then took it back downstairs. If Mrs. Dooley changed her mind often, Ms. Anderson would have to make many trips up and down the stairs for her. Although it sounds strange today, women needed help getting in and out of clothing during the Gilded Age. This is because women (even working class women) wore corsets, which restricted their movement as well as many layers of petticoats. Clothing was also made from natural materials like wool, silk, or cotton which had little stretch and the fashion required clothing to fit closely to a woman's measurement, which further restricted movement. Wealthy women also wore elaborate clothing with tiny buttons that could not be reached by the wearer, lots of flounces and underthings, topped with expensive accessories. By purchasing and wearing outfits that were difficult to put on alone, wealthy women created the need for a lady’s maid. Wealthy women could then show that they had enough money to buy the latest and most expensive fashions, but that they were also rich enough to pay someone to help dress them. Once dressed, Mrs. Anderson would style Mrs. Dooley’s hair, help her put her shoes on and help her with the jewelry, hat, and other accessories needed to finish off each outfit. Mrs. Anderson would then clean up the dressing room and prepare for Mrs. Dooley’s return. Wealthy and even middle class women would change several times throughout the day, having a dress, hat, jewelry and other accessories for each appointment. Each dress would show off the wealth of the wearer, one of Mrs. Dooley’s dresses alone cost $100.00. With inflation, the same dress would cost $2,600.00 today. The Dooleys’ paid Ms. Anderson about $30.00 a month, This was slightly higher than other houses in the Richmond area, but equal to wages earned by lady’s maids in Washington, D.C. or Chicago, Il. Mrs. Anderson made about $9.00 more than women who worked in mills or factories in the Richmond area. Mrs. Anderson lived with her husband on Gilbert Street, near Maymont. Mrs. Anderson helped take care of her mother and her 7 siblings. Mrs. Anderson and her husband Benjamin had a daughter, Audrey and two foster children, Russel Epps and Ruby Britt. Mrs. Anderson attended church at First Baptist Church, and later became a member of Sixth Mount Zion Church in Jackson Ward. Mrs. Anderson’s children and grandchildren remember that she could sew beautifully and was caring toward all members of her family.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Georgia Anderson thought that:

Georgia Anderson saw:

Georgia Anderson may have said:

Georgia Anderson may have felt:

Georgia Anderson worked on:

Georgia Anderson went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

joseph a. carter

Joseph A. Carter worked as a butler at Maymont, the home of James and Sallie Dooley. In this position, Mr. Carter was responsible for greeting guests, serving dinner, taking inventory of the china and silver in the home, as well as managing all of the other domestic workers at Maymont. As the butler to the Dooleys, Mr. Carter would travel with the family to their summer home, Swannanoa.

Joseph Carter worked as a butler for the Dooleys until 1917 when he enlisted in the Army when the United States entered into World War I. The “Great War” started in 1914 in Europe after the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, Franz Ferdiand, was assassinated by the Black Hand.

When the war began, the United States was an isolationist country, meaning the government and many citizens did not want to get involved in a war. There were two key events that changed the opinions of the United States, a passenger ship called the Lusitania was sunk by German U-boats in 1915 and a document called the Zimmerman Telegram was leaked to the public in 1917. The Zimmerman Telegram was a note from Germany to Mexico that contained a plan to take over the United States and divide the territory between the two countries. These two events changed the opinions of the American public and launched the United States into the war as an Allied country in 1917. Joseph A. Carter enlisted into a segregated army in 1917. The court case Plessy v. Fergusson created a precedent that would be called “separate but equal” and stated that African Americans could be separated from white Americans so long as “equal” facilities or services were provided. This court case legalized a system of segregation throughout the country, which included the armed services. Segregation caused a deeper divide between white Americans and African Americans. The facilities and resources provided to African Americans were never equal to those provided to white Americans. In the military this meant that African Americans were only allowed to serve in positions such as cooks, boiler men or other labor-intensive and dangerous positions. They were specifically restricted from taking any position that would allow them to command white troops. Joseph Carter described this era as a “difficult time for black folks...We were living through it. If your eyes were open and your ears were open, you couldn’t escape it.” Although many African American leaders argued that they should be fighting for democracy inside of the United States and not on European soil, not everyone agreed. W.E.B. Dubois argued that African Americans should “forget their special grievances and close ranks shoulder to shoulder with white fellow citizens and allied nations that are fighting for democracy.” During WWI, approximately 380,000 African Americans served in the Army. Although given the most labor intensive jobs, their work building roads and bridges, cooking for the troops, and about 42,000 serving in active combat roles provided the Allied forces the support to win the war.When Joseph Carter returned to Richmond, Virginia, he found a position working at International Planters Corporation, a wholesale tobacco company. He married his wife, Sarah Evangeline Stewart, in 1921 and in 1930, they moved into a home they named “Magnolia Manor.” The Carter children shared their belief that their father was influenced by the Dooleys’ summer home when he decorated his own house because there were many design similarities between the two homes.

Church was an important part of Mr. Carter’s life. Mr. Carter was a member of Fourth Baptist Church and his wife, Sarah, was a member of Leigh Street Methodist Church in Richmond, Va. He attended church every Sunday with no exceptions and knew every member of the church community. Mr. Carter’s children remember that their father worked hard and spent many long hours at work. When he was at home, he would play parlor games, sing and play the piano with his children. Mr. Carter’s son continued, “My dad would sit around and tell stories of his childhood. It was fun for us...Sometimes a group of children would come to the house. We’d sit out on the porch and sing. We made paper dolls. I cut out paper dolls from the newspaper and made clothes [for them].”

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Joseph Carter thought that:

Joseph Carter saw:

Joseph Carter may have said:

Joseph Carter may have felt:

Joseph Carter worked on:

Joseph Carter, Sr. In WWI uniform ca. 1917 Photo from son, Joseph Carter, Jr. Joseph Carter went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

emma harrison

Emma Harrison worked as a housekeeper for the Dooleys’ home, Maymont in the 1900s. A housekeeper is often considered the female version of a butler. The housekeeper would manage the female staff, except for the lady’s maid and the cook who were under the management of the lady of the house. The housekeeper was in charge of all of the accounts dedicated to the cleaning, cooking and upkeep of the home. Ms Harrison may have been responsible for recording any money that was used by the maid, butler, cook or other domestic employees to buy groceries, thread, silver polish, or any other goods needed to maintain a mansion.

