Blue-Collar Women: You’ve
Come A Long Way, Baby?
n .Miir/ i nib
is the fifth in a series of 15
articles exploring Work
mg Changes and Choic
es.' In this article, histo
rian Thomas Dublin of the
University of California.
San Diego, argues that wo
men have made some gains
in the world of work, but
that inequality persists
This series was written for
"Courses by Newspaper."
a program of University
Extension. University of
California. San Diego, with
funding from the National
Endowment for the Hu
manities.
It\ Thomas Dublin
Special To The I'ost
Even a casual glance at
I S. labor statistics re
veals incredible changes
over the past century in
both the composition of the
female labor force and the
nature of the jobs women
perform
Equally striking, the
number of women working
has shot uo so dramatical
ly that one might argue
that ‘ this quantitative
change has been so great
as to constitute a qualita
tive change in social roles.
Despite these changes,
however, work today for
the vast majority of wo
men serves to confirm
Fifth in a series
their subordination and de
pendence in a world in
which the predominant
values remain firmly mas
culine
American women first
began tor work - in - targe - -
numbers outside of their
own homes in the second
quarter of the 19th cen
tury. when the cotton tex
tile mills offered cash
wages to tens of thousands
of daughters of New En
gland farmers By the eve
of the Civil War. sewing
and shoemaking came to
challenge the leading role
of textile manufacturing as
occupations for women.
Domestic servants, how
ever. probably outnum
bered female factory work
ers throughout the ltfth
century, although reliable
early employment statis
tics for w omen are rare~ By
ltttiu domestic service em
ployed 1,2 million women,
and factory work. I t)
million
All other major occupa
tions lagged far behind: in
lHt)o there were only about
25(),(KHi women teachers.
100,000 in retail sales, and a
mere 75.000 office workers.
Blue-collar work clearly
Coulwood Juniors Capture
Cheerieacting Qianipbnship
iiic guuiwuuu tjumur
High School Varsity Cheer
leaders were the winners-m
the junior high division of
the WBCY-Cheerwine
Cheer-off For Cystic
Fibrosis^_
In the competition held at
Eastland Mall, the Braves
coached by Bessie Wilbon
and James Cuthbertson
emerged victorious over
runner-up Alexander
Graham
Elated. Mrs. Wilbon said,
"I am very excited for
the girls. They work so
hard at cheerleading.”
Mr. Cuthbertson said
that he was happy because
Jhe competition was so
Keen.
we were competing
against real fine groups,’"
Cuthbertson said. "The
cheerleaders from Alexan
der Graham, Ranson, Ran
dolph, Spaugh and Wilson
were all so good "
For winning the W'BCY
l.old ^tart
f rom a cold start, ap
proximately $1 is spent
driving four miles to pick
up a quart of milk
i neerwme cneer-ott s
junior high division, the
Braves received a check
for $250.
The members of the
squad are Ann Sigmon
ihead), Angie McKnight,
(co-headi. Marion Miller,
Michelle Plummer. Angela
Glenn, Angie Parmer, Kim
Blankenship, Ardella Ma
lone, Tracy Savage, Leah
Smith. Dawn Williams,
Wanda Pegues, Freda
Green, Monica Little. Heidi
Humanik, and Kene
Sigmon.
The principal at Coul
wood is Mr. William M.
Blakeney Wayne Laughter
is the athletic director.
In the high school divi
sion. the w inner was Myers
Park Independence was
the runner-up East Meck
lenburg's junior varsity,
West Charlotte’s junior
varsity. Catholic's varsity,
Olympic’s varsity and
West Charlotte's varsity
participated.
Alexander uraham won
the victory bell for raising
the most money for Cystic
Fibrosis.
dominated women's paid
employment as the tilth
century drew to a close
W ho were these blue-col
lar working women at the
turn of the century’’ Almost
all were young, single im
migrant women supporting
themselves, or daughters
of -immigrants-fte4pmg-U»—
support their families
Only about one in eight
working women was mar
ried Even among immi
grant women, few expected
to continue- working after
marriage.
A study ot working mo
thers in New York City in
1910. for example, found
that the absence or illness
of husbands was the prime
factor that led these
women to seek paid em
ployment. Black married
women were the main ex
ception to this pattern, for
the precarious economic
position of southern black
’families fart n tngtT~prrr—
portion of black women to
continue in agricultural or
domestic labor alter
marriage
TIIK 20111 CKMT'KY
These patterns changed
dramatically in the 20th
century. Between laoo and
1078 the number of working
women •- defined here as
wage earners - increased
from about four million to
more than :tH million At the
same time the proportion
ol females over 16 in the
paid labor force increased
from 2(t percent to more
than 50 percent.
Although men continue to
work in_greater numbers
than do women, females
now constitute about 40
percent of the overall labor
force, a figure that is
steadily inching. upward.
