Racism in the Nation's Service: Government Workers and the Color Line in Woodrow Wilson's America
Author(s): Eric S. Yellin (Author)
Publisher: University North Carolina Pr
Publication Date: 1 Feb. 2016
Edition: Illustrated
Language: English
Print length: 316 pages
ISBN-10: 1469628384
ISBN-13: 9781469628387
Book Description
Between the 1880s and 1910s, thousands of African Americans passed civil service exams and became employed in the executive offices of the federal government. However, by 1920, promotions to well-paying federal jobs had nearly vanished for black workers. Eric S. Yellin argues that the Wilson administration’s successful 1913 drive to segregate the federal government was a pivotal episode in the age of progressive politics. Yellin investigates how the enactment of this policy, based on Progressives’ demands for whiteness in government, imposed a color line on American opportunity and implicated Washington in the economic limitation of African Americans for decades to come. Using vivid accounts of the struggles and protests of African American government employees, Yellin reveals the racism at the heart of the era’s reform politics. He illuminates the nineteenth-century world of black professional labor and social mobility in Washington, D. C., and uncovers the Wilson administration’s progressive justifications for unraveling that world. From the hopeful days following emancipation to the white-supremacist “normalcy” of the 1920s, Yellin traces the competing political ideas, politicians, and ordinary government workers who created “federal segregation”.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“[A] thoroughly researched and artfully crafted book.” — Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
“A very compelling read.” —
History: Reviews of New Books
“Carefully researched and well-written. . . . [Yellin’s] book deserves a wide reading among scholars and students of labor and race in the twentieth century.” —
Labor
“Excellent new book.” —
Journal of Southern History
“His nuanced and sober book carefully chronicles the rationales and practices of racial subordination in the realm of federal employment and the personal and collective consequences that this unfolding tragedy had on the lives of black Washingtonians.” —
Journal of Southern History
“This is an excellent, well-researched, and well-written study. Yellin’s diverse sources are impressive as is his ability to weave them into a tight analysis.” —
Journal of American History
“Yellin makes an important contribution to our understanding of ‘white supremacy.'” —
Journal of Interdisciplinary History
“Yellin’s scholarship fills an important gap in our understanding of what Wilsonian progressivism was all about . . . but also explores less well understood connections between racism, progressive politics, and the state.” —
American Historical Review
“Yellin’s well-written treatise reminds readers how far the U.S. has come in its quest for racial equality. Recommended. Most levels/libraries.” —
CHOICE
“Yellin’s work is lucid and illuminating. He provides a thorough, readable, and well-rounded narrative filled with vivid examples and sharp analysis.” —
Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
From the Back Cover
Between the 1880s and 1910s, thousands of African Americans passed civil service exams and became employed in the executive offices of the federal government. However, by 1920, promotions to well-paying federal jobs had nearly vanished for black workers. Eric S. Yellin argues that the Wilson administration’s successful 1913 drive to segregate the federal government was a pivotal episode in the age of progressive politics. Yellin investigates how the enactment of this policy, based on Progressives’ demands for whiteness in government, imposed a color line on American opportunity and implicated Washington in the economic limitation of African Americans for decades to come.
About the Author
Eric S. Yellin is assistant professor of history and American studies at the University of Richmond.
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