Ms. Harrison may have been in charge of maintaining all of the linens in the house, including tablecloths, bed sheets, curtains and more. Linens were considered a luxury item and were kept clean and presentable just like other valuable items in the home and would have been locked away when not used. Ms. Harrison and the other domestic staff had long days, often working 12 or more hours a day in the home of their employer. Ms. Harrison “lived-in,” meaning she lived in a room in the lower domestic quarters of the Dooley mansion. Although she lived and worked at Maymont, Ms. Harrison did have days off. It was common for domestic workers to have one half day off a week and every other Sunday. These Sundays were usually spent going to church or with family. By living in, Ms. Harrison may have been helping to support her family, but it meant that she would not be able to spend much time with them. Ms. Harrison was a mother of four children, but only one child lived to become an adult. During the 1900s, the average life expectancy was about 45 years old, which is 31 years shorter than the life expectancy in 2020. Many children died young because of diseases, infection, malnutrition or accidents. How much money a family had affected the survival rates of children. Infrastructure existed so that wealthy families could live in better houses, have access to clean food, water, medicines and treatments for diseases. Poorer families did not have proper access to these resources and often suffered poor health because of the lack of this infrastructure. Germ theory was not well known or accepted during this period and many doctors did not wash their hands between patients. This means that doctors who were working to cure people, were accidentally spreading diseases from patient to patient. Medicines such as antibiotics had not been discovered or were not in wide use. Without these medicines, diseases that are considered inconveniences today could kill entire communities. Childhood diseases such as measles, mumps, and rubella took the lives of many young children. These diseases were the leading cause of death for children until immunizations and other vaccines were developed to prevent their spread. World War I (1914-1918) helped advance the understanding of contamination, germ theory, and the study of viruses. Field doctors learned that washing hands prevented the spread of infection and helped to stop or slow the spread of disease. Following World War I, there were several epidemics such as the Spanish Flu and Tuberculosis that tested these practices. Although germ theory and infections were better understood after WWI, many people still died from infectious diseases. The Spanish Flu was responsible for 20-50 million deaths worldwide in 1918 and Typhoid fever had a mortality rate of 80%.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Emma Harrison thought that:

Emma Harrison saw:

Emma Harrison may have said:

Emma Harrison may have felt:

Emma Harrison worked on:

Emma Harrison went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

mary e. harrison

Mary E. Harrison was 24 years old when the Civil War ended in 1865. Mrs. Harrison lived the first 24 years of her life as an enslaved person on the Hamner Plantation in Powhatan, Virginia. When slavery ended, Mrs. Harrison continued working for the Hamner family. Eventually, Mrs. Harrison moved with Bettie Hamner Freeman to Lynchburg where she became the nursemaid to Bettie Freeman's child, Douglas Southall Freeman. Later, Mrs. Harrison and her daughter, Emma, came to work in the Dooley household at Maymont.

Mrs. Harrison was a nursemaid while she worked at the Freeman residence. A nursemaid is a domestic worker who takes care of her employers’ children, often like a second parent. Although we can assume that wealthy parents cared for their children, it was more common for a nursemaid or nanny to spend more quality and nurturing time with the children. These hired domestic workers were the ones in charge of raising the next generation of the upper class of Richmond.

Fathers would work outside of the home, go to clubs, meetings, or other social engagements. Mothers would like- wise be planning, hosting, or attending meetings for social causes or clubs, teas, dinners, or performances. It was also common for families to eat separately. The children would eat in the nursery while parents ate in a formal dining room. Parents may schedule time during the day to spend with their children. At these times, children were expected to be quiet, well behaved and well dressed. Parents may have instructed nursemaids on the basic behavioral expectations of their children, but the care and raising children was the responsibility of the nursemaid. Nursemaids bathed, dressed, fed, changed diapers, taught manners and watched over the children of their employers. While a nursemaid was caring for the children of her employer, her own children would be under the care of a family member or a friend. While Mrs. Harrison and other women in similar situations were earning a living by raising the children of the wealthy, they sacrificed time away from their own children. Nursemaids were expected to live in the home of their employers, meaning that they would only see their own families one day a week. The Dooleys who lived at Maymont did not have any children, therefore it is believed that Mrs. Harrison probably worked in the house as a laundress. Unlike other domestic workers, laundresses did not work in the same household every day. Mrs. Harrison would have taken in the clothes of several households, either using the laundry room in the home of her employer, or taking the laundry to her house to clean. Maymont had a laundry room and Mrs. Harrison would have worked three days out of the week there. Mrs. Harrison would have gone to other houses or washed clothes at her own home for the remaining 4 days in the week. Having access to multiple homes made laundresses important members of the domestic worker community. Mrs. Harrison heard news and gossip from domestic staff that could be passed along to staff in other households. She would have been considered the source for information on potential jobs and she would have helped other domestic employees move into higher paid positions when possible. Although laundresses were able to move from household to household, their jobs were not easy. Washing was done by hand using large buckets, or sinks. Stains were removed using chemicals, like amonia, lye, and bleaches. The chemicals they used could burn the skin or the lungs if used incorrectly. Wet clothing was heavy and was transported from one “cycle” to another by hand, scrubbed on washboards and hung to dry in the sun or in a drying closet.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Mary E. Harrison thought that:

Mary E. Harrison saw:

Mary E. Harrison may have said:

Mary E. Harrison may have felt:

Mary E. Harrison worked on:

Mary E. Harrison went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

emily lackmick

Emily Lackmick was 26 when she worked as a “servant” in the Dooley household during the early 1900s. Ms. Lackmick was born in Germany to a German father and a French mother and is the only known European immigrant who worked for Dooleys. In the southern United States, most domestic workers were African American. In the north, it was more common for domestics to be newly arrived European immigrants. During the early 20th century many immigrants arrived in the United States from Europe in search of new opportunities here.

While it is unclear why Ms. Lackmick’s family left Germany, many immigrants were pushed out of their country for financial, political, or social reasons and were pulled to the United States by the promise of a new life. Germans were pushed to leave their homeland in the 1900s because the government took away people’s farmland and jobs were hard to find, making it difficult to support a family. These factors pushed German citizens to find a new place to live. Many immigrants were pulled to the United States because it was believed to be the land of opportunity and freedom. Newly invented steamships made the trip to the United States shorter and less expensive. Once in the United States, many immigrants would write to their families overseas to encourage them to join them in American. In the 1900s census, Ms. Lackmick was listed as working at Maymont and probably worked as a maid. The housekeeper or butler would have given Ms. Lackmick her assignments for the day and would make sure she completed all of her work. Rising early in the morning, Ms. Lackmick’s would open all of the curtains in all of the formal rooms of the home, such as the library, the drawing rooms, and the dining room. Maids would have been responsible for cleaning out the fireplaces of most homes in Richmond, but the Dooelys had a coal burning furnace and probably did not use their fireplaces often. While Ms. Lackmick did not have to clean the fireplaces or start the fires in the morning, she would have to make sure no coal dust from the furnace got on any of the Dooleys' things. Ms. Lackmick would have to clean, dust, wash and polish all 33 rooms of the Dooley’s home. The Dooleys would leave Maymont during the summer to travel. During this time, the maids that were left behind would do a “summer cleaning” of the home. All of the expensive art pieces would be dusted off and packed away, carpets would be taken outside to have the dust beaten out of them and aired out. Windows would be washed, floors would be polished and waxed, and light fixtures would have been dusted. When the Dooleys were on their way back to Maymont, Ms. Lackmick and the other maids would unwrap all of the decorative items and put them back in their place before the Dooleys arrived.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Emily Lackmick thought that:

Emily Lackmick saw:

Emily Lackmick may have said:

Emily Lackmick may have felt:

Emily Lackmick worked on:

Emily Lackmick went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

james patrick lewis

James Patrick Lewis was the brother of Georgia Anderson and worked in many different positions at Maymont in Richmond, Virginia during the 1920s. Mr. Lewis worked as an occasional butler, a yard man and a chauffeur.

