Black Housekeepers by Mafyu Campbell

mafyucampbell — 2025-04-24 20:13:55 UTC

This photo shows a black woman housekeeper feeding a white baby food in Atlanta GA, 1939. Black housekeepers often had roles in the kitchen, making and feeding food, further evidenced by her apron.

mafyucampbell — 2025-04-24 20:31:50 UTC

This photo shows a WPA program training African-American women to work as maids in New Orleans. The WPA, or Works Progress Administration, was set up as part of the Second New Deal and provided training and paid jobs for unemployed marginalized groups, especially due to the Great Depression.

mafyucampbell — 2025-04-24 20:38:50 UTC

This photo shows a black maid cleaning in a bedroom in 1942. Black housekeepers did all types of work around the house, including dirty work.

mafyucampbell — 2025-04-24 21:10:05 UTC

W.E.B. Du Bois graphed this data in 1899. It compares the average length of service of black people working in the domestic (household) sector compared to the general population that works in the domestic sector. Black domestic workers often worked for their employer much longer, because they needed jobs desperately and so they put up with hard conditions more easily.

mafyucampbell — 2025-04-24 21:25:02 UTC

This photo shows many domestic housekeepers, most of whom are black, making pastries in a kitchen in New Orleans in 1939. This was also likely part of a WPA program to teach the essentials of being a maid to allow the unemployed to get jobs.