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Title: Race, Roosevelt, and Wartime Production: Fair Employment in World War II Labor Markets

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2001

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Abstract: Black economic progress in the 1940’s was remarkable not only in relation to subsequent decades, but even more so in relation to previous decades. Comparisons of relative economic standing before the 1940’s are somewhat difficult to make because comprehensive income measures are unavailable before the 1940 Census, but relative income estimates by James P. Smith (1984) suggest that the magnitude of change in the 1940’s marked a turning point in African-American economic history.1 The 1940’s seem all the more extraordinary in light of Gunnar Myrdal’s (1944) famous appraisal and condemnation of America’s racial discrimination at the decade’s beginning.2 Although labor economists have devoted considerable attention to black economic progress in the post1964 period, it is surprising that the 1940’s, and the wartime experience in particular, have been neglected. This paper provides new evidence on how such remarkable progress was achieved in the face of the obstacles Myrdal chronicled. In . . .

Url: https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdf/10.1257/aer.91.1.272

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Authors: Collins, William J.

Periodical (Full): American Economic Review

Issue: 1

Volume: 91

Pages: 272-286

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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