MILITANT MAIDS: DOMESTIC WORKERS’ PARTICIPATION IN BUS BOYCOTTS, VOTER REGISTRATION, AND HEAD START PROGRAMS IN THE DEEP SOUTH

<p>This thesis examines the participation of domestic workers in the Civil Rights Movement, specifically in Gulf South bus boycotts in Baton Rouge, Montgomery, and Tallahassee; voter registration efforts in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida; and Head Start work in those same Deep South states. Domestic workers engaged in activism by joining unions, women's movements, and the Communist Party to improve their treatment in Northern and Southern cities. Modern historians have expanded their research to explore the participation of domestic workers in the Civil Rights Movement, especially in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In some cases, researchers also have explored the complicated relationships domestic workers had with their employers. By looking at oral histories and secondary historical works on domestic workers, this thesis argues that Deep South domestic workers were significant participants in some of the most prominent civil rights demonstrations. They boycotted buses and worked with local groups to increase voter registration, improve education, and promote protests. These actions reinforced the idea that though domestic workers faced low pay, long hours, and oppressive work conditions, they also were activists for themselves, their families, and their communities.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Year dc:date.available

2022

Author dc:creator

• Carey, Brittany Ann

Contributors dc:contributor

• Rebecca Tuuri
• Andrew P. Haley
• Kevin Greene

• Domestic Workers
• Bus Boycotts
• Voter Registration
• Head Start
• Labor History
• Public History
• Social History
• United States History
• Women's History

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/947

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-2019