While working with the Dooleys, Mr. Lewis shared a home with some of his siblings and their spouses near Maymont. On his days off, Mr. Lewis was known to spend a large part of his time with his family. He was a talented gardener, growing beautiful gardens which he continued to do after working for the Dooleys. His foster niece remembered that he was responsible for the garden at the home of one of his employers on Franklin Street in Richmond.

Mr. Lewis filled many roles at Maymont and was trained in a variety of skills. He was able to serve as a butler, greeting guests, ordering supplies, serving dinner, and managing the domestic staff. As a chauffeur, Mr. Lewis would have needed to be familiar with the newly invented car and would have driven Mr. Dooley and Mrs. Dooley to their many social engagements. He would have needed mechanical knowledge to maintain the intricate machinery of early automobiles. As a “yard man” Mr. Lewis would have worked outside on Mr. and Mrs. Dooley's 100-acre estate. He would have tended the gardens of the estate, planted new trees and flowers, cut and maintained the lawn, and carried out Mrs. Dooley’s plans for her grounds. He may have been responsible for ensuring the man-made water features such as the waterfall and the fountain were in good working order. These efforts ensured that the Dooleys were able to show off their wealth to their guests by having a well maintained and elaborate outdoor display. The estate, or the land that surrounded Mr. and Mrs. Dooley’s house was created with the idea of showing off the Dooleys’ wealth. This land was never intended to be farmed, but was like a private park for the Dooleys and their guests. They purchased trees from Europe and Asia, they ordered 600 rose bushes to be planted on the grounds and they hired architects to design and build structures that looked as if they came from Europe. As a grounds worker, Mr. Lewis would have had to work many long hours. It was not uncommon for employees to work 12 or more hours a day. There were few laws that protected the rights of workers and people who worked inside the homes of wealthy or middle class families. No worker was guaranteed a specific wage or hourly rate. There was no such thing as paid time off or medical leave and employees were not guaranteed breaks and could lose their position if they were injured on the job. Working conditions in factories were similarly unregulated. Employers were known to lock their employees into their work areas, preventing them from taking bathroom or lunch breaks. Working conditions were often unsafe and could lead to fires or injuries on the job. Poor working conditions and employee treatment led to the creation of several labor unions. Unions worked to secure safe working conditions and fair pay for working class individuals. Although many changes were made to improve factory conditions, domestic workers and African Americans were often not allowed to join labor unions. While Maymont historians do not know the specifics of the relationship between the Dooleys and Mr. Lewis, it is known that the Dooleys paid their domestics more than other households in the area. Like other wealthy households, domestic workers inside the Dooley household only got one day off every week and every other Sunday off to spend away from Maymont. It was common for domestic workers to spend most of their time working in the homes of their employers.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

James Patrick Lewis thought that:

James Patrick Lewis saw:

James Patrick Lewis may have said:

James Patrick Lewis may have felt:

James Patrick Lewis worked on:

James Patrick Lewis went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

justin simms

Justin Simms was employed in the Dooley household at Maymont in 1922 after working for several years as a coal miner. He was born in Waynesboro, Virginia where Mrs. Dooley would often go during the summer to visit with her sister. Mr. Simms worked as a second butler also known as an under butler, but also took on the responsibility of several other positions in the Dooley household. Mr. Dooley experienced health issues later on in life and he advertised for the help of a Man Body Servant in the Richmond News Leader in March 1922. A Man Body Servant would also be called a “valet.” A valet would maintain the wardrobe for his male employer and help him get dressed.

The position of valet may seem strange to us today, but the responsibilities are similar to that of a modern personal assistant. A valet would be responsible for making sure Mr. Dooley’s clothes were in good condition, clean, and with no holes or signs of wear. His shirts should be bright white and ironed and his suits should be lint free. The valet would also be in charge of all of the accessories that a gentleman might need or want as a part of his outfit. Mr. Simms would make sure Mr. Dooley’s shoes were polished and that the soles were not worn out. Mr. Dooley’s pocket watches needed to be polished and wound to make sure they kept running. Cufflinks were worn on the sleeves and they needed to be polished and kept in pairs. It was also popular for gentlemen to wear hats and take canes with them as fashion accessories. Maintaining these items would have also been the responsibility of Mr. Simms. Mr. Simms began his position at Maymont in March of 1922 as a valet to Mr. Dooley. Mr. Dooley passed away in November of the same year. Mr. Simms kept his job in the house, but became the assistant to Mr. Dilworth, the head butler. Mr. Simms would have helped serve dinners at Maymont, greet guests, and manage the other domestic staff members. It is also possible that loading the coal burning furnace, which heated the house, was the responsibility of Mr. Simms. Mr. Simms left the coal mining industry in about 1920, when coal mining was becoming more and more important to the rising industrial needs of America. Many new technologies needed coal to work. Steam engines used coal to heat their boilers full of water to make them run. Raw iron needed for railroads and other industries, was smelted down using fires that burned coal. Even inside the home, coal was an important good and was used in furnaces or fireplaces, and for cook stoves and ovens. Coal mining was extremely dangerous. In order to mine for coal, shafts were dug down into the earth. Miners would walk or be transported down these tunnels to the coal deposits. Then, they would use picks and shovels to dig the coal out of the walls of the mine shafts, filling carts full of coal and sending them back out. While digging in the shafts, trapped gases may be exposed that could quickly kill the miners. Similar gases could cause explosions from flames in lanterns that were used to light the tunnels for workers. Digging out the coal from inside the tunnels might cause the walls to collapse, trapping workers inside. Miners would breathe in coal dust which could cause long term diseases such as black lung or cancer. The mining industry in the 1900s also hired many children, who could fit more easily into small spaces than adults. Children would work 10 or more hours a day usually in the dark, wet and dusty conditions of the coal mines. Children would earn around 75 cents a day for 10 hours of work, averaging to about $20.00 a month. Child laborers were common in the 1900s and some as young as 5 years old would work in factories or other industries. Children were given some of the most dangerous tasks because they were considered to be smaller and more nimble than adults. This meant that when factory or mining accidents occurred, there were many children who were injured or died as a result. Although some individuals attempted to create laws that prevented children from working, a decades-long campaign to outlaw child labor and to require all children to attend school was not successful until the Great Depression in the 1930s.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Justin Simms thought that:

Justin Simms saw:

Justin Simms may have said:

Justin Simms may have felt:

Costumed interpreter demonstrating the responsibilities of a butler.

