Labor Force

“Women have always worked – in their homes and the homes of others, in fields, factories, shops, stores, and offices.”- Alice Kessler Harris, 1981

During the nineteenth century, women toiled in the fields doing backbreaking work alongside men and took up strenuous work in the domestic sphere. After the Civil War and into the twentieth century, Black women found themselves confined to such roles as nurse, maid, and cook, while taking considerably low wages and the continued demands of hard labor. These factors contributed to the economic disparities that Black women and their families faced across the generations and into the present. Labor was often a subject ripe for documentation, sometimes used for social commentary, with artists often employing photography to record these experiences. The works in this section tackle the subject of Black women’s labor through photography, artistic practice, and extant material culture. Some of these works were meant to circulate within intimate circles, often excluding the Black women represented. Other works were meant to circulate amongst wider audiences as a way to publicize the women’s stories. Here, art from past and present depicts the lived realities of free and paid labor that Black women experienced.

Untitled, from Harlem Document, 1939

Aaron Siskind (American, 1903–1991)

gelatin silver print

9 7/16 in. x 7 7/16 in. (24 cm. x 18.9 cm.)

Museum Purchase, 1988.10. Artwork published under fair use.

Aaron Siskind photographed this African American woman ascending a staircase in Harlem. Perhaps he captured the moment as she returned home from work, her face positioned away from the camera. How Siskind gained access to this private, domestic space is unknown. The home is in disrepair based on the crumbling and peeling plaster ceiling, scratched bannister, and half-painted wall. For women such as the one depicted in this photograph, there were limited employment options available in urban environments. Some women in the North hired themselves out for labor by the day or any duration they could get. By the 1930s nine out of ten employed Black women worked as domestic servants and could only find seasonal or part-time employment. During the Great Depression, these women and their families learned to live with few material resources, often living in substandard conditions as a means of survival.

Gee’s Bend, Alabama, 1937

Arthur Rothstein (American, 1915–1985)

printed later, gelatin silver print

9 1/2 x 13 in. (24.13 x 33.02 cm)

Gift, Daveed D. Frazier, MD Collection, 2017.48.14.

Employed by the Farm Security Administration, photojournalist Arthur Rothstein traveled to Gee’s Bend, Alabama, to capture the lifeways of the majority African American community during the Great Depression. While there, Rothstein photographed Artelia Bendolph gazing out of the window of her grandfather’s log cabin. In contrast to White America, the hardships of the Great Depression were not new for most African Americans, as they had managed over the generations to get by with very little. Artelia’s family’s economic struggles are reflected in the newspapering of the home’s interior, seen in the window opening. The newspapers convey messages of abundance – advertising commercial food and products – and is juxtaposed by the hardship faced by Artelia and her family. Images such as these often documented the harsh realities faced by African Americans in rural communities. However they do not reveal the resourcefulness and determined spirit of these communities.

Mrs. Viola Andrews–My Mother, 1974

Benny Andrews (American, 1930–2006)

oil with fabric collage on canvas

60 1/8 x 48 1/8 x 1 1/2 in. (152.72 x 122.24 x 3.81 cm)

Gift of halley k harrisburg ’90 and Michael Rosenfeld, 2018.39. © 2021 Estate of Benny Andrews / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY, Courtesy Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Standing stoically with a staff in hand, this portrait depicts Viola Andrews, the mother of artist Benny Andrews. This collage features material elements: light-colored fabric for the hat, red corduroy fabric used for her shirt, and a stained towel directly underneath. The staff in her hand might allude to her work as a sharecropper in rural Georgia, where she and her husband raised their ten children. Benny Andrews often drew inspiration from his family’s struggles as a foundation for his work. He depicted his mother in additional portraits, often seated with a book in her lap, perhaps reminding him of her devotion to education. Viola Andrews instilled in her children the importance of religion, education, and creative expression. She encouraged her son in his pursuit of art. The portrait of Viola Andrews might be interpreted as an ode to her efforts to support her family with persistence and determination.

Fannie Lou Hamer Standing in the Freedom Farm, 1960-71

Louis H. Draper (American, 1935–2002)

gelatin silver print

14 x 10 7/8 in. (35.56 x 27.62 cm)

Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund, 2020.7

“When you look at all that white-owned, Black farmed land in Mississippi, [the Freedom Farm Cooperative is] a mere drop in the bucket but proves it can be done. This [co-op] represents a step towards economic independence.” – Fannie Lou Hamer, 1971

Fannie Lou Hamer was a Civil Rights leader working towards political and social equality in Mississippi. Born to sharecroppers, Hamer began working in the field at age six, learning early on about the disparity between land ownership and labor. In the 1960s, she became frustrated with the setbacks found in political advancement and turned towards economic equality. She established the Freedom Farm Cooperative (FFC) in 1968. As a grassroots organization, the FFC brought together poor Black families to work the nearly 700 acres of land they collectively owned, making them economically independent from the sharecropping industry that was still present in 1960s Mississippi. In Draper’s photograph taken at the FCC, his photograph makes it clear who is responsible for working the land around Hamer.

