Household Workers Unite

June 15, 2015
Scholar/activist Nadasen (History/Barnard Coll.; Rethinking the Welfare Rights Movement, 2011, etc.) showcases the stories of African-American women who helped organize domestic workers from the 1950s through the 1970s. Valuable for its recovery of a largely neglected piece of labor history, particularly one in which race, class, immigration, and gender intersect, this work may prove most useful as a how-to guide for those looking to effect change in the landscape of the new economy. Inspired by the civil rights and women's rights movements, operating largely outside the formal labor movement, postwar household workers by necessity developed guerrilla strategies for demanding respect and fair treatment. The best parts of Nadasen's book are the firsthand accounts from the women who embodied tactics like remaking the public image of domestics, using public spaces to organize, and employing storytelling to galvanize the need for change. They include Georgia Gilmore, who played a leading role organizing domestic workers in support of the famed Montgomery Bus Boycott; Atlanta's Dorothy Bolden, who helped found the National Domestic Workers Union; Cleveland-based Geraldine Roberts, who formed the Domestic Workers of America; and Detroit's Mary McClendon, founder of the Household Workers Organization. These women and others strove to dispel the pernicious "mammy stereotype," and their stories are powerful and inspiring. Nadasen's analysis, however, descends frequently into the wearisome academic jargon that too often accompanies her forthrightly admitted social justice perspective. However, specialists will likely appreciate her treatment of numerous subthemes, including feminists struggling with the ethics of paid household help, the mainstream labor unions mistakenly deeming domestic workers "unorganizable," the racial tension within the movement arising from shifting demographics, and the peculiar dynamics of the mistress-maid relationship. The fight on behalf of household workers for the "3 P's: pay, protection, and professionalism" continues. Look to Nadasen's history for an understanding of how the struggle began.

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Starred review from July 1, 2015

Nadasen (history, Barnard Coll.; Welfare Warriors) presents a unique perspective on the history of 20th-century domestic workers as she relates the tales of a half-dozen African American activists who risked a great deal to improve the lives of their colleagues. Readers learn about the central importance of storytelling to inform and organize a group of workers outside of any formal unionization movement, as the author illuminates the efforts that brave women took to professionalize their work as well as to challenge the racial and class prejudices they faced daily. She exposes the history of the Federal Labor Standards Act (1938), passed at the height of the Depression, which bypassed domestic workers. The task of bringing about substantial legislative redress took decades of difficult organizational work. The attempts to coordinate individuals who labor not in the factory but in the intimate setting of the home are told through narratives of strong women who fought for basic protections already enjoyed by many other types of workers. VERDICT For readers interested in activism in America or an inspiring history of African American women.--Amy Lewontin, Northeastern Univ. Lib., Boston

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