Umidissertation Information Service
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a manuscript sent to us for publication and microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to pho tograph and reproduce this manuscript, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. Pages in any manuscript may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. Manuscripts may not always be complete. When it is not possible to obtain missing pages, a note appears to indicate this. 2. When copyrighted materials are removed from the manuscript, a note ap pears to indicate this. 3. Oversize materials (maps, drawings, and charts) are photographed by sec tioning the original, beginning at the upper left hand comer and continu ing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each oversize page is also filmed as one exposure and is available, for an additional charge, as a standard 35mm slide or in black and white paper format.* 4. Most photographs reproduce acceptably on positive microfilm or micro fiche but lack clarify on xerographic copies made from the microfilm. For an additional charge, all photographs are available in black and white standard 35mm slide format.* *For more information about black and white slides or enlarged paper reproductions, please contact the Dissertations Customer Services Department Dissertation UMI Information Service University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Micfiigan 48106 8618848 Shaw, Stephanie Jo BLACK WOMEN IN WHITE COLLARS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF LOWER- LEVEL PROFESSIONAL BLACK WOMEN WORKERS, 1870-1954. (VOLUMES I AND 11} The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1986 University Microfilms I nternsitionel300 N. zeebRoad, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1986 by Shaw, Stephanie Jo All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V 1. Glossy photographs or pages. 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print______ 3. Photographs with dark background_____ 4. Illustrations are poor copy______ 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy. 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of page. 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages 8. Print exceeds margin requirements______ 9. Tightly tx)und copy with print lost in spine_______ 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print. 11. Page(s)___________ lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. Page(s)___________ seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages numbered . Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages______ 15. Dissertation contains pages with print at a slant, filmed as received_________ 16. Other______________ ____________________ ________________________________ University Microfilms international BLACK WOMEN IN WHITE COLLARS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF LOWER- LEVEL PROFESSIONAL BLACK WOMEN WORKERS, 1870-1954 Volume I DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Stephanie J. Shaw, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1986 Dissertation Committee: Approved by J . C. Burnham L. J. Rupp ( C ^ ^ W. R. VanTine Copyright by Stephanie J. Shaw 1986 11 To my father, Aaron Vernard Shaw, who did not live to see the completion of this project. He was a wonderful example of the "strong men." And to my mother, Jennie Lee Thompson Shaw, a phenomenal woman. Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................. vi VITA ................................................vii INTRODUCTION ........................................ 1 CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION TO PART I: WHO ARE YOUR PEOPLE? 17 1. FAMILY LIFE .......................... 19 2. SOCIAL CLASS ........................56 The Social-Anthropological Conclusions . 61 The Lower-Level Professional Black Women Workers ............................ 80 The Parents ..........................81 As Children of Parents; Schooling . 92 As Children of Parents: Education . 107 The Patterns in Marriages ......... 118 As Parents of Children ............123 Patterns of Material Wealth ......... 129 Other Institutional Memberships . 134 Status Recognition and Self P e r c e p t i o n ......................... 141 Middle Class and Lower Caste . 145 INTRODUCTION TO PART II: THE WOMEN AS WORKERS ............................... 154 3. "YOU DON'T DO IT FOR THE MONEY": THE QUESTION OF PROFESSIONAL STATUS ......... 161 4. PROFESSIONALIZATION THROUGH ORGANIZATION: THE CASE OF THE GRADUATE NURSES ....... 197 5. THE WORK CULTURE AND WORK ETHIC OF LOWER- LEVEL PROFESSIONAL BLACK WOMEN WORKERS . 249 IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am especially grateful for the guidance provided by my dissertation advisor. Professor John C. Burnham, and Professors Leila Rupp and Warren VanTine, who also served on my dissertation committee. The Business and Professional Women's Foundation, the center fob Women's Studies at the Ohio State University, Pergamon Press and the National Women's Studies Association, The Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the Graduate Schools of The Ohio State University and Illinois State University provided research grants and/or fellowships, which helped to make the completion of this research possible. Frank Hale, Vice Provost for Minority Affairs at The Ohio State University, also provided financial support through his office when this research was at crucial points. And he also was always very generous with morale support. The consistent encouragement of Robin Hailstorks, Janice O'Neal, Andrea Friedman, and Benjamin Johnson was always inspiring. The technical assistance (and patience) of Mary Koch and Ronda Roop are also gratefully acknowledged. And I am especially appreciative for permission to quote from the Radcliffe College-Schlesinger Library's Black Women's Oral History Project transcripts granted by Ms. Eunice Laurie, Ms. Miriam Matthews, Ms. Lucy Mitchell, and the Director of the Library, Patricia M. King. VITA July 16, 1955 .................. Born - Burlington, NC 1977 ........................... B.A., North Carolina Central University Durham, North Carolina 1979 ........................... M.A., The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 1979-80 ........................... Visiting Lecturer in History North Carolina Central University, Durham, North Carolina 1981-1982 ......................... Instructor in History, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 1984-Present .................... Assistant Professor in History Illinois State University, ^ Normal, Illinois \ I \ FIELDS OF STUDY \ \ Major Fields: American Social History, Professor John Burnham Ameri^can Women's History, Professor Leila Rupp American Labor History, Professor Warren VanTine VI Introduction A decade ago, Theodore Zeldin wrote an essay concerning the development of social history as a field of study. He explained that although social history is not new as the often-used label, "the new social history," suggests, many new ideas and discoveries have continually come out of the area. The innovations, wrote Zeldin, were the result of the very rebellion that social history represented: rebellion against traditional interpretations of the past and methods 1 of arriving at those interpretations. Over time, social historians have indeed employed innovative methods and fresh sources in order to learn more about past and present American experiences. The most recent studies treat social groups as active groups rather than passive or reactive groups, as adaptable groups rather than pathological groups, as mobile groups rather than unstable groups. These new studies allow new or, at least, different interpretations of America's past and a different understanding of the history of the social groups whose experiences compose the larger story. In a similar manner, this is a study of a small group of lower-level professional black women workers who lived between 1863 and the present. All of the women were in the work force before 1954. It is an attempt to present a history of this group in the socio-cultural environment that helped to shape the experiences of some of its members. As a social history of lower-level professional black women workers, this study is to some extent a collective biography. But the biography is only the basis for asking and answering historical questions. It is an attempt not only to examine work-related issues, but additionally to construct or reconstruct the context of the women's lives. To this end, specific topics examined include family lives, class, caste, gender, networks, work, professionalism, and professionalization. The women in this study worked for at least part of their careers as primary and secondary school teachers, social workers, registered nurses, and/or public librarians. I have labeled the women "lower-level professionals" because the expression, "semi-professional," invokes an image of a non-professional. The women of this study met the traditional definition of "professional" in their preparation, work, personal attitudes, and community images. The term lower-level professional, then, intends only to imply the position of the occupations on a hierarchy of occupations topped by physicians and attorneys, who were upper-level professionals in terms