[African American Woman (Nanny) & Three White Children], late 19th century

John B. Wortham (American, 1838-1889)

cabinet card

4 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. (10.8 x 16.51 cm)

Museum Purchase, Gridley W. Tarbell II Fund, 2020.22.2-3. Artwork in the public domain.

In these two portraits, taken a little after the Civil War, an older Black woman holds a white infant while her other charges stand close by. Posed against a painted backdrop, the photograph gives the illusion of domesticity and order. The photographs document the use of Black women as props or background devices. The photographs were not taken for the benefit of the Black servant or given to her family. Their individuality extends only so far as they shed light on the childhood of their charge. We are left to wonder what life the Black woman had, who her loved ones were, and whether the image might have circulated without her knowledge.

[Squirming White Child and Black Child Nanny, Winchester, Kentucky], 19th century

John Catherwood (American)

sixth plate daguerreotype

3 ¼ x 2 ¾ in. (8.26 x 6.99 cm)

Private collection. Artwork in the public domain.

In this photograph, an African American nanny, who herself is just a child, is posed with a white toddler who moves away. The tension between the two subjects is immortalized through the daguerreotype. Taken in the United States, this photograph demonstrates the widespread use of African American and Black women to care for white families and their children. Young girls, seen in this image, were commonly used for domestic service inside the enslaver’s home, which could include caring for children. Oftentimes, adult women had children and families of their own to care for in addition to their obligations to the enslaver’s family. Historian Marcus Wood suggests that one-fifth of white women relied on enslaved women for wet-nursing. Although there are few extant records of the lives of these enslaved caretakers, their roles were documented through portraits commissioned of their white charges.

[Wet Nurse of African Descent and White Infant], mid-to-late 19th century

Desiderio Lagrange (French-Mexican, 1849-1926)

cabinet card

4 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. (10.8 x 16.51 cm)

Museum Purchase, Gridley W. Tarbell II Fund, 2020.22.1. Artwork in the public domain.

In this photograph, a Black woman holds a white infant dressed in a christening gown, situated against a plain white backdrop. Taken in Mexico, this image demonstrates the widespread use of African American and Black women to care for white families and their children. Young girls were commonly used for domestic service inside the enslaver’s home, which could include caring for children. Oftentimes, adult women had children and families of their own to care for in addition to their obligations to the enslaver’s family. Historian Marcus Wood suggests that one-fifth of white women relied on enslaved women for wet-nursing. Although there are few extant records of the lives of these enslaved caretakers, their roles were documented through portraits commissioned of their white charges.

Narrative of Phebe Ann Jacobs, or, “Happy Phebe” / by Mrs. T.C. Upham, c. 1850

Mrs. T.C. Upham (Phebe Lord Upham) (American, 1804-1882)

Imprint: New York: American Tract Society, [185-?]

book

8 p.; 18 cm, 7 1/16 in. (18 cm)

Courtesy the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library. Artwork in the public domain.

The only written record we have of Phebe Ann Jacobs’ life is the narrative written by Phebe Lord Upham. A native of Kennebunkport, Maine and the daughter of a wealthy ship owner, Phebe Lord Upham was the wife of a Bowdoin professor. Both Phebe Ann Jacobs and Phebe Upham attended First Parish Church. The pamphlet documents Jacobs’ life after emancipation and emphasizes her piety and reliance on her Christian faith. Upham wrote the narrative to show Phebe as a model Christian respected in her community. It does not, however, document the laborious nature of being enslaved to the Wheelock family.

View the pamphlet below.

Thimble belonging to Phebe Ann Jacobs (formerly enslaved to Maria Wheelock; servant to the Allen family), 19th century

Ball, Black, & Company (American, 1851-1874)

silver

Courtesy the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, William Allen Family Papers, Bowdoin College Library. Artwork in the public domain.

This engraved thimble, worn from use, belonged to Phebe Ann Jacobs (1785-1850). Born enslaved on the Beverwyck Plantation in New Jersey, she was sent in 1800 to Hanover, New Hampshire, to care for Maria Wheelock (1788–1828), the daughter of Dartmouth’s president, John Wheelock, and granddaughter of the plantation’s owner. When Maria married Bowdoin’s third president, William Allen, Jacobs moved with them to continue serving the family. It is unclear when Jacobs was emancipated, as slavery was outlawed in Maine after the 1780s. After Maria passed, Jacobs stayed in Brunswick, working as a seamstress and washerwoman for Bowdoin students and professors.