Domestic Labor in Black and Green: Deciphering the Shared experiences of African American and Irish Domestics Working in the same Northern Virginia Households and Communities

Summary

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries wealthy American households relied on domestic labor for the running of the home. In the Northeast, this labor was provided by European immigrants, who often moved from job to job seeking better opportunities. While in the South, African Americans continued to perform the same work many had performed under slavery, often staying in the same geographical region as their family and former owners.  In Northern Virginia, these two forms of domestic labor practices camp together in the same communities and even the same households. In this paper, I will examine the experiences of African American and Irish laborers who worked and lived side by side in the great homes of Northern Virginia’s most prominent families. Using historical documents, oral histories, and archaeological data, I will consider each worker’s access to family and community support, differences in duties, and relationship with their employers.  

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Approaching Labor through Archaeology in the Twenty-First Century

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 425