Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2023/Fall/Section18/Life story of a Negro Washerwoman

Overview

Negro washerwoman and her kids in 1900

Betty Staton (referred to as Stella Winslow throughout the work) was born in Wilmington in 1890 and moved to Elizabeth City with her family when she was 8, where she stayed for the rest of her life.

Betty started her career as a clothes washer at the age of 16 and continued this throughout her later life. Deserted by her husband when she was 36 and had to support their 4 children all on her own, she lived a strapped life. Aside from her job as a clothes washer, Betty also had to become a scavenger, as well as relying what others’ donations to provide necessities for the family. In such a harsh condition, she still maintained some faith in religion and went to the church occasionally, but did not dwell on it.

Biography

Early Life

Betty Staton was an African American born in the year 1890 in Wilmington. When she was 8, her parents and her together moved to Elizabeth City. 8 years later, when she was 16, she became a clothes washer.

Adult Life

Betty Staton continued her job as a clothes washer throughout her later life. She charged different prices according to her consumers’ jobs and economic situations --- the rich for more and the poor for less.

There is no explicit information stating when Betty got married, but the marriage did not stop her from continuing her career. She enjoyed her job and did not bend towards her family.

When she was 34, she was abandoned by her husband. It became a hard job for her to feed her 4 kids without the support of her husband. However, despite the great economic burden she had to overcome, she kept her cheerful and friendly characteristics.

To keep her kids warm, she picked cinders that weren’t burnt up along the railroad with the help of her kids when she was not working as a washerwoman. Also, to feed her kids, she kept the food offered when she was allowed to do the washing in the house of her consumers for her kids. She also became a scavenger, looking for food and fuel that were thrown away by the local stores. Sometimes, neighbors would offer food and help for her.

Betty Staton was 48 when she was interviewed, she lived in a small two-story house in the slum section of Elizabeth City with her kids. Despite her hard life, she keeps a routine of going to the church. She did not explicitly state her religion but showed an attitude of revere and fear.

Social context

The Relationship Between Religion and African-Americans

After the Civil War, black protestant denominations cemented their place more deeply in the U.S. religious landscape. African Americans more actively integrated their religion into their lives, independent of the whites. In the case of Christianity, with the number of followers increasing rapidly, “[o]verall, the U.S. Census Bureau counted nearly 2.7 million “negro communicants” at Christian churches in 1890, reporting at least a fourfold increase in Black Christians over the previous three decades”, many African Americans left white churches and formed religious places of their own. Along with Christianity, Catholicism also grew rapidly, “[p]arochial schools, often viewed as an attractive alternative to public schools, were one way many Black families came into contact with Catholicism”.

Divorce and Family Structure During the Great Depression

Though there are still some debates over the reliability and validity of the data collected during and after the great depression, the overall trend shows that divorce rates fell significantly during the period. This occurrence was caused by a combination of economic and social factors. Not only did increasing economic costs “such as maintaining two households rather than one”, during a period of economic downturn became hard to afford for divorced individuals, but they also would need to face a loss of social support for loosing "the family as an emergency support system”. Divorce during the period of the great depression means living a harder and less stable life.

African-American Washerwomen

The number of African-American Washerwomen declined significantly from the 1890s to the 1930s. “The Bureau of the Census in 1890 reported 151,540 washerwomen, 218,227 in 1900, and 373,819 in 1910. In 1920, however, there were actually 283,557.” These women who used to be washerwomen are leaning more towards caring for the family. “In not a few cases the earnings of the Negro washerwoman went to supplement that of her husband as capital in starting business enterprises.”

References

Mohamed, Besheer, Claire Gecewicz, Jeff Diamant, and Kiana Cox. “A Brief Overview of Black Religious History in the U.S.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, February 16, 2021. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/02/16/a-brief-overview-of-black-religious-history-in-the-u-s/.

Cohn, D’Vera. “Divorce and the Great Recession.” Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, May 2, 2012. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2012/05/02/divorce-and-the-great-recession/.

Cherlin, Andrew, Erin Cumberworth, S. Philip Morgan, and Christopher Wimer. “The Effects of the Great Recession on Family Structure” The Effects of the Great Recession on Family Structure and Fertility, September 25, 2013. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0002716213500643.

Mendenhall, Ruby, Phillip J. Bowman, and Libin Zhang. “Single Black Mothers’ Role Strain and Adaptation across the Life Course - Journal of African American Studies.” , May 29, 2012. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12111-012-9220-7#citeas.

Woodson, C. G. “The Negro Washerwoman, a Vanishing Figure.” The Negro Washerwoman, A Vanishing Figure, July 1930. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.2307/2713969?journalCode=jnh.