THE LIVES OF WOMEN AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
A misperception of the roles of women early 20th century cities: housewives. Yes, marriage (and early marriage at that) was a common and emphasized significant social institution that shapes the lives of millions of women in America prior to World War I. But, there were many more facets to a woman's life. Detroit women were active in their families, in their neighborhoods, in their churches, in politics, and in the workforce. 

In fact, in her book, The Political Activities of Detroit Clubwomen in the 1920s, Jayne Morris-Crowther sheds light on the lobbying efforts and successes of the nearly 15,000 clubwomen. These women advocated for building community spaces like playgrounds, raising the age for child workers, and reforming the school board. Contrary to mainstream belief, women were not strangers to the political realm at the turn of the century just because they were not as visible at the federal level. Clubwomen focused on changes that would directly affect their families and communities at the city and state level. These women were able to see the results of their work on their street corners and in their children’s schools. (3.)

While it is true that many women earned a living in domestic and service jobs, like tailoring, laundering, maintenance, and other unskilled labor positions. But this differed for the women of each ethnic group in Detroit. 

POLISH WOMEN
Catholicism was a crux in the Polish-American community. Due to restrictions on women becoming priests, women became nuns and parochial teachers. A religious career provided women with a path to higher education attainment, as well as venerated positions within their community. 
Other Polish women worked in the cigar industry. There were dozens of tobacco factories in central and east Detroit, and employees were a majority single Polish women, though married and widowed Polish women had positions in these plants as well. Some single women had quit high school in order to begin working and contribute to their family's income, although some went to school and worked at the same time. The married women in the factories contributed to their husband's income (who likely worked in manufacturing in the automotive industry.) These women worked full-time and maintained a household with all its regular chores and maintenance. Widowed Polish women also worked in the factories in order to sustain themselves.

In fact, a source from an article in the "Polish Eaglet" in 2000 recollects that, "If your Polish ancestors lived in Detroit between 1870 and 1937, chances are that at least one of your female ancestors worked in a cigar factory." 

This demonstrates the concentration of Polish women in the cigar industry at this time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JEWISH WOMEN
Jewish women often helped their husbands and families run small businesses. Since entrepreneurship was a characteristic of Jewish culture, as well as a family undertaking, it is natural that daughters and wives were involved in the operation of shops. Types of shops included butcheries, grocery stores, bakeries, jewelries, clothing stores, so job tasks were things like baking, preparing, sewing, selling, keeping records, and a lot more. (4.)

AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN
73% of employed African-American women worked in the domestic field in 1926. Factory jobs for women were almost impossible to come by, due to prevalent discrimination in the city and a preference for men. This group of women had the most difficulty finding and retaining work in Detroit, even though the Urban League (an organization with an employment bureau for African-Americans) placed more black women than men in jobs. (2.)

THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN LABOR
Across ethnicity, churches played an important role in job placement. Employers like Henry Ford sought recommendations from churches when looking to hire new employees. In other situations, employers would make hires through church leaders with the inclusion non-unionizing pacts. (4.)

 

 

RESEARCH QUESTION: WHY WERE THE MAJORITY OF CIGAR PLANT WORKERS IN 1930s DETROIT POLISH WOMEN? PROXIMITY AND THE LACK OF ENGLISH SKILLS REQUIRED.

 

The research question that will be explored in the next two subpages is: Why were the majority of cigar plant workers in 1930s Detroit Polish women? Through the examination of the sources used to create this webpage, a few different themes emerged. 

 

For example, Josephine Bielawski, a Polish cigar worker in Detroit in the 1930s, describes her experience to the "Polish Eaglet." She was born to Polish immigrants, and her father died when she was young. In order to contribute to family expenses and income, Bielawski began working at a cigar plant when she was a teenager. She says that in doing this, she was following in the footsteps of "two generations of unskilled Polish women who accepted the cigar plants as a distasteful but traditional way of contributing to the family income." (1.)

 

Furthermore, factories were within walking distance of their homes, and English skills were not required. Polish women were natural employees of these cigar factories due to their proximity to Polish neighborhoods. (5.) Many Polish men and families immigrated to Detroit for a unskilled labor jobs in the automotive plants. These auto jobs for men did not require English skills either. which was another main attractor of Polish immigrants.

 

I propose that the same features that attracted Polish men to the auto plants also attracted Polish women to cigar plants: proximity and no English-speaking requirements. 

African American women, for instance, were not as drawn to jobs in the cigar industry because first, these cigar plants were largely concentrated around the already developed Polish neighborhoods in the city--not the black communities. Secondly, African American women knew English, and could obtain jobs in other fields, like the service industry, which requires interaction with others--mainly English speakers. 

 

Polish women were the logical, and historical, fit for cigar producing jobs.