In spite of its necessity, Pittsburgh has not received a sufficient supply of Negroes, and certainly not in the same full proportion as did many smaller industrial towns. Pittsburgh manufacturers are still in need of labor, and this in spite of the fact that the railroads and a few of the industrial concerns of the locality have had labor agents in the South. These agents, laboring under great difficulties because of the obstructive tactics adopted in certain southern communities to prevent the Negro exodus, have nevertheless succeeded in bringing several thousand colored workers into this district. That they have had little success in keeping these people here, is acknowledged by all of them. One company for instance, which imported about a thousand men within the past year, had only about three hundred of these working at the time of the investigator’s visit in July, 1917. One railroad, which is said to have brought about fourteen thousand people to the North within the last twelve months, has been able to keep an average of only eighteen hundred at work.
It must be admitted that the labor agents, because of their eagerness to secure as many men as possible, are not particular as to the character of those they are bringing here, and there is therefore a goodly number of idle and shiftless Negroes who are floating and undependable. On the other hand we must not fail to recognize that most migrants come through their own volition, pay their own fares, leave their native states, and break up family connections, because they are in search of better opportunities, social and economic. As a class they appear to be industrious, ambitious, pious and temperate, and are eager to get established with their families.
In the foregoing pages, we have discussed the housing and rooming situation which confronts the Negro. An examination of the kind and hours of work and wages received, discloses another reason why many of these people do not remain here.
TABLE NUMBER IX
Occupations of Migrants in Pittsburgh as Compared with Statements
of Occupations in South[5]
| OCCUPATIONS | IN PITTSBURGH | PERCENTAGE | IN SOUTH | PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common Laborer | 468 | 95 | 286 | 54 |
| Skilled or semi-skilled | 20 | 4 | 59 | 11 |
| Farmer | 81 | 15 | ||
| Miner | 36 | 7 | ||
| Saw Mill Workers | 9 | 2 | ||
| Ran own farm or father’s farm | 33 | 6 | ||
| Ran farm on crop sharing basis | 22 | 5 | ||
| Other Occupations | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 493 | 100 | 529 | 100 |
From the foregoing table, it is apparent that ninety-five percent of the migrants who stated their occupations, were doing unskilled labor, in the steel mills, the building trades, on the railroads, or acting as servants, porters, janitors, cooks and cleaners. Only twenty or four percent out of four hundred and ninety-three migrants whose occupations were ascertained, were doing what may be called semi-skilled or skilled work, as puddlers, mold-setters, painters and carpenters. On the other hand, in the South fifty-nine of five hundred and twenty-nine claimed to have been engaged in skilled labor, while a large number were rural workers.
TABLE NUMBER X
Comparison Between Hours of Work Per Day in Pittsburgh
and in South
