Note 7 — Chapter IV · Earning a Living—Manual Labor and the Trades
Reading edition
In 1906, and again in 1910, I secured a counting of the New York colored men in organized labor. The lists run as follows:
1906 1910
Asphalt workers 320350
Teamsters 300400
Rock-drillers and tool sharpeners 250240
Cigar makers 121165
Bricklayers 9021
Waiters 90not obtainable
Carpenters 6040
Plasterers 4519
Double drum hoisters 3037
Safety and portable engineers 2635
Eccentric firemen 150
Letter carriers 1030
Pressmen 10not obtainable
Printers 68
Butchers 33
Lathers 37
Painters 3not obtainable
Coopers 12
Sheet metal workers 11
Rockmen 1not obtainable
Total 1385 1358
The large number of bricklayers in 1906 is questioned by the man, himself a bricklayer, who made the second counting. However, the number greatly decreased in 1908 when the stagnation in business compelled many men to seek work in other cities.