Business
Cleanliness Is Next To Wealthiness: African Americans Have Always Been Leaders In The Laundry Business
As slavery waned in the South, Black men and women took jobs similar to their old duties. The options weren’t many, and washing clothes remained among the worst domestic positions available to Black women. The days-long process of minding pounds of stitched cotton weaves made the autonomy of the work a frustration.
However, that distance from mostly white employers gave African-American women the space to form a small union, The Washing Society, in July 1881. Through churches and affinity groups 20 women blossomed to thousands in the Atlanta area and sought a standard rate increase. Upon fear of repercussion from other day laborers, Society members won their demands and the action became known as a key pre-Civil Rights battle of wills.
The garment care industry continues as a lucrative trade for many Americans (including my family). But for a service that has such rich ties to the advancement of African Americans, it’s a shame there aren’t more public faces with brown skin profiting.
Copyright Madame Noire 2014