Justin Simms worked on:

Justin Simms went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

martha e. netherland

Martha E. Netherland or “Maddie” worked for many years as a cook and a maid in Richmond City. She came to work as a maid for the Dooleys at Maymont around 1919. Ms. Netherland traveled with the Dooleys to their summer home and continued her work as a maid there. She was employed as a maid for the Dooleys until 1924, when she took a position with another prominent family in Richmond, Virginia.

Ms. Netherland probably worked as a housemaid for the Dooleys. Housemaids were in charge of cleaning all of the spaces of the home occupied by her employer’s family. She would dust all of the items inside of the house from the very expensive statues to the blinds. Maids were often among the first to learn how to use the new technologies introduced to make cleaning easier and faster. Items such as vacuum cleaners, electric irons, electric fans, and hot and cold running water helped reduce the time it took to clean a home. Some historians argue that because these inventions made cleaning easier, houses were expected to be cleaned more often, making more work for the maids instead of less! This expectation is similar to the invention of the cotton gin, which produced a higher demand for more cotton before the Civil War. While having a maid today is considered a luxury that many families can’t afford, this has not always been the case. During the Gilded Age and into the 1920s, many middle and upper class families would hire live-in maids and cooks. The Gilded Age was a time of great inequality between the smaller upper and middle classes and the larger working class. Domestic workers, even talented and experienced ones, were paid very little. The very wealthy could afford to hire even more domestics including lady’s maids and valets. Although many middle class and wealthy women did not work outside of the home, they were expected to plan and attend many parties, plays, civic meetings, and other social events. These social expectations created a need for domestic workers while also allowing families with money to enjoy leisure time. Leisure time was a new phenomenon during 1900–1920. Labor saving devices, hiring staff to run homes, and the invention of new modes of transportation made it easier for people to have time away from work. While middle and upper classes had more leisure time, working class individuals would spend their limited time off enjoying what the city had to offer. Amusement parks such as Forest Hill (now a public park) and Lakeside Wheel Club (now Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens) opened in the city to provide entertainment to Richmonders. Dance halls, theaters, and public swimming pools were popular spots to spend time away from work. As a domestic in the Dooley household at Maymont, Ms. Netherland would have enjoyed one day off a week and every other Sunday off. She may have spent time with her family or may have visited some of the attractions that Richmond had to offer. As an African American woman in the Jim Crow South, not all of these attractions would have been open to her. Many amusement parks prohibited African Americans from entering, or were only open a few days a week to African American guests. Instead of going to white owned businesses, Ms. Netherland may have gone to the African American neighborhood of Jackson Ward instead. Jackson Ward was known as the “Harlem of the South” and was full of theaters, restaurants and clubs owned by African American proprietors. Here, Ms. Netherland would have been able to see a show, go out to eat, or attend a community meeting without being discriminated against.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Martha Netherland thought that:

Martha Netherland saw:

Martha Netherland may have said:

Martha Netherland may have felt:

Martha Netherland worked on:

Costumed interpreter demonstrating the responsibilities of a housemaid.

Martha Netherland went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

frannie waddy

Fannie Waddy worked for the Dooleys around 1919 until Mrs. Dooley’s death in 1925. Ms. Waddy held the positions of laundress, maid and later that of a lady’s maid to Mrs. Dooley. Being a laundress allowed some freedom to women in domestic service, although it wasn’t any less difficult. Unlike other domestic employees, a laundress would work at several houses, washing the underclothes, tablecloths and linens either in the home of her employer, or in her own home. This allowed laundresses to hear a lot of information from the domestic employees from several wealthy and middle class houses. By knowing information about other households, a laundress held a position of respect in her community. She would have been able to guide other individuals in their search for jobs in domestic service, telling people who paid well, who treated their employees well and who did not. The laundress also knew the gossip of other households.

Ms. Waddy eventually became a lady's maid to Mrs. Dooley and perhaps that of Mrs. Dooley’s niece, Florence Elder. Being a lady's maid was considered a high position in domestic service and Ms. Waddy was paid well for an African American woman of the era, $30 a month. This salary was still below what was considered a living wage for the time period. In the morning, Ms. Waddy would either walk to work or ride the streetcar. She would begin mending, ironing, and cleaning Mrs. Dooley’s clothing, shoes, and accessories. When Mrs. Dooley was ready to dress for the day, she would press a call button that would ring an electric bell only heard in the domestic workspace of the house, the basement. Ms. Waddy may have brought breakfast to Mrs. Dooley and would have helped her get dressed in her morning outfit. Wealthy women changed several times throughout the day, usually having a specific outfit for specific events. For example, if Mrs. Dooley was going to have an “at home day” she would wear a long, flowing gown with a train. If Mrs. Dooley was going to visit a friend, she might wear a “walking suit”, which had a hemline that just touched the floor. Ms. Waddy would not only help Mrs. Dooley and Ms. Elder change, she would also style their hair, run their baths, shine or clean their shoes, and even run small errands for the women. Ms. Waddy was a well known member of the domestic staff at Maymont. Some of the staff remember her for being a wonderful cook and baker. The children of the Maymont staff remember Fannie Waddy bringing them homemade treats. Ms. Waddy would work alongside the cook, Mrs. Walker, to can vegetables that came from the gardens of family members who lived in the country. Staff members and family members remember that Ms. Waddy had a gentleman caller named John Fossy. Mr. Fossy would come to call on Ms. Waddy at her home. Mr. Fossy was remembered as being a very proper gentleman and that he would “court” Ms. Waddy by visiting her around 6:00 in the evening and staying until 8:00 when he would go home. Courting was a way for men and women to spend time together before dating became popular. Courting usually happened inside the home and there was generally a relative that stayed in the room with the couple. A courting couple may go on walks together, but women were not left alone with men to whom they were not related until they were married.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Frannie Waddy thought that:

Frannie Waddy saw:

Frannie Waddy may have said:

Frannie Waddy may have felt: Costumed interpreter demonstrating the responsibilities of a lady’s maid.

Frannie Waddy worked on:

Frannie Waddy went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

abraham lincoln walker

Abraham Lincoln Walker was a well-known chauffeur in Richmond and began working for the Dooleys at Maymont in the 1920s. Mr. Walker was responsible for driving the Dooley’s to their various destinations during the day and maintaining the vehicles that the Dooley’s owned. Since cars were still new inventions during the 1920s, the skills of mechanics were highly prized and ensured that the fragile and finicky machines continued to run properly. The Dooleys owned cars driven by chauffeurs such as a Pierce Arrow as well as less luxurious cars, such as a Winton, used by the domestic staff. Mr. Walker would clean the interior and exterior of all of these vehicles and make sure they were ready for the Dooleys whenever they wanted them.

