Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

11-2012

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Pan-African Studies

Degree Program

Pan-African Studies, MA

Committee Chair

Rajack-Talley, Theresa

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Jones, Yvonne V.

Committee Member

Jones, Yvonne V.

Committee Member

Fosl, Cate

Author's Keywords

Black women; Women's studies; Women in civil rights; Black domestic workers

Subject

Women household employees--Southern States--History; African American women--Civil rights--Southern States--History; Minority women--Southern States--Social conditions; Civil rights movements--Southern States--History--20th century

Abstract

During the 1960's, nearly ninety percent of black women in the South worked as domestic servants. While much has been written depicting the dehumanizing and exploitative conditions in which they lived, their contributions to human rights garnered from their subtle acts of resistance and specifically, their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, has either been undocumented or documented quite minimally. Despite their historical roles and socioeconomic disadvantages, their reach for human agency was beneficial to society. This thesis examines their labor as domestic workers and their participation in the Civil Rights Movement using the qualitative research method of interviews and black feminist theoretical perspective.

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