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Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Fall/105/Section003/James Pearson

< Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories | 2020/Fall | 105/Section003
James Pearson
NationalityAmerican
Other namesJim
OccupationRailroad worker
Spouse(s)Martha

Overview

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James Pearson was interviewed for the Federal Writers Project on October 5, 1938. He was an African American in Knoxville, Tennessee working in the railroad industry.

Biography

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Early Life

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Pearson was born in Tennessee around 1885. There was no mention of how many siblings he had but it seemed that Pearson was the youngest in the family. In the interview, he used a plural tense when he would refer if he had siblings such as “any of us children” or “older children”. As he grew up, he did not have the luxuries that some kids had. When he was five or six years old, he got to work in the cotton field. His family did not have much money but always found a way to scrape by. His mom died when he was 16 years old. He worked for different cotton planters up until this point in his life. A couple years after his mother’s passing, he found a job with the Southern railroad at Chattanooga trucking outbound freight. This job required the ability to read which Pearson did not have the access to education for growing up.

Later Life

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At 30 years old, Pearson received a promotion to be a regular officer and was transferred to Knoxville, Tennessee. He had a motivation to continue to learn and become a better reader and writer. Pearson invested in himself by hiring a literate white man 50 cents a night to help him with his reading and writing. In addition to education obstacles, Pearson faced racial inequality. He was removed from the railroad police after 32 years of experience because he was the only African American on it. His personal life had struggles outside of work too. His wife Martha passed away due to health complications and he never pursued another woman after her passing. Instead, he wanted to devote the rest of his life maintaining his job and working hard in it.

Social Contexts

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Job Discrimination during the Great Depression

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A major issue in the early 1900s was racial inequality. African Americans did not have the education that white people had growing up. As a result, it was more difficult to find jobs. Job discrimination was not even a result of education, it was because of racism. “Even had the schooling been adequate, job discrimination would have been kept trapped black workers at the bottom.” Additionally, job preference was given to white people, particularly when the Great Depression hit the United States. “Said to be “last hired, first fired,” African Americans were the first to see hours and jobs cut, and they experienced the highest unemployment rate during the 1930s.” Pearson understood the importance of having a job during this time. Especially during the depression, there is no guarantees with job security. Even though he was removed from the railroad police, he maintained his job and knew why he was willing to devote his life for his job because he knew it can easily be lost.

Lack of Education for African Americans during the Great Depression

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Pearson faced the challenges and consequences of not having the educational access that white people had while he was growing up. As a result, he had to hire a white man to tutor him on reading and writing to help him with his job. For his job, he had to be able to read where packages were going and did not know how to do that prior to paying for tutoring. “No group was harder hit harder than African Americans, however. By 1932, approximately half of African Americans were out of work.” This was the result of lack of educational access and job preference to white people.

References

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