Mr. Walker worked alongside many of his family members while employed at Maymont. His brother, John Thomas, would occasionally help him with his duties as a chauffeur and his mother and some of his sisters worked as domestics in the Mansion. The descendants of the Walkers have shared many stories about their family members and what it was like to work at Maymont. These stories have helped Maymont historians understand what life was like for a domestic working in the home of a wealthy person in the 1920s. They also shared personal stories about their loved ones which helped historians understand the everyday lives of African Americans in Richmond, VA during this era. Abraham Lincoln Walker was remembered by his family members as being a wonderful storyteller with a great sense of humor. He had a lovely singing voice and was taught to sing in harmony with his siblings and other family members. Abraham and his siblings would often entertain their family members by singing together. They were taught to sing in harmony and would often sing hymns, or religious songs. Mr. Abraham Walker continued his work with the Dooleys until the mid 1920s. When Mr. Walker’s wife, Emma, passed away, Abraham left his son with a family in Ashland, VA and moved North to look for better opportunities. While many of Mr. Walker’s family members moved to Philadelphia, Abraham‘s nieces remember that he lived in New York for a time. Mr. Walker moved to the north at the same time as many other African Americans looking for greater freedoms and opportunities than what was available to them in the south. This mass relocation is often called the Great Migration and many families relocated to cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago. The lives of African Americans in the south during the 1900s and 1920s became increasingly difficult and dangerous. Laws that supported segregation and discriminatory practices were passed with increasing frequency and hate groups, such as the Klu Klux Klan gained popularity and members. Laws throughout the south were passed that made it more difficult for African Americans to find jobs, safe housing, or good schools. Greater opportunity and freedom was not always found in the north. As large numbers of African Americans began to arrive in cities, many Northerners became fearful that they would lose their jobs or way of life. The fears led to racist legislation that mirrored Southern Jim Crow laws. By the 1920s communities began to impose segregation in schools, stores and other public places. African Americans who moved North had difficulty finding homes because of neighborhood rules that prevented them from purchasing homes in certain areas of town. Racial tensions sometimes erupted into violence. The summer of 1919 became known as “Red Summer,” riots and violence erupted in Chicago, Washington D.C., Omaha, Knoxville, and in many other cities.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Abraham Lincoln Walker thought that:

Abraham Lincoln Walker saw:

Abraham Lincoln Walker may have said:

Abraham Lincoln Walker may have felt:

Abraham Lincoln Walker worked on:

Costumed interpreter demonstrating the responsibilities of a chauffeur.

Abraham Lincoln Walker went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

frances twiggs walker

Frances Twiggs Walker was born a year before the Civil War ended and identified as having both African American and Mattaponi Native American ancestry. She began working for the Dooleys at Maymont around 1917 as the head cook. Mrs. Walker was married and had eight children, many of whom worked in various domestic positions at Maymont with their mother. For a time, Mrs. Walker “lived in” at Maymont and her family believed that she had an apartment above the Dooleys’ garage. Mrs. Walker worked for the Dooleys at their summer home and at their winter home, Maymont. During the summer, the Dooleys would stay at their second home, Swannanoa. Mrs Walker would leave her family to work as the Dooleys’ cook there.

The cook was in charge of cooking for Mrs. and Mr. Dooley and their guest as well as all the other domestic staff in the mansion. Cooking large and delicious meals for 25 or more people would have taken many hours and a lot of hard work. Mrs. Walker cooked on a large coal fired, four burner stove that did not have modern conveniences such as accurate temperature gauges. Mrs. Walker would have had to place her hand inside the stove to test the temperature to make sure food was cooked at the right temperature. Mrs. Walker was known to be an excellent cook and was able to produce delicacies such as Nasturtium tea sandwiches, multi-course French-style dinners, and delicious home cooked meals, sometimes all served on the same day. As the head cook, Mrs. Walker would also be in charge of the kitchen maids, who were responsible for maintaining the stove and cleaning the kitchen after meals. Mrs. Walker would have been able to get some of her cooking supplies from the livestock that were kept on the property. While Maymont was not a farm, some animals were kept in order to supply the kitchen. There would have been a dairy cow for milk, chickens for eggs, and a small garden for fresh vegetables and herbs. The Dooleys had hot and cold running water inside the house, which would have helped Mrs. Walker and her staff clean up the kitchen. Any additional supplies that Mrs. Walker might need would be purchased from the markets in Richmond. Mrs. Walker was in charge of making sure that the food that the Dooleys served was not only deliciously prepared, but also healthy for consumption. While this may seem like a simple task, it is important to remember that there were no regulations on the food and drug industries in the United States at this time. Prepackaged food items often contained dangerous additives that made people sick or caused deaths. Milk was often adulterated by farmers and factories. Farmers and factory owners would add water and white powder to the milk so that they could stretch the amount of the product, without paying more money for pure milk. Not only were factories adding unsafe materials to their prepackaged foods, but conditions inside factories created unclean environments. Trash and waste piled up on floors causing rat infestations that would affect entire neighborhoods. These unclean practices would contaminate the food that was being produced in the factories, which would be spread to the customers who purchased the foods. There are two major events that occured that finally encouraged the development of standards for food and medicine leading to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. The first was the publication of the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The Jungle exposed the meat industry and the treatment of factory workers. He also described the horrifically unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking industry. The second event was led by a gentleman named Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley who worked at the United States Agricultural Department and established what became known as the “Poison Squad.” Wiley worked to prove that the many additives that were used by the Food and Drug factories were causing illnesses and death in Americans. He developed his experiments by having a fantastic chef cook up delicious meals that were then poisoned with the many chemicals that were being added to foods. Once the chef finished the meal, Wiley would then serve the dishes to his co-workers. His volunteers recorded the illnesses they suffered, and he then published his findings for every American to read.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Frances Twiggs Walker thought that:

Frances Twiggs Walker saw:

Frances Twiggs Walker may have said:

Frances Twiggs Walker may have felt:

Costumed interpreter demonstrating the responsibilities of a head cook.

Frances Twiggs Walker worked on:

Frances Twiggs Walker went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

frances walker

Frances Walker was the daughter of Frances Twiggs Walker, the head cook for the Dooley family at Maymont in the 1920s. Ms. Walker may have started working with her mother when she was about 15 years old. She worked as a kitchen maid, helping her mother prepare the meals for the Dooleys, their guests, and the other domestic workers. She would work long hard hours, usually more than 12 each day. For her work, Ms. Walker earned about $20.00 a month, $23.00 less than her mother and $80.00 less than the Head Butler William Dillworth. With inflation, Ms. Walker’s salary is worth $258.12 a month. Today a minimum wage worker who works 40 hours a week takes home approximately $1,160.00 a month before taxes.

