Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Spring/Section24/Eugene Mumford

Eugene Reuben Mumford
Born	February 7th, 1879 Brookhaven, Mississippi
Died	Unknown
Occupation	Fruit and Vegetable Vendor

Overview

Eugene Reuben Mumford was an African American male that was interviewed by Jeanne deLavigne Scott on May 16, 1939 in New Orleans, Louisiana for the Federal Writer's Project. He was employed as a fruit and vegetable vendor in the French Market. His file was titled "Uranus and I are Pretty Good Friends".

Biography

Early Life

Eugene Mumford was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi to Isaac and Esther Crump Mumford on February 7th, 1879. He was mixed with black and white, which is also referred to as mulatto or in Louisiana a “bright” negro. Mumford had 6 brothers and 6 sisters. His father worked as janitor in a college in Brookhaven and played tuba in one of the “colored” neighborhood bands . His father was also a gardener and taught him the skills that eventually helped him in his job as a fruit and vegetable vendor. While growing up, Eugene was very close with his grandmother who taught him to believe in the stars and the cosmic ray rather than religion. This is why the title of Eugene’s file is called “Uranus and I are Pretty Good Friends”. Mumford and his family moved to New Orleans when he was around 9 years old and there is where he got his first job working in a restaurant .

Adult Life & Career

When he was 16, he moved out of his family’s house and started traveling to numerous different places where he worked numerous different jobs including a barber-shop porter in Chicago, Illinois, Waterloo, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, a shoe-shiner in Denver, Colorado, a janitor of 2 woolen mills owned by E.Y. Judd in Pendleton, Oregon and in Portland, Oregon, a stock man at Rosenthal Shoe Company in San Francisco, California and numerous other jobs in many places until he finally returned back to New Orleans and met his wife, Pearl Julien . This is where he had his final job as a fruit and vegetable vendor. Pearl and Eugene had 5 sons and 1 daughter together; Leon Alcee, Everett Eugene, Cyril Orville, Arnold Isaac, Marion Emile, and Mercedes. In 1925, Eugene’s wife, Pearl, died and in 1932, Eugene and his children moved to live with his brother and wife. One of Mumford’s sons graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana and the other 3 (1 of them had died) graduated from public school. In the interview, Mumford discussed how he liked to read in his free time. He also described himself as being very satisfied with his life .

Social Issues

Colorism During the Late 19th Century

As a result of the recent end of slavery and the presence of white supremacy, the glorification of Eurocentric features was a very common concept within the United States of America. For this reason, mulattoes, like Eugene Mumford, were considered more superior than many other African Americans and their darker-skinned counterparts were demonized . White people also deemed biracial African Americans as more tolerable compared to African Americans that were not mixed with white. African American colorism was not only enforced by White Americans onto Black Americans but it was also enforced within the African American community as well. Biracial or lighter-toned African Americans would exclude their darker-skinned counterparts from many institutions and organizations. One of the methods that they executed this exclusion was with "The Brown Paper Bag" test, which denied an African American from an organization if their skin was darker than a paper bag . As a result of the colorism that darker-skinned African Americans have experienced from fellow African Americans and people who are not black, they have been victims of many disparities in the United States including employment, education, and housing .

African American Umemployment During the Late 19th and Early 20th Century

During the late 19th and early 20th century, the United States was undergoing an economic recession known as the Great Depression. Not only was it hard for all Americans to become employed but it was especially hard for African Americans. This was because of the problems related to unemployment in the black community before the start of the Great Depression. During these times, white Americans were often prioritized by African Americans regarding to employment opportunities . During and decades after the Great Depression, the rate of unemployment amongst African Americans doubled and, in many cases, tripled the rate of White Americans . This unemployment trend is a concept that occurs during many recessions in American history. The employment rates amongst African Americans decline the most during recessions along with women in nontraditional jobs and youth .

References

• Bowers, Norman. 1981. “Have Employment Patterns in Recessions Changed?” Monthly Labor Review 104 (2): 15.
• Eugene Mumford Federal Writers Project Interview, May 16, 1939, Folder 1137, 03709, Federal Writers' Project Papers, 1936-1940, Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina.
• Hochschild, Jennifer L., and Vesla Weaver. 2007. “The Skin Color Paradox and the American Racial Order.” Social Forces 86
• Kerr, Audrey Elisa. 2005. “The Paper Bag Principle: Of the Myth and the Motion of Colorism.” Journal of American Folklore 118 (469): 271–89.
• Klein, Christopher. 2018. "Last Hired, First Fired: How the Great Depression Affected African Americans." History. A Maven Channel. https://www.history.com/news/last-hired-first-fired-how-the-great-depression-affected-african-americans
• Tharps, Lori. 2016. "The Difference Between Racism and Colorism." Time. https://time.com/4512430/colorism-in-america/