The greatest share in this
increase is the result of
married women entering
paid employment. In 1890
less than five percent of
married women worked
outside their homes; by
1975 this figure stood at 44
percent. In 1890 married
women composed about 12
percent of working women;
today they are fully <>o
percent.
equally significant has
been the shift in the nature
of the oecup;Tt ions-women
hold in the econopiy Al
most two-thirds of em
ployed women were in
bluO-collar occupations in
1900, with almost 29 per
cent in domestic work, and
24 percent in factories. By
1978, less than three per
cent of women were em
ployed in domestic services
and only 11 percent worked
as factory operatives.
t
Today, 9 out of 10 rapes, robberies, and assaults on Black
people are committed by Black offenders.
Last year, more Blacks were killed on the street by other
Blacks than were killed in the entire nine-year Viet Nam war.
Why do Blacks victimize each other through crime? What are
the causes? What can be done?
Find out when Tony Brown's Journal takes an in-depth look at
the social phenomenon of Black crime in “Crisis: Blacks Killing
Each Other." This week on your local PBS station.
Next week, on a special edition of Tony Brown's Journal, Tony
talks with President Ronald Reagan about the status of Black
Americans.
Later in February, Tony Brown’s Journal will present “Malcolm
and Elijah" a commentary on the historical confron
tation of these powerful men, and “The Other Battle," p£p“c£i«by
a filmed history of the heroic exploits of Black company,
soldiers in American Wars.1 -—
This February, keep informed. Keep tuned to
Tony Brown’s Journal.
I
For an Issue of ths Tony Brown a Journal magazine,
containing copies of program transcript* and Infor
WTVI-TV: Channel 42, Feb. 6, 8:OOp.m.
New York, NY 10036
»aVaioIsTfa€OTn»orMaat<sorarasico imc nmcnsse nv WtlNG-TV: Channel 58, Feb 9, 7:30 p.m.!
George Godwin ileftj. former Chairman
of the Board of Motion. Inc and Presi
dent of Godwin Associates, an architec
tural firm here in the city* passes on the
reins of leadership to newly elected
Chairman Robert I* Davis Jr "principal
of Spaugh Junior High School, and Chair
man of the Mecklenburg County Demo
cratic Party Mr Davis says. “Motion
has been in existence for 12 years, and
Loeal Students Coni|>lete Requirements
—MUOv.vsiiuiai tut _
Mecklenburg County stu
dents were among 49
persons who completed
their degree requirements
during the first semester at
the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro.
The students are being
invited back to the campus
May 15-16 to participate in
UNC-G's 90th annual com
mencement exercises.
Among the first semester
graduates were 148 who
completed graduate de
grees. These included 129
at the master's degree
level. 17 who finished their
doctorates, and two stu
dents who completed the
specialist in education
degree.
I hose students completing
graduate degrees are:
Karen M Davis Dixon, a
psychology major, daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. John A.
Davis of 1900 Crestdale
Drive, a master of arts
degree; Cynthia C.
O'Reilly, a studio arts ma
jor. daughter of John P. O'
Reilly of 1346 St. Julien St.,
a master of fine arts de
gree; and Denise K.
Pennartz, a speech patho
logy and audiplogy major,
daughter of Dr and Mrs
Phillip L. Pennartz of 3025
Rustic Lane, a master of
_education degree, all of
Charlotte.
Completing • undergrad
uate degrees are Kristian
C Conrad, a business ad
ministration major, daugn
ter of Mr.' and Mrs. D. F
Conrad of 1640 Wensley
Tire Storing
If you put snow tires on
your car. store the sum
mer tires flat, not upright
nas proviuea nearly 58 million worth of
necessary housing for low to moderate
income families through the City of
( harlotte's Community Development de
partment My hopes for the future, in my
role as chairman of Motion, and with the
cooperation of the other Board members,
is to see that Motion continues to provide
another 12 years of community service."
urive. a naciieior o! sci
ence degree, and Konald t >
Snyder, a music major, son
of Mr and Mrs. John
Snyder of 21 IK Windsor
Drive, a bachelor of music
degree, both of Charlotte
Also. Fleeta M Wilkin
son. formerly of Charlotte.
an inter-departmental stu
nation in international
studies, daughter of Mr
and Mrs Howard C. Wik
kinson of 4K1K Hardwicke
Road. Charlotte, a bache
lor ol arts degree, magna
cum laude
I Local Realtors Agree
v uiiiinut’u iroin rasr I
advised
"HL'D i Housing and Ur
ban Development! has an
office set up and will send
someone out to counsel
you HL'D provides guaran
teea loans w nat trial
means is that whenever the
payment isn't made HI D
will make your payment."
he added
W G Nelson, owner ol
Professional Realty and
Management ""explained"
further. "HJl'D will pay off
the loan to the mortgage
company 'then will repos
sess the house They will
put the house back on the
market and try to resell
it "
V
lltn^vei^l^oiMlidiT^!^
this route and have ex
perienced the agony of
foreclosure don't despair
completely Pettis says
that it is possible to re
establish your credibility
Nelson commented that
d a person had a house
foreclosed on him and can
demonstrate to the lendor
the reason lor foreclosure
"as due to extenuating
circumstances, then HI D
"ill take that into consi
.dera11<>n when apj)l vi ng lor
the loan the second time
around
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arid fasten hooks and eyes
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