Spring 2023 - Labor Roots

Spring 2023

Labor Roots

Honor The Gift's Spring Summer 23 Collection redefines workwear through the story of Black Labor's imprint on history.
In the 1800s, African Americans were largely confined to unpaid or limited work opportunities. In the South, men worked as sharecroppers, agricultural wage laborers, or small landowners; others held industrial jobs in mining and forestry. Women worked as domestic servants and laundresses. Skilled African Americans found work as blacksmiths, carpenters, and railway workers.
In Northern cities, African Americans generally held a better economic position than their Southern peers, though their options remained limited, as most performed labor or service work. Common occupations for men included janitors, servants, and waiters; women worked as housekeepers, servants, laundresses, and waitresses.
Throughout the 1800s, African Americans lived through the emancipation of slaves, the fight for Black suffrage, and the promise — and limits — of Reconstruction. Their contributions still go unseen to this day.