It has been said that if the Great depression years
were bad for whites in this country, then it was worse than that for
blacks and other minorities. African Americans suffered more than
whites, since their jobs were often taken away from them and given to
whites. In 1930, 50 percent of blacks were unemployed. However, Eleanor
Roosevelt championed black rights, and New Deal programs prohibited
discrimination. Discrimination continued in the South, however, as a
result a large number of black voters switched from the Republican to
the Democrat party during the Depression.
In 1929, the Great Depression devastated the United States. Hard times came to people throughout the country, especially rural blacks. Cotton prices plunged from eighteen to six cents a pound. Two thirds of some two million black farmers earned nothing or went into debt. Hundreds of thousands of sharecroppers left the land for the cities, leaving behind abandoned fields and homes. Even "Negro jobs" -- jobs traditionally held by blacks, such as busboys, elevator operators, garbage men, porters, maids, and cooks -- were sought by desperate unemployed whites. In Atlanta, Georgia, a Klan-like group called the Black Shirts paraded carrying signs that read, "No jobs for niggers until every white man has a job." In other cities, people shouted "Niggers back to the cotton fields. City jobs are for white men." And in Mississippi, where blacks traditionally held certain jobs on trains, several unemployed white men, seeking train jobs, ambushed and killed the black workers.
As one would imagine, this same institutional racism prevailed with the Six Companies hiring practices at the Hoover Dam construction site. Whites even served in the lowliest of jobs at the dam, such as latrine cleaner. "Alabam," a white worker from Alabama was too old to do the physical labor of the regular jobs, so he was assigned to clean the onsite latrines. This clearly would have been a job for blacks, but times were hard and whites were eager to accept these jobs...any job, to the exclusion of blacks.
In 1929, the Great Depression devastated the United States. Hard times came to people throughout the country, especially rural blacks. Cotton prices plunged from eighteen to six cents a pound. Two thirds of some two million black farmers earned nothing or went into debt. Hundreds of thousands of sharecroppers left the land for the cities, leaving behind abandoned fields and homes. Even "Negro jobs" -- jobs traditionally held by blacks, such as busboys, elevator operators, garbage men, porters, maids, and cooks -- were sought by desperate unemployed whites. In Atlanta, Georgia, a Klan-like group called the Black Shirts paraded carrying signs that read, "No jobs for niggers until every white man has a job." In other cities, people shouted "Niggers back to the cotton fields. City jobs are for white men." And in Mississippi, where blacks traditionally held certain jobs on trains, several unemployed white men, seeking train jobs, ambushed and killed the black workers.
As one would imagine, this same institutional racism prevailed with the Six Companies hiring practices at the Hoover Dam construction site. Whites even served in the lowliest of jobs at the dam, such as latrine cleaner. "Alabam," a white worker from Alabama was too old to do the physical labor of the regular jobs, so he was assigned to clean the onsite latrines. This clearly would have been a job for blacks, but times were hard and whites were eager to accept these jobs...any job, to the exclusion of blacks.
Under the General Conditions of the contract with Six Companies, the government specified that "Mongolian labor prohibited-- Pursuant to section 4 of the act of June 17, 1902(32 Stat. 388, 389), no Mongolian labor shall be employed under this contract." Did this represent a concern that the mistreatment of Chinese workers on the continental railroad not be repeated, or was this typical of the blatant racism of the times. The evidence seems to favor the latter.
The start of construction on Hoover in 1930 held the promise of employment for thousands of workers in the Las Vegas area. Many had relocated to the desert town for the sole purpose of working on the dam. With the nation enduring a crippling economic depression, nearly one quarter of workers were without work. The Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) project looked like a life saver. For African American and other minority citizens, however, the situation remained bleak. The U.S. government's contract with Six Companies stipulated that American citizens be hired for the job. Veterans of WW I had preference. The term American citizen, however, came to be defined as white American citizen. No race, except for "Mongolians" was specifically excluded. This indicated an overt complicity of the U.S. Government with this inherently racist employment practice.
In May, 1931 the Colored Citizens Labor and Protective Association of Las Vegas complained that none of the first 1000 workers placed on Six Companies payroll for the dam project were African American. Officials contended that Six Companies had not hired African American workers for fear of causing racial strife among the work crews. NAACP field secretary William Pickens was told during a 1932 visit to southern Nevada that violence had nearly broken out on a previous job when Six Companies had placed a Mexican foreman in charge of a white work crew.
Under mounting pressure from the newly elected Roosevelt administration, and in particular the insistence of the Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, Six Companies president W.A. Bechtel promised an increase in the number of black workers hired. Still, by 1933 only 24 African American workers, less than one percent of the total work force, had been hired and none were allowed to live in Boulder City. Additionally, African American workers were relegated to working in the Arizona gravel pits, the hottest spot on the entire job site. Taken to the gravel pits on segregated buses, African American workers traveled a rough and bumpy 30 miles to work each day only to return to their homes in the slums of West Las Vegas each night. To add to their humiliation, they were forced to drink from separate water buckets while on the job site.
The construction of Hoover Dam was proof of human progress on many levels. Progress on civil rights and race relations, however, could not be counted among them.
The start of construction on Hoover in 1930 held the promise of employment for thousands of workers in the Las Vegas area. Many had relocated to the desert town for the sole purpose of working on the dam. With the nation enduring a crippling economic depression, nearly one quarter of workers were without work. The Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) project looked like a life saver. For African American and other minority citizens, however, the situation remained bleak. The U.S. government's contract with Six Companies stipulated that American citizens be hired for the job. Veterans of WW I had preference. The term American citizen, however, came to be defined as white American citizen. No race, except for "Mongolians" was specifically excluded. This indicated an overt complicity of the U.S. Government with this inherently racist employment practice.
In May, 1931 the Colored Citizens Labor and Protective Association of Las Vegas complained that none of the first 1000 workers placed on Six Companies payroll for the dam project were African American. Officials contended that Six Companies had not hired African American workers for fear of causing racial strife among the work crews. NAACP field secretary William Pickens was told during a 1932 visit to southern Nevada that violence had nearly broken out on a previous job when Six Companies had placed a Mexican foreman in charge of a white work crew.
Under mounting pressure from the newly elected Roosevelt administration, and in particular the insistence of the Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, Six Companies president W.A. Bechtel promised an increase in the number of black workers hired. Still, by 1933 only 24 African American workers, less than one percent of the total work force, had been hired and none were allowed to live in Boulder City. Additionally, African American workers were relegated to working in the Arizona gravel pits, the hottest spot on the entire job site. Taken to the gravel pits on segregated buses, African American workers traveled a rough and bumpy 30 miles to work each day only to return to their homes in the slums of West Las Vegas each night. To add to their humiliation, they were forced to drink from separate water buckets while on the job site.
The construction of Hoover Dam was proof of human progress on many levels. Progress on civil rights and race relations, however, could not be counted among them.
Wilbur, RL and Mead, E. The Construction of Hoover Dam. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1933
Vilander B. Hoover Dam: the photographs of Ben Glaha. University of Arizona Press, 1999
Roosevelt Fitzgerald, "Blacks and the Boulder Dam Project," Nevada Historical society Quarterly 24 (Fall 1981):255-60
Vilander B. Hoover Dam: the photographs of Ben Glaha. University of Arizona Press, 1999
Roosevelt Fitzgerald, "Blacks and the Boulder Dam Project," Nevada Historical society Quarterly 24 (Fall 1981):255-60