The extraordinary unemployment rates of black women during the Great Depression caused a sizeable number to leave the labor force as "discouraged workers." Consequently, while married white women entered the labor force in increasing numbers, the participation rate of married black women...

This paper explores the history of African Americans in the U.S. economy since emancipation. With the end of the Civil War, some four million former slaves had gained their freedom, but the freed people faced daunting economic challenges, including poverty, illiteracy, and discrimination....

This paper examines changes in the occupations of African-American women during the period 1940-1980 using U.S. Census samples, with an emphasis on the breakthrough of black women into clerical work. In contrast with some previous studies, my results indicate that increased educational...

In my comments for this session, I wish to focus on what economists and economic historians have learned in recent years about the impact of the great northward migration on the economic status of African-Americans since the period of the Great Depression. At first glance, the answer seems...