A kitchen maid was in charge of making sure everything in the kitchen was prepared for the cook to complete her work. Ms. Walker would have risen early in the morning to clear the ashes out of the coal burning stove. Once clean, Ms. Walker would have gone into the coal room with a coal scuttle or a bucket to collect the coal needed for the fire that day. Returning to the kitchen, she would have filled the bottom of the stove with a layer of coal and then lit the fire. Her mother, the cook, would then check the temperature of the stove to determine when it was time to start cooking. During this time Ms. Walker would have assisted with baking the bread in the morning, or preparing for the midday and evening meals. Ms. Walker was also in charge of cleaning the entire kitchen, washing any pots and pans that were used, and she was in charge of caring for the stove. Stoves in the 1900s were made out of cast iron. Once, every two weeks, Ms. Walker would polish the stove with a cleaning product that was black, like the metal of the stove. This process was called “re-blacking” and it would make the stove look brand new and prevent it from rusting. While the kitchen maid was working alongside the cook, she was also learning how to be a cook. The skills she learned under the head cook would allow her to find a job as a head cook one day and make more money. A skilled cook was a very important to a Gilded Age household and cooks were some of the highest paid members of a domestic staff. Frances Walker was able to use the skills she learned under her mother to earn a position as a head cook in a house in Philadelphia. Although many middle and upper class women were expected to stay at home, many working class women had to work in order to support their families. Ms. Walker would have worked 12 or more hours in a day, sacrificing time from her husband and children in order to provide a safe home. Job opportunities for women and African American women were especially limited. African Americans and women were paid less than men and women were often prevented from taking higher paying jobs, even if they had the skill or education. While Ms. Walker and her mother, Frances Twiggs Walker, the head cook, were proud of their positions at Maymont but, they wanted something better for the next generation. Virgee Payne, Ms. Walker’s cousin, remembers that Mrs. Frances Twiggs Walker was asked by Mrs. Dooley if Virgee was training to be a wonderful cook such as herself. Mrs. Walker responded that she wanted something better for her niece - and probably for her children as well. Mrs. Walker’s daughter stated that she often resented the time that her mother spent away from her, but as an adult she realized that her mother made those sacrifices so that she could have a better life.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Frances Walker thought that:

Frances Walker saw:

Frances Walker may have said:

Frances Walker may have felt:

Frances Walker Ca. 1940s Photo courtesy of daughter, Doris Walker Woodson.

Frances Walker worked on:

Frances Walker went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

hannah walker

Hannah Walker was the daughter of Frances Twiggs Walker and worked in various domestic positions at Maymont Mansion. Ms. Walker quit school after the 5th grade and entered into domestic service around the age of 13. She worked in several houses, but became a maid at Maymont when she was in her 20s. She worked as an upstairs maid and as a kitchen maid at different times.

As a maid, Ms. Walker was in charge of cleaning the upper levels of the house. Rising early in the morning, Ms. Walker would have opened the curtains in all of the formal rooms of the Dooleys’ home such as the library, the drawing rooms, and the dining room. She would have been required to clean all of the carpets and dust all of the objects inside Mr. and Mrs. Dooley’s 33-room mansion both the formal areas and the work areas of the house. In the summer, the Dooleys would leave their home and travel throughout the United States or Europe or to their summer home, Swannanoa. While the family was gone, the maids would do a deep cleaning on the house.

As a kitchen maid, she would have helped her mother prepare dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner and would have assisted in cleaning and maintaining the stove and oven.A kitchen maid was in charge of making sure everything in the kitchen was prepared for the cook to complete her work. Ms. Walker would have risen early in the morning to clear the ashes out of the coal burning stove. Once clean, Ms. Walker would have gone into the coal room with a coal scuttle of a bucket to collect the coal needed for the fire that day. Returning to the kitchen, she would have filled the bottom of the stove with a layer of coal and then lit the fire. Her mother, Mrs. Walker, the cook would then monitor the temperature of the stove to determine when it was time to start cooking. During this time Ms. Walker would have assisted with baking the bread in the morning, or making preparations for the midday and evening meals. Ms. Walker’s granddaughter, Frances Jones, remembered although “raised in the country,” Hannah Walker attended Moore Street School in Richmond, probably through the 5th grade. She worked afterwards. Mrs. Jones emphasized, however, that her grandmother was very learned. “She was self-educated, always reading something as an adult.” She also said that she was a wonderful cook and a very strong and proud woman. Ms. Jones remembered that Ms. Walker was a very clean and tidy person with high standards. She stated that all of the cleaning that was done at work for Maymont or other houses, was also done in her home, and that “every corner had to be spotless.” Frances Jones also remembered that her grandmother was a very proper lady and that she was expected to “talk a certain way” and that “She would correct you real quick...she did not like you to use broken English or bad English.” She remembered that her grandmother even drank her tea “with her pinkie out.” While many of Hannah Walker’s family members moved to Philadelphia, she stayed on in Richmond with her mother. She attended church at Moore Street Baptist on Leigh Street. After the Dooleys’ deaths, Mrs. Walker continued working as a domestic in the home of another prominent Richmond family, then eventually took a position cleaning in a Greyhound station in Richmond, Virginia. “That generation also emphasized the importance of voting,” Mrs. Jones related. Although women had gained the vote in 1920, black women—like most black men—could not exercise the right until Jim Crow ended in the late 1950s. Voting was perceived as a special, almost sacred ritual. “Nana first voted in the 1960 election. At that time, and for elections to follow, she took me along to the polls. Hannah and Sylvia would dress up to cast their votes at Baker School. People stood in long lines.” Her grandmother told her, “Always vote.” Mrs. Jones added, “I always have.”

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

Hannah Walker thought that:

Hannah Walker saw:

Hannah Walker may have said:

Hannah Walker may have felt:

Hannah Walker worked on:

Hannah Walker Ca. 1930s Hannah Walker went or wanted to go: Photo courtesy of her niece Doris Walker Woodson

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

john thomas walker

John Thomas Walker worked in the home of the Dooleys from the 1910s to 1920s and was the son of Frances Twiggs Walker, who was the head cook at Maymont during this time. John Thomas Walker held many different positions while he was employed by the Dooleys at Maymont. He may have worked as a chauffeur alongside his brother and may have worked as a second butler alongside Mr. Dilworth. As a chauffeur, Mr. Walker would have been responsible for driving Mr. and Mrs. Dooley to their destination in a timely manner as well as providing his services as a mechanic. As a second butler, Mr. Walker would have helped the head butler in managing the household. He would have helped serve dinner, polished and inventoried the silver and china, and greeted guests at the door among other responsibilities.

