Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

Abstract

This thesis describes the character of skilled workers in Little Rock, Arkansas during the late nineteenth century. Skilled workers have not been the focus of study in any historical work on Arkansas. According to Dr. Carl Moneyhon, this class is “perhaps less known than any social group in Arkansas”. Nationwide discussion of skilled workers during this period is also limited and often fragmentary. This thesis addresses this void by comparing Little Rock's skilled workers to members of this class in other American cities, namely Atlanta and Chicago. This work describes the character of Little Rock's skilled workers through the use of city directories, federal census records, and primary source materials of local archives. The thesis examines this class of skilled workers by analyzing the themes of workplace, skill, wages, birthplace, geographic mobility, residence, family, and race.

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