Excavating an Ephemeral Assemblage: An Archaeology of American Hoboes in the Gilded Age
Author(s): Justin E. Uehlein
Year: 2016
Summary
Hobos and other transient laborers were integral to the development of industrial capital in the United States. They traversed the country filling essential temporary positions at the behest of capital interests. Yet, they frequently utilized alternative market practices in their labor arrangements, relying partially on direct trade over monetary payment. They likewise maintained intricate social networks, the material remains of which lay extant in past hobo campsites. Despite fulfilling a vital role in industrial development, hobo labor practices were concealed by policy and media outlets, which vilified hobos in order to obscure their symbolic power as indicators of class hierarchy. Drawing on a range of evidence sources on a hobo jungle located near an industrial town in Southeastern Pennsylvania, I will ask two questions: In what ways did structural control mechanisms limit hobo laboring practices, if at all? And, were hobos effective in circumventing standard capitalist labor schematics?
Cite this Record
Excavating an Ephemeral Assemblage: An Archaeology of American Hoboes in the Gilded Age. Justin E. Uehlein. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434784)
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Keywords
General
capital
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Labor
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transience
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
1880-1950
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 821