At Maymont, Mr. Walker was able to work alongside many of his family members. His mother and sisters worked in the kitchen as cooks and maids and his brother also worked as a chauffeur. He continued in his positions at Maymont until World War I, when he joined the Army and served as a truck driver. During WWI the United States Armed Services were segregated and many African American men were prohibited from serving in combat roles, instead serving as cooks and truck drivers. During WWI, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called on African Americans to show their patriotism as a means of combating racist stereotypes. W.E.B. Dubois also called on African Americans to set aside their “special grievances” and serve in the armed services and auxiliary services to support the American war effort. The roles that African American servicemen and citizens took on helped lead the Allied Forces to victory over the Axis powers in WWI. After returning home from the war, Mr. Walker married Ethel Tyler Johnson, who was from Amelia, Virginia and moved his family to Philadelphia. Mr. Walker’s move was similar to many African Americans who left the South in hopes of a better future in the northern and western United States. The movement of a large number of African American families who migrated across the country during this time period is called The Great Migration, which occurred between 1916 and into the 1970s, Approximately 6 million African Americans moved away from the South and into Northern Cities in search of better opportunities. Mr. Walker settled in Philadelphia where he originally found work in a country club. He then worked in a condiment factory and later in construction. Mr. Walker became a volunteer fireman and joined Greater White Rock Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He encouraged many of his family members to move to Philadelphia, allowing them to live with him. Two of his sisters, Mary and Frances Walker, worked as live-in cooks and stayed with their brother on their days off. While living in Philadelphia, John Thomas and Ethel Walker had five children. Mr. Walker also raised two step children, a son from his first marriage and a step-daughter from his second marriage. John Thomas’ children and nieces and nephews remembered that he was an excellent cook and enjoyed opera. Mr. Walker’s son Sylvester remembered that his father had a strong work ethic and that “he always impressed upon us the fact that we had to depend upon ourselves, and it didn’t matter what type of work you were doing. If you did a good job, there was satisfaction.”

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

John Thomas Walker thought that:

John Thomas Walker saw:

John Thomas Walker may have said:

John Thomas Walker may have felt:

John Thomas Walker worked on:

John Thomas Walker Ca. 1940s in Philadelphia, PA John Thomas Walker went or wanted to go: Courtesy of son Sylvester Walker

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

BIOGRAPHY

john winston

John Winston began working for the Dooleys at Maymont around 1900 when he was 27 years old. He was hired as the butler. Mr. Winston was responsible for making sure that his employers had whatever they needed as soon as possible. An effective butler would have done his job as if it took no effort at all, making it seem like magic. The reality was that Mr. Winston would be working 12 hours or more a day to make sure the Dooley were able to live the lives of Gilded Age millionaires. Mr. Winston was in charge of answering the door, managing deliveries, helping the Dooleys plan for parties or dinners, while managing other domestic staff members.

The Dooleys were known to pay their employees a little bit more than other households in the Richmond area. Although the Dooleys paid better than others, it was still below the living wage and it was necessary for Mr. Winston and his wife, Alice, to work. At this time, many people believed that women should not work outside of the home. They believed that women were better suited to stay at home to raise children. However, the economic status of many people required both men and women to work in order to support their families. Alice “took in laundry” by washing the clothes from wealthy and middle class households to help support her family. In census records of the time period, Mr. Winston was identified as a person of multiple races. This means that he may have had one parent who was caucasian and another who was African American or Native American. During this time period, relationships or marriages of people who were considered to be different races was illegal. These laws were called anti-miscegenation laws. Many of these laws dated to the time period before the Civil War and were a part of the “Black Codes” which restricted the liberties of free African Americans. These laws were repealed during the Reconstruction era, but were quickly re-established after Reconstruction ended in 1877 when the Union Army left the south and the Jim Crow Era began. In legislative houses across the South, lawmakers tried to determine the definition of race in order to develop discriminatory laws. “One-Drop” laws became common and stated that if a person had one ancestor (a parent, a grandparent or even a great-grandparent) who was African American, then that person was subject to segregation. Racial tension and discriminatory practices got worse after World War I. Discriminatory practices were encouraged by some media outlets and public figures who stoked fears that society as they knew it would be destroyed by women, communist, African Americans and certain religions. Historians argue that this fear was driven in part by the experiences of soldiers during WWI and the changes in American society due to industrialization, immigration and urbanization. The fears that the United States was becoming “less American” encouraged the re-emergence of hate groups such as the Klu Klux Klan, which targeted violence and social intimidation toward African Americans, immigrants, and those of the Catholic and Jewish faiths. The KKK gained popularity during the 1920s, reaching its height in 1925 when a parade for the group was held on Main Street in Richmond, Virginia, just a short walk from the capitol building. The intimidation and violence committed by the KKK was met with resistance. In Richmond, African American leaders worked to block some of the actions of these hate groups. The Richmond Planet, an African American newspaper, urged white business owners to stop the KKK marchers, while also urging African American citizens to protect themselves and their neighborhoods by any means necessary. These efforts were occasionally successful and some KKK marches were stopped because of the work of African American community activists.

BIOGRAPHY GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Complete the graphic organizer (below) using the information from the reading to help you support your answer. Remember the “because” is the most important part!

John Winston thought that:

John Winston saw:

John Winston may have said:

John Winston may have felt:

Costumed interpreter demonstrating the responsibilities of a butler.

John Winston worked on:

John Winston went or wanted to go:

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

PART 1

Estimated Time Required: One class period, approximately 55 minutes as written, additional time may be added with discussion at the end of the class period.

DRIVING QUESTIONS

STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES I will analyze secondary source documents describing the lives of African Americans employed at Maymont estate. I will cite examples from the secondary source document when I complete a biographical graphic organizer exploring the experiences of a specific individual. I will know that I am successful when I am able to state one inference and justify my stance using information from the text for each section of the biographical graphic organizer.

MATERIALS NEEDED Copies of Historical Figures Choice Board Pens, pencils and highlighters

INTRODUCTION (15 minutes)

Instructor should asks students (can be used as a warm up exercise to be completed before class begins) “What do you think it would be like to work as a staff member (a maid, butler or cook) in the home of a millionaire?” See Curiosity Cultivation–COPY into a Google Folder you create to keep your students' responses private. Potential Follow Up Questions: “Can anyone think of examples of maids or butlers that they have read about or seen on T.V. or in the movies?” “Can you describe what type of work they do?” “What does a cook/maid/butler/ladies maid/chauffeur do?” “What hours of the day would you work?” “How many hours a day would you be at work?” “How do you think this would be different 100 years ago in the ‘Gilded Age’ Era?” “Many people who worked inside the homes of the wealthy in Virginia were African American, what laws or prejudices may have affected their lives?” (anticipated response: Jim Crow Laws, Segregation) “People who work inside of homes are often called domestic workers, does anyone know what ‘domestic’ means? Has anyone heard the term ‘domestic’ before?” (anticipated response: domesticated animals, domestic violence) Possible misunderstandings Students may not understand that each role in domestic service has a specific job. The butler and house maid do not cook, that is the job of the cook. The person who cooks inside a home is referred to as a “cook”, not a chef. In the Gilded Age, a valet does not drive cars, he is in charge of the gentleman’s wardrobe. Students are unlikely to understand why people would want so much help from a non-family member. Students are unlikely to understand that the inequality of the time period made it possible for people to afford so much help. The instructor should review material from USII.4 and USII.6 or VUS.8 so that students are able to access prior knowledge. The instructor may do this by developing a formative assessment and integrating technology such as plinkers or kahoot. This activity can be completed prior to this lesson, or as an integrated piece. Prior Knowledge should include: The 13th,14th and 15th amendments. Jim Crow Laws and segregation. Understanding of tenements and hazards of overcrowding in cities. Working conditions in factories. Racism toward immigrants, African Americans, indigenous peoples. Meaning of Gilded Age and wealthy individuals associated with it (Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller). Progressive reforms including Food and Drug Standards, Prohibition and Woman Suffrage.

