The Philadelphia Negro

363 Pages·2007·36.32 MB·English

by  W. E. B. Du Bois

The
PHILADELPHIA
NEGRO
A Social Study
W. E. B. DuBois
I ntrod u ction b y
LAWRENCE BOBO
The Philadelphia Negro

THE OXFORD W. E. B. DU BOIS
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Editor
The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of
America: 1638-1870
Introduction: Saidiya Hartman
The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study
Introduction: Lawrence Bobo
The Souls of Black Folk
Introduction: Arnold Rampersad
John Brown
Introduction: Paul Finkelman
Africa, Its Geography, People and Products
Africa-Its Place in Modern History
Introductions: Emmanuel Akyeampong
Black Reconstruction in America
Introduction: David Levering Lewis
Black Folk: Then and Now
Introduction: Wilson J. Moses
Dusk of Dawn
Introduction: Kwame Anthony Appiah
The World and Africa
Color and Democracy: Colonies and Peace
Introductions: Mahmood Mamdani and Gerald Horne
In Battle for Peace: The Story of My Eighty-third Birthday
Introduction: Manning Marable
The Black Flame Trilogy: Book One
The Ordeal of Mansart
Introduction: Brent Edwards
Afterword: Mark Sanders
The Black Flame Trilogy: Book Two
Mansart Builds a School
Introduction: Brent Edwards
Afterword: Mark Sanders
The Black Flame Trilogy: Book Three
Worlds of Color
Introduction: Brent Edwards
Afterword: Mark Sanders
Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois
Introduction: Werner Sollars
The Quest of the Silver Fleece
Introduction: William L. Andrews
The Negro
Introduction: John K. Thornton
Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil
Introduction: Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham
Gift of Black Folk: The Negroes in the Making of America
Introduction: Glenda Carpio
Dark Princess: A Romance
Introduction: Homi K. Bhabha
THE PHILADELPHIA
NEGRO
A Social Study
W. E. B. Du Bois
Series Editor, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Introduction by Lawrence Bobo
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
For Cornel West
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright© 2007 by Oxford University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN: 978-0-19-531180-8 (Series)
ISBN: 978-0-19-995795-8 (Volume)
Contents
SERIES INTRODUCTION: THE BLACK LETTERS
ON THE SIGN x1
INTRODUCTION xxv
I. THE SCOPE OF THIS STUDY 1
1. General Aim 1
2. The Methods of Inquiry 1
3. The Credibility of the Results 2
II. THE PROBLEM 3
4. The Negro Problems of Philadelphia 3
5. Plan of Presentment 5
Ill. THE NEGRO IN PHILADELPHIA, 1638-1820 6
6. General Survey 6
7. The Transplanting of the Negro, 1638-1760 7
8. Emancipation, 1760-1780 9
9. The Rise of the Freedmen, 1780-1820 10
IV. THE NEGRO IN PHILADELPHIA, 1820-1896 15
10. Fugitives and Foreigners, 1820-1840 15
11. The Guild of the Caterers, 1840-1870 18
12. The Influx of the Freedmen, 1870-1896 22
V. THE SIZE, AGE AND SEX OF THE NEGRO POPULATION 28
13. The City for a Century 28
14. The Seventh Ward, 1896 37
VI. CONJUGAL CONDITION 45
15. The Seventh Ward 45
16. The City 48
vii
viii + THE PHILADELPHIA NEGRO
VII. SOURCES OF THE NEGRO POPULATION 51
17. The Seventh Ward 51
18. The City 57
VIII. EDUCATION AND ILLITERACY 59
19. The History of Negro Education 59
20. The Present Condition 63
IX. THE OCCUPATIONS OF NEGROES 69
21. The Question of Earning a Living 69
22. Occupations in the Seventh Ward 70
23. Occupations in the City 79
24. History of the Occupations of Negroes 96
X. THE HEALTH OF NEGROES 104
25. The Interpretation of Statistics 104
26. The Statistics of the City 105
XL THE NEGRO FAMILY 118
27. The Size of the Family 118
28. Incomes 120
29. Property 128
30. Family Life 134
XII. THE ORGANIZED LIFE OF NEGROES 141
31. History of the Negro Church in Philadelphia 141
32. The Function of the Negro Church 143
33. The Present Condition of the Churches 147
34. Secret and Beneficial Societies, and Co-operative Business 154
35. Institutions 159
36. The Experiment of Organization 161
XIII. THE NEGRO CRIMINAL 166
37. History of Negro Crime in the City 166
38. Negro Crime Since the War 169
39. A Special Study in Crime 175
40. Some Cases of Crime 183
XIV. PAUPERISM AND ALCOHOLISM 193
41. Pauperism 193
42. The Drink Habit 199
43. The Causes of Crime and Poverty 202
XV. THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE NEGRO 205
44. Houses and Rent 205
45. Sections and Wards 214
46. Social Classes and Amusements 221
Contents + ix
XVI. THE CONTACT OF THE RACES 229
47. Color Prejudice 229
48. Benevolence 245
49. The Intermarriage of the Races 246
XVII. NEGRO SUFFRAGE 257
50. The Significance of the Experiment 257
51. The History of Negro Suffrage in Pennsylvania 257
52. City Politics 259
53. Some Bad Results of Negro Suffrage 259
54. Some Good Results of Negro Suffrage 265
55. The Paradox of Reform 266
XVIII. A FINAL WORD 268
56. The Meaning of All This 268
57. The Duty of the Negroes 270
58. The Duty of the Whites 273
Appendix A. Schedules used in the House-to-House Inquiry 276
Appendix B. Legislation, etc., of Pennsylvania in Regard to the Negro 287
Appendix C. Bibliography 293
INDEX 297
WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DUBOIS:
A CHRONOLOGY 303
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 311
MAPS
I. Map of Seventh Ward, showing streets and political Facing page 40
divisions
II. Map of Seventh Ward, showing distribution of Negro Facing page 1
inhabitants throughout the ward, and their social
condition