The Negro at Work in New York City: A Study in Economic ProgressHaynes, George Edmund
History
The Negro at Work in New York City: A Study in Economic Progress
Haynes, George Edmund
African American businesspeople; African Americans -- Employment -- New York (State) -- New York; African Americans -- History
No. 15. This was an undertakers establishment started in 1897 by a
minister, who came to New York from Virginia about twenty-five years
ago. The firm had been located at the address where found about nine
years, and had a branch in another part of Manhattan. Two helpers were
employed, the floor space was about 20 by 40 feet, for which a rental
of $35 per month was paid. Tools and fixtures, including dead-wagon,
were valued at $1,200, and about $300 of stock was kept on hand. The
gross receipts of the business were about $9,000 in 1907, and about
$8,000 in 1908. Ledger, cash-book, day-book, and funeral register were
used in keeping accounts. The proprietor started on a small saving
from his salary as a minister, having to run the business a year
before he had the additional $200 in cash for deposit for registration
in the Casket Makers Association, thus securing credit on supplies. He
habitually allows credit to customers, all of whom, with very rare
exceptions, are Negroes.
No. 16 was a hotel on the European plan, established in 1899 by a
Georgian who had been in New York five years previously and had saved
his wages in several kinds of hotel work to get his start. He usually
employed six helpers; the place occupied a four-floor building about
25 by 60 feet, for which a rental of $1,800 per year is paid.
Fixtures, furniture, _etc._, were valued at $2,000. The gross receipts
of the hotel were a little over $10,000 in 1907, and between $9,000
and $10,000 in 1908. Both ledger and cash-book were used in keeping
accounts. Nearly all customers were Negroes, and whites were not
especially sought because those who did come were usually looking for
a colored dive and did not act in an orderly way. Credit was
occasionally allowed customers and the firm had such standing that it
could get such amounts from suppliers as it wished.
No. 17 was a pool-room with a club arrangement in connection. It was
started in 1901 by a native of Virginia, who had been living in New
York eleven years. The firm had moved once since its establishment.
The proprietor was a waiter before beginning this enterprise; he
employed two helpers, his place occupied three floors about 25 by 40
feet, and he paid a rental of $75 per month. His fixtures, tables,
_etc._, were valued at between $1,800 and $2,000, and he said they
were all paid for. In 1907 the gross receipts were about $3,400, and
in 1908 about $3,700, the "best year." A cash-book was kept and
balanced twice a year. Negroes "almost altogether" were customers.
This proprietor had an ambition from boyhood to run a business and at
one time had a second-hand furniture store in Long Branch, N.J.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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