PART 1 GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

PART 1

MAYMONT ESTATE BACKGROUND powerpoint slides

Maymont was completed in 1893 as the home of James Henry Dooley and Sarah O. May Dooley. They lived at Maymont from 1893 to the 1920s when they both passed away. James H. Dooley was the son of Irish Immigrants. He grew up in a large middle class family and was well educated. He graduated from college with a degree in law. He became a millionaire by investing in railroads such as the Chesapeake and Ohio as well as venturing into other businesses. Sarah O. May Dooley was from rural Lunenburg County. She was the daughter of a physician and had many siblings. She grew up near her grandparents plantation. James and Sallie married in 1869 and lived in Richmond until they completed Maymont in 1893. While they lived at Maymont, they hired 10-12 domestic workers which included maids, butlers, chauffeur, lady’s maid, cook and others. The biographies provided are of individuals known to have worked for the Dooleys while they lived at Maymont estate. These biographies have been compiled from census data and oral history from the descendents of the individuals who worked at Maymont. Additional historical information has been added to expand the historical narrative. Teacher may state: “We spend a lot of time in history class learning about famous people from the past, but a lot of students are just as interested, or maybe even more interested, in what life was like for everyday people. We can understand the period better through reading secondary sources that tell us about the lives of regular people. Today we are going to learn what life was like for the people who worked at Maymont from 1893 until the 1920s.”

ACTIVITY (20-25 minutes)

See Student Page 1. Explain to students that they will be provided a specific biography. The instructor can assign biographies at random or use the included “choice board” to have students select their own biographies. Students should be provided with a biography and a biographical graphic organizer (biographies and organizers are accessible in the choice board document). Students should read their biography. Then complete the biographical graphic organizer using information from the text to support their answer. Students should copy the organizers into the class or a student owned google folder before completing it in order to keep their responses private. Example: James Carter may have thought that: it was important to serve his country because he enlisted in the United States army when WWI started. Students should be given time to complete an example for each section of the graphic organizer.

CONCLUSION (15 minutes)

Students should share their answers and reasoning with the class. With any additional time, students should compare and discuss the varied life experiences of the individuals examined. How were the responsibilities of the butler different from that of a maid. What were some hobbies of the individuals? What did they do outside of work? How were they remembered by their children? Why are the stories of these individuals important to learn about? How do the stories of their lives change or influence your thoughts about history? Why might they have chosen to work at the Dooley house? What other opportunities were available to working class African Americans at that time? What do you think about their choice to work for the Dooleys?

PART 1 GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

PART 2

Estimated Time Required: This project should take place over several class periods based on course schedule.

DRIVING QUESTIONS

STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES Using the biographies of African American domestic workers and my own research I will develop a museum exhibit on my assigned historical figure. I will do this so that I have a better understanding of the African American perspective from the early twentieth century. I will know that I am successful when I have developed a museum exhibit that correctly answers the guiding questions provided to you.

MATERIALS NEEDED Copies of biographies, notes from previous class Guiding Questions student facing document Computers (if independent research assigned) Access to Library if needed. Other materials depend on the “exhibit” selected by the student (see choice board). Exhibit choice board

INTRODUCTION (5-10 minutes)

Instructor should pose the question (can be used as a warm up exercise to be completed before class begins) “Who were the individuals that we learned about in our previous class? What were some of their life experiences” Potential Follow Up Questions: “What were the roles and responsibilities of the domestic workers?” “How many hours did they work each day” “What were some of the obstacles they faced in their daily lives?” “What were some of their personal interests? When did they have time for them” “Did they have families? How do you think this work lives affected their families?” Instructor may state: “In our last class session, we examined the lives of domestics who worked inside the home of the Dooley’s in Richmond, Virginia. As we discussed in the previous class, the lives of everyday people are often overlooked in history books or in museums. Today you will begin additional research on the lives of these individuals and the time period in which they lived. You will then complete a museum style project." Instructors may take time to review prior knowledge as in the previous lesson. It is also appropriate to define plagiarism and citation responsibilities for research. Citation sources are included in the resources section. Instructors should inform appropriate portrayal of the individuals in the projects. Discuss racial sensitivity and the appropriate manner in which the individuals are represented. The goal of this project is to examine the experiences of people who worked in domestic service in light of the context of their time. Racial hierarchies were strictly enforced by custom and by law during the Gilded Age. To be racially sensitive about this time period means to both make clear that those domestic jobs were carried out with dignity and that highly talented African Americans had few opportunities to obtain other kinds of work. It is also important to stress that the individuals profiled were real people and should be treated and discussed with respect.

PART 2 GRADES 6-12 Perspective: African American Life circa 1900

PART 2

ACTIVITY Explain to students that the class will be using the biographies of the individuals from the previous class session to create a “museum exhibit.” Students can all be assigned a specific type of “exhibit” i.e Wax Museum or use the choice board provided. Below questions provided in the Guiding Questions: The museum exhibit will focus on their assigned person and must answer the following questions: What is my name ? When did I live? Era/estimated years? What was my training/what was my job? Describe the positions I held. What were my responsibilities, how long did I work each day? What did I do in my free time and how much free time did I have in a week? Name one interesting personal fact about me (hobbies, likes, dislikes, talents, remembrances of children/descendents) What were some historical events that happened in my lifetime? Why/how did they affect me or why were they important? What did you learn about my time period from reading my story? Why do you think my story is important to be told? If students would like to fill in the answers to these questions, please have students copy the Guiding Questions into class or student owned Google folders to keep their responses private. Students should be given time to complete an exhibit about their historical figure based on class schedule. Students should be encouraged to complete independent research if there is sufficient time. Reference the resource list that can be used by the instructor, but can also be provided to students to help support their research.

MODIFICATIONS/ACCOMIDATION Choice board provided, students can select the project type according to their preferences. Students can work in groups to create exhibits. (2-3 students) If participating in virtual learning, students can present their project by video recording and uploading the videos to the class or student owned google folder to be shared with the teacher/class.

CONCLUSION

Students should be given time to present their exhibits, either in front of the class or in a “gallery” where other students or faculty are invited into the classroom to see the exhibits. Students should be prepared to answer questions about their historical figure.

PART 2 GRADES 6-12